Gordon and the others had been to Karimabad in about 2000 as part or an Explore trip through Central Asia, and then it had been a very busy thriving tourist resort. Now however, with tourism some 75% down on 2007 the village was to all intents and purposes devoid of tourists. There are a good number of shops selling items of interest to tourists – carpets, weavings, pashminas, scarves and rubies and other jewellery etc, but there is basically no one there to buy them. Very sad. There is also a café selling real espresso coffee and walnut cake; it seemed a shame not to partake so we did.

  

We then all walked up the steep streets to the Baltit Fort which dates from the 13th century when the glacier actually ran alongside it (you can clearly see the ’U’-shaped valley and lateral moraines), but the end of the glacier is now several miles up the hill. The fort itself is built with a form of ‘earthquake proof’ construction which involves putting layers of thick timbers at intervals in the walls. The doors are only about 5ft high and were built that way as a defensive measure – any invaders would be severely inconvenienced and thus more vulnerable when entering. The fort has largely been restored and contains many photographs of the Ismaili spiritual head, the Aga Khan, together with carpets, wall hangings, weapons, pots etc which, together with a slide show, make the whole visit very interesting.

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The fort was the home of the local Hunza king, but the post of ‘king’ was abolished when the area joined the rest of Pakistan in 1947. The area is now ruled by the Mir (formerly he would have been the king) who represents the area in Parliament.

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In the afternoon we visited a charity run local make-work come training scheme for handicapped people. The principle occupation is the carding and spinning of wool, and the weaving of rugs for sale in the local shops. This is another example of how tourism spreads its benefits widely, and how the catastrophic drop in tourism was affecting people. A small group of the men played some raucous tunes for us. A donation was left.

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We were (properly) advised by Mahmood not to give to beggars as it only encourages them; it is always much better to give some money to schemes such as this, and/or as we did, to ignore the “one pen” cries from the children and to give the materials to a school which we did at Tarashing and in the Kalash area.

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In the evening we drove up to the Eagles Nest (which is an up-market hotel) and watched the sunset over the surrounding snow-capped peaks. Whilst we were there we had a chat with a couple from the British Consulate in Islamabad who were on a tour of the Northern Areas. They too thought the area was beautiful and the people friendly. It also has to be noted that there is a spectacular view down onto the Altit Fort and village, and the river.

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For the evening, Ehsan had organised a special ‘Hunza Feast’ for us at the hotel. There was also a group of Pakistanis enjoying the same meal, so we felt it was probably fairly authentic. You would have to say that the food was very good indeed, especially the meat and the cheese stuffed pastries.

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After dinner we were all entertained by a group of musicians. All the locals, including our guides performed local dances. All in all, another great evening.