Bike Tour 4,000 KMS - Karachi - Naran - Astor (Gilgit Balistan) and Back to Karachi

[chill2kill]

Oh yes, that is the beautiful valley as depicted by the awesome pictures

[Sulaiman75]

Here I stopped at another winding road to take a pic of the beautiful view below. Naturally, I had to find a flat pavement to park my bike.

Oh and I forgot to mention that this part of the road was perfectly paved, smooth and carpeted though very slim to accommodate traffic in one direction only, but easy to overtake using space on the side of the road.

As I began to take the first pic with the bike in the picture I snapped the pic and all of a sudden in slow motion the bike dropped right in front of me and I was just too far to jump and save it from falling.

In any case, now that it had dropped I didn't allow that to divert me from taking further two pics of the same location since it was just so so beautiful with surrounding mountains and rolling hills where you can clearly see the winding road below that I had to travel on, and I came up on earlier in the morning.

[YAC_Ventura]

Excellent thread, thanks for sharing your experience.

[Sulaiman75]

I kept on driving down the winding road taking pics from time to time of the remaining road below which I had yet to travel on.

I passed small houses on the side of the road built on cliffs and hills until I reached the very bottom where the greenery ended and there was a small patch of unpaved very dry fine dirt road. Not sure if you would call that dirt or dust because it was so fine.

When I said fine dirt road, by that I mean the dirt was very very fine and I had to be careful riding through there because it was an accident waiting to happen as the bike would skid from one side to the next as I crossed over that area which was only for a short distance.

After this turn I found myself entering a very small town where houses were very closely nit together perhaps for having access to the flowing water in the stream that passed through their village.

[Sulaiman75]

As I reached the bottom of the village Rama I passed a few small streets where the houses were closely constructed and for privacy of their agricultural land the locals had either put up stone built walls or tied shrubs and bushes together to divide the road from their personal land.

I also passed a local wood processing mill in a shed where they were cutting large sections of trees into smaller wooden plaques perhaps for home building purposes locally or even to ship out to other areas.

The very last pic is of a school set up inside a green coloured house type of a building. Although its difficult to see but when I drove close to the building I was able to read the name "Read - Foundation School" on the upper part of the white wall which was written in English.

When I decided to take the pic I saw a lady walking in my direction within the school premises holding a kid's hand, and as soon as she saw me point the camera towards the school she quickly turned around and began walking in the other direction as can be seen from the same pic.

[Sulaiman75]

This was the street in which I stayed the night at Kamran Hotel. Its the one to the right but all you see is the sign in Urdu on the far right and barely readable in English on the white road sign from where if you turn right there is a Gate that leads to the parking lot and then the Hotel Rooms which is not visible from these pics.

In the second pic you will notice just to the left of the two jeeps a blue building, that is the Police Station where I had to Register / Check In the day before upon arrival at Astor.

I knew I had taken a fare bit of pics and also knew I had quite a drive ahead so I quickly turned into Kamran Hotel and asked if they had light. The answer was YES.

I decided to quickly charge my camera battery for the drive ahead. I sat in their office during the charge and they brought me Tea. It took roughly an hour for the battery to charge.

I finally left Astor and was back on the road heading back to Naran by at 1: 00 PM

[gull_s_777]

suddenly noticed that my red seat cushion was missing.

I rushed downstairs and looked all around, even in the stairs and on every floor. I asked one of the boys who worked there if they had seen a red cushion or if anyone turned one in. He had no idea and so I realized the rest of the trip will be very painful if I don't have a cushion to sit on.

oh, you lost the cushion
i was loving that cushion

As I looked into the room what did I see? The chair inside the office of which the back can be clearly seen in the pic below, well my Red Cushion was sitting on that chair as a back rest !!! I was so so Happy ! I simply cannot express my emotions and the relief I felt at that time ........

and you found it back
wao, i can't imagine the happiness of that moment

[Sulaiman75]

oh, you lost the cushion
i was loving that cushion

Please read on and you will see a twist to the story regarding the cushion, I think you will not be disappointed.

[Sulaiman75]

Leaving Astor was a long drive to the KK Highway through some very remote and curvy roads cut out of the mountains on the side of a river in the valley.

I have to say, it was one long drive because it was only 54 kms but with all the winding roads, small bridges, some parts with just dirt on it while other parts of the road fully paved, and the fact I had to stop from time to time to take pics meant that 54 km distance would take me quite some time.

The long drive was extremely remote with no one in the area for quite some time and then all of a sudden I saw a few bikes in the distance and as they came closer they all waved at me and shouted as in hooting, they were happy about something I am sure. Local boys having fun.

[Sulaiman75]

As I was driving I came across this little town and heard a waterfall around a bend and so I slowed down to look. I realized the waterfall was not visible from there so I parked the bike and walked down this gorge and passed a few local goats and met a local resident and his kids.

I asked how far I would have to go to see the waterfalls and he said they are very far back but no way to get to it from here.

So I asked him to take my pic and he was ecstatic when I asked if I could their pic so he quickly called his kids who were playing with the goats nearby. I showed him the pic I took and he was so happy and thankful, he then insisted I come home to have lunch with him. Its one of those things where you have to literally argue your way out.

I then carried on my way.

[Sulaiman75]

I soon reached a hidden waterfall along the way. I missed it the first time on my way here because it was hidden behind a mountain to one side but this time I saw it as I passed the corner of that mountain.

I had to drive down a side road and then climb a small hill in order to see the waterfall.

[gull_s_777]

I am confused a little.
You were getting bike fueled from Naran and getting little concerned whether it'll make it to Chillas in one tank or not, but then suddenly you continued to Saiful Malook instead??
Did i miss something there??

Lovely spot

[capsat]

what an amazing solo bike trip you have taken Salutes to your endurance

[Sulaiman75]

I am confused a little.
You were getting bike fueled from Naran and getting little concerned whether it'll make it to Chillas in one tank or not, but then suddenly you continued to Saiful Malook instead??
Did i miss something there??

Lovely spot

As I was new to the region ahead I had no idea whether I would find petrol pumps on the way to Gilgit or in Chillas. I knew nothing of the locations in between Naran and Gilgit but knew Gilgit would have petrol.

When I was fueling up I spoke to the attendant at the pump and asked where I would find another pump on the other side as I was heading to Gilgit. He said on the way to Gilgit there are no pumps but if you get to Chillas you will find pumps but not sure if they will have petrol.

So he suggested its best to take two extra Water Bottles full of Petrol. Although I took the water bottles along I decided not to load up extra weight with petrol at that time.

When I went up and came down from Saiful-Ul-Maluk I did the math and it was only a few kms I had traveled and figured it was very little petrol I may have used and no need to head back to Naran to fill up again. Although that crossed my mind I decided against that and carried on ahead.

[Sulaiman75]

I carried on enjoying the peaceful and lonely ride through the dry winding roads that seemed to have been literally cut out of the mountains.

I eventually reached what seemed to have been a recently contstructed bridge a few yards from an older bridge that people used in the past but the old one was still operational and you could choose either one to cross over the river below. I naturally chose the newer one.

[Sulaiman75]

I took my trip towards the end of August while this bridge was opened and inaugurated exactly two months before I took my Pakistan Tour.

What I failed to understand however, was what in the world was the foreign Gov't thinking by investing or donating a bridge in such a remote location. Of all the things that could have been done this really did not add up for some reason.

In any case, it was most certainly a beautiful bridge to cross from one side of the mountain to the other and then back on the winding roads cut out of the other side of the mountain. A beautiful ride nonetheless.

[Sulaiman75]

You know when I was driving these secluded roads in the mountains the thought did cross my mind that this place is so isolated that some people traveling here alone would have a heart attack in fear of what 'might' happen.

I thought the only thing that may happen would happen due to one's own carelessness if traveling at high speed. However, in case of a tire puncture there is no worry, just have patience and someone will pass on by soon enough.

In any case, I enjoyed driving through this region to the fullest and couldn't get enough of the surroundings.

[Sulaiman75]

This was the same check post I drove through the day before where they instructed me to register at the Astor Police Station and they also checked my bike documents.

Well, once again they checked my bike documents and checked me out as leaving the region.

[Sulaiman75]

I could see in a distance the winding road I still had to travel on and at times I would wonder when will it ever end? And then I would remember that I past it just last night and it should be ending soon.

But in all honesty, I would look at my odometer from time to time and know exactly how much more I had to go before I hit the KK Highway.

[Sulaiman75]

It couldn't been moe than approximately 3 PM in the afternoon, and while it should have been sunny I was beginning to see dark patches of clouds move in.

Now that did worry me somewhat because although I had packed a rain coat, I knew very well it would slow me down substantially. And considering I had a great big mountain to climb which was most gravel and stones, this would be cause for mud and slippery situations.

I then decided I needed to cut down on my photography and aim at getting out of here as quickly as possible.

But when I looked to the sky I noticed the clouds were moving ever so quickly and I realized they would not be overhead for very long, and if they were going to pour there was absolutely Nothing I could do about it since there was no shade or shelter anywhere and so I just carried on and prepared to improvise with whatever came my way.