June 22. Grey landed in Booni yesterday so he is travelling back this morning and we have no news from Mukrim. The flying conditions look like a repeat of yesterday so Dimitry and myself try to be on the launch site an hour earlier. The plan is to get to Tirich Mir before the clouds develop so we can get a closer look at this beast of a mountain. I hope to fly a tri angle with Booni Zoom as a third turn point. The thermals are strong and some what erratic at first which results in a surprise frontal collapse that leaves me a bid shaken. Then we get in the groove and make good time. We stay together till we get to Tirich mir and then we loose each other. The landscape is so immense, if you take your eye from the other for a few turns it is very hard to connect again. I struggle with my camera to get a few photos and that is enough to loose sight of Dimitry. I push on alone to Booni Zoom and have a very enjoyable scenic flight back to Chitral where I arrive after 6 hours in the air. We are clocking up the hours, Grey has 39 hours of airtime in 10 flights, more then he would do in a year of free flying back home. I think it is going to be a rest day for me tomorrow, unless Grey wants to take me for a tandem. It’s a tough life this Para bumming.
June 25. The 23th was a rest day with time to update the blog. Putting it on the web was impossible though, power cuts and slow connections frustrated me to no end. I realise that some readers were anxious to find out what happened to Mukrim as I said that he had been lost for a few days in my last blog. He landed way up north and actually spend a few days in a hostel waiting for flyable weather, which didn’t come. He had a long long ride back in the back of a jeep. Grey landed in Booni on the 21st and got invited by a family to spent the night. He was so happy with their hospitality and the presence of a few pretty women that he got ground suck two days later and landed in their backyard again, giving away the option of flying a big tri angle. The 24th I went back to the kalash area with Dimitry but this time to a valley that is not visited by tourist that often. Once past the police check point it is another 8km on a four wheel drive track through a narrow valley to the main village in the Rambour valley. We get dropped of by the taxi in front of the two mountain police that are stationed there to protect any foreigners that venture there. The border with Afghanistan is only a few km up the road. Two years ago a Greek engineer got kidnapped by the Taliban from the next valley and only got released 8 months later after payment of a big sum of money. This place is totally idyllic. The fields of ray and wheat are being harvested. Big walnut trees and Mulberry trees are laden with fruit and all the irrigated land is bright green. And every where in the landscape are the women in their bright traditional dresses. It all looks like some painting from the romantic classics with children playing, women working the fields and oxen ploughing.
When we flew over this place two weeks ago I had spotted a few villages higher up the valley and that is where I wanted to go. One of the police officers happened to be from up there so he turned from bodyguard into personal guide. This was the first time in weeks that I had done any sort of exercise so it was hard to keep up with this mountain goat.
The weather clouded over and a few drops of rain fell which was perfect as I don’t think I could have kept up in a burning hot sun. The village consisted of 5 houses, tucked away behind a ridge overlooking a small cirque of steep irrigated land planted with corn. We sat in the garden and ate cheese and chapatti and drank black thee. This is a summer village where they grow their crops and then descend to the main village for the winter. The inside of the house is Spartan, a woodstove, some pots and pans, some beds without mattress and a chest for their clothing and of cause a TV set. After lunch we met the other villagers which are all delighted to see themselves on the digital camera. Interaction is limited as the guide is the only one with a few words of English. Then we walk along the main water race to the next village were we meet another family on their balcony. After more chapatti and yoghurt and photos of everyone we return to the valley were we stay in the only guest house. Talking about water races. It is incredible the way they run the water for kilometres along the mountain sides in channels made of what ever material is available. In places they have carved out a passage in sheer cliff faces and in others they have build up the hill sides to create a level ground for the water to run. The water race is the life line for the whole community, no water, no crop. It would be interesting to find out how the building and maintenance is administrated.
In the evening we get a glimpse of what it is to live in a small community like this. There is about 250 people in the village. Every one knows every one and you cant do one step without somebody knowing about it. Just before dark the women come to the village centre to talk and the kids play in a heap of sand. Then they stoke up the fire and make dinner. We get our dinner served on the balcony and because we are outside the Muslim influence we try some of the local wine. Next day we hear that one of the police officers that is stationed in the village got into the wine as well and, drunk, tried to have his way with one of the local women. Quiet a scandal and a reminder of how great it is to have a society without alcohol.
26 june. We have been in Chitral for 3 weeks now and we are getting ready to move on. We had dinner with Farhad on Thursday night and witnessed an awesome thunderstorm with a severe downpour. Next day we got the sad news that 15 people died in the village due to a massive mud slide that engulfed their houses. All the hill sides are denuded of trees so that there is nothing to stop the soil from washing down. The road out of town is blocked by a landslide as well so we have to postpone our departure. I was not feeling that great anyway so a 5 hour trip in a jeep was not on top of the list of things to do. Today the weather is great so Grey has gone up with Mukrim and Farhad to fly. Dimitry is getting ready to travel back to Islamabad and Im still trying to get my guts under control. This may be the last blog for a week or two. We plan to go to Jasim valley and Im not sure if we have access to internet there. From Jasim valley we may visit the Polo festival on Chandur pass on the 7-8 of july and then move on to Karimabad. To be continued……..