The glacier in Passu Cones. — Photos: HUANG NINGSHAN
Long entrancing hikes. Breathtaking views. Nights spent outside, looking at the stars in the cold, biting air. The kind of stuff you’d expect to do on vacation in the mountains.
It was certainly not a holiday for the unfit or those who prefer big cities, shopping malls and theme parks. There were none of those. We were lucky if we had hot water. Definitely not for those who need their creature comforts.
In May this year, my family and I, along with some family friends, took a two-week trip to Passu Cones, a village in northern Pakistan, in the mesmerising mountains of Hunza Valley.
We were fortunate to have a well-connected Pakistani friend, who organised everything from accommodations to transport, and even the guides. We were initially supposed to go earlier, but we had to postpone the trip to two weeks later because there were some conflicts happening in Pakistan at the time, and it would have been dangerous for us to be there. If we had committed to the initial travel dates, we might have been confined to the hotel the whole time.
When we arrived in Lahore, the capital of Pakistan, we went straight to the hotel, which was not up to my expectations. It was not the most well-maintained place and had a strong smell of (cigarette) smoke in the rooms. I also had to sleep on a mattress on the floor because I shared a room with my parents. Fun if you’re a six-year-old kid; not so fun for a 16-year-old.
Lahore was experiencing a heatwave, where the average temperature was 40°C, and we were advised to stay indoors as much as possible. We were warned beforehand, though, so we knew it would be hot, but nothing could have prepared us for that heat.
It wasn’t like Malaysia, where it’s hot but humid. It was extremely dry, and just pure scorching hot. It felt like I was in an oven – I couldn’t wait to go to the highlands where things were cooler.
While in Lahore, we went to the Lahore Museum (what else would it be called?), where there were a lot of exhibits, but it wasn’t really my type of museum. It was more of an art museum – I would have preferred a natural history museum.
I was also a bit put off by the number of locals staring at our group because we were tourists. They were gawking as if we were exotic animals in a zoo. It was a tad unnerving.
Two days later, we made our way to Islamabad to catch a flight to Skardu in Hunza Valley. I expected Islamabad to be as hot as Lahore, not realising that the city bordered the mountains. It was much cooler. From a temperature of between 37°C and 40°C, things went down to between 27°C and 34°C.
The flight to Skardu was one of the most breathtaking flights I had ever been on. As I looked out the window, I felt like I could reach out and touch the peaks of the mountains. It looked like something I’d only ever seen in movies.
We spent three days in Shigar, where we did three hikes. The first was the hardest, as I wasn’t prepared for the steepness of the mountains. And because my nose was so dry, I even had a nosebleed that morning.
The view of a mountain from a village in Karakoram. — Photos: HUANG NINGSHAN
The men who hosted the writer and her family during their brief visit to the village.
The second hike was better. I got to jump over stones and splash through water, which I really enjoyed. And on the third day, we walked through a village, and we saw a lot of yaks, which the people in Hunza rear for milk and wool.
While it wasn’t hot in the mountains, the sun rays were punishing and every day we had to be diligent with sun protection, wearing sunscreens, hats, and light jackets.
In the village, we met a lot of locals but they were quite reserved and shied away from us when we tried to take pictures. But they loved my uncle, who’d brought a drone along. He was like the Pied Piper, with all the kids following him around because of his drone.
There was also tea. Lots and lots of tea, which they call “chai”. I’d hazard a guess that every day there were about two or three tea stops. My chai-loving mum enjoyed it.
After Shigar, we went to Passu Cones, and this was the coldest place I’ve ever been to in my life. According to the weather app, the temperature was below 10°C during the nights, even going sub-zero at times.
I was freezing!
At Passu Cones, we drove up the mountains, and we were looking for the ibex, a species of wild goat. We were pretty amused when the driver spotted a herd of them without even trying, while we couldn’t spot any.
Since we were pretty high up, we had to stop a few times along the way as we needed to slowly acclimatise. At some point, light snow started to fall. It was my first time seeing and experiencing snow. As expected, I loved it.
A lovely Pakistani couple the writer and her group met while walking.
Before long, we reached the top, where we went out of our vehicle and started walking in the freezing cold. Then, there was a blizzard. The snow came at us hard and fast when we were walking to the Pakistan-China border, so we had to turn back and return to our bus. The temperature during the blizzard had dropped to sub-zero levels; I almost couldn’t believe it.
Still, I was amazed by the blizzard, even though I was freezing and couldn’t wait to get back into the warm bus.
After a few days in Passu, we returned to Lahore. The flight back wasn’t as inspiring as the flight to Skardu, because it wasn’t such a clear day. However, it was nice all the same, and I’ll always remember it.
We stayed another day or two in Lahore, before flying back to Malaysia. I really enjoyed the trip, but being home was also great – I couldn’t wait to sleep in my own room, on my bed.
Given the chance, I would definitely go back to Hunza Valley, but maybe with a little less hiking.
The views expressed are entirely the writer’s own.
