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Saxon
Karakorum Expedition
Chilas-Skardu,
6/27/01
Today
we passed the second part on the Karakoram
highway to Skardu, the last town on our way. We
had to master several obstacles....
We
could not take all of our luggage from Islamabad
yesterday, because there was not enough space in
our bus. It should be transported by another car
that should meet us in Chilas. However, it did
not arrived this morning, yet. So we hoped it
will arrive in Skardu and started at 5.40 a.m.
from Chilas. On the first kilometers, we already
viewed some highlights. E.g., the Rakhiot site
of the Nanga Parbat, which towers above the
Karakorum Highway by more than 7000 (!) meters.
Some
kilometers later, the confluence of the Indus
with the river Hunza marks one of the most
important geographic points of Asia. At this
spot, the three highest mountain ranges on Earth
meet each other: Himalaya (max. elevation:
8850m, Mount Everest), Karakorum (max.
elevation: 8611m, K2) and Hindukush (max.
elevation: knapp 7690m, Tirich Mir) . This spot,
called "Junction Point", is something
like a place of pilgrimage.
A
little later, we left the Karakorum Highway and
follow the river Indus through giant gorges
toward Skardu. The road is even smaller and more
spectacular than the KKH and rock falls occur
more often. And one of these rock falls we see
shortly later. Luckily, the road has been
already closed and workers do controlled rock
falls 50m above the road. Thereafter, the road
remains closed for 2 hours and the rocks are
removed with simple technical aids. Finally, we
arrive at Skardu, where the rest of our
equipment also arrives in the evening.
Tomorrow,
we will do last shopping and distribute our
equipment for the carry men [Porters] with 25kg
each and continue our way by Jeep to Askole.
Markus
Walter
Chilas
- Askole, 6/29/01.
Today
is our last day on 4 wheels. We wanted to start
at 5.00 a.m., however it took until 5.40 a.m.
until the Jeeps were departing. In the
beginning, the roads were quiet good until
Shigar, the last great village on our way.
Behind Shigar, the piste became more and more
adventurous. High above the wild river Braldu,
there is a narrow way with small bridges over
tributaries of the Braldu.
On
the left and right handside of the Braldu
valley, we saw the first snowy mountains. At
noon, we arrived at the small village Dassu,
where Sirdar Salman Ali comes from. He took the
opportunity to visit his family and to invite us
to his home. The boss is still his mother who
cares for the 16 children.
After
some hours, we had to stop at a small hanging bridge.
It busted under the heavy weight of our first Jeep and
a large hole remained. Because there was no material
for repair, our team fixed the damage with large
stones and remains of wood. And about 30 min later,
the next jeep could cross the bridge.
At
another river, we had to stop again. In the morning,
the rivers have low water, but in the afternoon when
the sun smelts snow, there is high water that makes a
passage by jeeps impossible. Therefore, we needed to
unload the jeeps and carry all the equipment over a
small foot-bridge. On the other side, we had to load
all jeeps again.
Finally,
we arrived at Askole. Here, we do the final
preparations for the distribution of our equipment to
our carry men [porters]. Tomorrow morning, we have the
first real trekking part. We will need about 6 hours
by feet from Askole to Jola.
