Hike in Lower Himalayas

Hike in Lower Himalayas (Mar 3)

Today we awoke to the hillside Azan of the call to pray. The hotel rooms where cold but we were cozy in bed. After breakfast we were off to the Hike. Mt. Mushkapuri, second highest peak in the area. The drive to the hike entrance was brief and continued winding. The prospects for the full summit hike of 2hrs to the top could not be reached due to further snow, however we did get to a nice rest stop with view. We also planted the 2nd official geocache in Pakistan - Cache-Mir. We will see how many global geocacher can find the find. Back to the hotel for lunch.

Today is the general strike in Pakistan in protest of the cartoon and of the visit of GW Bush. Limited road transport is reported in major Pakistani cities and as well in the hills.We are encouraged by our guide to stay off the roads. There are few open shops, just convenience style and we take his advice and spend the afternoon in the hotel just hanging. We watch village kids play cricket on a hillside road - which is challenging since half the hits of the bat make the ball roll down the hill, strategically placed kids solve this problem.
Aisha and her mother have been charmed by 3 local boys who have invited them back to their mud shack. They brought cookies and cups for the family - Nanny went back later and gave the moms, two familes, each 500 rupees. The sun outside is warmer than the rooms which are still heatless - We just called for a heater which is another 300 rupees but since we are slightly unsure of the billing arrangements and the cash on hand we pass on the heater and pull the heavy comforters closer. ATM machines are not a feature of mountain villages. Our supper is pending and the Kids tea fix is also coming. We will have an early sleep today so we can leave by 8:30 back to Islamabad and back to Lahore. Some of the pictures are on the camcorder and are not yet online – too much technology.

Back to Lahore (Mar 4)
As old GW Bush was still lingering in Islamabad they had declared in a ‘Red Zone’ and as such all traffic in and out was restricted so our planned trip to the Al-Fasil Mosque was kyboshed. We took the planned round trip route, however, back around Islamabad via Abbottabad and Taxila were we stopped to bargin for some mortar/pestal pottery. The return trip was long and the kids slept most of the way. We did stop at a large reservoir for a pit stop which did have some nice views. Of course once returning home we freshened up and shuttled off to dinner with family friends for a mega-course meal. The boys were still dogged and slept on the way to dinner, after dinner and on the way back in the car. The tour continues – tomorrow we tour Lahore sites with Guide