Before we left the NATO base in Islamabad we found out the there were still some British Army Engineers in the field finishing off their work before they had to leave in a few days time. Leaving Muzzafrabad at 5.00am we drive back to Bagh - which took5 hours to meet up with them and a breakfast of ready made beans and bacon from a ration pack.
They then drove us up to where they are finishing off a school they have been building. Not forgetting a hike up the last few hundred feet.
The only work left was to finish off the roof before they handed it over to the local village in a ceremony attended by the local Pakistani General in charge.
This ended up with tea and cakes afterwards! Another one for the bizzare things we have done file.
Finished with tea - and a trek down the current hill to the car we head off still with the Brit Army to 8,340ft where we are promised some snow.
Snow had fallen in early Jan but it was quickly receeding - thankfully a mild start to the winter. It could return though.
At the top we film plenty for the library and do a couple of pieces to camera for use sometime in the future as we can see the Line of Control (LoC) with India - very much a part of disputed Kashmir.
Not very good snow for snow balls though - very icy.
With cold feet we head down the valley again. On the way we stop at a couple of houses still above the snow line to see what the families story was.
We find the family in a small shed like room filled with smoke.
Eye watering to say the least its only when I finally get down to floor level I can see properly. The photo doesn’t do it justice but on video though it did look awesome with the light streaming through the smoke. They family’s house had fallen down but other than that they were doing OK.
Two children had moved down to the valley as they had newborns. When we left we took the grandmother down with us. Arriving at dusk we left her to climb up to their camp and arranged to see her in the morning to do some more filming.
Back at the British camp we were offered beds by the Major in his tent - Alex and Chiade made themselves at home with their pink duvets - a nice contrast to olive green.
