Some of you may remember IJCs last year trip to Rohtas Fort, well actually it was more like a sand run special, with a super-special bog down of my TLC followed by another one by Safari Cruiser. That day we had hoped to also go on to see Tilla Jogian, but as it took nearly two hours to get the TLC out and afterwards another 30 minutes to pull out the safari, our plans had to be restricted.
So this year when we had another invitation to visit the area, most IJCians jumped at the opportunity. For various reasons the planned trip got somewhat delayed (ideally this thing should not be attempted after March or max early April). As usual we had a vast mix of vehicles, with a huge GMC Suburban with 5.7l V8 to Saleem Sbs new Nissan path finder to couple of 1940’s/50’s Willys! So some were travelling in the luxury of Air-conditioning while others were braving the heat of June with enormous patience.
The track towards the Tilla is unmarked, with no clear directions or distances mentioned it can becoming rather frustrating in the hot weather. I think it was approx 2km of broken metalled road beyond Rotas fort and than 19.5km of very rough broken stoned track upto the top at the altitude of some 3200 Ft. With 10 vehicles the progress was rather slow. We eventually decided to camp under tree shades approx 2 km before the peak. It seemed a very nice place with good views of the surroundings. Zeb our Food Minister started setting up the BBQ and rest leisured around. Shortly afterwards Almighty took pity on us and sent over some lovely clouds and lovely breeze bringing smiles to everyone’s face. It even drizzled for a little while but gentle enough not to affect our BBQ.
Some of us drove up to the top to the Tilla before lunch, while remaining went-up afterwards. With the weather turning cooler everyone felt rejuvenated and really enjoyed the stunning views from the top. The pools of the olden times were empty, just imagining how nice it would have been to jump into them if they had water in it! Unfortunately like the rest of Pakistan, the olden building structures were all in very poor condition and devoid of any kind of restoration. Shamefully we have never been very good at preserving our very diverse heritage.
Now lets come to the other rather yummy part – Zeb’s BBQ, due to an early start, most had come without breakfast. So when the tikka’s and kebabs started rolling off the skewers, everyone literally pounced on them. Everyone stuffed themselves with hot BBQ n chilled soft drinks. If only we had some iced mangoes to top it off, it would have been even yummier, but I heard no one complaining and nether am I! Thank you Zeb and the rest. It was simply Zabardast!
The return journey down the hill was a bit quicker, as the convoy left in 3 groups with some gaps in-between. We had a short break for tea at Rohtas Fort canteen and later another break at a Road side hotel in Rawat. Overall it was great fun day out with IJC like always, thank you all!
For more pictures and details about IJC’s trip to Tilla Joogian, click here.
Pictures by Suhaib Kiani and Aamir567.
