Baltoro Glacier and K2 Basecamp Trek

After landing in Islamabad, the leafy but swelteringly hot capital of Pakistan, we had a few days to get over our jetlag, buy some local Sim cards and a "Shalwar kameez" (local outfit comprising of pyjama like baggy lightweight pants and long shirt as well as a chiffon scarf for women) and sample some delicious meaty curries and oily paratha breads. What quickly turned into my new favourite thing was the sweet, aromatic milk-tea called Doodh Patti which is ever present.

After a few days we made a jump up into the far north-east of the country, a region called Gilgit-Baltistan, home to the Karakoram and Himalaya Mountain ranges including 5 of the worlds 8000m peaks. Already on the flight we could see the peak of Nanga Parbat peaking its head over the clouds, a promise of what was to come.

In Skardu, a dusty gateway town, we met our tour operator, Trango Adventures, who we would be doing a 14-day K2 basecamp trek with. We were a bit disappointed to learn that the rest of our group had cancelled so it was just going to be me and Hadleigh on the tour. But we quickly realized we were not gonna be lonely as we were accompanied by a guide, a cook, an assistant cook as well as 5 porters and mule handlers. This team (as excessive as it seemed for only 2 clients) turned out to be a group of super nice and attentive Balti men, who smiled broadly and gave us thumbs up at our poor attempts at some basic Urdu.

The tour started with a 5hour jeep ride into the Shigar Valley, alongside the mighty and powerful Braldu river which had to be crossed on some rickety looking bridges and navigated alongside it on some very narrow cliffs, causing me to grip the car seat tight and close my eyes until we had passed the section.

From the village of Askole we started our walk. At first we spent a few days hiking along a dusty and very hot valley, trying to avoid sunstroke by covering our heads in scarves and gulping down litres of water.

On day 3 we reached the beginning of the Baltoro glacier, apparently the largest mass of ice outside the polar regions. Like a massive highway we would hike and camp atop it until we reached K2 basecamp. The glacier is topped by centuries of debris, so you spent most of the time scrambling over lose rocks but at night you can feel the wetness and cold eminating from the ice below you, causing us to dig out our thermals and beanies to sleep in.

This hike, we soon learned, has its own specific soundtrack. The constant creaking and groaning of the glacier, the sound of falling ice and rocks, the grumbling of distant avalanches, the gurgling of water flowing deep below you and the constant background of laughter and chatter of the local porters.

In terms of food, for breakfast we had eggs and chappati, for lunch 2min noodles and nuts and for dinner delicious chicken curries. At the beginning of the hike we saw some chickens running around our tent which in the morning were packed in crates on top of a mule and transported up the mountain. Every day it would be one chicken less and we soon realized they were our dinners, being kept fresh by being carried up the mountain, still alive.

On day 8 we finally made it all the way up to K2 and Broad Peak basecamp (they are only 1.5h away from each other) at 5200m. Unfortunately the weather turned and we only got a short glimps of K2 without cloud cover from afar. As we stood at basecamp we could only see the foot of the mountain and unfortunately, as it was already the end of the season, the actual basecamp was already empty. We were told that in the height of summer about 1000 people live there for 2-3 months, waiting for a summit attempt.

We were able to climb up 200m of K2 to the Gilkey memorial where tribute is paid to all the people who have lost their life on the mountain. There are plaques, prayer flags and even human remains. When somebody dies too high up to safely bring the body down, the custom is to bring one of their boots down and place it at the memorial. Standing on this windy bluff surrounded by these tragic stories felt eery and somewhat scary so I was glad to get back down again.

During that night we had two setbacks. For one, Hadleigh had some High Altitude sickness and didnt feel his best. And we woke up to 30cm of fresh snow surrounding our tent. This was the final nail in the coffin of our original plan to cross the Gondogoro La Pass at 5600m, which was no longer safe with this weather. So we turned around and hiked back down the same valley that we came up.

After 14 days we arrived back in Skardu in high need of a shower and a real bed. Exhausted but also filled with some good memories.

In our time in Pakistan so far we have noticed that the true highlights and our favourite memories are actually the people! First off all we noticed the jaw doppingly stunning blue and green eyes of the people in this northern region.

But most of all, the extreme kindness and friendliness of everyone we meet. We get stopped on the street by people wanting to chat, curious where we are from, being invited for cups of tea and complimented on our local outfits. These are usually men, approaching Hadleigh, but in moments when I was alone I was also approched by several women, asking me if I liked Pakistan and if they could take a photo with me. We had taxi drivers refusing payment, and a jeweller fixing my necklace for free, insisting they wanted it to be a gift.

On the hike, we celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary and the team somehow managed to surprise us with a nutella cake, baked on a simple camping stove on which they had written (in adorably missspelled English): "Heppey wedding Sarah+ Hari". We sat on the floor of the tent, sharing the cake with them and they couldnt quite believe that we had already been together for 10 years, 5 of them married and had not produced any children haha.

Another example was, as we were trudging back down through the snow on the hike, we came upon one of the many army camps up there. This region being right at the border to Kashmir, India, is heavily guarded by the Pakistan Army. The group of young soldiers invited us inside their simple hut, sat us down on their sleeping bags and served us sweets and hot tea, making chitchat in simple English and concluding the exchange with a mandatory selfie with us :)

Between the people, the food and the scenery, Pakistan is fast turning into one of our favourite travel destinations already and we are curious to see what the next few weeks in these northern valleys hold in store for us.