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14.01.2023 update

Indus Highway, trip to Interior Sindh

First of all, I would like to express my heartfelt sympathy to those who have been affected by the flood disaster caused by the torrential rain from June to August 2022. Restoration work is progressing in some areas, and travel arrangements to Sindh and Balochistan regions were made, though we could see different sights than before, such as flooded fields.

The National Highway 55 (N-55), commonly known as Indus Highway, which goes north from Hyderabad, is a lifeline of West Sindh running through the west bank of the Indus River. During the fall harvest season, many trucks travel the road loaded with grain and chaff.

This year, due to the summer disaster, both sides of the road were still flooded, and there were many places waiting for the water to recede, unable to harvest the fields.

In some places, the fields were so water-logged they looked like lakes. I was sad to see so many people who had lost their homes and living in camps.

While some fields were water-logged, there were others that were being harvested. November is the season for harvesting rice.

I was really grateful to see this beautiful sight, which in any other time, would have been totally normal.

They were working on transferring the roadside piled up rice husks onto the trucks. Using wooden sticks to support it, they used sticks to create giant balloon-like cargo structures on the tops of the trucks.

A camel carrying firewood came our way. It is brought from the villages to the collection areas along the Indus Highway.

This firewood is an important fuel in the villages.

A handmade bell was decorated with cowry shells. A very traditional decoration, this is a camel very cherished by the owner. 

I was having lunch at a restaurant along the Indus Highway when I was invited to a wedding in the hall next door. “Wedding Gifts” decorated with bank notes were hung around the groom’s neck one after another.

Travelling on the Indus Highway with a different scenery than usual, we will soon enter the east road and reach Mohenjodaro. There were many submerged fields on the way to Mohenjodaro. I pray that the water will recede soon.

Photo & text: Mariko SAWADA
Visit: Nov 2022, Indus Highway, Sindh
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Category : - National & Indus Highway > ◆ Sindh
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23.12.2022 update

Lammergeier, Bearded Vulture of Khunjerab National Park

This is the Bearded Vulture in Khunjerab National Park. Just as its name suggests, it looks like a vulture with a beard.

The Gypaetus barbatus is also known as the lammergeier, which are a large bird of prey that makes up the only one in its’ genus Gypaetus and is most closely related to the Egyptian vulture（Neophron percnopterus）, and with the Palm-nut vulture（Gypohierax angolensis） they form a subphyla of the vulture subfamily. The tail is a rare diamond-shaped one, uncommon among raptors.

These bearded vultures feed on carrion, mainly bone and marrow. Small bones are swallowed whole, and digested by strong gastric juices. Larger bones that have lots of marrow are dropped from the sky, to break them apart and make them easier to consume.

This time, I saw a bearded vulture dropping a bone at Khunjerab Pass (around 4,600m). It may be hard to see because it’s quite far away, but I got a video of its behavior.

The Lammergeier dropping a bone from high above: Bone crasher!

The bearded vulture is a large bird with a total length of 115 cm and a wingspan of nearly 3 meters. Sometimes I am so overwhelmed by its size when it flies right overhead.

The bearded vulture as it descends along the cliffs of the Khunjerab River.

The Lammergeier found a carcass of an ibex on the banks of the river and perched on a rock nearby. It must have been frustrated that it couldn’t get into the narrow riverbed, since its wings might not fit into the space.

 

Photo & text : Mariko SAWADA

Observation ：Spring 2022, Khunjerab National Park

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Category : = Video Clip Gilgit-Baltistan > - the Karakoram Highway > ◆ Gilgit-Baltistan > ◇ Birds of Pakistan > - Khunjerab National Park
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13.10.2020 update

The Truckers of the Indus Highway: It’s Harvest Season!

November, Sindh Province when wheat and millet harvest season begins. We regularly saw these trucks, filled beyond capacity with wheat, along the National Highway (N5) and the Indus Highway (N55).
As you head south on the Indus Highway, there were many trucks carrying their harvest from the Dadu Region.

 

According to the truck driver, the packed material was not the actual wheat but the straw leftover after the wheat was harvested. Each truck can carry about 8,000 kilograms (8 tons) from Dadu down to Karachi’s livestock feed factory. Selling one truckload can pay about 2.5 million rupees (~$15,000 USD ).

 

The long line of trucks that wait at the check post.

 

While waiting in line, some of the truck drivers graciously allowed our Japanese tourists to take a commemorative photo from inside the truck. These eye-catching trucks are not only nice on the outside, but the colorful interior is also elaborately decorated as well.

 

Photo & text: Mariko SAWADA
Visit: Nov 2019, Indus Highway, Dadu, Sindh

 

Category : - National & Indus Highway > ◆ Sindh
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16.01.2020 update

Visiting the Land of the Baloch (Gorakh Hill, Sindh)

In the Gorakh Hill Station area of Sindh state, we  visited the local villagers of the Baloch. The Baloch people are a minority that make up only 4 percent of the total 200 million people living in Pakistan and are mainly living in the three countries of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran. The majority of Baloch live in Balochistan making up 50% and in Sindh 40% of the people living there (respectively).

Speaking Balochi, a northwestern Iranian language, the women of Baloch are famous for their elegant clothing and accessories. The Balochi people, are actually made up of as many as 130-150 different tribes. This time we met with the tribe members of the Buzdar clan.

 

Being a very conservative people, simply visiting them in Balochistan  province can be quite challenging, just as daunting was getting their permission to photograph them. It might only be because they are accustomed to Pakistani visitors to Gorakh Hill Station, that (for now at least) we can be welcomed as foreigners to the area.

 

We were able to visit three villages in the Gorakh Hill Station area, and at each new stop we were welcomed by the eldest patriarch. They welcomed us by showing us their homes and introducing us to their family members. Other than the patriarch, the men worked in the fields at the foot of the hills or taking their cattle out grazing. The women gather local plants and work hard to weave sturdy mats from them.

 

Near the Gorakh Hill was a village called Jarra Buthi. The elder was the 6th generation of his tribe who settled here. Women were working to weave their mats and sell them to earn an income. One mat is 500 Rupees.

 

The traditional dress of the Balochi people is beautifully embroidered.

 

The Balochi people somehow make a living in the harsh nature and conditions of the Kirthar Mountain Range. As Pakistan is changing and progressing, these people are still living in their beautiful villages with a very traditional lifestyle.

 

Photo & Text : Mariko SAWADA
Visit : Nov 2019, Gorakh Hill, Sindh

Category : - Gorakh Hills > ◆ Sindh
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10.01.2020 update

Encounters On The National Highway NH-5 : Harvest Season !

In November, it is the harvest season for wheat and millet in Sindh State.

 

Travelling along the National Highway 5 from Karachi towards Thatta, we could see the trucks completely overloaded and overflowing as they were heading to Karachi. These trucks are carrying the wheat harvested from the local farmers. They are probably headed towards the livestock feed companies in Karachi.

 

On the way, we could encounter the field workers who were manually carrying the harvest to load the trucks.

 

This grueling work is conducted by about 15 men who work from the early morning hours for 9 hours. The weight the trucks carry fully loaded can be about 24 tons.

 

With the truck loaded, and their work complete, the workers also climb on top of the truck for the ride back. Taking their time, the trucks roll along towards Karachi. This is a typical scene that one might see in Pakistan during harvest season.

 

Photo & Text : Mariko SAWADA
Visit : Nov 2019, On NH-5 road from Karachi, Sindh

Category : - National & Indus Highway > ◆ Sindh
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