Day 15 - Jula to Thungol

We set out in the morning for our last day of hiking. We leave Jula before the Brits and head to the river crossing. Here Dad gets video of us crossing the river from a vantage point up on the cliff face, top right.

Again, after all we had been through up on the glacier, a bridge with railings no longer seemed nearly as treacherous. We still go across one at a time though.

Dad gets video from his perch.

Heading back out to the main valley and the Braldu River. This part of the path was recently constructed, you can see the stones piled to build up a flat spot for the path. The previous trail had gone up and over the cliffs with a basket/zipline to carry you across the river. Apparently they lost a lot of people that way, so the new trail and bridge were built.

Yup. Much safer now. Coming around this bend we ran into a bunch of Army commandos from the camp in Korophon taking their new recruits on a hike up to check on the communication line.

On this trail we passed the Garnet Mountain again. All the black specks in the rock are garnets, a semi-precious gem.

Close up of the garnets embedded in the rock.

Anisa tries to pry some garnets out of the rock face. It didn't really matter much, there were a bunch that had broken free and littered the trail at our feet anyway.

On the way back to Korophon, Matthew with the Biafo Glacier in the background. This is a huge glacier that runs north into a place called Snow Lake.

Green fields cling to the mountains as we approach Korophon.

Iza, Matthew, Misha, Murad and Anisa on the trail to lunch. We stopped early and had a brunch of sorts with crackers, tuna, cheese, olives and tea. The supplies were seriously dwindling by this point. The tuna was extra and bought by Ayub along the trail down.

After lunch, Ibrahim gets to ride on a horse, since everyone was feeling much better and no one needed to ride. Really, it was more of a pony. But this is his first horse ride ever, and he was very excited. So we will say "horse".

The little pony takes off with Ibrahim clinging for dear life.

The pony's handler catches up with them and calms him down. Resituated, they start off again.

As we approach the second bridge, we come across a yak herd on the rocky plain. The yaks pretty much wander and graze on their own. Most of these are actually a yak-cattle hybrid, making them a little beefier. The two on the far left are true yaks and are smaller with thinner horns.

The yak-cattle climb into an old stone aquaduct/canal that spans the plain. They seemed to know where they wanted to go. It was like a little raised highway for them.

Yak on the prowl.

The two true yaks.

This wide spot just before the bridge is where we stopped after our bridge crossing on the way up. Anisa had given some stones she was collecting to her uncle, and he had "accidentally" (according to him) left them there. Anisa really wanted to collect them on the way back, and the rest of us thought it was a lost cause. But sure enough, next to this one boulder on this huge expanse, she found a little pile of rocks that belonged to her after 11 days of being abandoned.

Back across the last bridge. This one is still a little less stable than the one across the Dumordo River at Jula.

We get closer to Askole as we negotiate our way up, then down the steep rock stair. On the way up, it had seemed so treacherous, but coming back, it seemed incredibly solid and stable. The rock was very secure, unlike the loose stone of the glacier, even though the path was high and steep.

Murad leads by example, waiting for us slow foreigners to catch up. We are making our way back down into the more fertile parts of the valley now, and we can see the first of the villages across the river.

A waterfall along the path. The trail crosses near the top of the picture as Murad makes his way across. It was a very steep water fall, coming from hundreds of feet up, and going another couple hundred feet down.

Wildflowers along the way. Matthew's camera had run out of battery by this time and he needed someone to document this particular variety.

The view back up the valley. You can make out the trail meandering across the picture from left to right. This was some of the easiest walking we had had in two weeks. Very flat and stable. We played some twenty questions to pass the time.

A bridge in disrepair across the Braldu river, likely taken out during a time of flooding.

We finally reached the outskirts of Askoli. The rock walls and brambles separate the fields from the road. And there are trees again!

One of the wheat fields of Askole. And real power lines!

This little spot was across the river from Askoli and was composed of terraced fields and a higher grazing area for animals. Also a very picturesque waterfall up there. It would have been great to visit.

We stop at a hotel under construction in Askoli and have some real lunch. Soup, noodles, paratha, and even some juice purchased in town. Very luxurious. The Brits in their yellow tent arrived just as we were departing and it started to rain.

Some of the flowers in the garden there.

More flowers at the garden in Askoli, rain just starting to wet the petals.

We make our way through Askoli towards Thungol, where we will spend the night. It is almost surreal to be in civilization again. And yes, even mud and stone houses seem very luxurious and civilized after the two weeks we have had.

Dad and Matthew in high spirits as we depart Askoli. Rich and Ignacio stayed behind to hand off our remaining medicines to the dispensery in town. The bag, which we had filled for less than a hundred dollars, still contained a lot of basic medication that would be a lot of help in these remote areas to treat ailments as basic as dysentery, which can be fatal there.

Khalil also takes a shot at riding the pony, this time down one of the steepest climbs up to Askoli from the river. At least he is enjoying himself.

Khalil and the pony.

More sage on the trail from Askoli to Thungol. It was growing thick on the hillside along the trail.

Dad along the last few yards of the trail. The bit from Askoli to Thungol is just about an hour's walk along the remains of the broken jeep trail. The path is wide and flat, and again, seems far more tame than it had on the way up. Even the Braldu River has subsided somewhat.

Dad and Anisa walking into Thungol. Jeeps and everything!

Matthew arrives at camp just a few minutes later, trailed by the local kids.

Adil, Erin and Tanya welcome everyone to the conclusion of our epic journey. Our at least the conclusion of the hiking part of the journey.

Anisa still has a bundle of pens and pencils that she wants to hand out, so all the local boys are gathered, along with our porters.

Chairman and another of our porters horsing around at camp.

Anisa hands out pens and pencils to the boys. They are asked if they have sisters, and get extra to give their siblings that are back home.

With more color changing pencils in her grasp, Anisa hands them out to the porters as well.