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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.<br />

Heaven and Hell

Conor Meleady
2006-02-28 08:39:28

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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.

After a hairy jeep-ride, and a 3 hour walk, we arrived, huffing and puffing, at the campsite, with a great view of the massive right in front of us. 3 nights were spent at the site, with day walks to the base camp, and another up the ridge of an adjacent mountain, all with incredible views. Already I knew I had been wrong - I'd never seen mountains like this before, and can't imagine I ever will again.

Nanga Parbat is the western anchor of the Himalayas, and is rising faster than any other area in the range, meaning some day (if this From the south, on Fairy Meadows trek. Somewhere in the foreground, the Indian sub-continent is crashing into the Eurasian platetrend continues) in the distant future it will overtake Kanchenjunga, K2, and eventually Everest, as the worlds tallest. It is 7 verticle kilometres from the summit to the Indus River gorge, the highest elevation difference on earth. Quite a ight. The local shepherds have monopoly on transport and accomodation, the Nanga Parbat Mafia - they burned out a proposed rival hotel a couple of years back.

We arrived back in Gilgit, with Ramazan now in full swing, intending to head over to Baltistan, to try and get a glimpse of K2. The morning before our proposed departure, I was buying a wooly hat and gloves in the bazaar, when a strange, rubbery feeling in the ground struck us. The shop ownder and his son ran out of the shop, and I wasn't ...