20 Besham – SkarduThe following day, we were on our way by 05h00 as the drive to
Skardu was long and slow. Soon, the scenery changed from the lush
green hills of the previous day to a stark and barren landscape.
The driver made a quick photo stop at the viewpoint where the
Himalayas, the Karakoram and the Hindukush mountains meet.
Shortly past Jaglot, the road veered off the KKH onto an even
narrower one. With high cliffs along one side and exposed drops
down to the river, encountering other vehicles was quite a
performance. The slow pace made reaching the busy and dusty
Skardu after dark.
I could barely contain my excitement being in Skardu, a place I’ve
read about in numerous books and which had a ring of adventure to it
by then. Skardu was a bustling place and sported a host of trekking/
mountaineering shops, from grocery stores to second-hand trekking
equipment, just what a person would expect of the last town at the
start of such a significant climb. The night was spent at the well-
known K2 Motel, famous amongst trekkers and mountaineers. The
motel must’ve been one of the original ones as the rooms were huge
and the shower rooms large. A lush garden outside overlooked the
Indus River. I found staying in the same place as many of the world’s
most successful mountaineers a humbling experience.