Welcome to Day 4 
The morning started with amazing views of Nanga Parbat massif and yet another wonderful sunrise
We wanted to depart as quickly as possible and still used 3.5 hrs to get ready and that too without breakfast. Finally, left Trashing around 9 a.m. and came back till Rattu bridge then turned right.
We travelled hardly 20 min or so ahead of Rattu bridge when Ahmed started to feel vomiting and we stopped immediately. After vomiting, we gave him medicines and some time to rest while we spotted a cricket ground and some locals so joined them for a quick cricket session
We left the spot after 45 min or so and reached Rattu by 11:15 a.m. There is a boundary wall towards left after bridge and a gate which gives the feel of some private place so we turned right on open road. While infact that gate is actually the way ahead towards Kala Pani and Riat side and the road turning right goes to Rattu Cantt.
We reached Rattu Cantt and saw the beautiful valley leading to Shounter Pass and then army guys guided us to correct path and we came back till the bridge.
The valley after Rattu is amazingly beautiful and it was quite evident that not many people come to this area. Our first stop was Darla Bala Lake on road side and we reached there around 12:20 p.m. After a wonderful photo session and some chit chat with locals, we resumed the jeep ride at 1 p.m.
The Upper Astore valley opens up between Gumai and Shankergarh and u can be lucky to see wonderful views of big part of Nanga Parbat massif including the main peak.
We passed through many big and small villages on both sides of river and finally reached Gishat village around 2:15 p.m. Unfortunately, no one was there in Gishat and the 3 persons who were referred by owner of hotel in Astore were not there. We could only find a local family that was waiting for jeep and they told us the situation. So, we moved ahead to Riat itself.
We reached Riat village around 2: 30 p.m. and started fixing luggage for the trek and also tried to spot some locals for arrangement of porters / mules etc.
It took us almost one hour to get someone to talk to and to our disappointment, none of them had visited the lakes and no porters were available in the village. They told us that only bakarwals go in upper valleys and they have mules but it will take till tomorrow morning for anyone to come down to us. We were invited to camp near the village and so we shifted our luggage to the camping site around 4:30 p.m. and it was decided that we will do a full day trek and will come back to Riat on same day.
A baba ji came who had actually seen the lake and told us some route description in his own language which we couldn't understand much. The whole village turned out as if it was some festival. They had no experience of tourists visiting their area before so it was a totally new thing for them. We were greeted with tea and local bread and biscuits (their snacks) and afterwards chapatis, fresh milk and wood for bonfire.
It had rained on and off during the day and it rained during the night as well. We were advised by almost all people not to visit Kala Pani if weather is bad as jeep track ahead of Riat is not safe during bad weather. So, even though we had quite some extra time but we spent that in same area. We had another small trek till nearby ridge top just before maghrib and then after dinner we went to sleep.
Night stay in camps in Riat Village
