The Hunza Valley is said to be the centrepeice of the Karakoram Highway in the Northern Areas of Pakistan. Although commonly known as the Hunza Valley, it actually comprises two former princely states of Nagyr and Hunza.

The picturesque Hunza townships of Duikar and Karimabad and the surrounding villages are set in stunningly beautiful scenery surrounded by mighty snow capped mountains such as the beautiful Lady Finger, Rakaposhi, Golden Peak, Broad Peak, Diran and Ultar . Surrounding the townships are the many irrigation channels, the life blood for the agriculture of this region. Every available part of the valley is farmed. Fruit orchards are interspersed with small farm plots once again mostly irrigated potatoes with some lucerne plots and all enclosed with endless stone walls.

We found heaven at the Eagle's Nest Hotel at Duikar. At a height of 2,800m it is the highest village in Hunza. Perched high on a mountainside this lovely hotel overlooks eleven of some of the highest mountain peaks in the world. It also had electricity although we were the only currrent guests.

The incredibly steep narrow road up to the hotel was undergoing sewerage installation when we arrived and it was obviously not possible for our jeep to proceed over the massive heaps of dug up road. But nothing was impossible for our intrepid driver Rehmat. This was a community effort and all of the workers appeared to be related to him . It was with amazing good humour that everyone including our guide grabbed flat rocks and made impossible paths to facilitate our jeep passage up and over the road works. We reminded ourselves once again of the Australian stereotype of a Pakistani person! This level of good humoured cooperation would never happen where we live.

Rehmat was a highly respected driver and quite a character. A fine featured handsome young man, he was always immaculately dressed in a cream shalwaar kameez and was always eager to assist us in every way possible. Although he was quiet and kept in the background, he had a great sense of humour and obviously understood a deal of English. Because of the unbelievably dangerous roads we were continually traversing, we always joked with Rehmat about our concern for his health. Our greetings to him were always "How is your health today Rehmat?". He would beam, knowing exactly what we meant. Like Jabbar, he knew or was related to everyone in the valley and he was very much our "Mr Fix It" for any problems we encountered.

We never ceased to be amazed by the warmth of the Pakistanis not only to each other but also to us. Greetings between men were often more of a hug and everyone shook hands everywhere we went, regardless whether they knew each other or not. Women often kissed the hands of men or women they held with high respect.

We thoroughly enjoyed our stay at Eagle's Nest. The hotel was perfectly located, the rooms beautifully appointed with fantastic mountain views and the food and service were excellent. Now that tourism has collapsed in Pakistan, we felt so sorry for the highly professional hotel owners and staff. It certainly must be extremely depressing and financially devastating for everyone in the tourism industry.