Fri 16 May
Jack and Luka’s plane arrives 2 hours late, and the first thing Luka does is to agree to a taxi fare of PKR 5000 instead of 1200. What can you do?
Because it’s a Friday we can do nothing until the shops reopen at 1500, so they settle in and then go to sleep!
I gave them a quick familiarisation with the bikes and then they drive up and down the street, getting a feel for them. These first few rides are going to be interesting.
Having already established that there are no useable helmets, the next thing to add to our shopping list is some bungie cords; allegedly, all the ones they had, and I had been promised, had been lent out and not returned. This was starting to be a pattern! 😕
I’d like to say “in quick succession” or “in no time at all”, but that would be a lie. So we spent the next several hours getting helmets for all of us, and a jacket for Jack; the helmet brand was LS2, a well-known Spanish make, so I was content that they would do the job, and they were much cheaper than in Europe. Consequently we didn’t go for the cheapest – they might get used again – but not the most expensive either.
Next was to find a bank to exchange our cash; not all will do so. The one we found was quite efficient and when we asked where we could get our passports and visa copied, they offered to do it for us; for free!
SIM cards were next on the list and then we had to return to the helmet shop to collect our stuff; I forgot to mention that the shop owner wouldn’t let us take the helmets until the funds had actually reached his bank – a proof of transfer wasn’t enough. Thankfully this took only 2 hours rather than a possible two days. 😊
Our search for bungie cords was fruitless, and all the delay meant the ride home was in the dark, and at rush hour; not an ideal start for the two lads, but we made it.
Dinner was a Chinese, after which we settled for some rope in place of the bungies.
Sat 17 May – 240 kms in 10,5 hours
On the first proper day of the tour, we were up at 0630, had breakfast and a final pack and were ready to move at 0830, a bit later than planned but, hey, we’re on holiday!
We made good initial progress, leaving out the turning I missed, which wasn’t really a turning, but rather a turn onto the verge, then a u-turn, in order to cross the dual carriageway and go in the opposite direction!
The escorts were good in that they showed us the way, but not so good in that they didn’t allow us to stop, and were no help in speeding our progress. Finally, with Luka saying he was falling asleep, we persuaded one couple of escorts to give us a break for some water and a rest.
Then I had, another, accident! We were going through a town, and traffic was the usual hectic chaos. The escort was in front, then J&L, then me. Suddenly a bakkie pulled over onto my side of the road to overtake a stopping car. He was right in front of me – a metre or tow at most away. I swerved to avoid him, and then as I straightened up, I felt the front wheel just slide away.
Luckily, the speed was slow, but I still landed with a considerable bump, ending up with a bruised rib and a very painful, bruised thigh. The bike was righted, by me and I was surrounded by a concerned crowd by the time the escort returned about a minute later.
Refusing the offer of medical treatment from one of the by-standers, I assured everyone I was fine and off we went. Without further ado, we finally – after one spell travelling at 30kph – reached our destination of Besham, and the, recommended, Continental Hotel. The 240km trip had taken us 10, hours!
The Hotel Continental was basic, but clean and the price only PKR 4000 (€12) instead of the 32,000 advertised on Google. We had hot water, air-conditioning, one large double bed and a mattress. Nothing more needed!
A restaurant opposite provided us, and our accompanying guard, with an excellent dinner of local fare in a very friendly manner, for the budget friendly sum of PKR 3800.
What a day! Our intro to Pakistani motorcycling, a minor spill, an escorted ride, experience of local friendliness and hospitality and excellent dinner.
We all went to bed exhausted, well-fed, but content and looking forward to the morrow.
Sun 18 May – 217 kms in 10 hours
We were up early again and had breakfast at our little restaurant.
After refuelling we set off, delighted to discover we had no escort. 😁
The road started out good and we progressed well. Then we hit one of the worst, if not the worst un-paved road I have experienced, and it went on for about 70-80 kms! The road was either potholed just about everywhere and narrowed by rock falls on one side and piled up rocks on the other.
Pakistani truck-art coloured trucks, combis, cars, bikes and a lot more besides vyed for space on the road. It was hard work but the guys enjoyed it; both had one or two close shaves and enthusiasm got the better of them.
Although we had no escort today, there were still many police check points. At many we were waved through, but some still demanded passports and visas. All were, however friendly and didn’t delay us unnecessarily.
The road surface worsened as we entered a mega-infrastructure development area. The road ran along the side of the mountain, was just cut into the rock and was covered in a fine dust that got everywhere. There was a big drop on one side, and in the valley floor whatever work required for this mega-dam project was being conducted. At one stage the wind got up and was whipping up the dust like a sand storm; visibility was down to 20 metres at times.
We weathered the storm, and finally reached Chilās, hot, dusty and thirsty – shrivelled in fact – and checked in to Shangrila Hotel. This was more up-market than the Continental and cost us €40. Still the restaurant was good and after a good dinner, and the first of a few teacup tempests, we collapsed into bed.
Mon 19 May
Bit of a late start due to “faulty” alarm. Row seems to have been resolved.
Breakfast, pack, fuel and finally on our way by 0930.
Road varies from excellent to sketchy. Scenery magnificent with mountains towering over us and the Indus River swirling and charging seaward below us. Progress is good.
Turn off main road down the hill towards Astore, along the Astore Valley Road, now with milky-brown water of the Astor River surging and swirling down the mountain. Once we reach the valley floor we stopped for a water break, before continuing on a road that was now less of a bowling green 🤣.
Luka has a spill thanks to a patch of sandy gravel before a deep trench across the road. Fortunately we were going slowly, so no damage save to one of the engine protector bars. The road is now more rocky than tarry, but with scant traffic, we make steady progress.
At Harcho, we stopped for a short walk to a waterfall. On return we are engaged y several local guys. Offered tea, ad in spite of Jack’s refusals, we clearly have no choice. I saw someone eating ice-cream and asked where I could get one. Luka and I were escorted by Misha to the ice-cream shop; nothing more than a Mr Softee machine at the door of a shop. The ice-cream was good though.
Finally we managed to make our excuses and left our very generous hosts, heading for Astore. One of the mirrors on Luka’s bike kept coming loose, and when we tried to tighten it, we discovered the threads in the mounting were stripped completely. We needed to get this repaired before starting back towards Islamabad.
Fortunately, our next new friend, Aqeel, introduced himself as the town’s Focal Point; for what he didn’t say exactly, but he did mention something about security. Anyway, he helped find a mechanic who could mend the broken mirror fitting, and at the same time we had a few other adjustments made.
Our hotel, the Kamran, was basic, but only €10 per night for the room, so no complaints. Dinner in another local eatery, hidden up some very steep stairs before bed.
Tue 20 May
This was a big day in terms of distances. The southern road to Skardu was closed, 😢 so we had to retrace our steps from yesterday and take the northern route. Got on road early and made good time back to Karakoram Highway.
Breakfast on route and then the long slog to Skardu. Excellent road with little traffic and ever more amazing scenery. It is impossible to do justice to the scenery with words; the mountains are immense and every bend in the road give on to a whole new vista. And way below us, the mighty Indus flows on.
At one point we stop at a view point where apparently the three ranges, Himalayas, Karakoram, and the Hindu Kush meet. I don’t know how true this is, but the direction in which they lay was indicated by some arrows on a sculpture, we thought.
We stopped at the Shangri-la Resort, that Luka was very keen on. At the gate, it was pandemonium; cars were stopped every which way, and people were milling about like a flock of frightened sheep. We were accosted by a Christian pastor from Peshawar, who didn’t seem to think this was the place for us! We agreed and headed off to Skardu, about 20 km further.Skardu is a dusty strip of a town on its western end. Traffic is the usual chaos. With some difficulty find a hotel – Arcadia Resort. This was expensive in comparison to previous lodgings, at €30 per night, but as this included breakfast, and supposedly had hot water, apart from the fact that they weren’t overly friendly, no complaints.
As it turned out, they were a bit too friendly!
Belfast-2-Belfast-By-Bike 