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If Chapursan feels like the end of the world, then Fairy Meadows feels like stepping into a dream. The ride ends at Raikot Bridge, where the dirt track to the meadows begins. It’ s infamous among travellers: steep, narrow, and best tackled with both grit and a dash of recklessness. The reward is a grassy alpine plateau with one of the greatest views on earth— Nanga Parbat, the“ Killer Mountain,” its vast ice wall glowing pink in dawn light.
Here, too, I found that the mountain was only half the story. In a wooden hut warmed by a dungfired stove, a family laid out bread, yak butter, and endless cups of chai. We ate together in the flickering light, their children giggling at my clumsy Urdu, while outside the mountain stood silent, aloof, and untouchable. The warmth inside that hut made the grandeur outside almost secondary.
Chilas is where the Karakoram Highway begins to show its teeth. A dry, stark town flanked by ancient petroglyphs, it often feels like a
TRAVERSE 172