The journey from Skardu to the main highway was about 200km of wiggly roads with 16 people squeezed inside a tiny van. Our plan for today was to travel to the popular Fairy Meadows and we needed to move quickly as we had a long way to go. As luck would have it the passenger next to Craig began throwing up in a bag. I couldn’t help but look which set off my gag reflex. On his lap was a half drunk bottle of Fanta and in the puke bag was the rest of the orange liquid which he clearly couldn’t keep down. As soon as we hopped out the van at our road junction a car picked us up and drove us to Juglot where we were able to get a taxi the rest of the way to Raikot Bridge. We agreed on 3000 rupees and set off on the journey but after just 5km there were cars all parked along the road and a barrier blocking our way. The driver spoke to a policeman to see what was happening and the driver said “landslide, just one minute” to us which we laughed at because we’re not stupid, landslides don’t get cleared up that quickly. We saw people going under the barrier towards the slide and asked if it was possible to walk across to the other side but our driver said no. We waited about 45 minutes and got some information from some locals who spoke English. They said a car had spotted the slide happening and 3 people managed to jump out but the final passenger didn’t have time and he was swept off the edge of the cliff inside the car. Soon we saw an ambulance come and go, followed by a mortuary vehicle. Geez, this was a lot to take in. Some people said the landslide may not be cleared for 4-6 hours as the bulldozer had to travel from Gilgit.

We decided to have some lunch at the eatery which we’d conveniently stopped beside and it was heaving with people doing the same thing. As we ate our lunch we spotted a tourist with dried mud up his legs and it peaked our interest. Turns out he had been hitchhiking from the other direction and said that people were allowed to cross the slide. He showed us some videos and said it was mostly mud, not rocks and was manageable. It had already been 2 hours and there was still no bulldozer in sight so we were now considering the walk across. First we had to negotiate with our driver who we spent 30 minutes looking for. He’d only driven us 5km but had obviously been waiting…but also not telling us the truth as people were in fact walking across. He was a stubborn chap and wanted us to pay 2000 rupees. In the end we met at 1500 and he drove us the 500m further to the edge of the landslide where we bid him farewell. There were a lot of man around the slide area, we could now see the damage caused where thick mud covered a section of the road, the metal barriers were completely crushed and about 200 meters below us was a severely mangled car.

We assessed the landslide and how people were crossing it. At the moment they were trying to grab rocks to create sort of stepping stones through the mud but it was thigh deep in areas. Suddenly a police car and ambulance came at full speed towards the crowd. Men ran out the ambulance, swung the back doors open and inside was a dead body wrapped in a white sheet. We couldn’t figure out what was happening, from our understanding it was the victim from this landslide, maybe they took him to hospital, pronounced him dead and then needed to get him to his home as soon as possible because in Muslim belief I think a funeral needs to take place within 24 hours. So the men all grabbed the body and carried it on their shoulders as they marched towards the slide, walking over it like there was no obstacle or danger in their way. It was such a bizarre thing to witness, a body being carried across a deep mud-slip that caused his death.

The paramedics made the traverse look quite easy so we decided to give it a go. We took our shoes off, rolled our trousers up and began stepping in the sloppy mud. It became quite deep at one point and I wasn’t comfortable at all, struggling to get my balance with my heavy backpack and front pack. A local man saw me struggling and recommended the right side which he said was safer so I carefully backtracked to a point where I could cross. It was horrible, I didn’t feel particularly safe, the mud could potentially continue slipping over the cliff at any moment in a sloppy waterfall. We made it through the first section but there were in fact two landslides so we had a second one to cross. In between these slides were two cars parked up and we realised they’d literally missed both slides and been in the middle of them, geez they should buy a lottery ticket! There were some sections where small rock slides covered the road but soon enough we arrived at the next giant pile of mud that we needed to traverse. This side had some bulldozers already starting to clear the slide which was good to see but also very disconcerting hearing them making loud noises as we sunk our feet in the mud. People were shouting and it was hard to know if it was to warn us of a new danger. As soon as we were out the mud we speed walked down the road, wanting to escape the dangerous zone as quickly as possible. Our calves and feet were covered in mud which gradually dried like a fancy face mask and we were able to put our shoes back on. The road this side was now absolutely chocker with trucks and cars waiting to come through. A driver approached us and offered a ride to Raikot Bridge for 3000 rupees with an extra passenger in the car so we agreed on 2000, hopped in and the music was blasted as loud as the speakers could take it. At some point we stopped for a police check however the policeman got in the back of the car with us, we’re not sure if it was to escort us or if he just wanted a ride somewhere. We picked up even more people on the drive so we were pretty shocked when we arrived and the driver asked for 3000 rupees. We explained that we’d agreed on 2000 and he couldn’t just change the price, also he now had 6 people in the car so was getting extra money from them. I was pretty fed up by this point. The final scam happened at a hotel who I’d contacted about bag storage while we go to Fairy Meadows and after confirming the price they now claimed it was a daily fee and I just didn’t have the energy to complain after today. It was already past 5pm so we were way behind schedule. We enquired into a room in town but it was extortionately priced and looked very unappealing. So we stuck with our plan but made some adjustments, we’d take the 1.5 hour jeep ride along one of the worlds most dangerous roads (because apparently one dangerous road in a day just isn’t enough for us) and we’d try and stay in Tato, the village where the jeep journey ends as reaching Fairy Meadows would be a further 3 hour hike in the dark.

Only designated jeeps are allowed to drive the road, apparently there’s been 3 accidents which isn’t too bad really when you consider it’s status as the second most dangerous road in the world, I assume the other is in Bolivia. They used to give armed guards to tourists along this route after a terrorist attack took place but that seems to of stopped as we weren’t given one. They charge 16100 rupees per jeep for the return journey which is about £46 and more than I was expecting. If you have other people to share the jeep with the price goes down and that’s exactly how locals travel with 8 people crammed inside. But, it was just us at 5:30pm so we went to the police checkpoint and then began the treacherous road. The sun was low so the hills and mountains were glowing with an orange tinge.

It didn’t take long for us to start navigating the dangerous section. Suddenly we had a sheer drop to our left, plummeting lord knows how many hundreds of meters down to a rapid-ridden river. The road was extremely narrow so at times we were right on the edge and there weren’t any guard rails. The jeep was old, probably from the 60s and we had to stop twice to add water to the engine. My main concern was meeting another jeep coming the other direction and it happened four times! I didn’t mind too much when we moved to the inside but on a couple of occasions we had to shuffle along the edge, sometimes even reversing while looking down at the drop just centimetres from our tyres. Luckily we survived the journey and the rule is the same driver brings you back so you arrange a time and date and also photograph the driver and car. That’s when I realised the number plate of our car started with ‘RIP…’.

We were met by a local with long floppy hair and piercing green and hazel eyes. He was the owner of the only hotel in Tato so he walked us there. It was now 7pm so we were wiped out but we were welcomed with sweet green tea on the terrace where we watched the distant snowy peaks catch the final pink rays of the day. Our room was a basic wooden log cabin with unwashed bedding and a dirty towel in the bathroom with a giant grasshopper on it. The bed was extremely narrow but it would do for the night and the friendly host said he’d fire up his hot water system which is heated with logs. An hour later we were served dinner and then told the hot water was ready to wash in. The young worker came up with us and connected a hose and said it was good to go…we tried everything but the water was cold which was a shame, we didn’t have the energy to complain so just had an ice cold shower and went to bed, ready for our hike to Fairy Meadows tomorrow.