29 May Up bright and early to get to the airport at 6am. Sajjad had organised a taxi to take us there. The driver stayed with us trough check in. Just as well. Grey presented his Oxygen bottle as a big 3kg carry-on bomb and that was not going to pass security. Although I slipped trough. The driver took the bottle back and we proceeded to the gate with 30 minutes to spare. After a cup of thee and reflecting on how smooth everything was going, the departure announcement changed and our flight was cancelled due to the weather at our destination. We took a taxi back to town and checked in into a different hotel, with aircon this time. After breakfast we could think straight again and decided on a change of plans. The bus ride to Chitral is 14 hours and wouldn’t give us any problems with the Oxygen bottles. It is also not as weather dependent as the flight so we wouldn’t waste more time in Islamabad. Again with the help of Sajjad we got ourselves two seats on the night bus which departed at 9pm. By the time we had collected our tickets, bought some supplies and had dinner it was time to go. Till then we had been in a relative quiet part off town. The bus stop area is on the border between Rawalpindi and Islamabad and is more like we know Asia to be, hectic, noisy and alive. The bus turned out to be a small 18 seater wit no aircon. I had a seat right on the wheel arch so I had to unscrew my legs and put them in the overhead locker space, which was not there. Fortunately I was able to sleep a lot so I didn’t notice my cramped position to much. All night I was state off semi consciousness and didn’t notice much off the many police checkpoints we went through and the repairs that where made to the bus at different stages. The night passed quickly but once it got light I could read the road signs and saw that Chitral, our destination, was still 230 Km away. We then entered the mountains and the condition of the road deteriorated and with it our average speed. The 14hour trip turned into 17 and we were really glad to arrive in Chitral. The little Inn that I found in the lonely planet guide turned out to be just as it said, a little green haven in a bustling town. News of our imminent arrival had preceded us and one of the local pilots came and visited us in the evening.
From him we got the lowdown on the local conditions and the way to get to the take-off. He turns out to be the son of the king so we are in good company. Walking in the main street in the afternoon we got accosted by what turned out to be a plainclothes policeman.
We need to register our presence here and he is the man to make sure we do. We fill out some forms and then the big question comes. Chitral is a perfectly safe place to be but for our security he advices us that we agree to have a bodyguard with us al the time. Luckily we had been warned about this so we kindly declined. He must have been hoping that we would say yes so he could get his brother to look after us and being paid for it. After declining another 5 times he got the message, we wrote a declaration and signed away our lives. On the wall of his office was a chard off the number of people that come through here each year. There were 300 last year and it was up to 34 so far. We seem to be the only foreigners in town at the moment, except for another Canadian pilot and an Australian. The Aussi is involved in building schools in the district with his own money. We had the pleasure to meet him as he came up to our hotel to find out who those kiwis were.

By 3pm we had had enough and metroed back to the hotel for a late lunch. I wrote a few lines of this blog and then fell asleep, to be awoken by Grey at seven with an hour to go before we had to be back at the airport. From Dubai it is only a 3 hour flight to Islamabad, much to short to cache up on my sleep and 2.30 is a very unpractical time to arrive in a town that you don’t know and where you don’t have a hotel booked. We stayed in the arrival hall till 7 and then took a taxi into town. The hotel from the Lonely Planet Guide is a dump but what do you expect for eight dollar NZ for a room with two beds. After cups of thee and toast with egg we set of to find the local pilots. I had omitted to get an description of the place and just a street address and number turned out to be insufficient. Lots off Pakistani people are not able to say; I don’t know, as a result of which we walked up and down the same street quiet a few times before we got the right directions. Once at the head quarters off the Pakistani Association of Free Flight we new that things where going to be taken care off. We had 30 Kg of gear sitting at the Cargo building at the airport. A shipping agent got organised and Grey was of with him to get it. Without his help we would never have gotten the stuff back. The amount of paperwork was staggering and the number of signatures required, of people that didn’t speak English, unbelievable. Money got changed for us for a better rate, cell phone and Sim card and tickets for the domestic flight to Chitral organised. We got treated with breakfast and lunch and we just about met the whole pilot scene of Islamabad. Not a bad first day at all!!!