Day 155 Monday 19 February 2007 Besham to Gilgit, Pakistan

Another early start, the rain has cleared and there’s blue sky and fresh snow on the tops of the mountains surrounding Besham as we head north up the KKH. The first 120km are thru the Indus Gorge which has cut a 5000m swathe between the mountains of the western Himalayas and the Hindu Kush. The gorge is pretty impressive but still not up to Tibetan standards in terms of sheerness or scale and the roads not that scary, even I1 manages to drive it. We skirt around Nangar Pathat, 8,125m, reputed the largest mountain in the world which blocks the Indus’s southward flow and emerge from the gorge at Chilas, home of some of the most notorious tribesmen of the region. However they all smile and wave, drive very politely and don’t wave their guns around too much. Periodically we stop to fill in the visitors book at police check points where we are greeted with handshakes and cups of tea. I2 sensibly stays in the car as there are few, like no, women to be seen anywhere in this region. It's interesting to reflect that aside from the few luxury hotels we occasionally steal ourselves to patronise, and one border officer, we have not had any encounters with women working in hotels, restaurants, shops or offices, petrol stations or tourist sites since we got to the sub continent. In fact in Pakistan we have hardly seen any women at all, although this changes as we head north into the Hunza region.

By early evening we reach Gilgit and check into the Serena Hotel which is very comfortable despite the electricity going off and on like a whore’s drawers on payday.
Distance today 333km; Total distance 23,198km