High Road to Hunza

In 1956 Barbara Mons and her doctor husband set off to visit the Hunza Valley in northern Pakistan. Despite not being easy to gain permission from the Pakistani Government, they had been invited by the Mir (the ruler of the region), and set off to travel there overland from England, on the hope of receiving the permission by the time they arrived in Lahore.

They say the journey is as important as the destination, and it is true of this book. Half is dedicated to the journey, the other half their time in Hunza.

After shipping their Land Rover to Istanbul, they took a train, and in Turkey their overland travel begins. Through Turkey and Syria, into Lebanon, then back to Syria and into Jordan, through Iraq, then Persia (Iran), and then Pakistan, where they made their way north to receive their permission in Lahore as hoped.

Their journey takes in all the sights and sites on their route, and is an interesting read in itself. The author has a very readable writing style. Nothing too flashy, nothing over dramatised, but not troubled with the mundane or repetition which is often easily fallen into in diarised travel. She is also quietly amusing. I hunted back through (having not noted page numbers on the way), and only found one quote to illustrate my point: P79, nearing Hunza, they travel the Great North Road. The village of Nagir, the capital, is five miles down a nullah opposite the Hunza capital of Baltit. The territories are joined there by a rope bridge of the kind one has to cross in nightmares.

The second half of the book explains the time they spent as guests of the Royal family in Hunza, touches on the way of life, culture, the people the came into contact with, and describes some of the history. The author makes use of quotes from historic travel (quoting Knight, Younghusband, Lord Curzon amongst others), and tells anecdotes of their stay.

It is brilliant easy to read snapshot of time in what was in 1956 an unusual place to visit - as the blurb says In the heart of the greatest concentration of high mountains in the world lies a beautiful valley; the people who live there earn no wages, have no wheeled transport and live long lives of happiness and health...

4 stars.