Camping with Cheetahs
We set off up the Karakoram highway on my birthday. The day started well, with Adam supplying a beautiful chocolate birthday cake, with my name piped on the top. (He had left it in the hotel kitchen’s fridge for the night with the staff’s permission, and when he brought it in, we discovered with much mirth that the hotel manager had actually eaten a large chunk out of it. It was hilarious. I tried to picture an English Travel Lodge manager taking a large bite out of a guest’s birthday cake, before it had even been presented. It didn’t work.) Anyway, the cake was a great start, and we set off up the hill. The road rose 2500m in 80kms. Not surprisingly, it was very steep. Equally unsurprisingly, it got a lot cooler, quickly. I was very pleased by this, as was entirely fed up with sweltering. At this juncture I might explain something. My bike jacket is black. My helmet is also black....