#khyber pass drone view

[mendyourselfs]

Pakistan Northern Areas Tour | Hunza Valley | Naran Kaghan | Neelum Valley | Skardu | Chitral | EKT

-Assalam-Alaikum friends,

We made a plan to check out the beauty of Northern Pakistan. Please note that flight PK-202 is about to leave for Lahore. Please be seated on it quickly before you get a beating for it. Firstly we will travel from Karachi to Lahore by air. There was a whole lot of foul smell in the aeroplane. I wonder if the boss has farted. Ahsan has got my stuff, and Junejo has got his own bag as well. Now we have to take a car from Lahore. It's so damn hot dude. It's much more than Karachi. Ahsan always forgets something or the other. What have you forgotten? I don't know let me see. Brother Ahsan has forgotten something, for sure. -Forgot my warm clothes at home, dude. -Okay nevermind. Luckily this video Ahsan has been sponsored by a clothing brand. -And they have a store in Lahore so-- -From FUROR store we picked up clothes. Friends did you meet my best friend. Amjad. Are Amjad's glasses better or mine? Every day now, "open sesame." I was feeling crazy hunger, so Moore and Ahsan told me they would take me for Lahore's traditional breakfast. I knew that when we would reach Lahore, I would get to eat something special for breakfast. So, I didn't tell them, but I don't eat "Paye" brother Ahsan. -No Phajja's "Paye", it's delicious. -It's too sticky. And we had decided this. You didn't know, but brother Moore and I had decided that we will definitely take you to eat Phajja's Paye. We were going towards a secret lake. Whose location pin was only on my phone. From Thokar we came onto the motorway and moved towards Kallar Kahar. They made a whole lot of fun of me because of Paye but now, how do I tell them that I don't even know how to swim.

There it's come, there it's come. This thing. After we reached we came to know that the location of the lake wasn't as secret as we expected it to be. The water was very cold dude. Oh! Cold system. The second one will also dive. Over here out of us three who knew to swim, were swimming that was only brother Mooroo whereas me and Ahsan both of us just dived. Still not a tourist spot. Still slightly secret. And I'm not going to tell you where it is. It's really about the small things in life. Assalam-alaikum viewers. We are at a lake in Kallar Kahar, water pool. Water pool. -We went there. -Water fall. Water fall. Water fool... ...is a lake. It's water fall. Assalam-alaikum viewers, we went to Kallar Kahar, it's a lake. We came to take a bath. we enjoyed, dived a little too but... ...got screwed. I'm wearing this seven kilo bag. It contains a laptop, camera, lenses. I'm feeling as if I'm picking up myself and walking. Caught the road and started heading towards Islamabad. Paid at toll plaza. Since we were going by Islamabad, so thought why not keep a fan meet up here. At FUROR's store... ...at Giga Mall. (indistinct dialogue) Common brother, viewers it's the second day of our travelogue.

Me, Junejo and Ahsan. You can see that Junejo has been woken up early and he isn't happy. Taking pleasure of Islamabad's beautiful views, we started heading for Naran. We thought at Savour Foods we would eat, what do we eat here? We would eat Pulao. Check out the people. Pulao must be good. Had one road rage experience. Uncle got saved, he was saying something wrong and I was getting angry. Well nevermind. Hey you! What are you doing? Where are you coming? Can't you see? We have kept all our bags in the open in the back of our pick up truck. And, if it rains then all of them will get wet. We didn't estimate this so now we are thinking if it does rain what will we do? As we thought, it turned out the same way. Oh dude! What will we do now Ahsan? I have a lot of expensive stuff in the bag. No problem boss, I will do something about it. This is called brother Ahsan's program. Keep all the stuff inside. This is the first time I'm going to the Northern Areas so I'm feeling a little road sick. The window is open so that if I vomit, it goes outside. And alongwith me brother Ahsan is also in the same state. He has made some system and is sitting. Mansehra. Near Muzaffarabad Ahsan saw two rivers of different colours meeting. A drone shot of this is a must.

While Mooroo and Ahsan were taking drone shots, I was promoting myself, again. The scene is something like this. Scenes are something like this. The journey became too long so thought we should stop at Balakot. We intended to reach Naran today. But here in Balakot there is a PTDC where for 5000 rupees per day we can keep three people in a double bedroom. Uncle said that the purest Chapli Kabab is over there. If we don't take risks with our stomach then what will we eat with. No no, what risk will we take? Stomach doesn't get spoilt with Chapli Kabab. I will talk to you in the bathroom tomorrow. By the look of it the restaurant seemed to be a torture chamber. Like they take out new ways of food poisoning secretively. See the state of the oil. But we were so hungry that we still too ate. Today we have a very long drive, Naran, Kaghan till wherever we can reach we will go. (indistinct dialogue) We have to go to Saiful Muluk so brother Ahsan is packing so that we may leave. Are you ready brother Junejo? -I'm ready I just haven't slept properly. -Why you didn't sleep? The message didn't come. Message didn't come, you copied my dialogue. (indistinct dialogue) It seems like everyone whose in Balakot is on their to some other place.

Their either on their way to Naran or Gilgit. It's a transitory place, limbo. The remaining travelling was done by us along side Kunhar river that is 166km long. Slowly and gradually we could figure out that we were going to a very beautiful place. And also a sign that the journey ahead would be risky and dangerous. Boss keep the car towards your side, if we fall we won't get up. Keep quiet keep quiet, my legs are already trembling. If reaching there would be easy then the place wouldn't be that enjoyable. This is Naran. Naran, Saiful Muluk, Lalazar, Babusar are considered to be bay stations for Noori valley and Poorvi valley. This is the main bazaar of Naran. We have come from Balakot to Naran haven't eaten anything since morning we will eat something now, brother Ahsan is falling here and there, we will eat something after that we have to go to Saiful Muluk. I'm seeing so many beautiful things so quickly. At this time they're only serving breakfast so we have ordered Nihari with sweet Lassi on the request of Ahsan. I think we got some tyre pressure concerns.

No we're pretty fine, we're pretty fine with the tyre pressure. (indistinct dialogue) The game of life and death. The drive for Saiful Muluk. (indistinct dialogue) It's this scene. It went. It's only the going scene here. I've kept my door unlocked, if needed I'll just jump out. -Brother, the driver will jump out first. Everything goes just that I may survive. (indistinct dialogue) (indistinct dialogue) They are returning back from there. Catch it catch it, fill you lap with it here. All the Nihari, Lassi, Murgh Cholay have mixed together properly now. All mixed now. They're mixed now. How can they drive here right next to the corners of the roads? Did you see it in the car that is standing there? -Will we manage to reach with this car? -It's very difficult. -I went quite ahead but then had to return. -We should return too. It's very difficult. If it wasn't difficult we wouldn't have enjoyed either. (indistinct dialogue) Some moments spread far and wide in the waves of time.

This moment is a proof of this. Saiful Muluk lake. It's attacking you, right? -Sir also record this monkey. -It's recorded. -The monkey often speaks this way. -Sir, we will go there. Here it comes, here it comes! Hey buddy, hold me, hold me. They will signal from there. Then your brother stole the limelight, meaning quite literally not coming slow. This running water... ...comes in use of the people of the cities in so many ways. Brand new day in Naran, today we will be rafting. It's very late for Aansoo lake. -Isn't it very late? -Yes, it very late. We're late. So tomorrow we will go to Aansoo lake and today we will go to Lulusar. Blue and red combo is running. Blue, red, red, red, blue, red. Black, black, white. Friends this is Lulusar Lake. Some stupid people call it Lu-lu-sar lake. But I would like to let you know with full responsibility that this is not Lu-lu-sar, it's Lulusar lake. Then I had corn at a lake. Corn, makayi, challi, whatever! Have you ever eaten corn worth 50 rupees, 50 is fine it's not that expensive. The games at Saiful Muluk were different, but the games here are a different type of crazy. What a shot! -Please drop us ahead at the stop. -Walaikum salaam sir. -Where do you have to go? -We just have to go to the top there. Where? Top is here in front, please take us as well brother.

Do you'll have to go to Babusar? Yes we have to go to Babusar. Sit down and show us the way also and how far is it? -How far is it? -It's pretty close by, it's there. How long will it take? How long will it take to reach there? Days... ...it will take 20 minutes, we go to this side -Lets go -at the top and ahead is Babusar. Okay fine, sit down, sit down. Brothers a cinematographer can go to any limits to get a good shot. I just sat in the open back of a Revo in the blitsering cold. But it was worth it as I had some of my Pathan friends also sitting with me. Babusar Pass connects Gilgit-Baltistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. And Babusar top is the highest point which can be reached by cars in the Kaghan valley. Special thanks to Toyota Central Motors for the awesome car.

This is Babusar top, I'm feeling cold, can't feel anything, my hands are frozen. As far as our experience the information given to us by older men was incorrect. One old man said that, when a young guy told us that it's a four hour walk ahead the old man sreamt saying "No it's a six hour walk". When we were heading towards Saiful Muluk, an old man was returning in the same car Vigo. We asked him if Vigo would reach there and he replied it's very difficult, it's very difficult. So, but we reached in the same car ultimately. So word being that the information given by older men is usually discouraging and incorrect.

Ahead we met a young lad we asked him if this car would go and he replied try, it will go. -Very good. -Very good. Assalam-alaikum viewers, me and sir have come here for... ...rafting so see they have even given us a roller. This is a roller. While we were rafting I had recited the Ayatul-Kursi but while returning the Pathan driver made me recite all the Kalma's as well. It's important. We have filled diesel in our car, in the morning we-- Will go in this car to the top of Saiful Muluk. After that from there we would track it to Aansoo lake. The horses don't go till Aansoo lake. But they go till the base camp and after that we would have to walk it, hike-- 127 hours doesn't happen with us, that's all.

Govinda in sexy colours. Oh God! What have I gotten myself into? Now my horse has taken the lead, my horse does the system. System meaning everything. And brother Mooroo is behind me and there behind is brother Junejo. The first horse I sat on was named Jani and this one is called Bullet. Not coming slow, your brothers horses-- (indistinct dialogue) Moving ahead I fell asleep. And saw ahead and the scene was there. Brother Junejo, how are you feeling? I'm unable to do this. No dude, it's not like that we'll do it. From here we have to travel for another two hours. So we will have to walk for another two hours to accept death. Boys a 15 minutes break is a must, if we have to walk another two hours. Oxygen is very low. (indistinct dialogue) I have it.

And I'm scared too, the place is like this that's why. Ayatul Kursi again... ...you know. Good boy. To see Aansoo lake you have to shed tears. This boy just told us now to see Aansoo lake you have to shed tears. This person is not at all trying to scare us. The brother whose horse I'm riding is saying that if you eat uncooked onions your breathing wont get heavy. The horses can't go forward from here so we're on foot. See the fog here. By fog I mean that clouds are here. This track forced me that I may record my last message for my mother. If anything happens to me so I want to say, mum I love you. You'll fall down dude, don't do it. And if I ever did any wrong to anyone, I ask them for forgiveness too. A little more of the climb is left. But I, if I ever made any mistake, if anyone is upset with me so I'm sorry buddy. Please forgive me. But after seeing the Aansoo lake I realised that the scenes, are something like this. We have reached at the top. I was the last guy to reach the top. Ultimately it was all worth it. The pulled calf muscle. The sun burnt face. Just for this oxygen deprived moment.

And it's only worth it if you suffer for it. The word 'suffer' in Urdu and the word 'suffer' in English as well. Thank you FUROR for making us experience this epic journey. If you guys like my outfits. Check them out in the description below. Getting down won't be that difficult, neither your breathing will get heavy nor are we, getting tired. Get down slowly. Don't run down. Okay friends, I hope you like the travelogue. Hey, where do we get down from? And if you do like it then do like, share and subscribe. Assalam alaikum. How are you? Hope your fine. -Did you see the Aansoo lake? -Saw it. You have hid the most enjoyable things in your village.

Good bye

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCH4m29XH6_yGxgtH5ZgykAw

[olwog]

So Peeps, today we learn that there’s a wobbly scene reminiscing about tatie (potato) picking, that mud is a good substitute for ice and a glorious sunset can be the ideal ending to a brilliant day.

Carol is predicting a slightly overcast day but temperatures around 13C and the rain band affecting Scotland is likely to stay there so we should be OK.

    I’m driving to Swainby to pick up Peter and thence to Whitby. We take the moor road and it’s a pleasure today, we only meet two other vehicles which means there is ample time to appreciate the beautiful, if desolate, moor tops and there’s a surprising twist; there are several oases of yellow shining out in a stunning solar display lifting what would otherwise be a desert of heather with the odd loan tree. It’s the gorse and I thought it only blossomed in the spring but these plants have clearly got their clock wrong and it looks fabulous because of it.

    We arrive in Whitby in good time and park in what are now free places near the whale jaw bones on West Cliff. During the winter months the parking meters are shrouded with a bag like a condemned man only the message is far better; it means we don’t don’t pay!

    Dave has got behind several tractors and is running a little late so we pass the time with our cameras taking the kind of photographs that have been shot from this point since Frank Sutcliffe prowled these parts with his big plate camera in the 19th century.

First the Abbey, then Captain Cook then maybe the whale bones, no not this time; we do our best to contrive something different and maybe we achieve partial success; however, there are only so many ways you can shoot Whitby from West Cliff so we settle on what I would advise you to do; put the camera away and appreciate this fabulous sight for what it is, a beautiful vista, forever changing as light and weather influence what you see and feel. We have a few glorious minutes of this and take time to appreciate the above before the two Daves and other two Georges arrive.

A quick change into walking boots later and we’re on our way down the Khyber Pass (that name has always amused me even from childhood days) to the fish docks and past the amusement arcades to the swing bridge. It’s still early but there are stalls opening and cafes moving from breakfast to mid-morning snacks and even a kiosk with hamburgers and chips, bit early for me but, hey, each to his own.

We cross the swing bridge and turn left on to Sandgate, call at the free toilets at the Market Place (we are of an age and prostates are bigger than bladders) then left onto Church Street and brace ourselves for the 199 steps. I remember counting these when I was a kid and something would always jump into my mind as I counted, then I’d forget where I’d got to, then I’d guess and at the top it would never be 199, I don’t try this today but we do all walk up in one go and I’m amazed and proud of our level of fitness.

We make our way past St Mary’s Church and on towards the abbey then turn left towards the cliffs. The Cleveland Way is well signed from here and the views are spectacular and will remain so for the majority of the walk.

It’s not long before Saltwick Nab comes into view and I can’t help but think about the erosion that’s taken place to create such a fabulous coast line. We’re not particularly high at between 200 and 300 feet (approx 100 metres) but it does mean we can be mesmerised by the rolling ocean breaking on the rocks at the bottom. There is a fence between us and certain death at this point but it’s not there for the entirety of the walk and it makes me think “Why should it?”. I do have an issue with our propensity to put up a sign that explains the obvious. “Dangerous Cliffs” seems to me to be superfluous and I’m quite certain that if you fall off this one, you won’t be in pain for long.

We’re approaching the Fog Horn station now and it’s the first time I’ve seen it, in fact it’s the first time I’ve seen any fog horn and there are two pointing in different directions covering the North and the South of the coast. I’ve heard it on many occasions whilst visiting Whitby when I was working for the North Riding County Council many years ago and thought the monotonous drone came from near the Abbey but it’s a little further along the coast.

There’s a quick pee break and we’re off again and meet our first mud field where walking becomes a lottery between standing on something solid but with a coefficient of friction similar to ice on a bobsled run and standing on a piece of clay that looks solid but turns out to be 4 inches of sucking mud.

There’s a surprising number of people around the George informs us that for many of the schools this is the October break, he’s telling me that York schools have this week off. This knowledge and the smell of the mud and clay remind me that when I was a kid the October holiday was referred to as (potato) tatie picking week and we’d walk along deeply recessed lanes with high hedges to remote farmhouse to ask if there were any jobs picking taties.

/*StartWobblyScene We would be paid 10 shillings to 15 shillings per day (50p to 75p), yes you read that right; and it was back breaking work bent over finding the potatoes and rubbing off any soil or mud and putting them into a basket. When the basket was full, and it didn’t take long, we then emptied it into a trailer that would be moving along the adjacent rows, often driverless, at a very slow walking pace. The potatoes had been harvested by quite a crude machine with a rotating fork mounted on the back of a tractor. The twin tines of the fork would spin around and hit the ridge of soil at right angles to discourage the white veg onto the soil to the side. Over the years some farmers planted other varieties and we had the delight of ‘Red Skins’ to pick during one harvest. As the name suggests they were a very pale red and as I’m colour blind (although I didn’t know then) I struggled to differentiate them from the soil and would leave far too many unharvested for that particular farmer and had to look elsewhere for a job picking white ones.

We started work about half seven and as a twelve year old that time normally happened only once a day and that was during the evening. We’d work until ten o’clock and then stop for ten minutes for our allowance (usually referred to by the farmer’s wife as ‘lowance and the words, “Cum n get thee ‘lowance” were music to my ears. It usually consisted of an enamel jug full of strong Yorkshire tea with milk already added. This was poured into mugs that had chips out of the enamel and you had to be careful to hold them only by the handle as the conduction of the heat from the scalding tea meant the sides of the mug could render your digits free of fingerprints in seconds.

She usually brought scones that had already been cut in two and liberally spread with salted butter, sometimes they were still slightly warm and the butter would have melted into them, they were divine.

At lunch time we got the same but the scones were substituted for ham sandwiches with the bread in slices that, when combined with meat cut quarter of an inch thick, created a doorstep of a sandwich that was the thickness of a paperback book.  All of this is memorable but the outstanding thing was the butter; when you bit into a sandwich you’d leave tooth lines through the layer of lightly salted, artery coating, heart stopping yellow churn and when tasted with the salted ham the result was instantaneous heaven. We didn’t get the opportunity to wash our hands so they’d be grubby with mud or soil so on the first day we’d hold the bread using two fingers and thumb and not repositiion them, once we’d eaten our way around our digits and got as close to them using a nibbling technique we’d throw the last tiny bit away with the mud or soil still impregnated in the bread. After the first day and we knew how good it was we we would eat the whole thing including the soily/muddy bit anyway and sod the consequences (in fairness, there were never any ‘consequences’ I don’t think a bit of soil ever hurt anyone)

By three in the afternoon the salt would have worked its magic and by the time afternoon ‘lowance came along it would be all we could do to resist the temptation to wrest the enamel jug from the clutch of the farmer’s wife and glug the contents with complete disregard to temperature or the needs of fellow workers such was the irrational and selfish result of the salt induced thirst. The smell of the mud on this walk will evoke these memories at several points along the route, I’m OK with that, they were happy days. /*EndWobblyScene

The track is quite undulating, more than I expected but it does raise the heart rate and the views are good. As we pass Rainfall Slack there is more gorse as yellow as the sun on an autumn eve and we take some photographs to celebrate its joy. Yellow is such an uplifting colour and so unexpected in autumn.

  Just another climb now through more mud and some quite challenging pools of clay and water, we see people heading in the opposite direction and one particular lady shows us the muddy results of her encounter with yet more mud near Robin Hood’s Bay, her back and backside are covered in the dried remains of what looked like quite a slide in the stuff.

**Robin Hoods Bay* There is an English ballad about Robin Hoods Bay in which Robin is purported to have nipped across from Sherwood when he heard there were French pirates causing havoc on the coast. He gave them a good thrashing and returned their ill-gotten gains to the local people, re-flowered the de-flowered virgins and resurrected the men who had been killed defending them. As an act of gratitude, the villagers named their row of houses after him as a thank you. OK, there may be a modicum of exaggeration and maybe a hint of embellishment but you get my drift.

It’s a cracking little village now with quaint narrow streets and secret passageways here and there. It used to be a major port for smugglers and you can see why. There are rumours of underground passageways that link the houses to enable contraband to be moved about quickly when coast guards or their equivalent came sniffing**

We’re lucky and manage to negotiate the wettest bits with only a minor incident and begin our final sector through a field where we meet Jan who did a couple of sectors with us on Louise Graydon’s Cleveland Way walk through the Summer.

Our final leg is down into Robin Hoods Bay. We’re on to normal ground where our feet stay where we put them and we make our way, with a little bit of direction from a local, to the bus stop. We’re 15 minutes early for the x39 that’ll take us back to our start point for free, we do like our OFP’s.

We normally call at Trenchers for our fish-n-chip reward but decide on the Fisherman’s Wife Restaurant on the Khyber Pass, it has great views; however, the prices are top-endish, the service average and the quality is only OK.

The day was excellent though and the trip back exposes us to some of the most beautiful skies I’ve seen for a while. There is every type of cloud formation including mammatus clouds and they’re all lit up by a low sun. The sky is on fire and this is a great end to fabulous day.

  Enjoy the snaps…G..x

If you think others would enjoy the pictures, walks and anecdotes please feel free to “share” using the links. Thanks.

This is life after an Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm open repair. Don’t be afraid of the operation, it set me free. Please be encouraged and inspired to walk, it’s liberating…G..x

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  Whitby to Robin Hood’s Bay So Peeps, today we learn that there’s a wobbly scene reminiscing about tatie (potato) picking, that mud is a good substitute for ice and a glorious sunset can be the ideal ending to a brilliant day.