All packed up in our Toyota Hilux pick-up with all the kit safely tied down, Badsha at the wheel we make our way out of Islamabad. The dircect road to Muzzafrabad is blocked so we have to go the eastern way through Abbattabad.
Just before Abbattabad, Badsha pulls over in a small town. We have a puncture. Great. The tyre changed we head off - making sure we get it fixed before we go too much further. In Abbattabad we are looking for tyre repair shops but they all seem closed. We pass a department store that has partly collapsed. The first sign of destruction. We turn around to try a live. Setting up in 15 mins we do manage to dial in - sucess at last. Ahh but the system doesn’t lock up. What is wrong I don’t know but we have to continue. I think its at this point where Richard coins the phrase - what else can go wrong (WECGW).
Whislt we are faffing around Badsha finds out where the tyre repair place is and we stop on the way out of town.
Coming into Mansera we have to decide which way to go. Take the road north but, east or west of the epicentre. Balakot we know is devatated but we have been told that there is a village called Buttal on the Karkoram highway which again has been flattened but they have recieved no help at all. The decision is Buttal. Mansera seems fine. This is apparant lack of destruction is eiree.
We see very little sign of destruction along the road out of Mansera. Eventually we get to Sharika and stop as we need to do a live. Here we have to be less than 20 km from the epicenter but everything is still standing. We wonder if we hae made the right decision in going to Buttal.
We are supposed to do another live before sundown but with no destruction Richard does a phoner instead.
The sun goes down and we stop so Badsha can break his fast. Its Ramadam so he can’t eat whilst the sun is up.
We are getting closer and closer to Buttal and though night falls quickly we spot a couple of chicken farms that have collapsed. Heading higher and higher into the hills we eventually get to Buttal and are given directions to the area which has been hit badly. Though the headlights we see that one side of the village on a river valley is no longer there and a girls school has also been hit. Looking by torch light through broken glass windows where the building is still standing school bags are still on the desks covered in dust. It is too dark and dangerous to continue looking so we head off to a hotel down the road.
The hotel when we get there is deserted, but the driveway gates aren’t locked. We drive through and close them behind us. The hotel seems structurally fine but even so we decide to camp on the front lawn. Setting up the little Honda generator we fire up one of the lights and set about putting up the tents and then cooking dinner. Ready to eat meals (MRE) heated up in the travel kettle and a nice hot cup of tea. I test the M4’s again as we will need them tomorrow and they work. They must have got quite wet in the rain and taken all day to dry out.
Its only about 9.30pm, its been a long day and we go to sleep.
