Next morning we got up late. We were on a holiday. Moreover, it was cold in Gilgit compared to Islamabad and we felt very comfortable but lazy in the cosy bed and stayed in longer than usual. After breakfast we decided to take a round of Gilgit. We started our trip from the newly constructed Rakaposhi Hotel on the hill overlooking Gilgit. It is a wooden structure very nicely tucked into the mountain background and gives a panoramic view of Gilgit. We stayed on the terrace for a while and enjoyed the scenery with a cup of tea. These days the most famous is the Serena Hotel.

From the photograph it appears to be the old Rakaposhi Hotel, but I am not sure. Gilgit did not have many hotels at that time. Now there are supposed to be a large number of these with the increasing tourist traffic and the connection to Central Asia. There is a PTDC (Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation) Motel in the centre of the town. It just resembles a typical tourist bungalow on our side. We visited it and met some officials there. They were glad to know that I too was working for tourism. They wanted me to stay with them or at least have a meal. We promised that we will have a meal sometime later. Next we visited the famous Chinar Bagh on the banks of River Indus. It is a very nice garden with lot of greenery and I was surprised to see such a lush place in this part of the world. In Ladakh we do not have anything like this. Usually there are only willows. Here one could see lot of pine trees which I had not seen in any part of our side of Ladakh. In the park is the famous Gilgit Monument, an ibex on top of a column. It is the symbol of the Gilgit Scouts, a regiment of Pakistan Army.

The Monument is associated with the events of 1947 when the Gilgit Scouts revolted against the Maharaja and declared their intention to join Pakistan. Near the park is the famous suspension bridge on River Indus and a view point. There were two other places which a number of people had recommended us to see. One was the Chinese grave yard and the other was the Micro Hydro-electric power station. We decided to visit the Chinese grave yard and also meet Babar’s friend, the Chief Engineer of NAWO. Similar to the Border Roads Organisation the Pakistanis have created the Northern Areas Works Organisation. The organisation is in charge of all the mountain roads in this area. They had been representing the Pakistani side in the construction of KKH (Karakoram Highway). The grave yard is across the River nicely placed in the shape of a garden. We were told that over five hundred Chinese had sacrificed their lives in the construction of this prestigious road. However, according to official figures 810 Pakistanis and 82 Chinese workers had lost their lives while constructing the Highway. The road itself is a marvel of engineering. It has been reported that the earlier two lane road is being converted into a four or six lane highway to provide Chinese direct access to the sea at Gawadar, the new port city. To learn more about the road we paid a visit to the Chief Engineer, an Army colonel whose name has slipped from my memory. He lived near the famous Chinar Bagh. The colonel was very pleased to receive us. We were offered tea and snacks. I was keen to know about the construction of the road.

The Chief Engineer told us many interesting stories about the Chinese way of working. According to him the Pakistani engineers had prepared detailed maps for the construction of the road. Normally in a mountainous area the engineers follow the contours of a mountain for road construction. After the arrival of Chinese engineers a meeting was held to discuss the various possibilities. The Chinese engineers straight away rejected the Pakistani plans. They declared that they do not work on the traditional method of following the contours but go straight. They planned to follow the river straight. They would put up pre-stressed concrete arch bridges on deep ravines and where ever there was a mountain obstructing the route, they would blast it out to make a passage. The Chinese did exactly as they had stated. The road is almost straight except for some small bends here and there. Unlike our people, the Chinese did not go home after finishing day’s work but camped there and went ahead along with the road! They had prepared a special type of road surface which resembled something like polished fine gravel. Colonel was all praise for the Chinese devotion and dedication to their work. They had literally built the road with their blood and sweat.

After taking leave of Babar’s Colonel Friend, we decided to pay a short visit to the Gilgit hydro-electric power station at Pari. It is a 1 MW micro hydro-electric project which supplies continuous power to Gilgit town. It is in the form of a small house which contains a miniature turbine powered by a short penstock. There was hardly any noise of the turbine. We subsequently found out that almost all the major towns and villages had these micro hydro-electric projects. Quite a few had been installed by the Aga Khan Foundation which was very active in the area. Gilgit has now a power station in Naltar with a capacity of 18 MW. It is very convenient to have these mini projects sufficient for individual small towns or villages. There is no need of long distance transmission wires. In Ladakh, we mostly have diesel sets because of freezing of these streams in winter. There is now a proposal to have these micro projects in Ladakh also. On Gilgit side there are a number of massive power projects in the pipeline. These involve building of dams and would generate thousands of megawatts of power to be supplied to entire Pakistan. It is a pity that all the rivers which are legally and technically property of the erstwhile State of Jammu & Kashmir are being used to generate millions of units of electric power for outsiders but the real inhabitants of the state are starved of the same! The story is same on both the sides. Recently there were riots in Rawalakot against power shortage. Our part has been facing a perennial famine of power. I the evening, Babar took me to a local Dhaba to taste beef tikkas. We bought a plate for two rupees but both of us could not eat even half of that. Locals are voracious eaters. They were looking at us and smiling. They called us Dal Khor! Next to the Dhaba was a butcher’s shop selling beef. It was like a small garage. The cleaned beef was hanging from the ceiling to the floor. I was really scared to see it! Next day we planned to visit a spot near Astor from where one could get a very good view of Nanga Parbat. We were also invited for lunch by Ghulam Rasool, a friend of Babar’s father. He was working in the Mechanical Engineering Department and belonged to Bandipore.

(To be continued…)