July 24
Passu, Pakistan
158 km
6426 km total
Morning crossing we awaken Chinese border guards from trailer. Helicopter circles and lands on Pakistan side. Temperature plummet and rain pours. Cold descent.
Kunjarab Pass on the Karkoram Hiway. The Karkoram Hiway goes for 1000 miles from Kashgar to Islamabad. Bell helicopters was testing their high-altitude models here, at 16,000 feet.
July 25
Hunza, Pakistan
58 km
6484 km total
Monsoon destroys road. Portage bikes and call it an early day. Haider Beg and the Swiss Bible thumper family.
We saw a Japanese tourist washed 100 yards downstream, emerging wet, sandy, and bloody.
Alex had to walk his bike 15k into Gilget to find this welder after his frame broke.
July 26
Hunza, Pakistan
107 km
Al breaks a chain. Tourist cottage and Ohio guy Doug tells great stories. Discover mango shakes in chaotic Gilgit.
Truck drivers were into self-expression.
July 28
Chilas, Pakistan
138 km
6729 km total
Starting to wear out. Tires blow out at the sidewall. Long uphill climb to hotel on hillside. First day we start taking Malaria medication.
An innkeeper on the Hiway.
July 29
Dasu, Pakistan
131 km
6860 km total
Dehydration! No energy today. Weakening. Kids block road into down “one pen! One pen!” I blast through and level one child. Keep on riding, no looking back.
July 30
Takot, Pakistan
105 km
6965 km total
No sleep last night, vivid Larium dreams. Trucks with permanent horns. Yoda blocks the stairway to street. Extended lunch Iying drinking Coke on rope beds.
Dried apricots for sale.
Vehicles waited for weeks to get through.
July 31
Abbotabad, Pakistan
50 km
7015 km total
5 Km out of Takot landslide blocks road. Pay kids 50 Rs. to carry luggage. I bonk. Alex rides ahead from Battagram while I hitch with Ahzar, the zealous Muslim.
Islamabad, the end of the Hiway. Horns blaring, raw sewage in the street, no emmissions control, 95 degrees F.