It all started when I visited a village in lower Thallay valley in June 2012. The beauty of the village (Yarkhor) enthralled me and since then I was eager to see the whole Thallay valley as I was told that the upper areas of the valley are much more beautiful than its lower parts.
After two years, the time for much-awaited trip finally came on June 25 and I visited the upper Thallay valley with my family.
We left home at 12:30pm, and traveled on Skardu Kargil Road. We crossed the Indus River near Keris village (the confluence of the Indus and the Shyok river) and took Ghanche road along the Shyok River.
While passing through Ghwari village, I saw a banner on a shop. ?Fresh cherries? I asked the driver to stop and went to the shop but it was out of stock. On my query, the shopkeeper told me that the rate was Rs 120 per kg.
We resumed our journey, and after passing through four or five villages we reached near Daghoni bridge over the Shyok River. It was a little longer suspension bridge and was not in a good condition. Anyway, we crossed the bridge and found that the road is no more mettled. The driver told me that he had been to the last village of the valley once and the road is not metalled.
We entered the valley and passed by the villages one after another. The road was rocky at some places and we were continuously going upward. As we traveled deep into the valley the landscape was becoming more captivating.
While passing through a village, I saw a board about ?Khaima Lake?. I asked a young man about the lake and he told me that it would take around 4 hours to walk to the lake.
We stopped at almost all the villages on the way and took a lot of photos.
After two hours drive in the valley, we reached the last village (Olmo Chumik meaning origin of a spring). It was a small village and the dirt road came to an end here.
It was 3:45 pm and we all were famished. The greenery was all around but we chose a place for lunch near the water stream. Although it was a bright sunny day, but the cool breeze, the sound of flowing water and the greenery all around made it a perfect place. We really enjoyed the meal (chicken tika biryani and shami kabab).
After lunch, I asked a villager about the grassland. In summer, the people from all the villages of Thallay Valley take there animals to that meadow. The villager told me that it was only 30-minute walk away. It was five o? clock in the evening but we decided to go there. We all started to walk on a pathway leading to the meadow. As we moved upward, the tress vanished and there were only bushes and grass. Soon there was only grass. Due to high altitude it was not an easy walk and we were continuously going uphill.
As we had a guest from Lahore with us and it had become difficult for her to walk. So I asked my wife to stay behind.
We continued our walk and after 40 minutes we reached the place. The first sight of the grassland really stunned me. I wasn?t expecting such a vast grassy area in those snow-caped mountains.
There a group of tourists was erecting there tents. We went down to the water stream, took some photographs and started moving back. On way back I bought fresh desi ghee from a villager. It was 6:45pm when we reached the village where our vehicle was parked. There, I saw some 30 to 40 women and young girls sitting around my wife. Later, she told me that only three girls could speak Urdu.
We left the place at around 7 and soon it was dark. At around 10.00 pm we reached our home.
Distance from Skardu City: 112 km
Travel time: 4 hours
Skardu to Khaplu bridge over the Indus (Iqbal Shaheed bridge): 39 km (45 minutes drive) good metalled road
Khaplu bridge to Daghoni bridge over the Shyok River: 44.5 km (1 hour and 15 minutes) metalled road
Daghoni bridge to Olmo Chumik Thallay (last village): 29 km (2 hours) unmetalled road