Karim is in a quandary today, he has received news that the road to Astore is blocked, the road to Rawlpindi is blocked, the road to Skardu is blocked and the snow has come early; already two feet deep! There is a possibility that we may be able to get to the Chitteral valley? Meanwhile the woman who is joining the tour a week late, is stuck in Islamabad! At least the situation there has been resolved. For now at least.
Lunch today was "interesting" Karim clearly believes our stomachs are up to anything by now! We go to a ?cafe? No environmental health officer should come here. It is doubtful they would ever recover from the attack of the vapours, that would undoubtedly ensue. The place is filthy, but friendly! We eat enough not to cause offence but as little as we can. The leftovers are returned to the pot, after the waiter has a bit (with his fingers, of course) as he goes back to the cooking area. To give them their due, the did rinse the crockery but who knows where the water came from? They did attempt to dry them but the state of the tea towel was cringe worthy. As we drank our tea at the end of the meal, we watched a little mouse scampering about! This is going to put the probiotics, I have been arming our gut with since before we left home, to the test!
To further test us, it is camping tonight. For the first time I am disappointed. The campsite is a scrappy bit of grass in front of possibly one of the worlds worst hotels. Karim says, probably rightly, that the weather is too dodgy to wild camp on the plain. The camping equipment is of a poor standard. The tents ripped and the bed mats see through. For some reason the state of the camping equipment irritates me. I have no idea why? The other day Karim was trying to persuade us to book a trekking trip with him. Should we ever do such a thing, it would be with our own camping gear and definitely we would erect and dismantle ourselves. It is no wonder the tents are in such a state, the way they are treated!
If lunch was "interesting" then so was dinner! In a shed that doubled as a kitchen; Karim, some men and boys prepared the meal. Fortunately, there was enough light when it was served, to see that the chicken wasn't cooked. Said chicken found itself surreptitiously deposited in various places about the site.
At some point, anyone who does a trip such as this, will be asked about the toilets! So here goes. Some are normal and quite clean, they have loo paper but also the option of washing facilities. Others are of the "footprint" type these vary in cleanliness but the floors are always wet, due the washing procedure rather than toilet paper.
The toilet in the camping hotel was the worst yet. It was accessed through a bedroom, you don't want to know about the state of the sheets on the bed! On entering the "en suite" in the dark because there is no light, there is the usual paddling pool with the footprint hole in ground raised upon a plinth. It is grim. For me, personally there is worse to come. Having looked about for a more attractive bush or rock but found there to be none, I have no option but to use the facilities. Wearing the traditional shalwar chemise with its excess of material and holding a torch, I carefully step onto the plinth and hover in an ungainly fashion above the hole. It is not until I dismount, reach a dry area of floor and rearrange my clothes, that I discover that all I managed to achieve was to pee all over my trousers! Yuk!!
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