Day 4 – Hunza – Khunjerab Pass

I have to say, that out of the four days that we have been on so far on this spectacular trip, I felt that this was the most satisfying and amazing one so far. It was certainly eventful. We left the Eagle’s Nest at about 6 in the morning heading to Khunjerab Pass for a day trip. We were also to stop at Faheem Bhai’s house in Gulmit for breakfast. I had no idea what a typical Hunzai breakfast consisted of so I was anxious to see the much-praised food for myself. Safe to say I wasn’t disappointed at all. Faheem Bhai’s brother and his sister-in-law Saira were wonderfully hospitable and kind, greeting us like old friends. We were in a guest house that they were still building, in the middle of a gorgeous village surrounded by fields of wheat and trees laden with apricots and apples. Though truthfully I forgot everything when I set eyes on the breakfast table. Food such as I had never seen lay before me: ptok, a traditional flatbread, baked bread, home pressed apricot oil, organic mulberry syrup, and delicious hunzai pancakes. The atmosphere was of sorts one rarely gets to experience in Lahore.

After a surreal breakfast, we headed to the Khunjarab Pass, which is situated at the Pakistan-China border at an altitude of more than 16,000 feet. There, the film crew interviewed a border patrol officer named Shareef, who was an uncle of Zeeo’s and had been working at the border for almost 19 years. He told us a great deal about the happenings of the famous border and gave us some insight into the life of a border patrol guard. As we prepared to leave, something unexpected happened: we were allowed to cross the border and enter China. We hopped onto our Hiace and drove the short distance from the Pakistani border house to the Chinese one. The feeling of driving past all those tourists who couldn’t cross the border was one I guiltly enjoyed. Upon entering China, we were taken to the checkpost which was also a Chinese culture museum. We took lots of photos during the tour and were quite impressed by the tight backed, formal looking soldiers we saw there. Although we were not allowed an interview, it was still fun being in a country I have always wanted to visit, that too without a passport! After a selfie session (who doesn’t want to take at least one selfie when in China?) we drove back through the majestic border gate into Pakistan. On the way back, we saw these cute creatures called golden marmots that looked a little like beavers. They were so many of them, I lost count!

Before heading back to the Hotel, we stopped at Zeeo’s parental home in his village for lunch. I have to say, it was one of my favorite parts of an already amazing day.

Zeeo’s family lives in the quaint village near Sost, which looked like something out of a story. His house was beautiful, especially the living room, which was very different from the conventional room we are used to in the city. It was a large room covered completely by carpets, and we sat on the floor In the centre of the room, up on the ceiling is a little skylight from where the sun streams in. We met his father, his beautiful little nieces and his wife (he got married a few months ago), mother and sister-in-law who had prepared a beautiful meal for us. Best of all was a traditional Hunzai dish made of flour and a local type of lassi which had a strong, sour taste being served along with succulent mutton karai and the more Punjabi aloo gosht. After eating, we took a tour around the village while waiting for tea. It was everything you’d expect a village in the North to be, green and lush, with a stream of ice cold water flowing through it, full of baby trout, and cows grazing everywhere. Further on was a spectacular view of the scary looking Hunza River. After having tea and thanking our hosts whole heartedly, we headed back to the Nest. It has been a memorable day, and even more exciting was the fact that the trek was tomorrow. The trip just got better and better.