📷 The Land of High Mountains: Pakistan. Day 8. Walk in Karimabad to Altit and Baltit Forts

After returning from trekking to the viewpoint on the Ladyfinger and Hunza peaks, which disappeared into the clouds, I took a cold shower to cool myself off and fell asleep. The lack of sleep from night and dawn photoshooting began to affect me, in the morning it becomes more and more difficult to get up. The others also went to their rooms to rest a little. I had an hour and a half to sleep, as the following points of our program were: a walk around the town of Karimabad, buying fruits, a short overview of the Altit and Baltit forts and meeting the sunset.

When I woke up and went outside, I saw this picture. Oh, mountains, mountains, how changeable you are! It took about three hours and now all the peaks are open — but we are already below.

Descending in a jeep along the mountain serpentine from the hill where the Eagle's Nest is located (that stone bird, like any decent eagle, nestled somewhere higher — it's good that we didn't climb this hill on foot from the town), we ended up in the capital of the Hunza-Nagar region: the town of Karimabad (earlier — Baltit).

Small, as, however, almost all the towns of the country that I've seen, but quite an ancient settlement. Earlier, Karimabad was the capital of the Hunza principality, when there were several independent states-principalities in the region. It was before the forcible annexation to India and, accordingly, before joining Pakistan.

A little further from the more or less modern part of Karimabad is the Old Town — the most old and historical part of the town, and already in it Fort Altit is situated.

This handsome musician sits in the Old Town, somewhere near the entrance to the Altit Fort.

Our guide Nizam seems to be the star in the Old Town. Everyone knows him, everyone welcomes him, he breaks any rules and he is allowed literally everything. Here, at the entrance to the residential part of the Old Town, elderly women are sitting and there is a sign directly above them: it is strictly forbidden to take pictures here.

So he easily came to an agreement with them, and I took a few shots. Very colorful women.

The buildings and streets of the Old Town really look so that it is easy to believe that people lived in them three or four hundred years ago, and now the way of life has not changed too much and almost everything is the same. It seems that time has stopped here.

Well, except that sometimes the owners do whitewashing / painting in some places and the mortar and the fallen stones in the walls are refurbished.

The more interesting it is to walk here. It's surprising that the elderly ladies in the photos above and this happy mother without any problems allow themselves to be photographed. Unexpectedly, but pleasantly: in general, I'm almost used to the fact that women shouldn't be photographed. It seems that this is not so strict with this here.

Well, as I said, children can be shot, even girls. The little ones are so different, someone is curious, and someone is shy — it really depends on the character, and not on religious norms.

Oh, and here is the documented (with a sign) 400-year-old residential building! It turns out, that the house was even visited by His Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan IV, the current leader of the Ismaili community. Unfortunately, we did not enter the house itself, because the door seemed to be closed, and we were in a hurry to explore the town further.

A wonderful view of the mountains opens up from the outskirts of the Old Town. It seems to me that such pictures do not get bored with time.

I also asked Nizam to agree that we would be allowed to go onto the roof of one of the houses in order to photograph the panorama with the Altit fort. Oh please! There is no time to go to the fort itself for an excursion, but we want to climb little higher.

The owners allowed him (and us :)). The second level in the old houses is something like this. Still, the streets are very narrow, and there is almost no light — it's a bit dark here.

This is the view from these roofs. Very pretty! Below is the main and only road leading to the town from that side. Once upon a time one of the routes of the Great Silk Road ran here.

And from there, we can clearly see the old, no longer working factory, which, according to Nizam, used to produce crackers.

After walking on the rooftops, we went down to the ground and, in search of coolness, decided to sit around the local public pool and, if not swim, then at least look at the boys swimming. The boy in the black T-shirt couldn't swim, but he took a risk anyway: he jumped into the water, floundered, and his friends pulled him out.

Happy people! After swimming it's a pleasure to sit and dry in the sun. It's not like we, tourists, melt under the same sun and get wet only from streaming sweat.

Well, it's okay, here we can look around a little more and take pictures of interesting and photogenic local residents.

What a chic little princess! And, like every princess, she is guarded by a stern guard so that no one offends her and there is someone to pamper her with an ice cream. Of course, most likely it's just her father, but why not fantasize?)

On the next roof, the boys are having fun even without bathing, but still not parting with a bottle of water. Water, everyone needs it.

After all, running on roofs is much more interesting than on the ground. The view is better: sit higher, see further.

And it's just nice to sit with their legs dangling and eat fruit. They can take their time and enjoy life, sun, light...

Children are dressed in different ways, some in traditional clothes, and some in modern. Together they look funny, but it seems that they themselves do not pay attention to it at all. And this is great!

And what a plum here, mmm! Sweet, juicy, very tasty — I just want to take a handful with unwashed hands and an eat them right now.

But no, I was able to resist the temptation, and made a choice in favor of a pretty girl. She is better than any kind of plum :) She is wearing an interesting dress, I have not seen such here yet, and she is completely without a headdress and this does not bother anyone.

When Nizam saw that I was shooting this house, he said that he lived there. Whoa! So this is a great sunset spot! I asked if we could get there in the evening, and it seemed that I even received consent. But apparently one of us did not understand each other well, because we did not get there that day.

On the streets here, by the way, there is quite a crazy traffic and its participants. This picture is very common: if there is no place in the minibus, it is not a problem, you can cling to the back or even from above and get to the place outside. It's also cooler from the headwind, I guess.

I never could understand how Muslim women constantly wear several clothes, especially dark ones, worn in several layers from head to toe. Isn't it too hot? Probably they get used to it over time...

However, here, in the town of Karimabad, there are quite a few women in colored clothes and capes on their heads; there are also those who go with their heads bare, with a scarf around their necks.

Hunza apricots are deservedly famous throughout the world. For example, ebay sells a variety of apricot products, collectively called "hunza apricot". Maybe I'll try to order something. I remember that the apricots were really very, very tasty here.

Apples, by the way, are also very juicy and taste very good! Sweet and sour, as I like.

Well, here in the neighborhood we took a good walk, bought all the fruits we wanted, it's time to move on. Next in line is the next fort — Baltit.

Here is another group of extreme driving enthusiasts. And they seem to be quite happy and satisfied with the trip :)

On the road I can not resist, once again I look at the surrounding landscapes. Pakistan is such a country, you just can't take your eyes off!

And this is a local type of minibuses. Not minivans without a drop of individuality, but such creations, with doors, windows, curtains: you can always breathe fresh air, and look at the people around. Often such vehicles are very nicely decorated on the outside.

When everyone saw later that we were photographing their car, they started waving at us and smiling. Pleasantly :)

We drive up to the fort. How small it is against the backdrop of the majestic mountains. Stands up there like a lone sentry.

The building is curious, but overall it looks pretty sad. After all, this is a military structure, and external beauty and harmony were clearly not the main goal during construction, although some decorative elements are present. And now it is being renovated.

Thanks to the same Nizam, we entered the territory of the fort, although there was a fence at the entrance, where the opening hours were indicated until five in the evening. And we were a little late and might not have got there.

Like Fort Altit, Fort Baltit is not entirely alone in the middle of an empty space. At its foot there are houses in which locals live and go about their usual daily activities.

Someone sews, someone shakes out dust from carpets.

And some of them play badminton — boys, of course. They are similar in all countries :)

And young people everywhere also spend a lot of time looking at their smartphones :) The spirit of our time.

And the ubiquitous trash cans that make me very happy. There are still many public service announcements on this topic (Clean and Green Pakistan Movement and so on).

It's funny to see such different balconies in the same building next to each other. It can be seen that these are later extensions.

The fort itself is not small. Tall and strong, the walls are ten meters high or more.

The view of the valley in the sunset rays of the sun was not bad, but we wanted even more magic.

And here, in addition, almost everything is already in the shadow of the mountains. So we drove back to our hotel, and I again met the sunset in the Eagle's Nest.

There I talked for a long time with a young couple from the south of Pakistan. They travel all over the country, speak excellent English, a girl without a headscarf, proud of her beautiful hair, jokes and laughs contagiously.

Her boyfriend (or maybe husband?), a tall brunette with handsome face, says that I have very beautiful eyes, and the girl asks: "What about your eyelashes? Are you pulling them out?" I say: "No, I’m just blond and you hardly see them". She doesn’t believe, then I show my hand with blond hair. Her reaction: "Okay, okay, don't show me anything else, I believe :)"

The guys wrote for me several places, which, in their opinion, must be visited in Pakistan, and said that Pakistan is not a dangerous country for Europeans at all, and I can travel anywhere. I almost completely believe them in this matter. I know for sure that there are many wonderful people here who speak English well and have a solid knowledge of the history of their country.

Here's the list:

1. Tharparkar — a desert located in Pakistan and India.
2. The Gadi Bhit monument in the town of Mithi.
3. Sehwan Sharif — a historic city located in the Jamshoro region of Sindh province of Pakistan. It is located on the western bank of the Indus, 80 miles northwest of Hyderabad. The city is famous for being home to one of the most important Sufi shrines in Pakistan, the Lal Shahbaz Qalandar Temple.
4. The coast of the Arabian Sea near the city of Karachi, in the south of Pakistan.
5. Attabad lake in the Hunza valley. The lake was formed as a result of a large-scale landslide.
6. Khunjerab Pass — a pass in the Karakoram mountain system, located near the border between China and Pakistan. Khunjerab Pass is the highest border crossing point in the world.
7. Hussaini Suspension Bridge in the Hunza Valley.

We will visit part of the list on this trip, and I will definitely tell you about these places. But the rest, I hope, is still ahead! :)

To be continued...

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Parts of the journey:

1. The Land of High Mountains: Pakistan. Day 1. Arrival and Transfer to the Mountains
2. The Land of High Mountains: Pakistan. Day 1. Trekking to Fairy Meadows
3. The Land of High Mountains: Pakistan. Day 2. Acclimatization
4. The Land of High Mountains: Pakistan. Day 3. Trekking to Nanga Parbat Base Camp - Start
5. The Land of High Mountains: Pakistan. Day 3. Trekking to Nanga Parbat Base Camp - Finish
6. The Land of High Mountains: Pakistan. Day 4. From the Himalayas to the Karakoram
7. The Land of High Mountains: Pakistan. Day 5. The road to Mount Rakaposhi - Hakapun or further?
8. The Land of High Mountains: Pakistan. Day 5. The road to Mount Rakaposhi - Base Camp
9. The Land of High Mountains: Pakistan. Day 6. Minapin Glacier and Ice Bridge
10. The Land of High Mountains: Pakistan. Day 7. How to Get to the Eagle's Nest?
11. The Land of High Mountains: Pakistan. Day 8. Hike to Ladyfinger Peak
12. The Land of High Mountains: Pakistan. Day 8. Walk in Karimabad to Altit and Baltit Forts
13. The Land of High Mountains: Pakistan. Day 9. Karimabad and the Sacred Rocks of Hunza
14. The Land of High Mountains: Pakistan. Day 9. Attabad Lake, Hussaini Bridge and Passu Cathedral
15. The Land of High Mountains: Pakistan. Day 10. Crossing the Batura Glacier: the Beginning
16. The Land of High Mountains: Pakistan. Day 10. Crossing the Batura Glacier: Finish

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Camera: OLYMPUS E-M1 Mark II

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