OffroadPakistan

Concordia: The world's greatest museum of shape and form

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 01:04:56 +0500

"The world's greatest museum of shape and form" is how Italian mountaineer/author Fosco Maraini described Concordia in his book, Karakoram. Galen Rowell called it the "Throne of the Mountain Gods". Come 2007, somehow or the other, 5 of us from Karachi ended up hiking to Concordia, and on to K2 base camp. "Click here to see the pictures of the hike along with captions":http://offroadpakistan.com/pictures/k2_base_camp_hike/, and "go here to see the travelogue of the hike":http://offroadpakistan.com/travelogues/k2_base_camp_hike/.

Vehicle Preparations before and after a trip

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 19:13:09 +0500

Road trips don't require much preparation, but 4x4 trips off the beaten track are a different thing altogether. There is no help available off the highway, so the vehicle has to be in good shape and the driver must be well prepared to deal with any eventuality. Of course, the idea is to avoid breakdowns in the first place, so a number of things have to be looked at when setting out on a 4x4 trip out into the wild.

30 years after the Indus River Expedition

Sun, 30 Mar 2008 01:07:53 +0500

"!http://offroadpakistan.com/pictures/indus_river_expedition_1978/scan0084-thumb.jpg!":http://offroadpakistan.com/pictures/indus_river_expedition_1978/ Sir, in December 2008 it will be the 30th anniversary of the historic "Indus River Expedition". This Expedition of three people started from Amb- Darband, upstream of Tarbela Dam, and covered 1,600 miles in 30 days right up to the _"city of lights"_ - Karachi.

Medical Camp at the Hingol National Park, March 14-17, 2008

Fri, 07 Mar 2008 15:06:46 +0500

Our group has been approached by the Management of Hingol National Park to help them in organizing a free medical camp at Jhal Jhau for the villagers living along the Hingol River in the Northern Part of the Park. We are going for 4 days to Hingol, Baluchistan, March 14-17, 2008 and setting up a medical camp. Read on for the details.

Goran Gatti Jan 2008

Sat, 16 Feb 2008 03:44:22 +0500

Click here "to see the complete picture gallery of the Goran Gatti trip":http://offroadpakistan.com/pictures/goran_gatti_2008/. This trip involved hardcore 4wheeling, as we made our way to the highest mountain, Goran Gatti, which is deep inside Hingol - no vehicle has made it there before. We didn't make it there either, but it was a lot of fun trying!

Information on being 'self-sufficient' for those who would like to accompany us on one of our many off-road + camping trips.

Sun, 03 Feb 2008 23:56:52 +0500

!http://offroadpakistan.com/2008/02/04/campsite_panaroma.JPG! For those of you who haven't camped out in the wilderness under the open sky, here are some helpful hints and advise.

A day's trek to a village near Besham, Kohistan

Sun, 18 Nov 2007 12:08:44 +0500

"!http://offroadpakistan.com/pictures/besham_2007/DSC01845-thumb.jpg!":http://offroadpakistan.com/pictures/besham_2007/ When Hamid Omar of 4x4 Offroaders Club, Karachi recently completed the rebuilding of the "1948 Ford F1 Pickup":http://offroadpakistan.com/misc/the_ford_f1_story_from_california_to_karachi.html, the family decided to take it on a long test drive from Karachi all the way to Besham on the Karakorum Highway (a part of the 'Silk Route'). The trip was, in part, influenced by the invitation of one of their domestics of long standing, Shah Aalam, to visit his ancestral home situated at a mountaintop a few kilometers off Besham in Kohistan. Hamid and his wife Sabiha drove to Lahore on the "newly rebuilt Ford F1":http://offroadpakistan.com/misc/the_ford_f1_story_from_california_to_karachi.html, followed by Mahera and Khalid Omar in the Toyota Prado.

The Ford F1 Story - From California to Karachi

Sat, 29 Sep 2007 20:50:01 +0500

"!http://offroadpakistan.com/pictures/ford_f1/DSC00103-thumb.jpg!":http://offroadpakistan.com/pictures/ford_f1/ Soon after we got married, my wife Sabiha asked me to get a Ford F1 truck for her. I tried my best but could not find any in Pakistan. Some thirty years later, on one of her visits to America, she found one in a small town called Dry Town near Sacramento, California. She convinced the owner to sell it to her and I think she got it for $140 (exact amount she has not told me - only that it cost more to have it towed to our friend Javed Akber's house in Sacramento). Till we could figure out how to have it shipped to Karachi, for over a year the Ford truck remained parked in Javed's garage (while their own two cars remained out in the open).

Chasing Storms in Thar Desert

Sat, 29 Sep 2007 20:27:49 +0500

A journey to Thar desert in Pakistan. The trailer is "viewable here":http://offroadpakistan.com/video/chasing_storms_in_thar_desert_trailer.html.

Hingol Flood Relief

Fri, 28 Sep 2007 00:38:14 +0500

Hingol Flood Relief is a documentary about the devastation caused by the cyclone that hit the coastal areas of Baluchistan in the summer of 2007, and the relief efforts of a small group of individuals from Karachi for the scattered settlements in the Hingol National Park.

Adventures in Hingol

Fri, 14 Sep 2007 14:20:25 +0500

A recent trip of the 4X4 Offroaders Club to Hingol National Park in Baluchistan. The complete version will air on Aaj tv in the near future. The trailer is above, and the full version is below. "Click here to read the article":http://offroadpakistan.com/trips/hingol_national_park.html about this trip.

K2 Base camp hike planning

Thu, 06 Sep 2007 12:38:11 +0500

"!http://offroadpakistan.com/pictures/k2_base_camp_hike/IMG_0449-thumb.jpg!":http://offroadpakistan.com/pictures/k2_base_camp_hike/ Like any long trip, we started planning this a long time ago. Some (Asad, me) had wanted to do a major hike for years, and Concordia was always at the top of the list of the many, many places to go hiking in Northern Pakistan. "The world's greatest museum of shape and form" is how Italian mountaineer/author Fosco Maraini described Concordia in his book, Karakoram. Galen Rowell called it the "Throne of the Mountain Gods". Come 2007, somehow or the other, 5 of us decided to finally go. The pre-trip preparations involved a lot of research, finding hiking and cold weather equipment, and trying to get into shape for the long hike ahead. Our plan is detailed below, and hopefully anyone else looking for information on planning this hike on their own will find it helpful. The "pictures of the hike are up over here,":http://offroadpakistan.com/pictures/k2_base_camp_hike/ and an article about the actual trip will be up soon.

Google search for best offroad club

Sun, 29 Jul 2007 22:58:16 +0500

!http://offroadpakistan.com/blog/images/2007/Google-search-for-best-offo.jpg 475x252! Offroadpakistan is the number 1 result on Google for "best offroad clubs" and for "4x4 Offroad"!

Hingol flood Summer 2007 ...the aftermath

Fri, 20 Jul 2007 21:16:13 +0500

"!http://offroadpakistan.com/pictures/hingol_flood_relief_2007/DSC00497-thumb.jpg!":http://offroadpakistan.com/pictures/hingol_flood_relief_2007/index.html?page=all June 24th, 2007 saw the birth of an insignificant low pressure in the Arabian sea that took a turn for the worse as it developed into a cyclone 03B christened "YEMYEN":http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/LSGZ-74TGAU?OpenDocument, moving towards the coastal areas of Pakistan. Drawing moisture from the sea it attracted clouds from neighboring regions and soon covered the entire province of Baluchistan with rains unprecedented in living memory. Rain catchment areas in Surab, Naal and Jhao districts overflowed while Arra and Mashkae rivers delivered their share of the deluge into the one source that would take it to the sea: The mighty Hingol.

Disaster hits Baluchistan and Sindh

Mon, 09 Jul 2007 20:37:06 +0500

The year 2007 is called the 'Visit Pakistan Year'. Nature, however, seems to be against us as rainstorms and floods have hit most parts of the country leaving thousands homeless and in desperate need of assistance. The Lal Masjid issue has overshadowed the devastation in the areas and the nation sits glued to their televisions regarding the crisis. The United Nations has deployed a five member assistance team to assess the situation in the flood hit areas, according to John Homes, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator. The greatest danger lies in the growing probability of an epidemic outbreak. According to sources, the top priority goods in need in the areas include tents, blankets and emergency medical kits but above all of water purification tablets. These tablets are known as 'Puritabs' are available at most local chemists. Besides these medicines, according to the Daily Times, more than forty victims of snake bites have been reported in Baluchistan, and the government is also making arrangements for anti-venom vials for the areas.