How to Travel the KKH

Coming home from our trip to the Northern Areas, our flight was canceled. We decided rather then waste precious vacation days, we'd drive back on the only road...the one and only, the famous Karakoram Highway (KKH). They call it the 8ths wonder of the world. Considering it took 20 solid years and 892 lives to complete, it's pretty amazing.

The KKH follows some sections of the old Silk Trail but it mainly follows the Indus River with the roads thousands of feet above the river basin. The KKH begins in Hasan Abdal China and ends in Kashgar Pakistan, not too far from Islamabad. It's a truckers road, built by the Chinese to sponsor trade between China and Pakistan and is mainly traveled by the gorgeous Pakistani trucks. It's supposedly two lanes, but it's a miracle anyone can actually pass on some of the sections. Much of the road is carved out of the solid rock high and then drops off for several thousand feet. Drivers have to both watch the road and keep and eye up for the frequent rock slides. Rock slides can shut down the KKH for hours or days and back up traffic until someone clears the debris. Maintaining the road is a constant battle. As it is, it's impossible to travel faster then 50 kph which is considered a decent speed.

Driving home we started in Gil Git so in total we drove almost half of the entire KKH. We started out at 4am from Gil Git, and arrived in Islamabad at 00:30. It was a little long and several passengers in our rented Toyota van were sick from something we ate, sick from the switchbacks or sick from the heights. It's slow going with the trucks and one 100 kilometer section of road took us an hour and a half. We had lunch at the office of a humanitarian organization in Besham which neared the halfway mark at 4pm. It was another 6 hours on to Abbottabad where we stopped for snacks and to let the driver have a smoke. Finally reaching the outskirts of Islamabad at 23:30, we were turned back because the police and national security wouldn't let a van inside the city limits. We were forced to drive another 45 minutes out of our way to enter the city though the trucking highway.

All in all, it wasn't that much fun but now we're laughing about it. It's rare you ever regret something that afforded awesome views of diverse and beautiful places.

How to Kill Yourself on Term Break

Living overseas has taught me both to be rational/reasonable and daring/stupid. I hardly know what column my fall term break falls into. Term break means a holiday from hard work which I can assure you was intense over my now completed 8-week term. I was up for laying around, writing friends and watching TV shows. But no! We must seize the moment! Part of living overseas involves enjoying what's around while it's around so we decided to make a trip to the Himalayas while we're in Pakistan and term break is a perfect time to do that.

"North" means "Northern Areas," officially "Federally Administered Northern Areas" (FANA); (not to be confused with Northwest Frontier Provence where the militants hang out; no one goes there). The Northern Areas back up to China thus the trade and thus the high mountains and deep ravines. The mountains are incredible; they go straight up out of the river basins and on the flight up we were actually flying with the mountains higher then the plane.

We started off by visiting Fairy Meadows (so named by Germans explorers). We traveled in 1970s Russian jeeps (beautifully refurbished) up the side of these cliffs in a frightening experience for even those who like heights. The “road” was a path thousands of feet above a river basin. Once the 16 kilometer death trip ended, we trekked for several hours up steep inclines over more cliffs before reaching the camp. Little House on the Prairie cabins with no heating welcomed us while it snowed down upon us wimps from Southern Africa. When the sun finally came out, we had a stunning view of Nanga Parbat, the second highest peak in Pak, ninth in the world. Nanga Parbat is a deadly climb and quite a few people have died in their attempt to make it to the top (we only trekked around it). All this, is only going up. We could have died coming down too and then we realized, it's always important to read the fine print.

After Fairy Meadows we spent the night in Gil Git before driving north towards Hunza Valley. We spent two nights at the famous Eagle's Nest lodge at the tree line high above the beautiful valley. Hunza residents are considered to be more open people. The women are highly educated and freely walk around without headscarves and people are very friendly. We did some mild trekking around Hunza and saw the famous 800 year old Baltit Fort sitting near a now melted glacier. Hunza boasts it's own peaks; Golden Peak, Lady Finger and our favorite, Racaposhi (we said it over and over again, attempting to create as many different phrases with the word as possible). We then traveled on to visit Passu Glacier north towards the China boarder.

We were supposed to fly out of Gil Git a week later on Wednesday morning but due to the weather, Tuesday's flights were canceled (happens all the time with mountain weather) so they kicked us off the Wednesday flight. How we got home, is another deathly adventure. But that's reserved for next week.

How to Vote Absentee

Voting is a privilege. Many consider it a right, but it's a privilege to participate in government. Those who know me can perhaps guess who I voted for, but it's a secret. This was my first election as a voting member of the American population, a rite of passage I've coveted for ages. I've followed the campaigns and like many Americans was amazed at Hilary's success and shrugged at her demise. I enjoyed the conventions (via CNN online) and read the articles. I didn't find it a very interesting election, but I plan on living for more drama.

I'm convinced global nomads are some of the most brilliant people. We're expected to understand our own political system (often complicated), and that of our host country (often more complicated). We follow our own elections and that of our host country. Depending on our host country, we hide out in our homes during elections and if we're unlucky, we experience post-election violence and write hundreds of emails to family and friends assuring them of our safety (or lack of safety). The effort is exhausting keeping names and positions straight for two systems. Nonetheless, as before stated, global nomads are politically intelligent. Despite Americans overseas possessing this brilliance, Gallup Poll doesn't poll us, no one collects data on us nor did McCain or Obama make an effort to engage us. While I understand we are small numbers, I hold it against them.

November 4th for American overseas is a non-events. We watch a map of the country on internet newspapers color in red and blue. Depending on the country and time zone, one can easily fall asleep in the process. In Kenya for Election 2004, I stayed up all night watching the numbers come in. This year, I might stay up all night anyway, watching TV shows, writing papers and cleaning my room. What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. What happens in Washington affects our world directly. As they say over there...God bless America

How I Survived my First Ramadan

When I moved to Pakistan, I was excited by the prospect of being in an Islamic nation during Ramadan. I saw it something like celebrating Christmas in London or New Years Eve in NYC, the real thing in the real place. That was an accurate view in the end but Ramadan isn't quite what I expected it to be.

Ramadan is a major holiday and theological requirement in Islam. Ramadan follows the lunar month and all adherents fast from food, beverages, and smoking from sunup to sundown for that period. Exceptions are allowed for nursing mothers, the very elderly, infants and small children, and those who are sick or have eating disorders.

The month of Ramadan is very interesting because Islamabad simply became unusually quiet. People are allowed to leave work at 4pm instead of 6pm since there’s no lunch break and it’s difficult to concentrate without breakfast and lunch. Restaurants didn't open until after sundown. It’s impossible to find anything for lunch; no ice cream vendors, no guys selling frites on the side-streets, no coffee shops, no water sellers. Nonetheless, after sundown is very festive and people stay up till 3/4am. Pizza Hut offers a special all-you-can-eat buffet from midnight to sunup, which is exactly my idea of a good time to eat…but no one else in my family ever agreed with me on that point. During Ramadan, you're not allowed to eat on the streets or be seen eating or drinking during daylight hours. As a foreigner, no one expects you to fast, but keep it a secret that you're eating.

Ramadan ends with the three day holiday of Eid. Eid is somewhat like Christmas, there are lights on the shops, everyone buys a new outfit, children are given gifts and the three days are spent visiting family and friends. Eid was officially Wednesday-Friday but people took Monday and Tuesday off too so the holiday was well celebrated.

One of my favorite parts about Ramadan was the advertising. Food products began catering towards the evening partying, and posters and advertising was to die for. All in all, a unique experience, everyone has to do it once.

How to Live at Home

In Pakistan, people stay home. Culturally women stay home with the children because that's considered normal. With the security issues of the past years, more and more people opt for an indoors life but it's rarely dull as each family is expected to care for the husband's parents, and any needy relatives. Behind each gate is far more then a family of four with a pet. For security reasons, it's never a brilliant idea to attend publicized functions, well frequented restaurants, or spots known as favorites among foreigners. Don't be at the wrong place at the wrong time. Islam frowns on drinking and partying and precious few places serve alcohol outside the Diplomatic Enclave.

I likewise stay at home. With uni online, I stay in and I'm not much for partying and with increasing instability, staying home has become necessary (ordering in is natural part of life). Life at home requires some thought, and not everyone is cut out for it.

Get Internet. How else could I do uni? How else could I read the news? How else could I update my blog? How else could my sister and I watch old cycles of America's Next Top Model and Project Runway?(We're caught up on Lost, and find Grays dull.) The shows we can't watch online, we google the summaries to insure nothing happens to our favorite characters (thank goodness Betty didn't marry Henry in "Ugly Betty"). The internet also allows contact with friends through Facebook, Skype and email.

Books on CD. I'm often brain-dead after the amount of academia I process on a daily basis. At the end of a hard day, it's rewarding to listen to an engaging book on CD while ironing, cleaning or organizing books alphabetically. My sister and I hugely enjoy this activity (after discussing ANTM episodes) and are currently enjoying a book on Afghanistan.

Music. My guitar has become my life, after school that is...and brownies...and taking cold showers (the hot water heater died). Music is rewarding and requires time, time which I don't spend in car pools or on trains and is therefore available.

Play Games. I play a lot of games; 10 Days in Asia, Set, Guess Who?, Apples to Apples and Racko. Unfortunately, few people are up for a proper game of Monopoly (I like to win a little too much). The ping pong table is a bonus (when it's not covered in books, legos and homework).

Drink Coffee. I drink a lot of coffee. I'm bored, I drink coffee. I get a headache, I drink coffee. I procrastinate on exams, I drink coffee. I lay awake at night and think about coffee, and wake up to drink coffee. Fact is, when you live at home, you drink a lot of coffee. You don't get drunk on coffee and the extra buzz helps productivity. Regardless, go for the energy buzz, not the buzz leading you to believe you think you could potentially solve world hunger.