I always wanted to visit the Himalayas in Pakistan. The mountains are legendary: Gasherbrum I,Gasherbrum II, Nanga Parbat, Broad Peak and, of course, K2. The view from the confluence of three glaciers at Concordia is live postcard few get to see in person. In the summer of 2006, along with a team managed by Field Touring Alpine (FTA), I attempted Broad Peak (26,401') and planned to make a good effort on K2 (28,250').

I reached 21,000' on Broad or Camp 2 before abandoning the climb due to weakness that resulted from a severe bug I contracted on the trek in. The Karakorum ranges was magnificent and I was very lucky to have unbelievable weather for the month I spent there.

I sent frequent dispatches using a system that includes a digital camera, PDA and sat phone.

Islamabad, well almost

It is every climber's nightmare. You train for months, sometimes plan for years. And when the time comes,

yes, lost luggage! Most of the team has arrived but some of the gear has not. Most of us are now in Skardu and more on the journey in the next dispatch (it was incredible!). Islamabad was a pleasant surprise. It was safe, clean and organized, we?ll except for the airport. I met one of my teammates,Jan, on the flight in from Dubai and we waited and searched until we finally gathered our bags only to wait another hour to wait for three airplane's passenger loads to have their bags x-rayed, one by one! Anyway, we were met by our ground agent, ATP and quickly arrived at the hotel. It was a modern hotel with basic but clean rooms and great people. We took off to a local market and bank for some last minute items and again we were met with smiles. My only complaint was that it was hot - 40c/112f!! One by one everyone met and soon people were swapping travel stories, climbing lies - uh - stories and more. We had a team meeting around 6:00 and went to dinner at the Chinese restaurant next door - I know, Chinese food in Pakistan? Since most everyone was exhausted after long journeys, it was a short night. So, again, so far so good except for the lost luggage. Five climbers have lost gear. We know where four of them are and hope to get them on Monday 5 June. The last one is somewhere between London and Islamabad. But these things have a way of working out so no one is too worried, except for Carl - it is his climbing gear! It is late Sunday night so I will post another dispatch tomorrow on the 2 day journey to Skardu. I have already taken over 400 pictures and some interesting videos and will try to communicate this amazing land in tomorrow's dispatch. Climb On! Alan