Selepas melewati Battagram kami akan melalui pula kawasan kecil yang di namakan Thakot. Mendengarkan namanya akan berasa gerun dan takut. Kita akan memasuki ke kawasan yang dikenali juga sebagai Indus Kohistan atau Kohistan District. Kawasan ini memang merbahaya. Ada banyak check point polis tempatan di sini. Di sinilah juga bermulanya pelbagai kerenah di sepanjang perjalanan menuju ke Khunjerab Pass.

[ 1 ] Dari Battagram Ke Thakot Bridget di Indus Kohistan | Day 1 | The Beginning of the Long Overland Journey | Overland to Khunjerab Pass via Karakoram Highway | iPhoneography Adventure TRail | Summer 2013 | Road Less Travelled | Northern Pakistan 2013 | 19-24 06 2013 (PHOTO BY KNIZAM OMAR / KNIZAM.COM)
Anda akan melalui dua jambatan sewaktu nak masuk ke Indus Kohistan ini. Satu jambatan lama dan satu lagi baru. Kedua-duanya diberi nama sebagai Friendship Bridge. Dibina oleh Kerajaan Tanah Besar China untuk Pakistan. Memang besar jambatannya. Anda dilarang keras untuk mengambil gambar di sekitar jambatan ini. Jambatan ini dikawal ketat oleh askar Pakistan. Dalam beberapa minit dari jamnbatan ini akan tertera check point yang pertama. Jika tak silap saya, terdapat lebih kurang 6-7 check point sehinggalah kita sampai ke Lembah Hunza nanti. Setiap kali tiba di check point, kami dikehendaki untuk mengisi butir-butir diri masing-masing di dalam buku besar untuk rekod.
Indus Kohistan pernah disebut oleh pengembara terkenal dari China, Fa Hsien suatu masa dahulu. Indus Kohistan pernah juga pernah dikenali sebagai Kohistan (Land of the Mountains) dan Yaghistan (Land of the Ungoverned).
Sedikit maklumat berkenaan Indus Kohistan dari Lonely Planet :
Rounding the western end of the Himalaya at Nanga Parbat (8125m), the Indus River cuts a gorge so deep that some parts see only a few hours of sunlight a day, and are so inhospitable that even the caravan routes bypassed it. The Highway traveller is surrounded by this fractured, crumbling landscape with barely a blade of grass visible – magnificent and ominous. It’s a landscape in motion; the sheer rock walls are being ripped apart by powerful waterfalls carving out yawning canyons, and rocks lie scattered across the road.
Kohistan (Land of Mountains) refers to the sub-6000m peaks enclosing this canyon as well as upper Swat and Dir. The desolate, crumbling terrain made it one of the most harrowing passages in Asia. The intrepid Chinese Buddhist pilgrim Fa Hsien, having already crossed most of China and the Karakoram on foot, was awestruck. In 403 AD he wrote about Indus Kohistan:
The road is difficult and broken, with steep crags and precipices in the way. The mountainside is like a stone wall 10, 000 feet high. Looking down, the sight is confused and there is no sure foothold.
The roadside bazaars are gloomy even on a sunny day, and on the Highway – sometimes hundreds of metres above the thrashing Indus – you can empathise with Fa Hsien.
Another name for the region was Yaghistan (Land of the Ungoverned). Outlaws could hide here without fear of capture; tribal warfare and blood feuds were commonplace. Stone watchtowers and fortified houses can still be seen in the older villages. Even today outsiders are not very warmly welcomed and travelling off the KKH is not recommended without first seeking police advice.
In the 1960s the KKH cut through the Indus gorge and in 1976 Pakistan created an administrative district out of these semi¬autonomous areas. The district government relies heavily on police and the NWFP Frontier Constabulary, whose forts dot the valley.
Fa Hsien pengembara China terkenal pun melabelkan Kohistan seperti suatu kawasan atau daerah yang agak sunyi, dan gloomy. Gaung-gaung di Kohistan agak dalam. Sungai Indus yang mengalir di Kohistan berwarna kelabu asphalt. Airnya agak deras dan menggerunkan sesiapa sahaja yang pernah melalui di tepinya. Saya kurang gemar akan bahagian Karakoram Highway di sini. Setiap kali melalui Indus Kohistan saya kena berhati-hati. Tak sabar-sabar rasanya nak berlalu pergi dari Bahagian Indus Kohistan ini.
Apa-apa pun kita layan dulu gambar-gambar berskala besar travelogue kali ini di bawah ya !

[ 2 ] Dari Battagram Ke Thakot Bridget di Indus Kohistan | Day 1 | The Beginning of the Long Overland Journey | Overland to Khunjerab Pass via Karakoram Highway | Summer 2013 | Road Less Travelled | Northern Pakistan 2013 | 19-24 06 2013 (PHOTO BY SYAZWAN OTHMAN)

[ 3 ] Dari Battagram Ke Thakot Bridget di Indus Kohistan | Day 1 | The Beginning of the Long Overland Journey | Overland to Khunjerab Pass via Karakoram Highway | iPhoneography Adventure TRail | Summer 2013 | Road Less Travelled | Northern Pakistan 2013 | 19-24 06 2013 (PHOTO BY KNIZAM OMAR / KNIZAM.COM)

[ 4 ] Dari Battagram Ke Thakot Bridget di Indus Kohistan | Day 1 | The Beginning of the Long Overland Journey | Overland to Khunjerab Pass via Karakoram Highway | iPhoneography Adventure TRail | Summer 2013 | Road Less Travelled | Northern Pakistan 2013 | 19-24 06 2013 (PHOTO BY KNIZAM OMAR / KNIZAM.COM)

[ 5 ] Elevation Rendah Lagi Ni | Dari Battagram Ke Thakot Bridget di Indus Kohistan | Day 1 | The Beginning of the Long Overland Journey | Overland to Khunjerab Pass via Karakoram Highway | iPhoneography Adventure TRail | Summer 2013 | Road Less Travelled | Northern Pakistan 2013 | 19-24 06 2013 (PHOTO BY KNIZAM OMAR / KNIZAM.COM)

[ 6 ] Dari Battagram Ke Thakot Bridget di Indus Kohistan | Day 1 | The Beginning of the Long Overland Journey | Overland to Khunjerab Pass via Karakoram Highway | Summer 2013 | Road Less Travelled | Northern Pakistan 2013 | 19-24 06 2013 (PHOTO BY SYAZWAN OTHMAN)

[ 7 ] Dari Battagram Ke Thakot Bridget di Indus Kohistan | Day 1 | The Beginning of the Long Overland Journey | Overland to Khunjerab Pass via Karakoram Highway | Summer 2013 | Road Less Travelled | Northern Pakistan 2013 | 19-24 06 2013 (PHOTO BY SYAZWAN OTHMAN)

[ 8 ] Dari Battagram Ke Thakot Bridget di Indus Kohistan | Day 1 | The Beginning of the Long Overland Journey | Overland to Khunjerab Pass via Karakoram Highway | Summer 2013 | Road Less Travelled | Northern Pakistan 2013 | 19-24 06 2013 (PHOTO BY SYAZWAN OTHMAN)

[ 9 ] Thakot Bridge Yang Terkenal | Dari Battagram Ke Thakot Bridget di Indus Kohistan | Day 1 | The Beginning of the Long Overland Journey | Overland to Khunjerab Pass via Karakoram Highway | Summer 2013 | Road Less Travelled | Northern Pakistan 2013 | 19-24 06 2013 (PHOTO BY SYAZWAN OTHMAN)

[ 10 ] Signboard Paling Popular di Karakoram Highway, Indus Kohistan District | Day 1 | The Beginning of the Long Overland Journey | Overland to Khunjerab Pass via Karakoram Highway | Summer 2013 | Road Less Travelled | Northern Pakistan 2013 | 19-24 06 2013 (PHOTO BY SYAZWAN OTHMAN)
Catatan Pengalaman Northern Pakistan Adventure Trip 2013 bersambung lagi di edisi selepas ini ….. sabar ya !
