Jun 22, 2005 - Skardu

The journey to Skardu is the best thing about the place. It tracks the roaring Indus river upstream through glorious gorges and across dramatic suspension bridges. I nearly lost my backpack (tied not very tightly to the roof) to the river at one point: luckily, one of the passengers noticed it dangling from the rack before it could fall. The trip back to Gilgit is more terrifying, since they drive on the left and the road hugs the right bank of the river, with the minibus travelling too close to the edge of the narrow road for my...

Jun 16, 2004 - Skardu

I left the climbers at the airport to head for a different hotel: The Indus Motel. Seemed that every foreigner at the airport and in Skardu was either a trekker or climber. With this being the 50th anniversary of the first ascent of K2 by the Italians many trekkers and climbers were hoped for and expected for. I learnt that Waljis, the largest tour operator in Pakistan had installed permanent camps at all of the camps on the route to K2 base camp. This would later come in handy for us. As I went for a stroll in the evening I came across a...