A-0-A!
This is one of those threads which explains why Islamabad is not boring.
Tired of hustle and bustle of city life and want to get peace of mind? Don't worry, our capital has the answer to it. Wake up at sunrise, drive to the Parking area of Trail #3 or Trail #5 located at the end of Margalla Road, stretch your legs, grab your cam and start walking. On trail #3, you will find a lot of people, mostly foreigners and nature freaks. But on trail #5, you will be welcomed by a 300 Year old Banyan tree and a water stream along with the music of the worlds rarest birds. Once you are into this trail you can not imagine that you are actually inside Islamabad. One forgets all the tensions of daily life and start enjoying the wonders of nature. The water stream is crystal clear and the rocks and pebbles are clean and white as if someone has washed them off with acid. The track is well maintained by CDA but where there are humans there's also mess. Its heart breaking to see empty bottles and plastic bags/ wrappers destroying the beauty of track.
The track is easy and can be covered by any one till the end of stream. i-e the source of stream. Yes, to my surprise it was a rock that was giving pure and clean water. Some say that it contains Sulfur content thats why all the rocks and pebbles inside the water are white and clean.
Then comes the hard core part of the track. Its steep and too much rocky. Its 30 to 50 minutes of torture to your muscles. If any body wants to loose weight, then he should go to this trail once a week. I never lost so much sweat in my entire life. Once you reach the Pir sohawa road, you are relieved like any thing. Then I started walking on the road to reach Monal restaurant and started to down climb on trail #3. This trail offers wider view of Islamabad from top. I was greeted by a lot of foreigners by "hello", "good morning" and some even tried to say "Assalaam-0-Alaikum" . Felt ashamed of myself that if these gooras are greeting every one, then why ain't I ? Then I started to say Salaam to every one on track and Hello, Good morning to gooras Finally reached the parking of Trail#3 and walked back to parking of Trail#5. Now I have decided to do hiking once a week at least.
Sit back and enjoy the pics!