Thursday May 08.
News back in Fairy Meadows was not promising. Pakistan and India were officially at Dagger’s drawn and while we were trudging along the trek to Beyal, multiple strikes have already happened in the morning.
India launched ‘Operation Sindoor’ targeting several airbases deep inside Pakistani territory, officially initiating what was later coined as ‘The Four-Day War’.
It was time to make quick recalculations or possible rescheduling of the entire tour.
This was not the first time that the two countries have been at loggerheads and considering the previous encounters, I had hoped that this skirmish will also fizzle out in a day or two.
With such an optimistic perspective and a flamboyant yet misleading outlook for the future, I decided to keep to news to myself at least until we have reached some decent location to plan further course of action.
The time we reached Raikot Bridge, John was feeling battered by the altitude gain with one of his ear badly aching and he could hardly hear from it. Panicked by the unforeseen conundrum, we searched for some immediate relief from the local medical stores in Danyor Valley.
I had known that his condition will gradually improve given the fact that we were now back on ground, I decided not to convince him with my prediction and let him have some medication which would calm him down.
Another two hours of road trip on the Karakorum Highway and we finally reached Hunza Darbar while sun was gradually setting behind the Ultar Sar, letting out a beautiful golden glaze across the valley.
Access to clean toilets and warm bedding and semblance of civilization was much needed at this point. Until now, of what they have observed, the guests were pretty sure people in Fairymeadows and Chilas reproduced without women in their ranks.
Driving into more liberal and inclusive culture of Hunza, they were visibly relieved to witness not only the existence of the alternate gender but their active role in the society. Adam and Akshat could not have been happier, finally having access to Hi-speed internet although the ‘Hi-speed’ prefix was much debatable.
The day culminated with a decent buffet dinner in the dining hall where across the glass walls, the valley echoed with damped sounds of sporadic vehicles with their headlights breaking through silhouettes and silence across the mighty Karakorums. To my disappointment, Hunza Darbar apologized for not accommodating me ‘the guide’ as they had full occupancy at that point.
Taking this as an opportunity, I decided to stroll down to my favourite stop-over in the valley, the Mannaseau Resort. Leaving the valley road downhill, the passage to the resort takes a painstakingly long staircase, passing through the beautiful apricot orchards and straight into the resort.
The resort is pitched right in the middle of orchards with old Apricot, Walnut and Apple trees with Magpies lurking all around, ready to welcome the guests in rather informal yet more cordial ways.
……. to be continued