Finally Back.

It seems like I've been gone forever, it seems like I never left. Everything has changed, exactly nothings changed.

This heart in my chest beats, I can feel the blood pulsing through my veins, I've returned to the skies of Pakistan.

Actually there was some pain on coming back. My friend Oriol Fernandez arrived 6 hours after me in Islamabad, mostly unplanned which are the best plans for friends to meet. The next day after a too brief visit to friends at PAFF who've provided immeasurable support over the years we boarded a bus to the mountains. A mere 26 hours later after a bumpy ride in the back seat and little sleep we reached our destination.

I knew about the landslide, destruction and lake created above Hunza in January 2010 but to meet a friend and hear how 10 of his family were killed and all their land lost really hit me. Also the downturn in tourism for Karimabad due to sectarian violence in April this year is depressing.

But then Oriol's insight was this, "Look at the spirit, no tourists but what do they do? Get a bank loan and expand their hotel in the hopes things will improve" And it's true, the determination and spirit of Pakistani's is amazing, here are people not to be pitied but to be admired.

I was worried before coming back, worried I might not feel that same, might not have the heart to fly here, not enjoy the travel. But it's all the same, I'm continually inspired; by the mountains, the people, the history, this is truly a land of giants.

So I hope I have the energy and inspiration to write more and share more of my experience.

Upon returning I met with Olivier Laugero a French pilot and photographer from Chamonix. For me this is really cool because when I met Olivier in El Bolson Argentina in 2006 it was his stories and pictures that convinced me I had to visit Pakistan. Now we are traveling and flying together and when not flying I'm developing an interest in bird watching. Yesterday we saw a Himalayan dipper, yellow-bellied warbler and some others I hadn't known.

My first flight back was awesome, I tried to circumnavigate Rakaposhi but was not able to, for the pilots you can see my tracklog and understand how interesting it was... in fact I almost could have done it but at the top of the thermal I was distracted by watching an avalanche and maybe lost a few meters in the climb which I needed to get over the ridge between Rakaposhi and Diran.

http://www.paraglidingforum.com/leonardo/flight/619069

Now we're on our way to Hushe for a few days. Really I will try to update more, but as always this words on this screen fall so short of what I feel when I'm here.

And a big thanks to David Wheeler for putting all the foreign pilots spot's on one page, you can track us here

http://chorlton.homeip.net/spotmap/pakistan.html