So, what we are currently experiencing here on our endeavor to climb in the Karakoram is something that I had heard about, but to this point not had the personal experience with. It is the Hurry up and Wait program.
To some degree every expedition experiences this same situation. Usually it is weather dependent and in this case the weather is somewhat a factor or consideration.
Currently we are "suspended" in ISB-Islamabad awaiting the opportunity to get up to Skardu via plane ideally or even by plane, bus, jeep, goat combination would suffice at this point. Not that ISB isn't a cool place to visit, but each day that we sit waiting to get to the next leg of the trip is one more day that we could be missing a great summit day opportunity down the road, and finishing our climbing objective and heading home to our families.
ISB had been VERY hot as of late, and although not as humid as the Midwest that I am used to, it is to some degree a combination of both. So, it is easy to break a sweat just walking up to the local shops to grab lunch or a cold drink. It feels a little bit like home, but since we are packed with very few sets of street clothes. As most of our clothing and hence baggage allowance is skewed towards supporting the climbing part of our endeavor. So, getting too hot and sweaty is not an ideal situation as we are living in these clothes until we get to the hiking portion of the trip-which will hopefully be happening sooner than later.
The last couple days have been good though and I have got to catch up a lot with my friend Shujaat here in ISB. He was one of our in country coordinators and part owner of KMM-Karakurum Mountain Magic on my trip to K2 in 2007. I had made somewhat regular efforts to keep in contact and so we have forged I think a pretty good friendship over time. Getting to actually come back to Pakistan and spend some time with him-especially as he is a MOST gracious host-has been very ideal!
Three nights ago on our first full night in ISB Shujaat took us to Luna Caprese, an upscale Italian style restaurant in the nicer part of ISB near many of the Embassy conclaves. This visit to Luna was a bit of a treat as we usually save that for post expedition enjoyment as it is in fact one of the few places that you can get beer and wine in an otherwise dry country. Plus the food is pretty amazing and although it is not on par with the steaks of IA, is pretty good just the same.
Two nights ago Shujaat invited us to Rawalpindi, where he lives, He took us to the Red Onion restaurant close to his home where we had some really great authentic Pakistani food that I had never had before. To date my favorite and one of my favorites in general has been Chicken Karahi. A spicy chicken dish that when combined with Chapati is delicious. BUT I found a new possibly equal favorite in the Dry Spiced Beef.
It has been so great to have Shujaat to take us around both as he knows most everything about the area. Where to find the best food, SIM cards for the phones that we bought, pillows, etc. The fact that he speaks such good english helps us to convey what we need to in order to get what we are after-BUT it is a bit challenging to ride with him as driving is in fact a new "hobby" for him. Much like any 16 year old that is new to driving a stick I have found myself gritting my teeth a bit as he tries to start off in third gear or continually kills the car when starting from a stop on any incline. The other night on the way to "Pindi"for dinner the traffic was literally bumper to bumper. Thousands and thousands of cars for as far as the eye could see. All of which moving in a whiplash stop and go fashion. Hit the gas and go for 10 ft and then slam on the brakes. We were doing this-or more importantly Shujaat was doing this-for about 20 minutes when we actually bumped the car ahead of us. The driver quickly got out and gestured and said something and came towards the car and Shujaat said something back and the driver looked in and then got back in his Taxi. On contact Rob-my new Aussie friend and current roommate-and I looked at each other and kind of laughed. We wondered how this might do down. As although it was a little bump I was sure that some words would be exchanged. We asked Shujaat after the exchange what was said and it apparently was something like:
Taxi Driver: "What, you couldn't see me from right behind me at this speed?"
Shujaat: "Oh, Shut up! No, I couldn't see you as you have no tail lights!" (Which he did not)
At which point the driver looked in (and Rob and I were convinced) and saw two big Westerners and decided that it was not worth the hassle. I was glad that we could in fact do something positive for Shujaat in preventing him from being taken advantage of by an opportunist cabbie.
Shujaat has not only made the 40 min drive from Rawalpindi with daily regularity in order to take me and other expedition members around town to get what we need, he has taken us out to some of the better authentic Pakistani restaurants and even took a group of us to visit Lake View Park yesterday.
Lake View Park was really neat to see. It is a bit of a family escape type of place on the outskirts of ISB. Only 4 years old it was quite a sight to behold. Freshly laid brick walkways and "streets" that no cars were allowed on, all made with ornate patterns of different colored bricks. At the end of the half mile or so walkway was a scenic man made lake that has the power of hydroelectric power creation as its purpose.
All around the area were family fun opportunities. From putt-putt golf to ATV track racing, BIG slides, and even a 70 ft man made climbing wall that they had just opened and were hosting weekly climbing comps on. Of course the area was surrounded by vendors of candy and cold drinks for your strolling enjoyment. I had wondered if there might be clowns or street performers in the area as it seemed logical that a place like this might lend itself to something of that nature. In fact, there was but one. It was a man with his trained pet monkey, who with a simple word would go from doing back flips to standing at attention and saluting onlookers-(usually he was directed at those onlookers that were closest so as to give them the opportunity to make a donation to the entertainment fund they were collecting).
It was funny though as we were all watching the numerous skills and seemingly complete command and or cooperation that the trainer and monkey had in place and feeling quite comfortable being within a couple feet of the tandem. Right up until a local Pakistani walked to close to the monkey's collections at which point the monkey lashed out and projected a blood curdling scream/screech! Pretty much everyone in attendance jumped back and from that point forward showed a new level of respect for the monkey and his potential reach. Ben was the funniest to watch as I think that he actually left the ground just a little but I certainly don't fault him for that as one of the first rules of traveling in foreign countries is to stay away from animals of all sorts as you never know what they might have and getting bitten or scratched by a monkey no thanks!
After we stopped by Lake View park with Shujaat and our friend Fida-the head cook from my 2007 K2 Expedition-we ventured over to the Western style market as Ben had been instructed to pick up extra coffee for Fabrizio as there is apparently not any available in Skardu of merit. I of course picked up some more Kit Kat bars, as those seem to be the "goods" for me on expeditions as they sound good to eat pretty much all the time! I think that I have plenty now, so when it was made mention that we might go to the market again today I had to pass.
Yesterday we also had the assignment of getting more DVD's for our basecamp enjoyment. Fortunately they are only about 50-100 rupees each. Currently a US Dollar is equal to about 85.31 Pakistani Rupee. So about a dollar a movie for titles that are not even out of the theaters yet. So, I should be caught up on those by summer's end if nothing else.
Our last member arrived in ISB last night at about 4am. A South African member named Mike that was fortunate enough to attend the opening ceremonies of the World Cup (super jealous) just before he got on the plane to come to ISB. So, we are all either here or already in Skardu.
I just received word that some of us are headed to the airport at 5 am tomorrow. At the moment we do not have a seat on the flight and I will be flying stand by to get there. To Gilgit that is, but am happy to at least try as today we spent pretty much the entirety sitting in the hotel sleeping and catching up on movies and learning about the contenders of the World Cup.
Hopefully more news tomorrow from the lovely town of Skardu. B
To some degree every expedition experiences this same situation. Usually it is weather dependent and in this case the weather is somewhat a factor or consideration.
Currently we are "suspended" in ISB-Islamabad awaiting the opportunity to get up to Skardu via plane ideally or even by plane, bus, jeep, goat combination would suffice at this point. Not that ISB isn't a cool place to visit, but each day that we sit waiting to get to the next leg of the trip is one more day that we could be missing a great summit day opportunity down the road, and finishing our climbing objective and heading home to our families.
ISB had been VERY hot as of late, and although not as humid as the Midwest that I am used to, it is to some degree a combination of both. So, it is easy to break a sweat just walking up to the local shops to grab lunch or a cold drink. It feels a little bit like home, but since we are packed with very few sets of street clothes. As most of our clothing and hence baggage allowance is skewed towards supporting the climbing part of our endeavor. So, getting too hot and sweaty is not an ideal situation as we are living in these clothes until we get to the hiking portion of the trip-which will hopefully be happening sooner than later.
The last couple days have been good though and I have got to catch up a lot with my friend Shujaat here in ISB. He was one of our in country coordinators and part owner of KMM-Karakurum Mountain Magic on my trip to K2 in 2007. I had made somewhat regular efforts to keep in contact and so we have forged I think a pretty good friendship over time. Getting to actually come back to Pakistan and spend some time with him-especially as he is a MOST gracious host-has been very ideal!
Three nights ago on our first full night in ISB Shujaat took us to Luna Caprese, an upscale Italian style restaurant in the nicer part of ISB near many of the Embassy conclaves. This visit to Luna was a bit of a treat as we usually save that for post expedition enjoyment as it is in fact one of the few places that you can get beer and wine in an otherwise dry country. Plus the food is pretty amazing and although it is not on par with the steaks of IA, is pretty good just the same.
Two nights ago Shujaat invited us to Rawalpindi, where he lives, He took us to the Red Onion restaurant close to his home where we had some really great authentic Pakistani food that I had never had before. To date my favorite and one of my favorites in general has been Chicken Karahi. A spicy chicken dish that when combined with Chapati is delicious. BUT I found a new possibly equal favorite in the Dry Spiced Beef.
It has been so great to have Shujaat to take us around both as he knows most everything about the area. Where to find the best food, SIM cards for the phones that we bought, pillows, etc. The fact that he speaks such good english helps us to convey what we need to in order to get what we are after-BUT it is a bit challenging to ride with him as driving is in fact a new "hobby" for him. Much like any 16 year old that is new to driving a stick I have found myself gritting my teeth a bit as he tries to start off in third gear or continually kills the car when starting from a stop on any incline. The other night on the way to "Pindi"for dinner the traffic was literally bumper to bumper. Thousands and thousands of cars for as far as the eye could see. All of which moving in a whiplash stop and go fashion. Hit the gas and go for 10 ft and then slam on the brakes. We were doing this-or more importantly Shujaat was doing this-for about 20 minutes when we actually bumped the car ahead of us. The driver quickly got out and gestured and said something and came towards the car and Shujaat said something back and the driver looked in and then got back in his Taxi. On contact Rob-my new Aussie friend and current roommate-and I looked at each other and kind of laughed. We wondered how this might do down. As although it was a little bump I was sure that some words would be exchanged. We asked Shujaat after the exchange what was said and it apparently was something like:
Taxi Driver: "What, you couldn't see me from right behind me at this speed?"
Shujaat: "Oh, Shut up! No, I couldn't see you as you have no tail lights!" (Which he did not)
At which point the driver looked in (and Rob and I were convinced) and saw two big Westerners and decided that it was not worth the hassle. I was glad that we could in fact do something positive for Shujaat in preventing him from being taken advantage of by an opportunist cabbie.
Shujaat has not only made the 40 min drive from Rawalpindi with daily regularity in order to take me and other expedition members around town to get what we need, he has taken us out to some of the better authentic Pakistani restaurants and even took a group of us to visit Lake View Park yesterday.
Lake View Park was really neat to see. It is a bit of a family escape type of place on the outskirts of ISB. Only 4 years old it was quite a sight to behold. Freshly laid brick walkways and "streets" that no cars were allowed on, all made with ornate patterns of different colored bricks. At the end of the half mile or so walkway was a scenic man made lake that has the power of hydroelectric power creation as its purpose.
All around the area were family fun opportunities. From putt-putt golf to ATV track racing, BIG slides, and even a 70 ft man made climbing wall that they had just opened and were hosting weekly climbing comps on. Of course the area was surrounded by vendors of candy and cold drinks for your strolling enjoyment. I had wondered if there might be clowns or street performers in the area as it seemed logical that a place like this might lend itself to something of that nature. In fact, there was but one. It was a man with his trained pet monkey, who with a simple word would go from doing back flips to standing at attention and saluting onlookers-(usually he was directed at those onlookers that were closest so as to give them the opportunity to make a donation to the entertainment fund they were collecting).
It was funny though as we were all watching the numerous skills and seemingly complete command and or cooperation that the trainer and monkey had in place and feeling quite comfortable being within a couple feet of the tandem. Right up until a local Pakistani walked to close to the monkey's collections at which point the monkey lashed out and projected a blood curdling scream/screech! Pretty much everyone in attendance jumped back and from that point forward showed a new level of respect for the monkey and his potential reach. Ben was the funniest to watch as I think that he actually left the ground just a little but I certainly don't fault him for that as one of the first rules of traveling in foreign countries is to stay away from animals of all sorts as you never know what they might have and getting bitten or scratched by a monkey no thanks!
After we stopped by Lake View park with Shujaat and our friend Fida-the head cook from my 2007 K2 Expedition-we ventured over to the Western style market as Ben had been instructed to pick up extra coffee for Fabrizio as there is apparently not any available in Skardu of merit. I of course picked up some more Kit Kat bars, as those seem to be the "goods" for me on expeditions as they sound good to eat pretty much all the time! I think that I have plenty now, so when it was made mention that we might go to the market again today I had to pass.
Yesterday we also had the assignment of getting more DVD's for our basecamp enjoyment. Fortunately they are only about 50-100 rupees each. Currently a US Dollar is equal to about 85.31 Pakistani Rupee. So about a dollar a movie for titles that are not even out of the theaters yet. So, I should be caught up on those by summer's end if nothing else.
Our last member arrived in ISB last night at about 4am. A South African member named Mike that was fortunate enough to attend the opening ceremonies of the World Cup (super jealous) just before he got on the plane to come to ISB. So, we are all either here or already in Skardu.
I just received word that some of us are headed to the airport at 5 am tomorrow. At the moment we do not have a seat on the flight and I will be flying stand by to get there. To Gilgit that is, but am happy to at least try as today we spent pretty much the entirety sitting in the hotel sleeping and catching up on movies and learning about the contenders of the World Cup.
Hopefully more news tomorrow from the lovely town of Skardu. B
