anticipation . However , Olaf was still being recalcitrant , his points presenting the same problem and amicably Peter attended to the issue allowing us to take a water and photograph break .
Two and a half hours after starting we made it to Raikot Bridge , stopping at a small restaurant for breakfast , where we learned , to our excitement , that the road from here was in spotless condition .
Granite ’ s gear had been troubling me . Since it was bearable and seemed nothing more than just not engaging first gear we decided to continue , the prospect of steep inclines seemed minimal .
Although thick cloud prevented any vistas we still stopped at the famous ‘ Three Ranges Meeting ’ point in the hope that we could see Nanga Parbat , unfortunately it wasn ’ t to be however , we did provide a view for the many tourists that had found themselves here , they were amazed to find such old machines making it this far especially covering the Babusar Pass .
We continued toward Gilgit after a short sightseeing break and reached our hotel just after midday . We had covered a total of around 135 kilometres and in good time too . Met some friends who were on their way back from an extensive tour in their 4x4s , and after checking in , offloading luggage , we immediately started to rectify Olaf ’ s and Granite ’ s issues .
With Peter onsite and through valuable help from our mechanic , Nazir , over the phone , we were guided to rectify Granite ’ s gear issues .
A visit to the local market provided provisions before we had a great , informative chat with local and foreign adventure bike riders who were also staying at the same hotel , before heading to bed .
Only 95km had to be covered on this leg , and that on excellent roads ,
TRAVERSE 29