Blog entry one 11-05-12

 I hate to admit it but Im a lot less resistant to the rigors of jetlag, heat and foreign food than two years ago. Im exhausted, uncomfortable and yes, the digestive tract is getting a hammering.

How long ago did I leave home? It is the 11^th today and I left Wanaka, New Zealand on the 6^th. Only  5 days!  I live such a protected, slow paced, life that the last 5 days feel more like 15.  

I left Auckland, New Zealand at sunset and didn’t see the next sunrise till I landed in Dubai, 18 hours later, the longest full moon Iv ever seen. I had a 15 hour layover in Dubai before catching my flight to Islamabad. Emirates puts you up in a hotel if your connecting flight is longer than 8hours from your arrival, which is a great escape from the airport scene.

 Two years ago Grey and I visited a few of the sights in Dubai and used the Metro to get around. This time I booked in for a whirlwind sightseeing tour that took us along the coastline in a minibus. The madness of the whole place keeps me amused and somehow I cant stop thinking of what will happen on the day of reckoning when all the people responsible for all this decadence will have to explain themselves. No, I have not turned religious, Im just disgusted with all the opulence.

 For some unknown reason to me the flights into Islamabad arrive at 2am, let’s say, an unholy hour. By the time I put my head down in my hotel I had been on the go for 38 hours.

It all is a very different experience from when I arrived here  two years ago. I know where to go, how much to pay and what to do. I had the address of the hotel we stayed in last time so I knew where to go, I know the cost of the taxi ride from the airport to the hotel so I can haggle with the driver and I can move confidentially without looking lost. 

Alex was arriving 24 hours after me and as he had not been to this place before I met him at the airport with a taxi waiting for us. Alex is an Aussi pilot that I met in Pokhara 18 months ago who is keen on some big mountain flying.

It is Friday the 11^th when Im writing this and we have been to the airport twice now to try and catch the plane to Chitral, our first flying site. This entails packing all the luggage, checking out of the hotel, catching a taxi to the airport, checking in, waiting for the cancelation, retrieve the luggage, rebook for the next day and catch the taxi back to the hotel. All that before 7am in the morning. Both times the flight has been canceled because of the weather. To reach Chitral the plane has to cross a 4000meter pass which has to be clear of cloud for the little plane to be able to cross it. We have looked at the weather forecast and it looks like the situation will not improve till Sunday, by which time the plane is full.  Our next possible flight will be on the 16^th which means that we have another four days to kill in Rawalpindi. Awesome!

The first two days here were full of action. Well, not really but a few things had to get organized before traveling on. As was the case two years ago, Sajjad from the PAFF, Pakistan Association For Free flying, was a great help getting things done. A SIM for my cell phone got organized, money changed, airline tickets bought  and I was able to find some gas canisters for my camping stove with Jabbars help. The local airline doesn’t  accept our oxygen bottles on the plane so they had to be shipped to Chitral with the passenger bus.

To speed up procedures in case of the need of a helicopter rescue, Brad sanders has put down a 10.000 US$ deposit with a local organization that leases between the army and the people needing  assistance. The helicopter would not get off the ground before payment is secured and this bond can be used till the individuals insurance pays out. Some signatures were required to formalize the deposit so we went to the office and had a nice discussion with the head of operations. This organization deals mainly with Mountaineering rescues so it was good to give them a clearer picture of what a paragliding rescue would entail.

After those two days I was feeling exhausted. The combination of jetlag and sudden heat has been fairly toxic. Now after two days of activity and two mornings getting up at 5am we are sliding into a lethargic state, laying in bed under the fan and air conditioner, walking over to the PAFF office to drink cups of tea and check Emails and go out for dinner.

I had promised myself not to pay too much attention to the lack of nice food in this part of the world but  Alex can’t give up on the notion of a nice European breakfast, pancakes with berry sauce and latte coffees. So we have found this little island of western civilization in the middle of an ocean of sub continental mayhem. And I must say, it is an uplifting experience to sit in an air-conditioned place where everything is clean, shiny and stylish. We needed a bid of uplifting as our next available flight out of here is not before the 16^th which means another 4 days waiting in this city with not much to do.

Vieuw over the Creek -