After an uncomfortable, sleepless night we have a 10 hour jeep trek to the Chitteral Valley. We stop for some time at the polo ground, while Karim gets permission for us to continue on. Due to the weather our expected itinerary is all over the place, so we are arriving in places at the wrong time. After a cup of tea at the check point, finally we get the the OK.
The scenery more than makes up for last night. It is stunningly beautiful. Rocks and mountains of every imaginable colour: blue greys that shine silver in the sunlight, cinnamon and mocha, pinks and reds and course the brilliant white of the snow. It is fantastic. Not quite so the roads, which are all rock and land slip. We bump along for hours, it doesn't matter though, we are mesmerised by our surroundings.
Our jeep suffers today, the roof cover comes adrift so Icshad drives with one hand and holds it on with the other! Then we break a spring. The repair of this was fascinating. It is done within 15 minutes. The welder protected his eyes with sunglasses and rather than disconnecting the battery, he turns the headlights on??? At home I don't believe it is possible to weld a spring but here, no problem. Back on our way and we have a puncture. No problem for Ischad and Zachir, it is fixed within 5 minutes.
We arrive at a less than salubrious hotel but at least it's better than last night. The electric is a challenge in this area, on, off, on ,off but that is normal. We sleep in our sleeping bags, say no more!
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