Kamran
From Passu, a jeep track covered with dust and shadows clings to steep mountains and zigzags on its way to Shimshal—The Valley of Mountaineers. Over 20 Shimshalis from 250 households here have climbed 8000ers. Qudrat Ali is one of them. He is among the top climbers of Pakistan. His first adventure was a 3-day trek … Read more
“If you love mountains, you cannot ignore the hardships of people living in the mountains.” These are the words by Saad Munawar (Saad Munawar – The Mountain Writer), who is a mountaineer and a writer from Islamabad. He is the author of two books. In 2019, he and Qudrat Ali made a world record by … Read more
A couple of days ago, together with some Pakistani trekkers, we had a benefit dinner in Karimabad, Hunza where we raised funds for a local porter who got injured while guiding a group of tourists in the mountains. The next day, we had a bicycle ride from Gulmit to Passu to help raise … Read more
In Gulmit, I see a man carrying a rope on his back and walking with the help of an axe. He greets me with a smile. His name is Ayub Khan. He is 85 years old. He is heading up the mountains to herd his goats. “I was a high altitude porter for 25 years. … Read more
Hunza River snakes through a broad valley surrounded by layers and layers of mountains, the tallest of them being Rakaposhi at 7788 m laden with snow. The afternoon sun rays cut through the peaks as if someone has held a giant prism in the sky. When you stand at a higher viewpoint, the poplar trees … Read more
33,105 km with you, my dear bicycle! Four years, sixteen countries, the entire length of South, Central and North America. Some mountains climbed, some deserts crossed, and a few plateaus travelled. Together we endured rain and snow, dust and sand, winds and storms, and sun and shadows. We shared smiles and tears, joy and pain, … Read more
The sun had set behind the mountains, and as the light faded, hordes of tourists started disappearing from the Torres lookout. Our legs ached after a day-long hike on our first day in Torres del Paine National Park in Chile. All the campsite we had spotted during the day were all already full. We kept … Read more
People often ask me if there is a single article where they can read my story. Well, BBC Urdu has just published the most comprehensive article about me. It reveals details I haven’t shared anywhere else. Right now, it is only available in Urdu language. This article is very special to me for two reasons. … Read more
Do you know what was the world’s first national park? The answer is Yellowstone National Park in the US. It took a photographer, a painter and a geological survey team to explore the region and convince the US Congress to withdraw this region from public auction. In 1872, Yellowstone was declared as—“a public park…for the … Read more
Gocta Waterfall plunged from a height of 771-m into the forest. From where I sat, the leaping waterfall appeared like a long lock of white hair draping over the shoulder of a mermaid. Beneath was thick amazon cloud forest; hot and humid. Gentle morning breeze caressed my sweaty skin as if blowing air on my … Read more
“So, why are you doing this?” Someone asks me. I take a deep breath. My eyes scan around for some visual clues and get hooked on a giant LED screen with bold blue letters “Welcome to Facebook!” It is a hot day. I am rolling a motorcycle tyre in the street of Layyah. A … Read more
Ever since my childhood, I had always imagined the US as a country with big sweeping vistas of the Wild West. This perception mainly came from movie shots of the Monument Valley, the Death Valley, and the Grand Canyon. It was only much later in life I got to visit these locations on my bicycle … Read more
In 2002, I got admission at a university in Germany and sat on the PIA flight from Islamabad to Frankfurt. The plane took off, and after crossing Iran was cruising at 40,000 feet altitude somewhere above Turkey when looking through the plane window, I was mesmerised by the vastness and the landscape below. Rivers appeared … Read more
We humans have limited cognitive capacity when it comes to social relationships. At any given time, we can maintain meaningful relationships to a maximum of 150 people. They are the ones we can easily cooperate with and care about. We consider the rest of the people as strangers, and by nature, it is not easy … Read more
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