On the third day of the visit we relaxed and slept late. We were invited for lunch by Ghulam Rasool, the friend of Barbar’s father who was working in Mechanical Engineering Department and belonged originally to Bandipore. In earlier times, the route to Gilgit from Srinagar was through Gurez Valley.

It was known as the Gilgit transport Road and had been constructed by the British to send provisions to their troops stationed here. Because of this road many people from the valley especially from Bandipore used to visit Gilgit for business. There were also many Kashmiri employees here. We also found some of these among the staff manning the PTDC Bungalow. Ghulam Rasool had a nice single storey house in Gilgit centre. The house had a lawn with willow trees. However, we preferred to stay indoors. Before lunch Ghulam Rasool told us many stories about Gilgit. I also asked him many questions about certain topics which were rising in my mind. There were many problems here like the Ladakh of early days. The entire Northern areas as these were known then were ruled from Islamabad. They had a Commissioner for Northern Areas and then there were Deputy Commissioners. Locals had very little say in the affairs of the area. The most active organisation was the Aga Khan Foundation. They had set up many schools and health centres. People really hated Pakistanis especially Pathans whom the Government had brought from the North West Frontier Province and settled here. There were many clashes between the Pathans and locals. There were also sectarian clashes between Shias and Sunnis. On the positive side, Polo was a very popular game but it was played on a free for all basis. Now, the game has taken on International colour and every year there is an even at Shandoor attended by a large number of foreigners.

I asked Ghulam Rasool whether they had any tribals like the Drokhpas? I had heard about the Kafir-Kailash. He told me that these tribals lived in Chitral and were supposed to be from the lost army of Alexander the Great. They were exactly like Greeks and did not resemble local people in any manner. Their dresses are very colourful and decorative and look typically like the folk dresses of Greeks. They are also very beautiful and sometimes blonde. I wondered whether our Drokhpa people were also the part of the same tribe? Only research can establish it. We call them pure Aryans! Another interesting story was the people living in a place called Darel. It was a locality where totally wild people like the Mexicans of the Wild West Movies reside. These people are supposed to be totally free without any control from outside. They usually move on horses with guns slung on their shoulders and cartridge belts across their bodies exactly like the Hollywood films. They are supposed to be very violent people!

One thing which I had noticed and wanted to know the background of was the absence of too many army installations and camps. I was used to seeing numerous army camps on way to Ladakh and in different places en route. However, on the Pakistani side there were hardly any camps. Ghulam Rasool gave an interesting explanation. He stated that on their side all civilians were fully armed and well trained in fighting. According to him, the turn of the army will come only when the civilians fail to stop the attackers. In the present warfare, it may sound far fetched! But the second explanation seemed more plausible. According to Ghulam Rasool, most of the important army installations were underground or hidden in mountain caves. They had a very limited presence over ground.

The lunch was more than sumptuous. There were half a dozen non-vegetarian dishes. Chickens, lamb, beef, and wild bird like Partridge etc. These people seemed voracious eaters. We were compared to them just “Dal Khor”. Another problem was their hospitality and they would not stop unless we had taken sizeable portions of all dishes. I was sure to end up with serious indigestion but Ghulam Rasool had pity on us and allowed to taste the dishes as per our choice. After lunch we had Kahwa, the famous Kashmiri green tea with spices like cinnamon and cardamom. This was quite digestive. While we were sipping Kahwah, Ghulam Rasool brought out three of his weapons. These were a double barrel gun, a rifle, and an automatic weapon. I was surprised to see these. He said every household has to keep these. There are many sectarian clashes and they have to protect themselves. Some times clashes go on for days and people exchange regular fire from the top of their houses. The double barrel gun and the rifle were for hunting. Ghulam Rasool had a passion for hunting. His favourite game was Ibex, Wild Goats, Markhor, and Patridges. He was somewhat puzzled why I was not fond of hunting?

After this very informative and delicious lunch we took leave of our host and decided to travel on the Karakoram highway towards Astor to have a closer look on Nanga Parbat. This was our real drive on KKH, the short form by which Karakoram Highway is locally known. What impressed me most about the road was its polished gravely surface. Normally, I had been used to black topped tarmac roads in Ladakh. Sometimes in summer, the tar would melt and rise to the surface. However, the KKH has a strange type of surface which looks like polished fine gravel. The drive was very smooth and we reached a spot where from one can have a panoramic view of Nanga Parbat. To me the view seemed unimpressive. It looked flat like any other high mountain. From the Kashmir side the view is quite impressive. The summit looks like a pinnacle with a long shoulder. There is always a plume attached to the summit. The most impressive view of Nanga Parbat is from the top of Razdani Pass on way to Gurez. The mountain looks very near and feels as if it can be touched. The plume formed by flying snow dust is quite impressive. Nanga Parbat among the mountaineers is known as the bloodiest mountain. Dozens of climbers have lost their lives while trying to climb this mountain. At one time it was the most sought after climb but it has now been replaced by K-2, the second highest mountain in the world. This mountain is also in the same range, approachable from Skardu. We wanted to visit Skardu also but were told that the road was not in good condition and the drive would take 6 hours. Finally, we settled for Hunza which had been my dream to visit. Our host back in Gilgit informed us that she had arranged a Toyota car to take us to Hunza next day. She had also arranged a room for us in the NAWO Rest House for two nights. Thus we retired to bed dreaming of James Hilton’s Shangrila where we were driving the next day!