along the indus #2

woke up to a nice view and got going. the day before, we had only covered like 40 kilometres, so we had to put a bit more effort in if we wanted to make it to skardu anytime soon. 40 really doesn't sound like much, but in that sun, on that terrain, with that weight, with no shorts allowed because of islamic law, and completely out of shape when it comes to cycling, it's a proper ordeal.

also, the nourishment situation wasn't looking too bright. between gilgit and skardu are only a couple of villages scattered along the valley, and pretty much all they sell there is chips and softdrinks. i had oats with fanta for breakfast and oats with pepsi for lunch. matthieu taught us, you gotta keep that blood sugar going.

in the first village we came across, i managed to get a wooden plank from some locals and we strapped it onto elias' bike to fix his luggage-falling-off-problem. the sun kicked our asses, but we eventually made it to a village, where we were invited to stay at a guy's guest house. turns out he also owns a lot of gem mines in the area and is a hobby geologist. he was very eager to show us his rock collection. great guy.Read more