KARAKORAM HIGH WAY

Silk Route - a fairy tale like travelers' dream route from Central Asia to the rest of the world. It existed as trade link between the East and the West around 100 BC and lasted until the 15th Century, when with the invention of ships, the trade became more cheaper and easier than the rugged mountains through which the Silk Route passed. Since mostly the traders from the West imported the Chinese silk, the route became to be known as the Silk Route. Besides trade, the route was also used by the explorers, invaders, missionaries and philosophers.. Buddhism, Islam and Christianity mainly came to this region through this trade linking route. The Zero Point of the route started from Xian in China through the great Gobi Desert to Dunhuang, where it bifurcated via Taklamakan Desert to Kashgar and through Yarkand to Kashgar.
It is from Kashgar that it entered the subcontinent over the Pamirs and the Karakoram Mountains. China and Pakistan became long time strategic friends when President Ayub Khan of Pakistan visited China in 1964 and soon both great countries realized that a north - south link from China to the Arabian Sea can become a reality with the revival of the old Silk Route. Thus in 1966, Pakistan and China agreed to construct the KKH - the Karakoram Highway. The KKH has opened up remote villages where little has changed in hundreds of years, where farmers irrigate tiny terraces to grow small patches of wheat, barely or maize that stand out like emeralds against the grey, stony mountains. One of the workers narrates an interesting anecdote about the remoteness of the area. When after lot of difficulties, a Pakistan Army jeep managed to reach a so far inaccessible village, a villager ran and brought a vase full of water and placed under the front of the jeep. When asked what he was doing, the villager innocently replied, "Sahib, your animal must be thirsty."

kkh map

kkhThe 1300 kilometres (800 miles) long KKH, or the N-5, originates from Hassan Abdal, a place some 45 kilometres from Islamabad on the Islamabad - Peshawar Highway, goes through Abbotabad, Manshera, crosses the River Indus at Thakot, on to Gilgit (through Besham, Pattan and Sazin) and then to Chilas, Hunza and Sost before crossing the Khunjerab Pass at the height of some 4800 metres (15,750ft) - the Zero Point between Pakistan and China. It then enters the high Central Asian plateau before winding down through the Pamirs to Kashgar, at the western edge of the Taklamakan Desert. It is a marvel of human endurance, ingenuity and determination. Both Pakistani and Chinese workers and engineers worked day and night over some of the most formidable and inaccessible mountain ranges of the world, with deep gorges and torrential Indus running along the track with its full might. The Indus River flows northwest, dividing the Himalaya from the Karakoram. The KKH runs along the Indus for 310 kilometres of its climb north, winding around the foot of Nanga Parbat, the ninth highest mountain in the world. Not far north of Jaglot the Gilgit river joins the Indus from the west. The highway then leaves the Indus for Gilgit, Hunza and Khunjrab rivers to take on the Karakoram Range - where 12 of the 30 highest mountains in the world overlook the KKH. At Khunjrab Pass, the KKH proudly stands as the highest metalled border crossing in the world. En route to Khunjrab, before Gilgit, there is a road sign inviting the attention of the tourists to stop and see the the Hindu Kush mountains converge with the Karakoram Range, a part of the Himalayan mountain system. While traveling along the KKH, many a tourist wonder as to how the Pakistanis and Chinese ever get this road through? Since the road has been carved through a tectonic collision zone and still generally kept open.





The KKH is at its most spectacular between Ganesh and Gulmit. The road rides high on the eastern side of the river, twisting and turning round the barren foot of the Hispar Range, which boasts six peaks over 7,000 meters (23,000 feet). On the opposite bank, villages cling implausibly to the side of the 7,388 meter (24,240 foot) Ultar Mountain. Between the villages, grey screen slithers down to the river, looking in the distance like piles of find cigarette ash. Above, the jagged teeth along the ridge hide the highest snow-covered peaks from view. The KKH crosses back to the west bank at Shishkot Bridge, from which the view upstream of the serrated ridge of mountains above the river is one of the most photogenic prospects of the entire drive. From here to Tashkurgan in China the people speak Wakhi.

kkhkkhkkhSince the KKH passes through some of the most rugged mountain ranges, which become rather inaccessible during the snow falls and the rainy season, one should plan to travel on the KKH in the spring or early autumn. Heavy snow during harsh winters can shut the highway down for extended periods. Heavy monsoon rains, around July and August, cause occasional mudslides that can block the road for hours or more. The border crossing between China and Pakistan at Khunjrab Pass is open only between May 1 and October 15 of every year. These days, the trade between Pakistan and China thrives and Pakistani traders frequent the KKH very often to go to Kashgar and bring back cheap Chinese cloth, decoration pieces and electronics, which have flooded the Pakistani markets from Peshawar to Karachi.

kkhThe Karakoram (the 'crumbling rock' in Turkish language) Highway is an incredible feat of engineering and an enduring monuments to the 810 Pakistanis and 82 Chinese who died forcing it through the world's most difficult and unstable terrain, making it possible to surface on earth the Eighth Wonder of the World. Karakoram Highway has a strategic importance that overarches the whole region. It forms the Asian 'high road' loop that binds Pakistan and China and can also serve as a link between China and the Central Asian states. In 2003, the Silver Jubilee celebrations (1978-2003) of the construction of the road were held both in Pakistan and China. Pakistan Post issued a Re. 2 special commemorative stamp on the occasion. However the road was officially opened on 27 August 1982.

The 8 October 2005 7.6 Richter Scale earthquake badly damaged some sections of the Karakoram Highway and the road link between Pakistan and China was temporarily cut off, until repaired by the Pakistan army engineers. The building of Diamir Bhasha Dam in the Karakoram will also affect more than 100 kilometres of the KKH, for which re-alignment studies are always under way with the help of the Chinese.

Eagel Nest Hotel Hunza

Hunza is an agricultural city. Miles and miles of fruit orchards can be seen as the tourist approaches Karimabad. Apricots are the major diet in summers and are stored throughout the winters. Some wonderful green fields with trees in them.


Remote and grown on precarious slopes, surrounded by high peaks - the chances of this tree crop reaching an export market a continent away may seem as remote as the mountain farms they come from. Yet the succulent, deep orange, dried apricots from the Hunza valley in northwest Pakistan have become highly respected by consumers many thousands of miles from the bazaars where they were traditionally traded. "The apricots are precious wealth for the people of this area", says Sher Ghazi, Director of Mountain Fruits Company (MFC), the thriving business which advises farmers on production and buys, grades and exports the fruits. "Production is 6-10,000 tonnes in the northern area. It's a huge amount." Unfortunately, due to seasonal gluts in production, most of the apricots - along with other tree crops such as apples, cherries, mulberries - is wasted. A significant proportion rots before it is consumed or marketed. However, the rising international popularity of dried fruits in the 1990's offered a new, and very lucrative, market to the tree croppers of Pakistan provided, that is, they could compete with much larger-scale apricot orchards of Turkey and the USA.
Apricots have long been an important crop in these valleys and an essential source of income. Growing between 1,800-3,200 metres above sea level, below peaks that reach 8,000 metres high, the orchards of apricots, intercropped with alfalfa and forest trees, are irrigated by spring water or glacial melt waters brought in by complex systems of canals over great distances to the carefully terraced slopes. Rich in minerals and vitamins, for many centuries the sun-dried fruit has been renowned regionally for its taste. The long-living Hunza people attribute their longevity and many health-giving properties to their apricots.
Adding value - and nothing more
Altitude, long summer days and soil type give these fruits their unique, intense flavour. Traditionally, farmers laid the apricots on rooftops or mats to dry in the mountain air. With the support of the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP) Adam Brett, an international fruit-drying specialist and trader with UK-based Tropical Wholefoods, was brought in to train MFC staff and the farmers in minimising microbiological contamination of the crop at every stage from farm to the MFC packhouse in the regional town of Gilgit. "I realise that farmers want to feel they are progressing and may wish to invest in electric driers," explains Brett, "but in these valleys power supply is intermittent and expensive."
As an effective alternative, Tropical Wholefoods (which imports dried banana, pineapple and mango from Uganda and Burkina Faso and dried mushrooms from India, Colombia and Zambia) has introduced advanced solar driers to farmers that, if well-managed, dry consistently to an international marketable standard, with greatly improved stability and food-safety compared with traditional drying techniques. "It is often assumed that contamination is most likely to occur on farm", says Brett, "when in fact microbiological tests showed apricots were most at risk during later handling in the inadequate packhouse." To reach the standards, and maintain

consistency in quality and safety required by international buyers, it was evident that a new factory - with washable walls, sealable floors and safe storage- was required.Hunza is an agricultural city. Miles and miles of fruit orchards can be seen as the tourist approaches Karimabad. Apricots are the major diet in summers and are stored throughout the winters. Some wonderful green fields with trees in them.

HUNZA IN SUMMER

The British General and soldiers arrived in the summer during the 1870s as did everyone who traveling to Hunza. This was the harvest season for the grains, fruits and vegetables from the gardens, and much of the food was consumed raw. Because fuel for cooking was saved to be used in winter for boiling meat and providing some heat for the stone dwellings, very little meat was consumed in summer and vegetable were eaten raw.

Curious visitors who followed the British soldiers to Hunza Valley years later naturally arrived in summeralso, and the summer diet of the people led visitors to assume they were mainly vegetarian and ate very little meat. This was typical of the summer harvest season. Many primitive cultures including cavemen lived in a similar manner, gorging themselves on available fruit during the short season and eating mostly meat for the rest of the year. The people of Hunza differed in that they never had an abundance of anything except rocks. They did not have enough animals to provide abundant meat during the winter because of the lack of fodder. They did not want to kill female animals that were milk producers unless the animal was old or lame.The Hunzakuts are said to have cultivated plants included barley, millet, wheat, buckwheat, turnips, carrots, dried beans, peas, pumpkins, melons, onions, garlic, cabbage, cauliflower, apricots, mulberries, walnuts, almonds, apples, plums, peaches, cherries, pears and pomegranates. John Clark did not find green beans, wax beans, beets, endive, lettuce, radishes, turnips, spinach, yellow pear tomatoes, Brussel sprouts or parsley. Cherry tomatoes and potatoes are thought to have been brought in by the British. The long list of currently grown plant varieties should not be a consideration when discussing the longevity of the Hunzakuts and their past diet.


Apricot trees were very popular, and the fruit was eaten raw in season and sun dried for winter. The pits were cracked to obtain the kernel that was crushed to obtain the oil for cooking and lamps. The hard shell was kept for a fire fuel. The kernel and oil could be eaten from the variety of apricots with a sweet kernel, but the bitter kernel variety had an oil containing poisonous prussic acid. Click the picture to see an enlargement.The apricot trees were allowed to grow very large in order to obtain the maximum yield. Picking the maximum amount of fruit was more important than the difficulty in picking. The children would scamper to the higher branches to pick or shake off the fruit. Planting new trees required several years of growth before any fruit was produced. The special garden silt or glacial milk did not contribute to the age or size of the trees as is commonly claimed. Our modern orchards are not managed that way because we have abundant space and picking is expensive. Our trees are cut when the size makes them difficult to harvest, not because they fail to live as long as those in Hunza.




Mulberries, which resemble blackberries in size and shape, are a favorite fruit. When fully ripe, their flavor is sweet-sour but somewhat bland. The variety grown in Hunza was most likely a golden color.A large variety of indigenous wildlife including markhors sheep, Marco Polo sheep, geese, ducks, pheasants and partridge provided the early Hunza hunters with meat in addition to their sheep, goats and domesticated Yaks. Chickens were also raised for meat and eggs until sometime in the 1950s when they were banned by the Mir.The Queen and her children traveled on Yaks while the King and other men rode horses. The Yak is a strong wild animal which they domesticated for for traveling in the mountains as a beast of burden pack animal. In addition to Yaks, which provided milk and meat, the Hunzakuts also had goats, sheep, cows and horses. However, there were very few cows or horses in Hunza in 1950 because they consumed a lot of fodder compared to goats and sheep. The Yaks, goats and sheep were herded in the summer to areas just below the snow line for feeding on sparse grasses and plants.

They were milked by the herders who made butter that was delivered back to the people in the villages below. The herders had plenty of milk to drink that valley people lacked. The Yaks were also milked. Cows and horses could not be herded to the higher elevation because the vegetation there was simply to sparse.The picture is of the Cathedral Peaks as viewed from the village of Ghulmit 23 miles (37 km) upriver from Baltit near the northern end of Hunza. Summer grains are seen growing in the foreground. The Mir's main Palace was in Baltit, but since firewood was more abundant in Ghulmit, he chose this location for his winter residence. Click the picture to see an enlargement.

HUNZA CULTURE: Eid ul Adha

HUNZA CULTURE: Eid ul Adha

Eid ul Adha

Kurbani Means "The Ultimate Sacrifice" and The Core Ritual of Eid ul Adha to Muslims
This lens will focus on a simple guide through what kurbani eid/ eid ul adha means. This lens will be helpful to everyone who has little to no knowledge on this ritual.

Hundreds of years ago Prophet Abraham (Ibrahim in Arabic) was in the ultimate test to sacrifice his only son "Ismael" -it was a tough decision to make, as Abraham had only one son. Abraham was 86 when Ismael was born (yeah because that time human lived hundreds of years and were much taller than human in today's world)

Satan tried to trick Abraham in sacrificing Ismael's life "...if he (God) likes you, he will save Ismael's life." Abraham went to sacrifice Ismael; Ismael accepted his fathers decision. When Abraham put the knife on Ismael's throat and cut him, Ismael was replace with a Lama/goat like animal, and the Lama was sacrificed instead of Ismael.

Thus the "Ultimate Sacrifice" has been made and after that for thousands of years, until now Muslims are sacrificing animal annually on the Eid ul adha.

Eid ul adha is the ritual to memorate the example of Abraham.

SAVE GOJAL

Gulmit, May 10: Around eight hundred people from villages across the Gojal valley gathered today at Gulmit for a collective sacrificial ceremony. The villagers collectively prayed for God’s mercy and offered “Qurbani”, sacrifice, in the name of Allah, in line with the Islamic Sharia.

Later on the volunteers started removing power pylons from the endangered areas and erecting those at safe, higher, altitude. The villages are without electricity.