The day off in Karimabad was well spent mainly between visiting the old Baltit Fort sitting atop the city and also just relaxing with beautiful valley views
The steep alleys in Karimabad up to Baltit Fort
View from the top of Baltit Fort
I set off early (by my standards) from Karimabad as it was a 200km trip down the KKH to the next accommodation; a place by the highway just next to a petrol station.
There was a town nearby called Chilas but I was advised to take Babusar Pass for which the turnoff was just before Chilas. So why go further to the town if I didn’t need to
The ride itself was quite nice with a few points of interest well signposted that made for some nice sightseeing.
The sacred Hunza Rocks that I had accidentally ridden past the previous day that I came back to see
They contain graffiti from the days of the Old Silk Road
I travel the new Silk Road with the Old Silk Road carved high in the hillside above me (can you spot it?)
How tough it must have been
I was starting to get a little hungry too but passing through small towns couldn’t quite decide on a café that looked good enough to not blow my stomach to bits.
As I was passing through one small town, I saw many small trucks selling bananas. I stopped to ask how much for one and the guy was a little lost for words after I clarified I just wanted one banana, not one dozen. So, he gave me two free bananas; free lunch!
Ok I'll look to my right
But then suddenly the road completely disappeared! I had been told that the road gets a little worse before Chilas but the KKH went from being a buttery smooth road to the usual rocks and sand that I’ve gotten used to slowly crawling over
As I got to the petrol station that I needed to fill up before he turn off to Babusar Pass, the hotels that I had thought would be there, weren’t; it was literally a bunch of small shops along the main road and nothing else
Onwards to Chilas it is I guess
When I got to the turn off, there was a large police checkpoint who wanted to know why I was going to Chilas. I told them I just needed a place to sleep for the night and asked if there was any other alternatives around. There wasn’t.
They told me to check back in with them on my way out the next morning.
As I got into Chilas, it seemed like a quiet little town and I turned into the first guesthouse on the left and got a decent enough room down from 2500PKR to 2000PKR. It had air conditioning but sadly no hot shower.
Normally I never watch TV but for some reason I turned the TV on and across all channels was the breaking news of the Pakistani Prime Ministers return from a speech at the UN General Assembly about the changes India had recently made in the disputed territory of Kashmir.
Although I’m an Australian citizen, my background is Indian and through all my years of travelling to the corners of the world, for the first time, I felt uneasy about where I was. It doesn’t take long for people to figure out my Indian heritage, a question I’d already been asked many times since entering the country (and slightly made more confusing by having an Islamic first name despite not being so)
I ordered some daal and rice from the kitchen in the hotel and the guy was kind enough to make it for me and bring it to my room. As I ate, I was craving a can of Sprite but I just felt uneasy going out into the town at night. The guy from the kitchen sent out for one but couldn’t find one.
I shrugged it off and went to sleep.
The following morning, I had a quick breakfast and hit the road. Just outside the town there was a sign for some ancient rock carvings.
I pulled over to look at them and as I was walking around trying to find them a Pakistani guide who was leading a Japanese woman explained to me that a lot of the carvings had been destroyed or painted over as the people of the village still lived by Taliban ideologies.
Suddenly it all started to fall into place.
iOverlander only mentioned two hotels in town (which I saw after Id already checked into the guesthouse) and both had comments that these were the only ones deemed safe by the army.
Since I’d arrived last night all the men Id seen had been dressed in a very conservative manner unlike the more relaxed culture further north. Women were nowhere to be seen and in general the town had a vibe to it that I didn’t feel safe going out even for a can of Sprite.
And there it as in front of me now, ancient rock carvings painted over with an ubiquitous black flag. It was time to get the hell out of here.
It was only when I met another rider, Marko (with whom I’d had contact on social media and knew he was coming the other way), that I started learning more like the fact that Chilas was one of the last places the Taliban had “officially” been pushed out of.
And then when I next got Internet and met a Malaysian rider, I found out that there had been multiple murders of tourists and less conservative Muslims in the town and the hills surrounding it.
The Malaysian rider coming the other way had also been advised by police to stay away from Chilas.
Of all the nights I could pick to stay in a Taliban town it had to be the night where Pakistani patriotism was running high against its mortal enemy; my place of birth…
Pakistan is a beautiful country and I’ve experienced great hospitality from the people I’ve met but I just need to keep moving through which saddens me