German mountaineers return as Pakistan opens for foreign tourists

Islamabad: A team from Germany is among the first foreign tourists to return to Pakistan’s lofty and snowy peaks as the country reopened its scenic northern areas after coronavirus travel restrictions were eased. This is Pakistan’s first foreign expedition of 2020 since the outbreak of the pandemic in March.

German mountaineer Felix Berg is leading the five-member expedition that includes Markus Hohle, Patrick Münkel, Gabriel Stroe from Germany and Mirza Ali from Pakistan. Their goal is to scale “two virgin mountains in Shimshal Valley (in Hunza), about 6,000 metres high, which have never been climbed and do not yet have a name”, says Berg. Shimshal Valley is the hometown of Pakistani mountaineer Mirza Ali Baig who has already scaled the Seven Summits, the highest mountains on all continents.

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“We are leaving for Shimsal, where we will quarantine in lonely mountains for the next 2 weeks,” Felix shared the update three days ago on Facebook along with a photo of the group members with a view of the snow-clad Rakaposhi mountain in the background.

Mountaineering in COVID-19 times

“We are the first foreign visitors in Gilgit-Baltistan in the summer season 2020. It is the first mountain expedition in Pakistan since the coronavirus lockdown,” Felix Berg, the CEO of Switzerland-based expedition company, SummitClimb, shared in a blog post from Hunza. Despite travel warnings from some European countries, Felix and his team travelled to Pakistan, as the country is no longer on the list of countries with an increased risk of infection by Switzerland, he says.

The 39-year-old German mountaineer says the team is taking all necessary health precautions considering the pandemic threat. “All participants have been tested for COVID-19,” and will “wear masks, keep their distance” along the trip to the base camp and practice good hygiene.

Pakistan open doors to foreign visitors

Home to five of the world’s 14 tallest mountains and the world’s second highest peak, Pakistan decided to open its scenic northern areas on August 8 with strict safety measures in place after successfully flattening the COVID-19 curve. Pakistan reported a total of 289,215 COVID-19 cases of which 269,087 or 93 percent of those infected have recovered.

Although the region of Gilgit Baltistan reported fewer coronavirus cases compared to the rest of the country, the locals who depend on tourism for their livelihood were worst hit by the closure of tourism and related businesses due to the pandemic, especially during the peak summer season. Tour operators are hopeful that more foreign tourists will soon return to Pakistan with the steady decline in cases.

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