Quote:
Originally Posted by multiweb
I only saw the himalayan chain from afar flying over india. How close did you go Gary? Did you trek around as well by any chance?
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I've trekked up through Sikkim in northern India to see Kangchenjunga,
somehow avoiding being eaten by black bears.
I've trekked in Nepal to see Everest and the Annapurnas and been
on the obligatory sightseeing flights as well.
I've travelled extensively through the north of Pakistan in the Karakorams
by road and by foot where I've seen K2, Naga Parbat, Rakaposhi,
Diran, Ultar, Gasherbrum, Broad Peak and a whole swag of others.
I've travelled up the Khunjerab Pass, which is at 16,000' on the
Pakistan-Chinese border, back in the days it was just a gravel road.
The "roads" up in the Karakorams in Pakistan are, suffice to say, somewhat
hairy and not for the faint-hearted.
This is not my video, but it gives you some idea what the roads are
like up there and I've been on even worse than the one on the video :-
https://youtu.be/K-Xprsph_eY
Karakoram translates as "black gravel" and the mountains are very
crumbly and there are constant landslides and avalanches.
Outside of the polar regions, it is one of the most glaciated parts of
the planet with some of the world's largest glaciers.
The glacial ice combined with the crumbly black gravel of the mountains
makes for landslides that up close look like a flowing slurry of concrete.
If you survive the road trips up there, I recommend taking the Pakistan
International Airlines (PIA) flight back from Gilgit to Islamabad.
When I was up there the aircraft was a twin-turboprop Fokker F27
Friendship that had seat buckles embossed with Airlines of New South
Wales.
As you wait in the shed that acts at the passenger terminal at Gilgit
airport, you have time to scour the side of the mountain that rises
abruptly just beyond the far end of the runway that you take off
toward and you can count the plane wrecks that look like bugs
squashed on a car windscreen.
But if your pilots manage to make the turn in time before hitting the
mountain, the views once airborne are to die for.
Initially you thunder down valleys with the mountains rising on
either side of you.
But once you get sufficient altitude you are literally on top of the world,
with continuous views across the entire range from the Hindu Kush in
Afghanistan, all across the icy caps of the Kararorams and Himalayas.
Since the F27 cruises at around 20,000', you are also low enough
to be down amongst it.
I was lucky enough during this leg to be up in the cockpit.
The pilots were pointing out peaks by name and when I strained my neck
to try and get a better view of K2, they said "no problem" and just did
a complete orbit of the plane for my benefit. Keep in mind this was
just a regular passenger service.
As the captain put the aircraft into a bank and we did a 360 degree
orbit, the view was tremendous. In fact the most awesome thing I have
ever seen from an aircraft. It was a perfectly clear day with unlimited
visibility and the mountains stretched forever.
On one of these trips shortly after I had journeyed onto Europe and
I was in the Swiss Alps. The mountains there are pretty but if you have
just come from the Himalayas they do look kind of tiny.
Image. Me taking photos in the Karakorams in the Skardu Valley, Northern Pakistan.
.When you zoom in on Everest you can see how exposed and long that climbing route on the upper reaches of the northeast ridge is, I think much of it over 8000m. Envious Gary that would be a great experience either flying in or trekking to see those mountain vistas, K2 base camp /concordia or Everest Tibetan side would be my pick
Souns like you've travelled a fair bit in the area!
