Gilgit

After saying goodbye to Denis and Hugo, and having arranged to meet Alex in Gilgit, I jumped on the back of one of the Suzukis going to Aliabad while my luggage went in the back with the rest of the passengers. After the front of the truck experience at Sost this was an enjoyable ride in the sunshine.

As we pulled into Aliabad Alex passed me on his bike, but I was too busy holding on to take photos.

Men on the back of the Suzuki I'd been riding in Aliabad:



And then it was into one of the minibuses for the trip to Gilgit. Here are some pics from the trip:





Gilgit is the main town of the Hunza area, with a large university and government administration centres. It's dusty, hot, and feels a bit scruffy - although the people are friendly - and Alex and I spent most of our time drinking tea with the locals and trying to work out just how safe the Gilgit to Islamabad run was going to be. Clearly for Alex, this was going to be more of a concern as he would be on his own, with the bike to draw attention to his presence.

This guy fried up chapli kebabs – flat round mutton kebab's cooked in what looks like used engine oil:



Alex and I also found a sweet shop that sold great Pakistani sweets and tea:



Here's a few random shots of Gilgit:







And our take away lunch:



Alex getting ready to leave for Islamabad: