Trip to China

After being in Ibad for a day, we got the flight to Gilgit in a C130! That was an interesting experience, because it was a cargo plane! You take a bus on the tarmac to your big plane, because there are no chutes/ramps that the plane drives up to (not even commercial ones) So you transfer from bus to plane by walking up the steps like in smaller airports. You sit on a netting that runs parallel to the body of the plane, in four rows! There are buckles you put on for take-off, but then as we flew by Nanga Parbat Mtn, we stood at a small window in the back to see it! What an awesome first sight of the Himalayas!!
When we got ALL our luggage off we drove to our guesthouse, called Horizon Guesthouse. Tyler Gordon and Bari (a Pakistani) own it, and it's been doing very well through the summer tourist season. We rested a bit to sort of get over jetlag, and then met our good friend, Robin Gordon!
I sort of got a sore throat and cold, since Arlin had one for several days before we left Colorado. Thanks for sharing, Arls!
But we decided to take a trip up to the China border for four days the week after we arrived. Ty and Bari had just bought a newer Land Cruiser for the guesthouse, so we took off in that. Just the three ladies went, because Ernie was feeling a bit sicker by that week. He's not a great passenger, unless he can sit in the front, and we found out that the Karakoram Highway (KKH) is NOT a fun road! So I'm glad he stayed behind.
The pass to the border is called the Khunjerab Pass, and the border is at 16,000 feet! It didn't feel like we were climbing alot, as it was very gradual. We would stop for lunch on the way, and then have dinner at the guesthouse where we stayed the night. The first night we were in Minapin, a small town where another missionary couple lives, so we got to visit with them. They are kiwis (from New Zealand).
The next day we stopped at a small lake named Borith Lake. When we walked down to where we were going to have lunch, I kind of got a start, as I looked past a tree that had a dead animal in it!! It was a calf, perched on a branch facing us. Bari asked why it was there, and the owner said that when they bring the mother cow down to that area, and she sees her calf, she'll let her milk down!! Ever heard of such a thing?? A cow gives milk naturally when it gives birth, and you just have to keep milking it! Who needs a dead calf?

We hiked up to a glacier, too. Awesome to think that it's there all the time! It never totally melts. The river was a beautiful blue from the glacial water, too.
We also were very near Rakapochi mountain. It's climbed by many a team! We could see it from several different angles as we travelled the KKH.
The second night we stayed at Sost, and met another missionary there~a Canadian from Alberta. We also saw all the Chinese trucks bringing supplies into Pak, and going through customs. What alot of trucks!! The Chinese ones are mostly red cabs, with white trailers, and some Chinese lettering on them. The Pak trucks are fully decked out!! They paint almost every square inch on the truck, all colors, and the have bells and dangly things hanging and tinkling as they drive! We got some great pictures of those, and I bought our grandkids each one of them. They are overloaded, and travel the KKH from the north to Karchi, right in the south of Paki! They are slow and cumbersome, too. Maybe some passengers catch a ride on one, so you can sit on top of the load, on the front bumper, or above the cab! Quite a sight!
One hour out of Sost, our car started having trouble. We had just paid a toll on the road, but didn't get 5oo yds farther!! So the driver and Bari decided to go back to Sost~we'd have to drive about 25 mph~and get it fixed. They sort of knew what the problem was, but it wouldn't stay fixed the way they did it. Bari stopped another van that was going up to the China border, and asked if we could catch a ride with them. There were exactly enough seats for us, and there were three Austrians in there, touring just like we were! It was great to be able to speak English with them.
The KKH is also the silk route that was used many years ago for trade in China, India, etc. I don't really know much about it, but know that many believe that the Jews will use that road to get back to Jerusalem!! So it was awesome travelling it, thinking about what God had in store for the nations! May His purposes be fulfilled!!
I hope I can get some pictures posted here of some of these places!
On the way back, we met our driver in Sost again, and the car was fixed!! So we left the 'Austrian' van, and travelled down to Karimabad, and stayed at a place called Eagle's Nest. Where do eagles build their nests? In the highest tree!! That's where this guesthouse was! What a drive up, and we were late, so it was dark. But we had a good tour of the place the next day, and I got some great pictures of how the people terrace the hillsides and make great use of them for growing their crops, and feeding their animals.
We were so glad to be able to do this trip~probably a once in a lifetime deal! When we got back, Mike taught us a bit on Islam. It's very interesting, and helps you understand their culture.