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I arrived in Gilgit, the capital of Pakistan Northern Areas, full of good feelings about the country and its wonderful people. Pakistan had not disapointed so far, but I was sure that the mountainous north, which I had heard so much about, would be a let down. First night in the hotel, I met Michael (Chitral) and James (Shiraz), the only Irishmen I had met since Sarajevo. We were all keen to see Nanga Parbat, the Killer Mountain, from the popular Fairy Meadows trek. With the Islamic holy month of Ramazan almost upon us, we set off.

Heaven and Hell

Conor_purcell
2005-11-18 13:44:09

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this perfectly.

Because the Northern Areas are a part of Kashmir, the Pakistani government does not recognise it as a province, because in doing so, they would have to recognise Indian occupied Kashmir as a seperate province. This leaves the Northern Areas in limbo - for example, the people, having fought hard to join Pakistan after partition, are now unable to vote in national elections. The result is increasing civil unrest in Gilgit in particular. This, coupled with Shia/Sunni tensions, has resulted in many disturbances in the past. However, the day we arrived in Karimabad, all hell broke loose in Gilgit. It would be wrong for me to write what I 'heard' here, as details have been sketchy - but there's no doubt that dozens were killed in the street shoot-outs that erupted. James was trapped in his hotel for 5 days before finally escaping with the help of a police escort, while we waited up in Karimabad.

This has been a difficult one to write, since my time in Northern Pakistan was totally over-shadowed by these two events. I've received a few Private Meassages from people urging me to go out and 'help' with the relief effort. Well, every NGO worker I've met has told me to stay right away, I'd only be getting in the way - they don't need bakers, they need tents! So I tried to enjoy Karimabad as best I could, but unfortunately, I fell ill with Giardiasis - that's the one with the 'eggy' burps. My plans to head further north to Passu were disrupted, then the weather turned bad, and the road

south was blocked thanks to events in Gilgit. Then, I got a chance, a bus was heading all the way to Rawalpindi, by-passing Gilgit, did I want to take it? I was still not feeling great, but I decided to risk it, and a 22-hour bus journey later, I was back in Rawalpindi.

What more to write? I met Chris, another NGO worker, who told me the Pakistanis are on top of this one, and from what I've seen, he's right. We passed through Manseira, totally flattened, on the way down, and the place was buzzing, lots of reconstruction work going on. And that's all I can say about it. For those hoping for an eye-witness report of the earthquake, I'm sorry to disappoint, but you probably saw more than me.

I'm in Lahore now, commuting between here and Islamabad as I wait for my Indian visa. It's a great city, with a couple of amazing sights, and in a way, I feel like I'm already in India. 60 years ago I would have been, and the border is only 30km east. So near and yet so far. Till next time.......