27/6/09 - We leave Karimabad - 45 km

We had been walking to take-off (from the end of the jeep track) with our bags prepared for a bivouac flight for the last couple of days. The strong west-wind seemed to break apart the thermal in front of take-off and caused 2 frustrating bomb-outs. I had noticed that 200m up the breeze seemed much more constant, so today we decided to ascend a little higher to give us a better chance. It worked - we quickly shot up to 5700m and were soon flying in the ice crystals hanging out of the bottom of the cloud. We fought for several hours against a 20 kph headwind. After 45 km (near Gilgit), our ground-speed had reduced to 7 kph and we could see great plumes of dust rising from the bottom of the valley. We declared an emergency, and did a u-turn. Running with the wind, we achieved impressive ground speeds and made comfortable top landings at 3500m in beautiful grassy pastures. I could see the shepherds below as I spiralled madly to get down. Goats and donkeys fled in terror as this great bird spiralled again and again. I felt guilty for the work I had caused the shepherds, but they didn't seem to mind. In fact, they insisted that we come to their shack.

They spoke little English, but made us feel incredibly welcome. A fire was prepared in an instant, and we were given cups of hot milk, chapati and butter. All home made, and absolutely delicious. Then came dinner. Most of you will know that I have been a vegetarian for about 8 years. Well, what do you do when you land on top of a mountain in Pakistan and a shepherd invites you to a pretty chewy dinner? I have to say that the tea, butter, chapati and milk were amazing - the meat was slightly tougher than my hiking boots. After about 5 minutes of chewing, I gave up and swallowed it whole! They gave us some water that tasted distinctly of cow and we all went to sleep. They made us promise that we would stay for breakfast, and we were given a repeat performance (minus the meat). The experience was unmatched - a real highlight of the trip.