After spending some time in Lahore and Islamabad, i continued my way up north.
What should come next was the best part of the whole trip. The famous Karakoram Highway, completed in 1979 with a total length of 1300km the KKH is a highway along the mighty Indus river, surrounded by 3 massive mountain ranges, Hindukush, Karakoram and Himalaya. It has been built to connect Pakistan and China.



What looked like a very nice highway in the first few km,



...turned soon into even more fun
















Nice clean blue glacier water flowing into the mighty Indus river, KKH Pakistan


Short 40km escort because "there are many murderers!"


Landslides happen on a daily basis, KKH, Northern Pakistan


Water brings life, nice green valley at the Indus river, KKH, Northern Pakistan


Beautiful mountains, KKH, Northern Pakistan


Happy kids near Hunza Valley, Northern Pakistan



Phenomenal view of the Hunza Valley from Eagles nest viewpoint


Reaching Ladyfingers (a mountain shaped like a ladyfinger) Basecamp


Baltit Fort, Hunza, Northern Pakistan

I could think of a worse place to have some for my birthday. With a lot of Chinese booze and some nice Pakistani friends i spent the night on the helipad of the Prince of Hunza. Living most of my life in urban areas, i think I've never really seen the star sky before. No lights around would disturb that view, i tried to make a good picture for hours, but was unable to capture the beauty of the night :/



After Iran i thought people could impossibly get even more friendly, the Pakistani proved me wrong. As soon as i entered the mountainous area, i could not pay for anything anymore. If i stopped somewhere for food, even the person that invited me did not pay the bill. It was the Friend of the unknown person that paid for both of us. Being very confused someone explained me they all think like that: "A friend of my friend is also my friend"...

One day i stopped somewhere on the road to change my riding gear (temperatures go up and down, had to get rid of my thermo underwear), a Pakistani motorbike gang came along and reallllly wanted to do something nice for me. But there was no food place or anything, so they insisted to give me money. I was not able to refuse. There are not many foreigners around these days, i guess they were really happy to see me there.

Another day...
...yes, could tell a dozen more stories about the hospitality over there, but let's continue with some more pictures...


Approaching the Attabad Lake (Hunza Lake), 9km North of Karimabad, Northern Pakistan


Leaving the passanger landing dock, Attabad Lake, Northern Pakistan


The Attabad lake is the result of a natural desaster about 3 years ago.
What Wikipedia says:

Getting my bike on the boat was hard work and quite a bit tricky, but look at that car! Some guy told me there are already 10 cars on the bottom of this lake, i was not surprised!


"Passu Cathedral" they call this mountain. This is my personal favorite picture i think, but standing/riding there was even better. The Chinese put some fresh nice tarmac on the other side of the lake.


On the way to the highest border crossing in the world @4700m


China showing off, i would assume the border is exactly where the tarmac starts

I should write a bit more about my carb problems, but have to go now. maybe next time. cheers.


China (3 days)
Kyrgyzstan (7 days)
Kazhachstan (8 days)
Russia (6 days)
Mongolia (15 days)
Russia (11 days)

__________________
www.1world2go.com
www.advmotostickers.com