Alone-ness in the wilderness

I have always liked to travel alone. When I was young and first began venturing into the great wilderness of Khirthar north of Karachi, there was no question of asking any of the Karachites I knew. They were all too city-bound. I liked being alone in the wilderness. I think it was this alone-ness (not loneliness) that cultivated the respect and admiration for nature and the wild places of this good earth.

 

For the first time then, in early 1979, did I actually become aware and extremely appreciative of birdsong. This could not have happened if I had been with a noisy group. Also the soughing of wind through the coarse vegetation of the Khirthar was another song that I had not known.

 

All my early treks - and these were in the Khirthar Mountains - were by myself. Then I met Maqbool Abbas who had good temperament and together we walked the length of the Hub River (about 250 km) in February 1987. In Chitral in 1986, 1987 and in Swat and Baltistan in 1988 and the year after, I was again alone. The expedition described in Between Two Burrs on the Map: Travels in Northern Pakistan was sponsored by a businessman friend and I had money to hire porters. Had this sponsorship not been in place, the expedition would never have taken place.

 

For the Muztagh Pass expedition (The Apricot Road to Yarkand), I saw Nasser Khan as a better team leader than myself. The man has excellent temperament. But our doctor Naeem Awan was nothing to write home about. I had the choice of going alone, but I was not sure if I would be able to handle a whole bunch of porters. I now know that I could have done it. The porters were all wonderful men. Now that I will be motorcycling whenever I get the time, I plan to do solo journeys. Travelling by oneself is more fun than being in a group.