Existing Member?

    Who carries the load?

    Photos from Pakistan

    There are [5] photos from Pakistan

    Gholan, an expedition cook, is used to a tough life. The men have simple aspirations, such as to earn enough to send their children to school. However their jobs exact a toll. Beyond the risk of death or injury, the men also suffer chronic illnesses from working at high altitude with inadequate nutrition or equipment. Much of this danger and discomfort could be obviated if clients insisted that the porters be supplied with basic levels of food, clothing and shelter. Views[484] Porters wearing typical Balti attire drink from a pool on the glacier. While wages are fixed, competition to keep prices down for clients means companies frequently cut corners by not supplying adequate equipment to the men, who work in little more than cotton shalwar kameez and plastic shoes which afford them little protection from the elements. Views[531] BALTISTAN, northwest Pakistan: Porters crossing the Upper Baltoro glacier. Trekkers and climbers come from across the world to this isolated corner of the globe to experience some of the highest mountains in the world. To access this remote region requires porters to carry supplies. The local men are eager for a source of income as portering is one of the few alternatives to a life of subsistence agriculture. Views[726] Three friends relax together in a shelter on the Baltoro glacier. Away from their families for weeks at a time, the men sleep in crude stone shelters with plastic sheeting for a ceiling, sleeping huddled together under old sleeping backs for warmth. Views[1578] During a break, porters eat a typical meal of chapatti and tea. The grueling work at high altitude means adequate nutrition is extremely important. Foreign clients are served three hot meals a day and snacks but the porters prefer to save their food allowance and subside on a diet of unleavened bread and black tea. Views[621]
     

    About portering


    Photo Galleries

    Where I've been

    Favourites

    My trip journals