Like Parapilot, I too chose Shimshal as the target for this summer. Unfortunately I had to do it solo as other guys who were planning to do this trek with me had to back out for one reason or another. Doing a trek solo didn't turn out to be a very bad experience as one doesn't have any dependency at all whatssoever. One is able to walk at his own pace, sleep and wake up with liberty and take decisions that very much suits one own self.
Shimshal, as has been described by some fellows is still a very remote place and has remained pretty much isolated from rest of the world for centuries. A jeep road that now goes all the way to Shimshal village was opened up in 2005. While being on the road on a very rough and tough terrain, one cannot help but praise the efforts of brave guys who took part in its construction.
I left Islamabad on 6th of August and reached Passu in three stages. Islamabad - Gilgit on NATCO bus (Rs. 1040 - 24 hrs), Gilgit - Aliabad on hiace (Rs. 120, 4 hrs), Aliabad - Passu on another hiace (Rs. 90, 2 hrs). I spent the night at Shimshal hotel run by Khushal Khan who charged Rs. 150 for a shared room. Next day, I had to wait till 4 pm when i finally managed to get a jeep for Shimshal which was shared by five other local people. Jeep share was Rs. 500 and took around 3 hrs. In Shimshal, I spent the night at Siffat guest house with a nice and clean room at Rs. 400. I soon met Yahya who I had already contacted for the trek and we discussed our plan for the whole trek. I wanted to spend a whole day or two at Shewart so i discussed with him the possibbility of reaching there with two day trekking that normally is done in three. We decided to leave early in the morning at 7 and reach Arbabpurian/Puriansar for the night.
Next day, as planned we started the trek at 7. It is an intial 60-80 mins flat walk along the Shimshal river bed followed by a little ascend we came across the Pamir-e-Tang river. After crossing the river through a suspension bridge, the trek climbs very steeply for next hour or so up to Gar-e-sar (3500m). There is a local hut at Gar-e-sar where night can be spent if one started the trek later in the day. There are many huts of these king made by the locals to facilitate local people who often made their visit to and from Pamir. From Gar-e-sar, there is another ascend of thirty minutes to a point where Shimshal village can be seen for the last time. One can get very nice views of the Yazhgil glacier, Shimshal whitehorn and Dastagir peaks. From here the trek ascends gradually or remains flat before a final sharp descend takes one to PastFurzin where we reached in 5 hours with a 10 mins break in between. We did our lunch there.
From PastFurzin, the trek ascends a bit before descending sharply into WoochFurzin and ultimately touching the Pamir-e-Tang river at around 3400m. We took a sharp shortcut on the scree that i later realized could have been avoided. I flet like i was skating on scree and I had to manuevor my stick and body constantly in order to keep myself safe from falling. Despite all my efforts i slipped many times however without harming myself. This slope shakes your body physically and mentally and i recommend people to take a longer path but with less scree. From the bridge, there is a tough ascend upto Purian-e-sar (3900m) which takes around a couple of hours. We spent the night there as it was just a little before sunset when we reached there.
From Purian-e-sar, another hour or two on a less demanding path takes one to ArbabPurian where night can be spent. Fresh water is available on the camping site. From ArbabPurian, there is a gentle walk upto Shujerab valley. Shujerab valley does have a little vegetation and is used by locals for feeding the yaks before returning back to Shimshal. From Shujerab the path ascends steeply for next 250m. The moment one reaches the top, lush green valley opens up. This is what is known by locals as Pamir, their summer grazing land. A further one hour gentle walk on the grassy path takes one to first the smaller Shimshal lake (lupwhooyee) and then the bigger lake (Zaklayee). Across the lake is the Shimshal Pass(4600m). From the pass, another fifteen minutes walk takes you to the Shewart village (4560) where Shimshalis spend their summer months with their livestock. Total distance from Shimshal to Shewart is 40-45 km.
I spent three nights at Pamir/Shewart with first night in camp along the lake and other two in the village musafir-khana. Groups normally are not allowed to camp/spend night inside the village but me being alone was a special case. Living with those Shimshali people was an amazing experience. Shimshali women are very tough folk. Their day starts with the initial rays of sunlight and they remain busy the whole day in some work or another the whole day without any rest. Most of their day is spent in making cheese and butter form yak milk. Taking yaks to the pastures is a collective responsibility of village and turns are divided on regular intervals among each family. Their food is simple and is often comprised of bread with cheese or butter. Use of rice or even vegetables is very seldom. Yak wool is collected during these summer months and stored. Later in the winters, people make very fine hand made carptet from it. Shimshalis are very fond of milk tea and would always be seen willing to drink it during their breaks. Weather in shewart remains chilling during whole day. Strong wind often keeps blowing. The moment sun goes down, the weather drops below freezing point.
Return from Pamir was relativetively less hectic. We were able to reach Woochfurzin by the evening of the first day where we spent the night. And in the secon day by 4 pm we were at Shimshal. While most of the people come back to Shimshal via same path, its not the only option. One possibility that a few try is to make a loop and return to Shimshal via Magata pass (5100m). While this does add a couple of more days to the journey, it has the advantage of being on a new and different path on the way back. A relatively long and tough trek can take one to Biafo and Askole from here via Braldo glacier in 12-14 days.