Bill and I arrived Sunday local time, but four of our bags missed the transfer in London. Crucial contents yet to arrive are all of Bill’s gear and clothing as well as my baggage containing skis, solar power system and BGAN modem. So far British Air in Islamabad has no status on the missing bags. They “hope to see them” on the next flight from London Wednesday. The only arrivals from London are on Sunday, Wednesday and Friday. They will check for any kind of confirmed status again Tuesday. My theory is that it’s now getting into prime expedition season, and a lot of travelers have additional heavy baggage. The airline may be leaving some items behind to meet weight limits.

Yesterday it was 120 degrees F here in Islamabad. It’s dusty and chaotic. Any task you want to accomplish takes a long time. We spent two hours this morning trying to find a place to cash American Express travelers checks - no luck. We were directed to the American Express office, but they were closed for prayers when we arrived. When they reopened an hour later, we found they didn’t cash travelers checks! They did however direct us to a bank that accepts American Express.

Ghulam met us at the airport, and he’s a jovial, gracious gentleman. It took over two hours to clear the airport due to our baggage snafu and the complete, unorganized pandemonium in the parking lot causing total gridlock. We searched and searched for Ghulam’s hired driver, but apparently the driver got tired of waiting and took off without us. All the time we were wandering around in the intense heat. Bill and I laughed at the whole situation. We finally found our way to the Islamabad Regency Hotel with another driver.

Ghulam is very busy with two other expeditions that have also just arrived. A team from the Czech Republic has 40 members. Ghulam has turned us over to Muhammad Sharif, who will be our guide for our entire journey. We appear to be in excellent hands. Sharif, as he prefers to be called, has good English skills and is himself a mountain guide instructor.

Last night we met the Pakistan Secretary of Alpinism, who has been climbing in the Karakoram for decades and has personally witnessed evidence of climate change over the years. We have an appointment to interview him in his office tomorrow morning.

Cheers, Curt