📷 The Land of High Mountains: Pakistan. Day 15. Gilgit City Walk

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Here it is, the Gilgit city, full cars, people going about their business, shops, dust and mountain views. From here we started our journey two weeks ago, and we return here at the end.

Gilgit, located in the Gilgit-Baltistan region, Pakistan, is a one of a major tourist, trekking and expeditionary centers for travel to the Karakorum mountain range. The mountains of the region, which include four of the 14 eight-thousandth peaks in the world, attract tourists, trekkers and climbers from all over the world.

It's amazing how, under similar conditions, it did not become as dirty as similar cities in India. In many places there are trash cans and bins, occasionally there are social advertisements and calls not to litter. And it basically works.

Our hotel is visible in the background. Even with a weak wi-fi in the lobby! Here it is, civilization :)

Amin is about to unload our luggage from the top of his minibus. He traveled a lot with us and showed himself to be a very good driver. Tomorrow morning he will drop us off at the airport and drive back to Karimabad.

We check into the hotel for a long time, then quickly take a shower, and go to look at the city, from where people also look at us. Still, there are not so many foreigners here.

The buildings are mostly low-rise.

The first step is to examine the surrounding shops. What if we find something interesting? And it’s curious to just gaze at local goods and people.

The streets are narrow, there are a lot of all kinds of lanes and nooks where you just accidentally wander.

By the way, I also bought such a hat. Not for me, but as a gift to a friend.

One of the few high-rise buildings. I will not say that it decorates the city a lot, but, apparently, it is necessary.

We were very hungry and really wanted fried meat in any form, so as soon as we waited until everyone came, we went to look for a barbecue. Our efforts were soon rewarded. A table in a small shell-type garage and two Pakistanis making small kebabs. Exact what we need! Wrap us a couple of dozen! Or more?...

And while we wait, we eat dessert — craft ice cream, bought in a nearby shop! Of course, I ate tastier ones in my life, but there it came in very handy and great.

They began to fry kebabs and, as they were ready, served in large bunches along with the flatbreads. Beef meat and liver. Delicious, spicy and very smoky — we were delighted! Each stick cost 30 rupees, we ate about 60 pieces. Do not be surprised at the huge amount, we do not gorge like hungry tigers (well, at least not always), just pieces of meat are very small in size. But they are perfectly fried, juicy and tender. I still remember this feast!

It seems that our presence brought good luck to this place — new customers began to appear right before our eyes, the owner was pleased.

We were also satisfied: we finally ate delicious fried meat to satiety.

As soon as we ate and left, a man approached our organizer Dima, who turned out to be a correspondent for local television, and asked Dima to answer a few questions about our trip, people, impressions of Gilgit and about the incidents that happened to us during the trip. There was nothing special to tell about the city, but Dima talked about how the cow ate his socks somewhere on the trek :)

While the interview was going on, onlookers began to gather. And we looked and were surprised: how small the locals were in comparison with our tall Dima!

Oh, clothes shop. Do we need anything? No, we just dropped in to see.

Heaps of bananas at every corner. Delicious!

And around us everywhere curious people quickly gather. It's a little unusual when so many people are looking at you, but you can also look at them in response without hesitation. And take pictures :)

Corn baked in salt and ash. Tasty, although a little too dry.

Another example of local car tuning.

After the meal, the main part of the group went to rest at the hotel, and Olya and I decided to walk a little more around the city. I found an English cemetery on the map, and we decided to explore it. Approaching the fence, it became clear that the idea would not be successful — the door was locked. I want to take a picture over the fence, but then a Pakistani calls out to us. He gestures to the door, pulls out the key and opens the lock.

It seems that he watches over the cemetery and those who approach the fence, and opens access there as needed. Everything inside is also very neat.

The Jama Masjid Ahle Sunnah Mosque rises above the wires that have covered the city with a network. This is a relatively new, recently built mosque (it is also in the first photo of this post). Once a Buddhist city, now the city, like the entire region, is Muslim, and this is noticeable by the number of religious symbols of Islam on the streets and, of course, by the number of mosques.

And this is an older mosque, Markazi Imamia Jamia Masjid — large and with armed guards. We were allowed into the courtyard after a couple of minutes of conversation, but we were not allowed to see the inner hall.

Oh, what is this picturesque shop with a seller in snow-white clothes? On a small street, it alone remained open.

This is a shop of spices and sweets! The seller was very charming, the smells were pleasant inside, the mounds of multi-colored spices were on the counter. Very colorful and oriental.

We bought a small bag of hot peppers, I love that. In general, it was probably worth asking and choosing something else, at least as souvenirs for friends and relatives — it would be an unusual and pleasant gift. But somehow we thought about it late, when we had already left the shop.

It was getting dark and we hurried to the hotel. The streets were almost completely empty, shops were closed and only rare passers-by met us on the way. By the way, here you can clearly see how the national clothes perfectly coexist with the absolutely international ones right on the same motorcycle — T-shirts and jeans, although they are less common, are nevertheless quite common.

The rest of the evening was spent trying to check in for an international flight home from Islamabad (but the internet let us down a lot in this matter) and planning a short visit to the capital of Pakistan. In the morning we fly from Gilgit to Islamabad, there will be a break of 8 hours between flights, which means that we can at least have a little look at the Islamabad. Well, returning home very soon, and we look forward to tomorrow.

To be continued...

Parts of the journey:

Camera: OLYMPUS E-M1 Mark II

It's better to watch the photos in high resolution — just click on them and open in a new window.

You can also see my photos in my blog LJ and in my profile on NatGeo

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📷 The Land of High Mountains: Pakistan. Day 15. Gilgit City Walk

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