A boat ride on Upper Kachura lake. — Photos: NG AI LEE
We sat cross-legged on a kaleidoscope of brightly coloured rugs, around a crackling wood fire in the family living room. Pictures of the late Benazir Bhutto, the former prime minister of Pakistan, decorate the home – such is the esteem in which they hold her. Outside, the temperature had dropped to a frigid 2°C but the heartfelt welcome we were enjoying from the host family warmed us thoroughly.
We were at Sajeed Saleem’s home in Ghulkin village in Gojal, Upper Hunza Valley for dinner. Honestly, I had not expected to be invited to the tour guide’s private home, to meet his immediate and extended family. When I read that the tour programme included a local dinner, I had half-expected a professional, glitzy event at a showy cultural centre with all the bells and whistles. But this is classic Hunza hospitality, the real deal according to Iman Rahim, our tour leader.
Today, travelling encompasses more than just taking in the breathtaking sights of which Gilgit-Baltistan, the northern region of Pakistan, has been blessed in gigantic proportions. “We want our travellers to meet our people for an authentic experience, to see how we cook, where we eat, sleep, and live,” explained Iman.
Young children’s giggles broke through the conversations in the living room. In they trooped, eight young children shyly breaking into a song and dance to welcome 16 Malaysians who had travelled days to reach their home. Sajeed’s cousin gave a short welcome speech and then dinner was served – delicious fare that the family had been preparing over their wood-fire stove during the day – biryani, roti, noodles, curries, lentils and desserts.
Some of the local women who shared their stories with the Malaysian tourists.
I was interested to learn that among the huge group that gathered was a 14-year-old Afghan teenager, Niso. She is one of 28 children from the Wakhan corridor, an area between Gilgit-Baltistan and Afghanistan that has a punishing terrain. Nothing grows there, and life is difficult.
Niso and the others share a sad, similar tale: impoverished families where their fathers spend hours smoking opium rather than work. Without education, the threat of the same vicious fate awaiting the children in adulthood is real.
Iman, who is no stranger to a life filled with adversity, galvanised the community of Ghulkin village and offered a lifeline for these children to escape from their dire circumstances. Niso’s parents are thankful to Iman and his people for offering to educate the children at the community’s schools.
“Niso is illiterate but she is brave. She does not mind putting in the hours to learn. We want these children to be equipped with the necessary life skills before returning to their villages. A couple of years ago, we successfully trained a young man who eventually returned to Wakhan as a teacher,” explained Iman.
“I’ve known hardship since Year 7 (around 11 years old) when my mother passed away and my father remarried,” he reminisced. Iman described how he and his two sisters were kicked out of the family home, and sent away to live with his mother’s relatives.
After years of toiling for his uncle, Iman finally got a break. His ventures took off and today, he is the owner of Hunza Discovery tours and Borith Lake hotel, a boutique property on the shores of Borith Lake, a saline lake about 3km from the Passu Glacier viewpoint, and opposite the stone hut where he was born; a grim reminder of his humble beginnings.
“Everyone needs a break, and if God puts me in a position where I can offer others a lifeline – I’d do it without hesitation,” Iman shared. For a whole week, we endured an arduous trip along the 1,300km-long Karakoram Highway, travelling for hours on end. As we drove away from the medieval city of Lahore and made our way deep into the Karakoram Highway, incredible vistas, majestic, soaring rock cliffs and peaks welcomed us.
Hiking is a must when you visit Gilgit-Baltistan in Pakistan.
Our destination was Gilgit-Baltistan, specifically Skardu and Hunza Valley – an area speculated to be part of the fictional “Shangri-La” referred to in James Hilton’s 1933 novel Lost Horizon. Gilgit-Baltistan is an administrative region of Pakistan and home to three great mountain ranges: the Himalayas, the Karakoram and the Hindukush. The meeting point of the three is in Jaglot, Skardu.
Unique landscapes, cold deserts, snow-capped mountains, several glaciers, even K2, K4, K5 and Nanga Parbat aka the “Killer Mountain” are here. Many have compared its beauty to the Swiss Alps.
The writer in front of Passu Cones.
But for me, the most beautiful part of the trip was the evening spent in Sajeed’s home where the thriving human spirit stands taller than the peaks that surround Hunza Valley.
The views expressed are entirely the reader’s own.
