Flying High

After the general elections held in May, it is now up to the National and Provincial Assemblies to elect a new President on July 30, 2013. PPP, the party that hold power during the last five years and had to experience its worst defeat, decides to boycott this election to protest against the "rescheduling of the presidential poll", that was done because of purely practical reasons.
Some names of respected and seasoned personalities have been submitted, the candidate of PML-N, Mamnoon Hussein, most likely to win.  Born in Agra under the British Raj in 1940, his family emigrated to Pakistan after partition in 1947, he lives and works in Karachi, where he owns a textile company. A former governor of Sindh, the Southern province in the country and home turf of the main political opposition force PPP, he is regarded being an old loyalist of Sharif and generally viewed as a man of good reputation, "not known for speaking too much". His role would be more of a ceremonial nature as understood by the Constitution. The new President will be sworn in on September 8, succeeding the actual President Zardari.

The relentless rhythm of deadly attacks continues, hitting preferably on the week-ends. The targets, the victims and the inflicting terrorist groups vary and new names of until now unknown groups surface, constantly trying to destabilize the country by terror.

The advisor to the Prime Minister on foreign affairs and national security, Sartaj Aziz, visits Kabul in a new effort to soothe the relations and contribute to the reconciliation process in Afghanistan. The Prime Minister calls for a strategy to initiate dialogue with all neighbouring countries of Afghanistan and not to support any specific group in order to help stabilizing the country.
More and more it is understood, that besides the Taliban, all major ethnic political groups like Hazaras, Uzbeks, Tajiks and Pashtoons have to be included in the talks and the power sharing, as ruling Afghanistan would not be possible for a single minority alone, but that each of them had enough political and military power to seriously destabilize or topple any government in Kabul. Once the ISAF has left, the Afghan war will not only be fought in tribal areas, but it will have drastic impact in Lahore, Karachi and Quetta. According to Kasuri, a former Foreign Minister, the ongoing killings of Hazaras in Balochistan, the sectarian conflicts and disputes over religious issues are an outcome of Pakistan's role in Afghanistan.





Yippiiiie!! Every single obstacle (and there are many, as everyone knows who is trying...) preventing a trip to the Northern Area, Gilgit-Baltistan, has been overcome successfully and I am on the way around Benazir Bhutto Airport, in company of a small group of colleagues, a bag and a shawl in my hand. Even the more remote areas away from the runways are well watched and guards make good use of stairs, that furnish the landscape as a left over by an Asian airline that disappeared a while ago, for a comfortable climb to their lookouts - their lodging set up right behind in the shade.

The flight begins - Gilgit, Shigar Fort, Khaplu, Hunza, names that kept coming back as a tempting dream are now, finally, about to come alive!

The highly renowned Aga Khan Foundation is present with many projects in the North, improving the life of the very modestly living population in collaboration with partners from around the world - schools, hospitals and small community projects.
A repairman in the village Daghoni got a training in putting electrical appliances back to function and skeletons of what remotely resemble television devices from another century are waiting for their turn to come back to life. Turkish soap operas are said to be the most popular program here in Pakistan.

At Hassanabad in the Hunza valley, where a water sanitation scheme has been put in place, two young ladies from that same village instruct the women on hygiene - gastrointestinal deceases are the second most important health issue. Worms are a big concern and find their way in different forms into the human body - we visitors who follow the topic could all pass easily as totally sterile, as even hand sanitizers from our handbags follow the intense scrubbing with soap and water afterwords.

Happy smiles by the elderly participants at the end of the seminar are surely expressions of enthusiasm about the program, as they are asking to be photographed, and warmly touch and tightly hug the foreign guest.


Stones are, of course, plentiful and in inexhaustible supply and walking through the village, one of my friends exclaims in surprise to a villager, passing a fence in front of a house: "Oh, you have a rock garden!"

Well, more the building material for a house to be built on that property, as it turns out...

Gurgling brooks along the pathways in the village provide not only a refreshing sight and sound, but efficient washing machines along the way. Small water pools, built to separate parts of the water flow, let the streaming water wash the clothes spinning and turning them in a steady cycle. Hanging the clean clothes on the tree branches above make a practical drying facility - one of the most energy friendly systems, one can say.

Shigar Fort near Skardu and the Royal Palace in Khaplu make part of the Aga Khan Foundation's cultural engagement - ancient Rajah palaces in the high mountains have been renovated and given back its marvelous splendor of other times, serving now as boutique hotels for some decades, before they will be given back to the successors of these princely families. The local people identify with this heritage, are being trained and now build their houses again in that old traditional way of stones and woodwork.

Breakfast, lunch, brunch, high tea, Iftar, dinner, every meal and every rest at another stunningly romantic place and as one of the accompanying colleagues and friends remarks, eating is our only physical exercise on this travel.

Gone are the times when PIA offered "Mountain Safaris", a flight around the highest peaks of the earth, even "Moonshine Safaris" on nights under the cool light of full moon - sadly, the tourists are gone...

But luckily the helicopter is lifting us few passengers and without luggage high into thin air, as it would not be able to carry additional weight to that altitude. Hours in the sky, hovering in space at slow speed and the thoughts floating between  reality and dreams as the triangle between Himalaya, Hindu Kush and Karakoram reveals its breathtaking beauty. In the middle of the highest mountains and rocks, that are folded into stunning formations millions of years ago with their veins of different layers visible, the surface still transforms as mountain streams are tumbling down and tear down entire sandy slopes. There is no sign of civilization and the small paths I follow with my eyes turn out to end in nowhere, merely casual trails, trampled by animals on their search for food and water. Small patches of green arise where there is water and little soil. The colors change with the light of the sun and slowly the variety of pastel tones of beige and grey turn into many shades of pink and deep purple - glaciers, partly covered with a crust of sand and stones and sometimes in dazzling white with deep crevasses and no longer appears this landscape to be part of my world, but of an unfamiliar planet, being part of a bigger system and deep down a notion, a touch with eternity...