A.A. Dear PWers 
After a wait of 3 years ..... finally Allah Almighty paved the ways for us to visit Chitral and Ghizer side. The route was pending since long and was the only main valley which was left from North of Pakistan.
I chose June this year to avoid rain and floods in this tour. This had a price to pay ... hot weather at start of the tour But Alhamdulillah, we completed the tour successfully and the trek of Bashkar Gol Lake was also done by 10 members out of 12.
Group Members:
PakArtLive (PAL):
- Hammad Iqbal
- Hasaan Fazal
Travel Quest Club (TQC):
- Amer Waseem Raja
- Imran Arif
- Nauman Sheikh
Friends:
- Othman Mohammed
- Waqar-ul-Hassan
- Shehzad Ahmed
- Fahad Zahed
- Hafiz Abdulmoiz
- Mussab Hussain
and me
Daywise Itinerary
10 June 2014:
As planned we departed from Lahore on Daewoo Express at 11 p.m. Everybody was on time so no hiccups. Our destination was Hari Pur where jeeps were waiting for us and they were also on time 
Shehzad joined us from Pindi during Daewoo stopover. We reached Hari Pur around 5:15 a.m. and within one hour we were on Hari Pur-Topi-Swabi-Mardan route to link with main Chitral route. We started at 6 a.m. and reached Khaurak Mahal in Chakdarra at 12 p.m. The journey continued and we were at Lowari Top at 7 p.m. We started looking for hotels after 10 p.m. in Drosh, Ayun but no luck so reached Chitral at 12: 30 a.m. in half dead condition .... very tiring and hot first day. Night stay in PTDC Chitral
11 June 2014:
We left Chitral at 9 a.m. for Chitral Gol National Park. It took us one hour to reach Summer Palace. And a further 30 min to reach forest rest house deep in Chitral Gol National Park. This area is called Birmogh Lasht. We set time for 3 p.m. to return but few members came late and then one member had to depart for Gujranwala in emergency so we dropped him at Chitral. In the end, we got late for Kalash Valley and reached Bamburet around 9 p.m. Night stay in PTDC Bamburet.
12 June 2014:
After breakfast, we left for a tour of Kalash and to observe its culture. The walk started at 10:30 a.m. and lasted for 2.5 hrs. Finally, we left Kalash Valley around 1:30 p.m. and reached Chitral in 2 hrs for ration break. After purchasing the necessary stuff for cooking, we resumed the journey near 6 p.m. We stopped at Goleen Power Project waterfalls at sunset time for 30 mins and then continued journey to Buni. Finally reached PTDC Buni around 10 p.m.
13 June 2014:
Today we had to prepare the luggage for Bashkar Gol Lake trek so it took 4.5 hrs for the group to get ready ... a new record :S We left Buni around 9:30 a.m. and reached Mastuj at 12 p.m. Here we had lunch break in PTDC Mastuj and met the person who had arranged porters for us to gather information about trek. Then we came to Mastuj bazaar to purchase the ration for cooking and finally left for Sor Laspur around 3:30 p.m. We reached Sor Laspur around 5:30 p.m. Since there was no time left to start the trek so we changed the plan and after meeting the porter leader and setting time for tomorrow morning 10 a.m., we left for camping at Shandur Top. Reached Shandur Top just before sunset and enjoyed a wonderful full moon camping night there.
14 June 2014:
Next day we left Shandur after breakfast at 9:30 a.m. and reached Sor Laspur at 11 a.m. We met the porter team and carried on journey on almost non-existent road till the point our jeep drivers raised their hands that enough is enough !! It was unfair to take jeeps on that track but we didn't know about its condition. We reached the spot where jeeps dropped us around 1 p.m. and it took another 1 hour to divide the luggage among the porters and give final touch to the preparations and divide trek items. We started the trek at 2 p.m. and reached first camping site of Bashkar Gol Lake trek at 7 p.m.
15 June 2014:
The Big Day ...... We started the trek at 8 a.m. and team reached Bashkar Gol Lake between 3-5:30 p.m. Nauman returned last day after 2 hrs of trek so we were now left only 10 and all of us Alhamdulillah reached the destination. Night stay at Bashkar Gol Lake in camps.
16 June 2014:
Today was a tough day to cover 2 days journey in one day. We started very well and Alhamdulillah crossed all major technical spots by 2 p.m. Then came a dull 4 hours walk till Sor Laspur village which tested everyone's nerves. We finally reached Sor Laspur at 5:30 p.m. in 10.5 hrs. Since, all were dead tired so we added a day to the trip and decided to stay in Sor Laspur. Night stay in a home in Sor Laspur ... thx to the wonderful hospitality of locals
17 June 2014:
It rained a bit last night and weather was again cloudy since morning. Today's total jeep ride was 4-5 hrs so we left late around 11 a.m. Crossed Shandur and reached Langar in couple of hours. Reached Handrup around 2:15 p.m. and had a short stay there for photography. Then continued to Phandar and reached PTDC Phandar by 4 p.m. There was no camping place there so we went to Phandar Lake side for camping after lots of drama. Finally, opted to stay in a road side hotel near Phandar bazaar and reached there after sunset.
18 June 2014:
Early morning departure from Phandar as today was a long jeep ride till Chilas. We started at 8:30 a.m. and reached Gahkuch at 1 p.m. The journey continued and we reached Gilgit around 2:30 p.m. There we had a wonderful lunch and some shopping and finally left Gilgit around 6 p.m. We stopped at 3 Mountain Ranges Junction point at sunset time with some wonderful views of Nanga Parbat and reached Chilas around 10 p.m.
19 June 2014:
It was a tight schedule for the last day as we had to catch Daewoo bus from Abbottabad at 6:45 p.m. so everybody was ready to leave by 5 a.m. We left Chilas at 5:30 a.m. and reached Babusar Top at 8:30 a.m. We had a little break at the top and then continued to Naran and reached there by 11:30 a.m. Maintaining good time gave us opportunity for a wonderful brunch in Naran and we booked a hiace for Naran-Abbottabad journey. We reached Abbottabad at 6:15 p.m. just exactly half hour before our departure so it was suspense drama towards the end of hiace journey. Alhamdulillah, the whole group reached back Lahore safe and sound by 2:30 a.m. next morning.
Things planned but missed and will be covered in some next visit :)
- Balan Guru
- Qaqlasht
- Zanni Pass
- Phandar
Cameras used:
- 7 DSLRs
- 3 P&S cameras
- and loads of smartphones
Budget:
Rs. 29,000 per head for 10 days with 2 hired jeeps, PTDC stays, lavish meals and Daewoo journeys
I hope you will enjoy the travelogue
Best Regards
Mobeen
Group Shot at Kinisoteko Lake in Handrup, Ghizer Valley
