Day 153 Saturday 17 February, 2007 Swat to Abbottabad, NWFP, Pakistan

After admiring the view over the Swat from the Rock city, we drive back down the valley having abandoned the idea of the Shang La pass shortcut to the Karakoram. All goes well until we get stuck in a line of trucks going nowhere near the Malakand Pass. One truck driver suggests we try an alternative route so we follow other cars along some backroads. However at one point the road is largely washed away leaving only a small area to get thru. The ute in front piled up with wardrobes lurches across and manages to get the wardrobes caught in a tree. Eventually after much pushing and pulling it gets free but we think the wardrobe might be a bit unsteady with a broken leg.

We climb and descend the pass without further incident and make for Thakt-i’Bhai, site a Unesco World Heritage site we missed on the way up. Its a Buddhist monastery started in 1C BC with extensive ruins. Leaving the main road we pass thru a village but unfortunately about 500m short of the carpark the road is blocked by a bogged Cox&Kings tour bus, half submerged in mud. A guy with a tractor trying to pull it out suggests making a track for us but the prospect of being bogged too, coupled with our limited amount of time means that we look at the ruins from a distance and the photos in the guide book. Then we press on to Abbottabad on the Karakorum which we reach at about 6pm. We find the recommended hotel after several fruitless attempts but decide its too grotty so select upon a brand new place just outside the town, much cheaper and far cleaner.

Distance today 307km; Total distance 22,715km