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became temporary lifelines, carrying people and goods across the water.
Even now, the lake stands as both a reminder of vulnerability and a testament to resilience.
That resilience is a recurring theme in Hunza. The environment demands it. Landslides, glacial floods, harsh winters, these are not rare events but part of life.
And increasingly, those challenges are changing.
Riding through the upper reaches of Hunza, into the Gojal region, you begin to see how these experiences shape the character of the people. There is a calmness here, a measured way of engaging with both hardship and change.
In recent years, shifts in climate have begun to affect the delicate balance that sustains the valley. Glaciers are retreating, weather patterns are becoming less predictable, and communities that once relied on stable seasonal cycles are having to adapt quickly.
Tourism, for instance, has brought new opportunities. The valley has become increasingly visible on social media, its landscapes shared widely across the world. Places like Passu, with its iconic cathedral-like peaks, now attract travellers from far beyond the region. I saw this tension most clearly in Passu.
On one side of the road, new guesthouses and cafés have sprung up to accommodate them. On the other, traditional life continues much as it always has.
We stayed in a small family-run guesthouse, where the owner spoke candidly about the changes, his response to this influx is not one of overwhelming transformation, but of careful adjustment.
“ Before, we grew everything ourselves,” he said.“ Now we buy more. Tourism is good, but it
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