Karakoram

From Islamabad we went north like Ammon said. Speeding along dark mountain roads, nearly tipping on every turn. It was quite a sight to see Ammon stretched out on the back bench just trying not to fall off as it was he cut his head on the roof! It's a wonder we ever made the whole journey in one piece. I can definately see how trucks, buses etc. can fall off the road to their doom and if you read the news it isn't all that uncommon either. It was a torturous 19 hour, bumpy bus ride to Gilgit, the main town along the Karakoram highway. They regularly have landslides blocking the road as the mountains constantly try to reclaim the road that was forcibly blasted through its domain. Earthquakes are also very common up here as you may remember last year's disaster. We aren't in that area so can't make any comments on it. From Gilgit we immediately took a minibus 3 hours up the road to Karimabad in the Hunza valley, considered by many to be the most beautiful place along the Karakoram. We have been staying here for the past week enjoying the fresh air and mountain scenery from our hotel room while playing our ongoing card game, "daifugo". We are always checking the thermometer to make sure that it's really 20C and not freezing because we're SO cold! Pretty whimpy, eh? We're all bundled up in our fleece. Yesterday we went on a 5 hour round trip hike up 3,000 ft through a steep canyon to see a glacial ice fall. At 10,000 ft and having not hiked for 6 months we impressed ourselves with how tough we still are. We witnessed a small rockslide that fell after we had passed. It definately woke us up and gave us a reality check. It was loud, at first we didn't know if it was a small earthquake or an odd thunderstorm. Kinda freaky!! The scenerey is great and we'll be here a few more days. I am REALLY not looking forward to that ride back to Islamabad. Cross your fingers!!
YEAH! Anyways, it's our year anniversary and we are all SHOCKED at how fast time flies when you're having a good time! We miss everyone, especially Sky!
Savannah