Back in Pakistan!!!

Dear all,

Jochen is back again, back in good old Pakistan.
Not much changes in Pakistan just...
+ nice sunny wheather up to 36° and increasing, (don´t forget it is Spring time!!!),
+ new streets finished in Islamabad, (reducing definitely the traffic jams!!!),
- some bomb blasts once a while, (actually on a quite regular basis),
- all the foreign experts left from Pakistan, (except of Mark I., he will always come back),
~ Cricket, Cricket, Cricket,
...and so on, and so on, and so on...
Well, this time i am staying till beginning of April, so i will try to compensate my time and get as much as possible impressions for you. Some impressions you can find already in my latest photo gallery, see below.

Last weekend i have been visiting an exhibitons in Lahore for "alternative energy", short CNG. It wasn´t on purpose but since i wanted to visit Basant Festival, (spring opening), and see some kites in the air, Nicolas, (Argentinian Council, who wanted to join this exh.), and me decided to travel to Lahore to have a look on one of the most famous festivals in Pakistan. Unfortunetaly it was cancelled due to two bomb blasts last week in the middle of the town! Additionally we got informed that quite close to our homes in Islamabad another bomb explosion took place. Well, the story with the blasts is not getting really better but there are some good hints avoiding such actions, see as follow:
Avoid...
...police,
...army staff,
...politicians,
...Denish, (nothing against you Knud), & American citizens,
...then everything will be fine. ;-)

So, another thing of avoiding such situations is simply to stay at home and...
...cook something!!!
Indeed i am doing this and not too rare.
Like yesterday we had a great Indian/Pakistanian/Bangladeshi dinner!
Wahid, Bangladeshi citizen, and myself were the stars of the kitchen with some great support of our colleagues living in the same guesthouse. Since we were never cooking for more than four persons we were not really conscious about how much we really cooked. After a three hours cooking marathon we prepared some great meals for more than eight people! For information we were six of us ;-).
Thanks God Sikander and his family, (fam who takes care about the house), was hungry, too!!!
So next dinners are already planned.

Most important now the 23rd of March. A lot of people will think now of Easter Sunday, yes but it is also the National Holiday of Pakistan...so a lot of helicopters, fight jets, tanks, soldiers and NUKES! Hopefully i will be able to shoot some photos about this activity. People were telling me it is pretty huge and impressive what´s going on, let´s see.

So not to write too much ;-), i will stop now my report and say hello to the world!

PhotoLink....

See you soooon!

br,
jochen

1st Posting 2008!!!!!

Hola,

Since i didn´t update my blog the last half a year i will post here quickly a link with the latest photos from Ameli and soon upcoming photos from Timea...Timea? Yes, second daughter should land beginning of June, for those who we still didn´t inform about the new kiddy.
Some people are saying, how i will arrange with three women...well, since i am working quite often in countries where men have several women, i can say then i am building up my own family Harem ;-).

But here a game where you even can win a prize...

Timea, (for now our favorite name, but can still change), should be born on the 9th of June.
I know, it´s quite tight for the Austria vs. Croatia football game, but i hope she will let me watching it, anyway i don´t know for whom to cheer ;-).

Please post me what do YOU think when our new earthling will be born...
...the one who guesses the correct day of birth is winning an abonnement for babysitting Timea whenever it is necessary :-).

The one who can even tell us the exact time is winning an abonnement for babysitting Timea and Ameli!!!!!!

Great, isn´t it?

Okay, my try: 8th of June 2008, 19:30 ...she will make it difficult for me reaching the game!

So stay tuned and we update you as soon something will happen!

Photos of Ameli...

All the best, j&k&a&t

State of emergency in the capital of Pakistan!

In the line of fire, Islamabad(2007)

Dear all,

Last week was kind a messing up of emotions in Pakistan. On the one hand i was finally happy to go back to Europe and see my family again. On the other hand heavy fightings started in the capital of Pakistan which gave me the first time, since i have been in this country, a feeling of insecurity. Our office is just appr. 300m bee-line far from the Lal Masjid mosque, better known as "Red Mosque" and we were able to pick up all the sounds of gun- and shellfire from this area. Incredible.
War in the center of Islamabad!
Although civilians were not allowed to enter that district at all, one employee of our customer was hit by a stray bullet and another misrouted bullet broke a window and landed in one of the offices of Telenor.
For one week now these fightings are holding on and just Allah knows when this crazy war game will end.
I wish my friendz in Pakistan all the best and will God be with you to get soon rid of any kind of terrorism in Islamabad and Pakistan.
I can just say that i came to Vienna and i was pretty much happy to be back. Now i will try to re-fill my batteries before my last journey to Pakistan will start by the beginning of August.
In this way i want to wish everybody a nice summer and relaxing vacations.

I will update you with interesting news when i am back in Paki in August!

Latest photos...click

Khuda Hafiz!

Jochen

Mountain Expedition: Phase II - "KKH: Chilas/Nanga Parbat - Karimabad/Hunza Valley - Pasu"

Nanga Parbat (8.125m)

Hello friendz of the mountains!

Phase II: Successfully done! (Except of Khunjerab Pass due to landslides closed)
Expedition crew: 2 Austrians, 1 Pakistanian

Last weekend we finally got to see one of the biggest mountain ranges in the world!

We started last Thursday from Islamabad to the Northern Areas. Our first target was Chilas, one village in that province. On the way up we experienced the real Karakorum Highway.
Up and down all the time. Going along roads, (which were treated in the past by heavy landslides), always following the Indus river up to its root. At some passages the Indus river has depths of 10 meters and more! Although the road were in a pretty good condition it took us 13 hours to our goal. Due to our fault we had a stop for over half an hour at the police checkpost of the province border. When you are travelling up to the Northern Areas you have to register yourself before entering this region. Of course we were not thinking of taking our passports with us. So, we had to convince those officers that our driving licenses were also enough for going on.
Sooner or later we finally could travel on and arrived at our first destination, (Hotel Panorama), in the "oven" Chilas. It had about 35 degrees in the night! Next day we woke up at 04:30am and started later on to Raikot Bridge where we rent a jeep and went up to Tato, a village below our next target, the "Killer Mountain - Nanga Parbat".
The way up with the jeep was the most frightening moment i had since i am in Pakistan. 15 kilometers of one way off-roads, next to you slopes going straight down about 500 to 1000 meters. In the middle of the track we had to stop because another jeep stopped in front of us. The local guy was killing some poisonous snakes living there under the stones. Great! Not even walking up was safety! After some time and two killed snakes we could drive on to the village of Tato, (2.700m). There we rent horses because we were too lazy to walk still another three hours up to "Fairy Meadows" our final destination. But! After ten minutes of riding we decided to choose our own legs to carry us up because those poor horses were definitely not prepared to carry us heavy tourists up the mountain. So we walked about 2 1/2 hours to reach one of the most imperssive place i ever saw in my life. "Fairy Meadows", a big meadow surrounded by forest on 3.300 meters sealevel and in front of you a wall of snow rising up another nearly 4.700 meters. "Nanga Parbat", with its 8.125m one of the highest mountains in the world! And it is also the biggest mountain of the world, regarding its volume. And it is also one of the most dangerous mountains of the world. From 186 expeditions 61 failed deadly! I do not find any words for this appearance, just it is HUGE!!!!!
Well, on the way back it took us just one hour of running down back to Tato because we were suprised by a thunderstorm and i tell you such a storm above such mountains is sounding very powerful! When we got back to our jeep, fully wet, we quickly jumped into the car and drove down to the valley. After this adventure we had to hurry up because next destination was Karimabad in Hunza Valley. After another four hours of driving and passing a sandstorm we landed in Hunza Baltit Inn, a very nice hotel with an exclusive view on the "Baltit Fort" with a 7.388m high "Ultar Peak" behind. Karimabad is on 2.500m and has an extraordinary view over Hunza Valley with a direct view on "Rakaposhi", 7.788m. We enjoyed that evening sitting outside on the veranda with a cool wind brise and about 20 degrees plus. The third day we moved on to Pasu, the northest village on our route, since the Kunjerab Pass was closed due to landslides.
The mountains around Pasu are looking same extreme and beautiful like any other mountain range in that area but please convince yourself in watching the latest photos. After that we went back to Chilas to stay one more night in the "oven" of the Northern Area before going to Islamabad. On this journey I even experienced driving a car in Pakistan and i can tell you it is something completely different and not to compare with Europe!
Resumee: If you have once the possibility to come to Pakistan, the "Northern Area" is simply a MUST! And i think i liked most this area, at least people immediately know about Austria, country of mountaineers! ;-)

So since our expedition "Phase II" also ended successfully we are facing our last 1 1/2 weeks of Pakistan before flying back to Austria. And for that reason we are planning our last expedition phase for next weekend, the "Khyber Pass - Afghan Border". The mountains are not that high but the region probably one of the most dangerous and wildest in the whole world!

Hopefully seeing everybody back in Europe soon, in Shallah!

Link to the photo gallery...Click.

Khuda Hafiz,
Jochen

Mountain Expedition: Phase I - "Balakot/Thandiani"

Kashmir View

Asalam Aleykum!

In the last weeks of my stay in Pakistan I will try to explore finally the mountain area, so called "Northern Areas".
The plan:

+ Phase I: "Balakot/Khagan Valley - Hillstations:Thandiani/Nathiagali/Murree"
+ Phase II: "KKH: Chilas/Nanga Parbat - Karimabad/Hunza Valley - Khunjerab Pass/Chinese Border"
+ Phase III: "Peshawar - Khyber Pass - Afghan Border"

Phase I: Successfully done! (Except of Lake Saiful Maluk)
Expedition crew: 2 Austrians, 1 German, 1 Swedish, 4 Pakistanians

The first phase was a journey which could be described best like a "roller coaster".
Our primary target was Khagan Valley. It is about 4 hours drive from Islamabad and is situated at the border to Kashmir. It is famous for its fascinating landscape and also known because of the 2005´s earthquake in this region. Balakot is or better was the city were the epicenter was located. It was completely devastated and about 84.000 people died just in that region!
So with this knowledge in the mind and heavy rainfall starting we tried to fight with our 2WD vehicles to pass the extreme slidy roads. After it got worse and worse we decided to cancel that route and drove another 3 hours to Thandiani. It is the highest hillstation scratching 3.000 meters what all of us experienced in a very dizzy way, (Mountain Sickness). So we settled down and organized asap an accommodation for the night. It was a great evening and we were supported with spicy but delicious Pakistanian food. Having a nice view to Mansehra and Abbottabad it got darker and darker and the weather changed from blue sky to big fat clouds which were bringing heavy rain for the night.
Next day i stood up at 05:00am to get some nice shots of sunrising and the mountain chains around. You could even see slightly the Nanga Parbat (8.125m), which will be a POI on Phase II.
So after everybody woke up we had breakfast and then quickly went on to Murree reaching there around lunch time. On the way to Murree we drove through big valleys going up and down all the time. We also passed through Nathiagali were you can find lots of monkeys hanging around and begging for food. Finally we reached Murree where we could once more relax before going back to Islamabad.
Resuming: It was an exciting weekend with breathless views over the mountain area of Pakistan. We enjoyed and are motivated to start into Phase II by Thursday.

All the best,
Jochen

Photos...

Time to say Goodbye...

Hello everybody,

The last two weeks we tried to slow down a little bit since Katja and Ameli were going to leave finally this extraordinary country. Although at the beginning Katja was quite sceptic coming at all to the ISLAMIC Republic of Pakistan i think finally they two liked a lot here!

What happened since last update?
Well, we were celebrating the birthday of Rimsha. She is one of the two daughters of Sikander and Aisha, checked? ;-) To explain you, this is the family who is taking care of our guest house in Islamabad. K&A used the last days to go for shopping...i think i will need a second suitcase going back home!
And the "Grand Final"...visiting the biggest covered mosque of the world...the "Faisal Mosque".
Up to 80.000 prayers can fit inside, the minarets are 90 meters high!
Interesting architecture, for my taste a little bit too modern nevertheless very impressive...but create your own opinion and check the photo gallery -> Photos.

Birthday, Salwar Kamiz and many more adventures in Punjab!

Asalam Aleykum!

Back again!
The last two weeks after our crazy weekend in Lahore have been full of relaxing, exciting, exhausting and interesting moments.

First important date was my birthday which i tried to celebrate like I was at home...you can imagine ;-). I got great support from Argentina, Croatia, Germany and Poland...but anyway it was a new experience for me to party such a day in a more or less non-party city!

Second, we made an interesting trip to Rohtas Fort. The fort built in 1541 by Schah Sher Khan Suri is a complex of more than 4 kilometers exceeding massive city walls. It was never conquered!
One tip: If anybody of you has ever the possibility to visit this place, use the late afternoon time otherwise you are cooking away...or maybe come there in winter ;-).

Fruthermore we visited a really nice furniture store in Islamabad with authentique pieces of Pakistanian living culture...i just say: Exrteme! Very beautiful furniture and highest quality for low money and each piece is unique!

Since we liked last time Lahore so much we went last weekend again to the city which never sleeps. This time i had to go there for a business trip but it was worthy, less heat, due to rain the previous days, made the journey really pleasant. Although all of us got some problems with the throat because it was pretty much windy we really enjoyed that weekend much more than the last one. Besides we stayed this time in another room of the guest house and i think not even one five star hotel in Lahore can top this place, (but decide later in the gallery)! This time we also experienced a ride with a rickshaw! This is a real adventure, quite dangerous but very effective since you can pass any street you want. And although this vehicle is so small four adults and one child, plus driver, were fitting inside, without any problem...i think one more adult and three more kids would be the maximum ;-)!
So the weekend was more or less a success...

What else happened?

Short facts:
+ Well, i bought a Salwar Kamiz. I am not explaining what it is, check the photos!
+ The riots and turmoil settled down a little bit. Since two weeks it is quite peaceful again in Pakistan.
+ Maybe one more interesting thing. I told you about that "Red Mosque" in Islamabad, or at least showed you some photos...well, it is located quite in the middle of the city and two weeks ago four policemen patroling around this area were kidnapped by some of the 6.000 students which are going there to school, (you must know it is a mosque and a religious school). The goal was to get some inprisoned brothers free! As far as i heard two policemen were exchanged with two prisoners and the day after in the early morning hours special forces, including police, army and intelligence agency where covering the whole area...result? Nobody knows, you didn´t hear anything about success or no success...just one thing is clear, the Red Mosque is still active in its living way, what brings me to the conclusion that it was maybe solved in a diplomatic way and those people are still processing their daily live...hm!
+ Other news...since more than one week i think half of the population of children in Islamabad are ill. Some virus spread around...also Ameli is affected. So we also made now our first exprience with the "best" hospital in town. Well, they are competent but they are also pretty much expensive! So if you want to get cured in Pakistan you need a big fat wallet!
+ Our mountain journey was cancelled since we found out that it is suggested not to go with children under two years in areas over 2.500m, because of high risk of mountain sickness. Well, the northern area of Pakistan starts more or less at this altitude...so we had to change our plans and i will have to explore the mountains by myself to find finally Yeti!
Short facts...end!

However the girls will soon leave Pakistan, (in two weeks), and myself will still enjoy this beautiful country till the 12th of July and then i am going to come back to good old Europe to get one month later again into the plane and make another trip to Paki...
Yes, once here involved in work they bound you somehow ;-).

So far, i wish you still a nice time and hope to see lots of you as soon as possible in good old Europe!

Allah Hafiz!
JF

Check out the latest photos...Click here.