Goran Gatti 2008 (4x4 Offroaders Club Karachi)

From the Hingol bridge we head for Nani Mandir and then take a right off the track and head towards the Goran Gatti mountain - 4 wheeling starts from here

Fri, 18 Jan 2008 00:00:01 +0500

Near Nani Mandar - we pick up our guides from here

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Soon as we head off-road, the first jeep to get stuck. The jeep is tilted dangerously, the two guys are hanging on the side to keep it from going over. The angle is worse than it looks!

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Most powerfull Jeep (M38) is the next one to get stuck (really Stuck)

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It takes two winches to pull out the 'most powerful Jeep' as it is bogged down to the differentials in the Hingol River mud

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3rd Jeep to get stuck (CJ 5) - it needed to be winched out.

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There are patches of 'khooba' (like quicksand) in the river bed. They appear dry on the surface, but sucks a Jeep right in. Usually it is difficult to tow the stuck vehicle out, as the tower will also get stuck, since there is barely enough traction to pull your own weight, without having to pull the weight of an additional vehicle.

The 4th Jeep (actually the Ford version from the 2nd World War era) to get stuck or nearly drowned!

Fri, 18 Jan 2008 00:00:07 +0500

Not the very experienced driver's fault, he was following the local guide's advice. That's what happens when you are first up front and finding the route.

Everybody is pretty excited on the nearly drowned Jeep being winched out - it started up soon it was out of water and never got stuck again rest of the trip!

Fri, 18 Jan 2008 00:00:08 +0500

5th Jeep to get stuck!

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6th one to get stuck (Toyota Hilux Vigo).

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This one kept geting stuck, everywhere, again and again. We had made bets, that for every 'stucking',' the driver would hand out a Pepsi to all those around. He had plenty, so he always got pulled out, though by t (ed: caption stuck?)

All the 'shadows' are wondering how to get the truck unstuck!

Fri, 18 Jan 2008 00:00:11 +0500

Preparations on way to wich out the Hilux

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Proud owner (poor driver!) of the STUCK Hilux (Dr. Awab Alvi)

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Thats a lot of tires around this jeep, but still missing one where it really needs to be.

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TM's newly rebuilt Jeep Wrangler

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Rescue of the CAMPING CHAIR! (it somehow ,despite being tied down, jumped off Doc. Mansoor's Jeep)

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TM's Wrangler crossing the river

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Water from THE TAP

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The Ford F1 has the most essential item built in the extra space of wheel wells - two thirty litre water tanks! One of most appreciated luxuries off the beaten track - easy access to water.

Heading up the dry river bed off Hingol river for Goran Gatti

Fri, 18 Jan 2008 00:00:17 +0500

Our last attempt had failed - this time we had checked up satellite maps on GOOGLE EARTH for what route to take

Hingol

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Hingol National Park - some 20 KM north of Nani Mandar

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Along the stream (heading for Goran) all the hills are made of mud (the boulders in the stream bed are from the Goran mountain

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Rashid's Land Rover - this time (for the first time) it made it without getting stuck

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View from the 'Most Powerful Jeep'

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if you sat in it - it was like a roller coaster drive with Khalid in the driver's seat!

Rear spring leaf of 'most powerful Jeep' mysteriously broke

Fri, 18 Jan 2008 00:00:23 +0500

Khalid claims to this day he never reversed into a rock!

Figuring out how to fix the broken leaf spring of the 'most powerful jeep'

Fri, 18 Jan 2008 00:00:24 +0500

In this picture we are near Goran, and have yet to make it all the way back to civilization.

Heres the FIX we made - worked like new all the way back through the rugged terrain

Fri, 18 Jan 2008 00:00:25 +0500

Withstood sand, mud, boulders, steep inclines and more, and a few days of Karachi driving as well! We used a Allora tyre lever in place of the two main broken leafsprings, tied it in place with a U-clamp, used a couple of D shackles from a towstrap as spaces to stop the tyre lever from moving about too much, then set off once again.

World War era M38 Jeep

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rebuilt by Atif in Karachi, on its first trip with the 4X4 Offroaders Club Karachi.

The Karachi rebuilt M38 with it's first breakdown

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Fixed easily by the 'more' experienced members!

Ford F1 (1948) in the Hingol Valley

Fri, 18 Jan 2008 00:00:28 +0500

Heading for Goran Gattee Mountain in Baluchistan - fantastic view if one stood in the bed (of the truck)!

Moonrise - 5pm in Hingol (not too far from Goran Gattee Mountain)

Fri, 18 Jan 2008 00:00:29 +0500

Doc. Mansoor in his (not 'so powerful' but go ANYWHERE) CJ7 Jeep

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Newly married couple going home

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Doc. Mansoor - who else! - with a goat's head on his head

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Hingol mountains - you need the be THERE to really see their magical beauty

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Going to Goran Gatti, one is mostly in the river bed, but sometimes you are out of it - this is one such place

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Goran Gatti Mountain (1050M High)

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It was still 11KM away when we had to turn back (due shortage of time) - next year we intend to make it all the way to the top!

Beautiful (ain't it) - thats one of the MANY reasons we go off-roading! (it's ALSO THE COMPANY!!!)

Fri, 18 Jan 2008 00:00:36 +0500

Stopped to consult - the stream seemed to have gotton too narrow - our Google Earth map was saying we were lost

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While others were consulting on the route to take

Fri, 18 Jan 2008 00:00:38 +0500

M.O (our official video maker female person) gets the camera fixed to the bumper to take some shots "as the vehicle sees" it)

In parts the vehicle leaves no tyre tracks - so one needs to follow the Jeep with the guides up close

Fri, 18 Jan 2008 00:00:39 +0500

Now, thats what I call offroading! (smooth going - no bumps, out of this world scenery)

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Often the way is confusing - turn left? turn right? (even two choices here is one too much!)

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Now this is off-road!

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Last one behind (making sure all have made it - that's called being responsible!)

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NOW IT'S THE MOST POWERFUL, BEST LOOKING, OFF-ROAD CAPABLE FORD F1 that you are looking at!

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Looking upstream of the main Hingol River

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CJ-Jeep from after the 2nd World War.

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Mr. Mawaz, contemplating an icy dip in the Hingol River

Fri, 18 Jan 2008 00:00:47 +0500

Zooming across over another marshy bit of 'naala' (stream crossing). A week before this, there was a brief shower of winter rains, so places of the otherwise dry river bed became marshy.

Fri, 18 Jan 2008 00:00:48 +0500

Up close to the mud mountains. The peculiar structure origantes from mud vents all over the Hingol Valley, and then sculpted to these shapes over time by the wind and rains.

Fri, 18 Jan 2008 00:00:49 +0500

The sunset in the Hingol Valley, seen over the river. Late as usual, looking for a campsite.

Fri, 18 Jan 2008 00:00:50 +0500

Finally camped, sitting around a large bonfire. The temperature was -2 Celcious at night

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The usual camp activity, sitting by the bonfire being warmed by a strumming guiter. This is was makes going all the way into the outdoors worth it.

Fri, 18 Jan 2008 00:00:52 +0500

Sitting around the campfire

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The local guides have made a separate bonfire for themselves. Its much smaller, and much smarter, because they can sit right by the fire and actually get warmth. With large bonfires, you can't get too close (otherwise your clothes will burn, followed by y

Fri, 18 Jan 2008 00:00:54 +0500

When the locals travel, they have no utensils or cutlery. They made a 'roti' (flat bread) on a stone, and place it within the embers of a fire to bake. The roti comes out better than what you can prepare on a stove.

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This is how the interior gets cluttered by the second day of offroading

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This is our 'porta potty' tent being packed. It is critically important, especially with ladies around! The tent pitches up real quick (useful for emergencies), but takes a while to get back in.

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All the accessories to have a good start to the morning -- a drum of water and a 'porta potty'

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Taking a water break while thinking of how to get everything back in the Jeep!

Fri, 18 Jan 2008 00:00:59 +0500

Adam and Sumar, our two guides

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Adam and Sumar, with local people who are even more local then them

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Nearly ten in the morning and the campsite is nowhere near being packed.

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This is the sort of views that make the trip worth it

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Offroading at night. The vehicles are staying within visual range of each other, because if you lose the track, then you are truly lost.

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A nice photograph

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Hingol

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A local we gave a lift to

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The old man of the village, watching life pass by

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A Baluchi family in Hingol watching us watching them.

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An old Dodge Powerwagon from World War era, still in use

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Artistic picture

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Goran Gatti, height 1050 m. View from where we turned back due to lack of time. We were driving at 2 km/hour, and had 11 km still to go.

Fri, 18 Jan 2008 00:01:13 +0500

The group who went on the Goran Gatti trip

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12 people on the most powerful Jeep with a broken leaf spring

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On their way to the river for a morning dip