I spent about 16 days in Northern Pakistan in April 2006, travelling starting at Lahore, touching the border to India at Wagah, and ending in Peshawar, at the western corner bordering Afghanistan. In between I did a 3000km road trip with a 4x4 awd on the old and famnous Silk road known as the Karakorum Highway (KKH) right upto Khunjerab Pass, bordering China. I thus touched 3 borders - China, India and Afghanistan. The ride is not as pleasant as you will expect, even when we were at higher altitudes - the heat was overbearing in the day time but the nights were cool. The most pleasant part of N. Pakistan is Hunza Valley (about 2300m asl), home to the Ismaili muslim sect.

I was fortunate to be a special guest of PTDC (Pakistan Tourist Development Corp.) who invited me to join the Khyber Pass train - a legend of its colonial legacy, and the train is only run very ocassionally when there is sufficient demand. This trip consisted of a delegate of scholars to view Pakistan's Gandhara art.

From Peshawar, I contined my journey into Afghanistan via the Khyber Pass.