[kl-bogel] Unknown Pakistan. Part 8

Before you the final part photo essay from LJ user SE-Boy : Jeep drove further north Kashmir on the broken mountain road, slowly but surely closer to Afghanistan, to the no man's land, where not so long ago highland trails of caravans guarded by ruthless bandits, where secretly penetrated into the territory of the enemy States, British and Russian military, pulling each other's palm in espionage and win over local warlords, Rajas and emirs.

See also Part 1 , Part 2 , Part 3 , Part 4 , Part 5 , Part 6 , Part 7 .

(47 photos)

It ended in the territory of the Tibetan Empire, and Buddhism shared space and time with local beliefs, the echoes are still alive today, and with Islam. People who live here, drink water Pearl, consider themselves the direct descendants of Alexander of Macedon, speak a language not belonging to one language group, and having no written language, and build houses, mixing mortar for the walls on the apricot juice.

Draw the land actually belonged to small Pamir principalities, Russian and British empires have given to Afghanistan and established the Wakhan Corridor - the neutral zone, so as not to abut each other. But the calm did not become: a big game was replaced by another, the Afghan land will not know peace until now, a generation of Afghans grow up in arms, and the Met mountaineer strap over your shoulder is not means shepherd's bag and on the carpets for sale at roadside shops, rather than dense and intricate Arabic designs are not so skillfully woven something else.

1. Picture taken about 70 km from the border with Afghanistan.

Locality - grim stony desert bottom, hot and dusty, but the higher slopes of the mountains there are poplar, barely touched by the bloom of autumn, and even higher over the ravines and gorges in the inaccessible heights - the abode of the gods, however, there already is not the Himalayas and Karakoram.

2. Beauty Rakaposhi - Covered with snow "(7788m., 27 th highest peak in the world).

The road deadly monotone due to its almost complete absence. To brighten up the path, the driver puts the cassette. Cassette in the car is chic. Patients fare (that is to say we are) on the turns swallowing dust, wearily shake their heads, and the dynamics of slowly and plaintively flowing Pakistani song. Honestly, the Karakoram highway can and must go only by the music. If you had asked how the sounds convey the hopelessness of the Kashmir road, I would immediately put these tunes.

The terrain becomes more beautiful, primarily due to poplar groves. Perhaps, previously never seen such thin and all right trees, they are great to enliven the barren slopes. I see the road ahead of women in the photograph machine and only then realize: something is wrong. Check my shot, and sure - women face are not closed, though three of them by age has already started to wear the veil.

3. We entered the territory of the former Duchy of Hunza. At one time hunzakuty or, as they are called, burishki kept under control all the nearby caravan routes, imposing a tribute to the travelers. Otherwise, either the blade at the throat, or deep ravine, of which here in abundance. The rulers of Hunza were also still those guys. For example, one of them in the struggle for the throne, without batting an eye, slaughtered his mother and father and thrown into the abyss of the two rivals.

Hunza is a very curious education. Retaining independence over the years, she at one time recognized the sovereignty of China, and then began to flirt with Russia, and it sucked a small country in the Great Game - battle for influence between the Russian and British empires. The so-called no man's land were practically unknown: the British did not get here because of the remoteness from civilization, in addition to their attention for a long time was focused on the fact that the left - to Afghanistan, and strengthened the Russian dominance in Central Asia.

4. Hunza marked in red. Card was found on the web.

But soon in British India, rumors that the Russian sample on the tooth and the Pamir Prigindukushe and explore approaches to invade India. Big Game reached neutral territory. Wanting to have full information, the British placed in Gilgit, a resident, and it soon became clear that the rumors about the Russian's true: the Army Captain Bronislaw Gromchevsky with a few Cossacks managed to find a path through the alpine passes and not only visited the Hunza, but also suggested that the ruler of Hunza go under Russia's jurisdiction. The governor was interested in this proposal.

5. Happened with the wires, but suppose, for some reason, happy image.
***

Strange feeling. We are in the capital of Hunza in the Baltics (now Karimabad) and for the first time in Pakistan feel as though at the resort. I was the first time (not counting the stay in the mountains) relaxed. According to feelings is like a big village somewhere on the track in Nepal: here and guesthouses, and trade shops with souvenirs, and friendly people, and women with open faces. Immediately before the eyes appear rugs with machine guns and tanks in the shop, and besides, we are located 70 km from the Afghan border and 64 kilometers - from the border with China. Solid dissonances and a very cognitive ...

And in the Hunza first met Russian. How often is conducted, it was an unpleasant surprise: in the diner went a guy with a girl and a guy's face was alerted immediately, it is clearly neither belmesa not understand in English, and he clearly should have been all. As long as she quizzed a host eatery that menu, the guy in an injured tone offered in Russian: "Tell him that the rice filed. We never showed the form that is also Russian. It was disgusting.

We went into the guesthouse to quit bought souvenirs - a couple of CDs, apricot oil, soap, apples and anything else on the little things. And then drove past the windows of a police jeep, a jam-packed with law enforcement officers who played a musical instrument - if anyone is in that much - from pipes to the drum. Else sight! It turned out that all of the Baltics is celebrating a wedding, and in such cases the police have become musicians. In the afternoon the whole town went out. This time it was impossible to miss!

Wedding cars spotted only in passing, but extras on national holidays has surpassed all expectations. We wormed through the crowd, and pulling each other's cell, and only did what they photographed. Looking at the red-haired and white-skinned women, unwittingly think that speculation about the origin of hunzakutov of soldiers of the army of Alexander of Macedon is not groundless.

6. Woman in traditional dress hunazkutka.

7. One of the women's fiery redhead.

8. Girl on the right can be easily mistaken for a resident in Europe.

9. Another car with the musicians accompanying the wedding.

10. Just probably looked and wife robbers hundred or so years ago.

***

As a child, after reading HG Wells, I wanted to ride a time machine. And the future is much less interested than the past. Probably, because I really love this But to understand where in which the legs are growing ... empirically found that the past can get in, or being in the country, behind the modern, or "country-crossroads", where different times left on their own memory, joined each other in interaction, and still come.

Hunza is probably one of the best examples. This is the boundary of three empires - Chinese, British and Russian (about the Afghan Durrani Empire, not talking - it disintegrated in the early XIX century). This is a piece of the Silk Road ...

After wandering the streets, we went out into the open and were out of time and even, perhaps, is to say, out of space. Ahead loomed Afghanistan and Xinjiang, the right hand grew out of a rock classic Tibetan fortress Dzong, oshuyuyu, just above, it is necessary throughout the Hunza Muslim fort is located, the residence of the rulers of Hunza, although they were not Muslims in general. Behind - whether Pakistani Kashmir, or an outpost of British India - I am a sinful deed submitted for the corner gun, around which bustles gun room service from the British. Cannon, by the way, we have found.

Altito fort and the Baltic States fort. Tibetan fortress and a Muslim stronghold. Previous era, the subsequent era. And there is no border between them, neither time nor space.

Tibetans often built their castles and monasteries on the rocks - built like a rock is crowned by the color and the form looks like a continuation. It happens that the untrained eye can not make out. Plus dominance over the surrounding terrain, and the monks were always in shape - to run every day, for example, for water up and down.

11. From the fortress controlled the entire valley. Here we have the rulers of Hunza administer justice, dropping down the criminals.

12. Inside the castle gloomy. However, the Tibetans have always twilight. Tripod with me was not, and photos, except for some, all entirely blurred. Now restore the castle.

13. Apparently, before the tower was below or just built a piece of previously destroyed. Salaries in the interior and exterior doors and pillars still Tibetan time, although the Islamic thing occurs. Here and there, guess swastika.

14. The door can go through, only strongly bent.

15. Column indoors.

16. Swastika ornament in Bon, left-handed.

Baltic itself as the city apparently came later, so place your fortress is located Tibetans, was not so urgent, and the rulers of Hunza built a fort near the mountain range and above. They're not afraid to "light up" - subjects should see the splendor and beauty of the ruler and understand where power comes from.

17. Baltic-fort.

18. Here and cheerful interior, and building more powerful.

19. Extension on the columns are already doing under the British and their orders.

20. It also stands as a warning to the British gun.

21. Our guide Samandar Khan and Xenia in anticipation of opening a museum in the Baltics forte. We were there only visitors.

22. Since the surrounding suburbs have seen the rulers of Hunza. In the background Rakaposhi.

23. Tower-type Trango Tower, called ladies fingers.

***

Many sources say that people in the Hunza live to very old age, sometimes up to a hundred years or more, a rarity for the Highlanders. Perhaps the fact that this is an apricot place. In the season of apricots are so many that there are some varieties that are used only for a particular purpose. Some species eat only what-it goes to the oil, some only on apricots, and some have built houses ...

Apricot juice is used instead of water in the solution when building houses. Believe it or not, I do not know, but we were told hunzakuty.

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27. Dried pumpkin.

If all my life to sit on the apricot diet, then why not live a hundred years? And even the water here is very strange in appearance and hardly carrier health, can not kill apricot effect.

All the water in the Hunza Pearl, it dissolved tiny particles of rock, a sort of suspension. In the rivers and irrigation ditches looks nice, if you pour a glass container, the water will be murky yellow in color.

28. Years go by, Hunza people still consider themselves descendants of the armies of Alexander of Macedonia, their language - Burushaski not belong to any language group or family. Burishki not see old age, everything is the same as two hundred and three hundred years ago, is the woman to his home firewood or grass, still sitting on the ground with traders shops, and have all of these are silent witnesses of past which will be more than one nation, more than one generation.

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***

Recently asked the question, why go to the mountains, because they are the same. Let us leave aside the explanation given Vysotsky, it is true in part, in addition, has a stamp. The point is personal contact. Possible in a telephone conversation with an unknown interlocutor to know what his name is Vasily Petrov. Abstraction. I can not identify the man with his name if you have not seen him in my life. It will be an abstraction to a greater or lesser degree, ethereal voice to a direct meeting.

Same with the mountain. Nanga Parbat and Rakaposhi, Ama Dablam, or Sagarmatha - no more than amusing, sometimes pleasant, sometimes not a combination of letters. So - until he find yourself next door at such a giant. Until you see how he meets the day sunbathing on the sun ... It never goes to sleep at night ... It was wrapped in clouds ...

36. Rakaposhi, 7788 meters

For the first time and the end could feel that every mountain his face, once in the early morning, when I - a man, absolutely not loving in the morning, watching the sunrise, looking at the eight-Nepal Dhaulagiri. As soon as the sun sparked the summit, is a marvel of nature, which is impossible to believe - not just a mountain, but the air beside her began to glow.

The light intensity is so strong that even the bottom of the chilled observer, get out of the tent, so as not to miss this show (it will never get tired), suddenly realizes that it will be warm. Although the tent the sun comes not soon, or do not come if the weather is spoiled.

Local inhabitants of the mountains by the gods, do so with good reason. It is clear even to an atheist.

37. Rakaposhi, early morning.

Each hill its traits, its own character, their behavior. Each in its own way raises the flag of the snow in strong winds, in their own drops an avalanche, creates its own microclimate. Envy climbers - the study of the mountain, although they to some other purpose, days watching it.

38. Rakaposhi from the valley.

39. Glacier in the first approximation.

40. God forbid there be unprepared.

Having come to the mountain again after a long break and looked at the familiar shape and you realize that nothing has changed. And each time, locked in a negligibly short life, trying to join eternity (not that why climbers aspire upwards - to briefly stand on the edge of her?), Every time you see that lost. And at that moment time stands still and it turns out to live life to the fullest.

41. So live with eternity.

42. But our path lies in Islamabad - the front was hundreds of miles of broken highway. The road wound on the left bank of the Indus. At one point the car stopped. On the sidelines in the shade of the rocks, hiding from the unbearable heat, were catchers of fish. They catch fish right here, in Indus, immediately fry and then sell it.

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44. You can sit with them, and you can ask to turn in a piece of newspaper in Urdu and feast on the path.

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45. Our guide stopped at the nearest to his home village to find out if he did not enter letters.

46. And soon we reached the border of Gilgit-Baltistan with Kohistanom, and further went to the mountains gradually decrease, instead of them started quite gloomy gloomy high cliffs.

That's it!

See also Part 1 , Part 2 , Part 3 , Part 4 , Part 5 , Part 6 , Part 7 .

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