Wanderlust in the Time of Coronavirus (A GeoEx eBook)

Wanderlust in the Time of Coronavirus

A Passage to Pakistan: My First Adventure with GeoEx

of the guidebook pictures and tour brochure prose—before the end of the day. This ride and subsequent day-trips to nearby villages and lakes have afforded me ample opportunity to reflect on this trip, and on some of the complexities of adventure travel in general. One fact that has become apparent is that on a trip like this, adventure travel is exactly that: adventure. No matter how much money you have paid, rough conditions and travel unpredictabilities come with the territory, and so flexibility, tolerance, and good humor are absolutely essential. Money does not buy certainty or guarantee comfort here. What it does buy is access, and that’s why people are willing to spend a hefty amount to go places they would have great difficulty going on their own. A related issue is risk: I risk death every time I cross a San Francisco street or drive on a California freeway, I know, but the possibility of death by accident on Interstate 80, say, is familiar and so easier to ignore than the possibility of death by avalanche on the KKH. Rugged, remote trips such as this one put the gift of life in a new perspective. I think what it all comes down to is this: Every day in our lives presents dangers of one kind or another; some we challenge because they are expedient, others because we judge that the rewards merit the risks. April 18, Shangri-La Hotel, Chilas: That last note has taken on new meaning now, two days later. We are sitting around a table at the Shangri-La Hotel in Chilas, debating what to do. We drove here yesterday from Skardu, after learning that the Skardu-to-Islamabad flight would not operate that morning. Heavy rains have been falling for at least 48 hours, loosening the rocks above the KKH and increasing the possibilities of avalanche or flood.

request that vans be sent to meet us on the other side of the snow. We disembarked and hiked up, up, and over the avalanche— and lo and behold, two vans white as angels awaited us. Cries erupted from them at the sight of our group, and porters scurried forward to transport our bags over the avalanche’s hump. We chucked snowballs at each other in celebration.

On the rest of the long and winding road to Gilgit, we passed palaces, poplars, and petroglyphs, waterfalls and meeting halls, stupas and sheep, but for many the most exciting discovery was packets of British biscuits and chocolate cookies at a roadside stall. April 16, Shangri-La Resort, Skardu: After a heartening night at the Serena Lodge in Gilgit— heated rooms, delicious fried chicken, and custard desserts!— we journeyed on to Skardu. As it turned out, the weather began to clear during this all-day drive, and we were treated to spectacular vistas of brilliant snowcapped peaks and deep blue skies, puffy clouds and lush green terraced fields—the Pakistan

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