📷 The Land of High Mountains: Pakistan. Day 9. Karimabad and the Sacred Rocks of Hunza

The morning of the ninth day in Pakistan brought clear skies. I got up even before dawn, as usual lately, to have time to enjoy the early twilight and the dark blue night sky.

The dawn, although it was without very bright colors, gave a stunning view of the Spantik peak (7027 meters above sea level), which is also called the Golden Peak, in the first rays of the sun. Although it is not as high as some of the peaks around it, it is famous for its stunningly beautiful marble edge, the so-called "golden buttress" or "Golden Pillar", which only a few technically trained climbers have been able to pass.

The panorama is truly grandiose! Rahim, the owner of the Hunza Huts hotel where we lived, said that the top on the left is called Tarayawar Sar, and the towers of Lake Rush are in the center

I am here again in the Eagle's Nest, and nearby Pakistanis again meet the dawn and take pictures against the backdrop of beautiful mountains. I also want to climb on some picturesque stone, but I hold on — it will be too inconvenient to put a tripod there.

On one side, the last dawn colors are burning out on the horizon, but on the other, only the tops of the mountains are still illuminated, and above them the blue of the sky.

And here is the Rakaposhi peak appeares from the clouds. How in time I am here to see all this beauty! Still, every new sunset and sunrise, even if at the same place, is unique. You can always see something new.

The sun rises higher and higher, now a little light reaches the valley, lighting up a little bright color on a piece of land covered with greenery.

And I switch to shooting the nearest slope, cut by cracks.

If you take a closer look here, the picture is generally stunning. It looks like folds on glossy brown silk, as if the flowing fabric has slightly crumpled.

Wow! Somehow I did not even expect such interesting pictures from the nearest mountain slopes.

Not only the snow-capped peaks are worth seeing ... but when they are there, it's great :)

Shadow and light paint abstract patterns on surfaces.

There is not a single plant on this slope, only loose stones and sand.

But the next slope is completely covered with green grass. I wonder why they are so different?

And here, in one picture, all the multi-colored elements of the mountains fit: stone, grass and snow. Yes, these combinations live well together in the highlands, but I saw such a clear and rather bright color contrast in the mountains for the first time.

And @kibela woke up early this morning. I arranged a small photo session for her, but from time to time I have to look aside...

... after all, Hunza Peak and Ladyfinger Peak joined the morning parade and showed themselves in all their glory.

So how can I divide myself among all these beauties? :)

What a wonderful view! I look around and even envy myself. I really liked this place, but still it is time for us to move on.

After breakfast and a quick pack, we go to Karimabad again: our organizer Dima plans to buy food for our next trekking on the Batura glacier. This will be the last big trekking in our trip, and today we are planning to get to the hotel, from where we will go further into the next mountains, which have probably already been waiting for us. Well, isn't that wonderful? :)

Since there is no equipped camping there and we will not be fed, everything, including food and a big gas cylinder for cooking, will have to be carried with us, or rather, porters or donkeys. Rahim, our generous host, decided to help him in this difficult task — trading in the eastern market requires experience.

It's one thing when everyone individually buy extra snacks such as juices, chocolates and fruits during our infrequent shopping trips, but quite another when we need to buy food for a full diet for more than a dozen people for several days.

How I love Pakistani trucks! And their drivers always proudly pose next to them — and indeed, with such a bright wheeled friend, why not show off.

The market is concentrated right on the road. It consists of rows of low houses and shops on both sides of the road, and it seems that right behind them are the snow-capped peaks that support the sky, beckoning with their coolness. But no, the mountains are far and high, and here below it is very hot!

While Dima and Rahim were shopping, we walked freely, looked around and made our little purchases: juices, dried apricots, bars, whoever wanted what. As I said, we have never drunk so much mango juice as in Pakistan on our previous trips around the world, and have not even seen it so much — apparently, it is popular with everyone here.

In the store, on the shelf, there are bags with naswar, based on tobacco and slaked lime. In any case, the seller named these bags that way. Here it is absolutely legal and freely sold.

This is what a butcher's shop looks like. Naked bird (it seems, chicken — but in this form it is more difficult to identify) bodies hang in a bunch among garlands of various bulbs. I just imagined how elegant it would look in the dark, when all the bulbs will shine with the colors of the rainbow, mmm ... :)

And here the man mixes the ingredients for ice cream — it cools perfectly in the heat. It has a peculiar taste, such a light milky, not very sweet and not oily, in contrast to the usual factory ice cream.

Sometimes a hot wind carries unpleasant odors through an open minivan window. Generally here, in Pakistan, it is pretty clean. There are many trash bins, somewhere stationary metal, somewhere just bags tied to trees, buckets and baskets in places. There are signs with handwritten requests not to litter.

However, we saw garbage heaps outside the city — they are trying to burn them, but it turns out not very well. But still, compared to India, Pakistan, which we have seen, is just a sample of purity.

We will go about sixty kilometers along the Karakoram highway, but I look to the left and just demand a stop!

If I knew that the road offers a great view of the fort, then yesterday at sunset I would definitely come here.

And further, right by the road, on the Sacred Rocks of Hunza, you can see ancient petroglyphs, which began to appear here in the first millennium of our era.

Despite the barbed wire fence that encloses them, they can be seen quite well.

And although they were protected relatively recently, and before that they were easily accessible, there are surprisingly few modern barbarian inscriptions. It will not be possible to remove them, therefore they were simply painted over.

It's bad when people don't think about what they are doing, in many places where rock paintings have been preserved, everything is in a worse state.

There are several rocks, here is a sign with a signature to one of them.

I am absolutely not an expert in this topic, not even a keen enthusiast, but it is very interesting for me to view them.

After all, this is part of something ancient, which in fact is difficult to comprehend. It seems to be just simple drawings, but someone made them hundreds and thousands of years before you.

By the way, Rahim worked in the local police for seven years and everyone knows him there. Now he is going with us to the village of Passu, and with him in the front seat they let us through much easier, without checks. It can be seen that he enjoys traveling and helping.

He helped Dima a lot in the market, and now continues to speak with us. If not for his recently injured leg, he would go trekking with us. Well, he just take a ride and show local attractions along the way, which we could have missed without him.

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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