Breakdown

Above:  Meeting point of the Hindu Kush, Karakoram and Himalaya ranges, and the Gilgit and Indus rivers.

Driving to Karimabad

Today, we drive to Karimabad in Hunza.  With a reasonably long day ahead, we needed an earlier start that the previous days.  Unfortunately, the hotel buffet breakfast was running late.  However, it was worth the wait as they gave us the yummiest and freshest paratha we had eaten to date on the trip.

We eventually departed at 0815.  The drive to join the Karakoram Highway hugged the Indus River.  On our left side, Ashfaq pointed out some holes in the cliff.  We could see items, perhaps bags, of the workmen who are there to mine for gemstones. They cross the deep ravine on cables.  Life is hard here!

About 4h30 later, we joined the Karakoram Highway and took a stop at a spot nearby where three mountain ranges and two rivers met.  That’s the Hindu Kush, Karakoram and Himalaya ranges, and the Gilgit and Indus rivers.  It wasn’t particularly scenic but very significant geographically.

We could see excavators working in the river.  Ashfaq said they are operated by Chinese, looking for gold.

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We took lunch not far away from there.  As on some other days, M had made lunch from the hotel breakfast and didn’t join us even though we often order vegetarian meals.  But she’s happy to mop up our leftover sauces with our leftover bread afterwards.

The Invincible Prado

We continued our drive north on the Karakoram Highway about 1400.  After about 15 mins later, the Prado gave a shudder seemingly from the gearbox and we lost mechanical and electrical power.  [Edit: We learnt later that the engine had seized and would cost a maximum of PKR201500 (NZD1300) to fix.  We saw videos of the process.]

We tried pushing the car and rolling it down a hill to restart it but it was all in vain.

While waiting for our options, we killed time by counting how many cars that passed weren’t Toyotas.  Nearly all were, and nearly all motorcycles were Hondas.  It is quite an irony that the seemingly invincible Prado had broken down.

I messaged Nasir and he organised someone to come from Gilgit to collect us.  Ashfaq stayed with the Prado so that it could be towed away for repair.

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About 1h30 after the car stopped, we had a Toyota Corolla turn up, driven by Nasir’s nephew Faisal.  We transferred our luggage from the Prado and squeezed into the Corolla.

It wasn’t as spacious in terms of luggage and passenger room but we were grateful that the breakdown had only slowed us down by about 1h30.  It could have been far worse.  Imagine if we had broken down on the Deosai Plateau!

Continuing to Karimabad

On the drive to Karimabad, Faisal pointed out the remains of the Old Silk Road elevated on the left-hand side of the hillside.  We also took a comfort stop at some eateries from which we could look up at gorgeous snowy mountains.

Scenery at our comfort stop.

It was dark by the time we reached Karimabad at 1845, staying at the Al Baraka Hotel.  We took a light dinner at a nearby restaurant, seated in the cold outdoor area at an elevation of about 8200 ft.

We ate quickly and returned back to the hotel.  There is no power supply to the sockets during the day but only from 1900 to 0000.  We promptly put our devices on charge and I made our plans for the upcoming days.

We learnt that the Prado would not be returning to our service and we would have Faisal and the Corolla for the remainder of our trip.  Worse things can happen.  C’est la vie!