As part of my (last minute) plan to stay at Fairy Meadows, I was up at first light so that I could hike to the jeep track, and then reach my bike by ~9:30AM, enjoy some breakfast, and then set off.

It was freezing when I woke up. I have not really awoken in such cold before (the fire in my room had gone out way too soon, and the heat had not been insulated). I also did not have any warm clothes (besides my parka, which I did not wear to sleep), as I had been planning for a quick hike up, down, and then sleeping at the hotel in Raikot. After 10 more mins staying within the warmth of the bed, I got up, quickly got dressed, snapped a photo of Nanga Parbat, and headed out the door.

Early morning view of Nanga Parbat

The hike down to the jeep track was an incredible experience.

Morning walk through the woods

The early morning sun lit up the opposite Hindu Kush range and Nanga Parbat with a pinkish orange light, and only thing that could be heard was the rush of the river below.

Hindu Kush in the distance

It was also quite easy being a downhill 6km walk. I was at the first Jeep checkpoint by 7:45, right on schedule. Only issue was that the place was deserted. After a few loud hello’s, a driver in the village noticed and came running over.

It was schooltime, and we passed a few groups of children walking to the next village for class.

I felt a bit guilty about the next leg, the trip from the village of Tattu to Raikot. Here, my driver from yesterday had agreed to wait for me until 5pm. I had let him know that I wouldn’t be leaving until the following morning at ~3PM, so i guess he had changed his plans and slept in the village waiting for me. When greeting him as he emerged from the tent, i led with an apology, which diffused the situation somewhat.

I was back at Raikot by 9:30, and I was greeted by two familiar travellers! The German engineering couple that I had met in Nalter. They had caught up, and had stayed in the hotel I left my bike at.

I had a leisurely breakfast, and was joined by them for some coffee later (i was proudly showing off my bean selection and my travel coffee set up).

I did not start riding until ~11am, a fairly late start for the route I had planned.

Today’s route in blue

The road surface for the rest of the trip was asphalt, but with rough patches and water running across the surface here and there. I has a few memorable interactions along the way;

• a petrol station attendant jokingly tried to give me less change
• a soldier wanted me to take photos with him
• a police officer thought it would be a good idea to go through all my photos from Australia, and explain them to him one by one

Petrol station attendant tries to recover by asking for a selfie

Soldier asking me for a photo. I asked if I could try his gun out and his boss refused.

I reached the main event of today’s ride by 2PM: Babusar Top. This was a mountain pass at ~4200asl, which formed the border between Gilgit Baltistan and KPK states. It was also the most touristic place I had been, and I was surrounded by throngs of people asking if I was a vlogger, and also for a photo. The pass was the coldest it had been on my entire trip (while on my bike), with the temp meter measuring -1 degrees.

Me and the Lahore tourist gang

Winding roads to Babusar Top

The afternoon ride to the town of Naran continued to be cold, following the valley. There were frequent overflows of water onto the road.

Lake at Baikal

Road through the Naran Valley

I stopped riding when I saw a new looking hotel in Naran. They were discounting aggressively vs the market rate, and I gave them a lowball which they accepted. I should have realised at this point that I had been “selected” (as in, a victim of adverse selection; the price i got was not necessarily “good” as I had thought, but more a reflection of the hidden reasons why the hotel was bad that i had not noticed).

A few of the issues:

• The hotel was full of dust and unclean (it was under construction)
• The room had not been properly cleaned, and staff entered with their shoes on without realising why this was an issue
• The rooms did not have any heating, which i didn’t realise until it was too late
• Staff just did not have a basic concept of hygiene under control. - When i asked for a kettle, what I received had a black burned clump in the middle (someone had tried to cook something in the kettle evidently). They did not understand why this was an issue. That being said, the staff were meaning and really tried. Pakistan has a long way to go in hospitality (at least in the way of cleanliness) before it can meet a minimum standard for most travellers. In their defence, it is a pretty similar situation across the rest of central asia and rural China too.

Tomorrow; Islamabad!

Some stats:

• 184 KM travelled
• 13.8L fuel added
• 35g coffee consumed
• 12 unique interactions

Part 2 route progress

Complete route to date