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K2 Photo Gallery - Skardu to Thongol

Drive from Skardu through the the Shigar Valley, over the Dassu Bridge, through the Braldu Gorge to Thongol near Askole

01 View Ahead From Skardu, Loading The Jeep For Ride From Skardu Towards Shigar Valley The morning sun shines on the river as I look towards our drive today. We pack the jeep with provisions and people (guide, cook, and four porters) for our seven-hour 117km jeep ride from Skardu to the trailhead at Thongol (2850m).

01 View Ahead From Skardu, Loading The Jeep For Ride From Skardu Towards Shigar Valley

02 Shigar Valley From Road From Skardu To Askole We stop and admire the view ahead to the green oasis of Shigar, following the swift flowing Shigar River upstream.

02 Shigar Valley From Road From Skardu To Askole

03 14C Amburiq Mosque In Shigar We stop briefly in Shigar to visit the Amburiq Mosque, built by Kashmiri craftsmen in the 14C. The building was being restored by Aga Khan Foundation. The mosque has a double layered roof structure. The base roof is flat in shape and was completely built by juniper wood. The top roof is gabbled and has a Tibetan tower on top.

03 14C Amburiq Mosque In Shigar

04 Driving Through Rock Tunnel On Road From Shigar To Dassu The road up the Shigar Valley to Dasso is over a fairly good gravel road with a picturesque rock tunnel.

04 Driving Through Rock Tunnel On Road From Shigar To Dassu

05 Crossing Dassu Bridge Over Braldu River We first drive through the Shigar Valley where apricots are a specialty. At Dasso, we crossed the Braldu River on a 100m suspension bridge. The bridge swayed up and down as the jeep crossed the creaking wooden bridge suspended by steel cables.

05 Crossing Dassu Bridge Over Braldu River

06 Road Is Carved Out of Rock In The Braldu Gorge On The Road To Askole And then the excitement begins – the 40km Braldu Gorge! The road is blasted out of the rocks next to the roaring Braldu River as we drive through the Braldu Gorge towards Askole.

06 Road Is Carved Out of Rock In The Braldu Gorge On The Road To Askole

07 Driving Through The Braldu Gorge On The Road To Askole We drive alongside the roaring Braldu River as we drive through the Braldu Gorge towards Askole.

07 Driving Through The Braldu Gorge On The Road To Askole

08 Road Though Braldu Gorge To Askole Slants Dangerously Towards The Roaring Braldu River We drive along a sickeningly narrow gravel road, sometimes slanting dangerously towards the Braldu River through the exciting Braldu gorge. Exciting that is if you love being scared constantly for two hours with your life clearly in your driver’s eyes, hands and feet. 'Oh well', I thought. The scariest thing for me was when the jeep had to do three-point turns around hairpin curves. He'd get to the edge with the foaming Braldu River hundreds of metres below, and then reverse back up the hill. 'I hope he knows the reverse gear', I think to myself.

08 Road Though Braldu Gorge To Askole Slants Dangerously Towards The Roaring Braldu River

09 Road Though Braldu Gorge To Askole Next To The Roaring Braldu River I can see that parts of the road were fairly easy to carve out of the mountainside since it has the consistency of chalk. It looks like you could pinch it between your hands and it would disintegrate to dust. But this would also release the rocks being loosely held. I can see why landslides are so common. We stop the jeep and two of the porters ruin up the road to make sure that there is no oncoming traffic – we won’t be able to pass each other on the narrow road hemmed in by the Braldu River and the side of the Braldu Gorge.

09 Road Though Braldu Gorge To Askole Next To The Roaring Braldu River

10 River Stops Us On Road To Askole, So We Switch To A Jeep On The Other Side Our driver suddenly stops and says, ‘No can go further. New jeep here’. The small bridge across a small side stream has been washed out. We cross the river on a small footbridge, the porters carrying everything to the other side where it is put on a waiting jeep.

10 River Stops Us On Road To Askole, So We Switch To A Jeep On The Other Side

11 Bridge Before Thongol On Road To Askole We continue our road journey on the new jeep, and after about 30 minutes cross the final bridge just before Thongol. ‘Sometimes, we have to switch jeeps five or six times’, Iqbal explains, ‘and then it can take 12 hours.’

11 Bridge Before Thongol On Road To Askole

12 Our Kitchen Tent At Thongol Campsite We arrive in Thongol and quickly unload the jeep and set up the kitchen tent and my tent where I rest for a few minutes. Ahhh.

12 Our Kitchen Tent At Thongol Campsite

13 Preparing The Loads At Thongol Iqbal puts together the loads a little bit like a jigsaw puzzle trying to even them out to 25kg each. There are nine loads so Iqbal has to find five more porters. He tells me he's having trouble because the porters want to wait for the mountaineering expedition we met on the flight to Skardu.

13 Preparing The Loads At Thongol

14 Team Photo At Thongol - Jerome Ryan, guide Iqbal, cook Ali, porters Syed, Muhammad Khan, and Muhammad Siddiq, sirdar Ali Naqi Team photo at Thongol: below - Jerome Ryan, guide Iqbal, cook Ali; above - porters Syed, Muhammad Khan, and Muhammad Siddiq, and finally our sirdar Ali Naqi.

14 Team Photo At Thongol - Jerome Ryan, guide Iqbal, cook Ali, porters Syed, Muhammad Khan, and Muhammad Siddiq, sirdar Ali Naqi


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