I visited Swat valley for the first time in my life on April 16 and 17 with my family. It was not a planned trip. We were returning to Skardu from Lahore. While driving on Lahore-Islamabad Motorway, my 8-year-old son was continuously asking me questions about geography of Pakistan. When I told him about Swat Valley and its location, my wife and my son gave the idea of exploring a new route. I was still thinking when we reached Burhan Interchange (We leave motorway at Burhan and take Shahrah-e-Resham from Hasanabdal) . Still undecided, I stopped the car and looked at my son and my wife. No one uttered a single word and I moved the car and we were going to Swat.
We had left Lahore at 5.40 am. After 5 hours drive and covering a distance of 473 km on motorway, we reached Rashkai Interchange at 10.40 am. There we left motorway and took a road to Swat. As we reached Takht Bhai, there was a traffic jam due to construction of a flyover. It was 2.00 pm when we reached Mingora (After 3 hours and 20 minutes drive and travelling 115 km from Rashkai). Before Mingora the road was under construction at many the places. It was rush hour in Mingora and we had to move slowly through the city. First we stopped at a petrol pump and then at Fizaghat park along the River Swat. We stretched our legs in the park and took some photographs.
After a brief stay, we started the journey again and this time our destination was Malam Jabba. It was 3:15 pm when we took a turn for Malam Jabba. In the beginning the road was narrow and its condition was not good. As we moved on, the road became a little better but very curvy. We were continuously going upwards and the weather was turning cloudy. Soon, there were dark grey clouds everywhere and we were in fact moving through the clouds. It was all like a dream. The clouds really made our day.
There were many hotels and restaurants in Malam Jabba. Almost at every restaurant, there was someone standing along the road and was offering lunch. Anyway, we kept moving on and after one-and-a-half-hour drive, we reached the last point of the hill station. There were many tourists moving around and taking photographs.
As I parked my car, local boys gathered around me. They all offered their services as guide. Two boys wanted to wash my car. One boy, carrying a visiting card of a hotel, was insisting that I should at least visit the hotel. I refused to all politely.
As the weather was overcast, we had a little walk, took some photographs and left the place at 5.15 pm. First, we thought of staying in a hotel in Malam Jabba. After visiting three or four hotels, I decided to move back to Mingora. On our way back, it started raining. Around 7.00pm we reached near Fizaghat. We all were tired and hungry. I stopped at a hotel along the River Swat and hired a room with four beds and an extra mattress for Rs 2000. We had chicken karahi with nan and tea in the dinner (Rs 600).
Our plan for tomorrow was to leave early for Skardu. Next day, we left the hotel at 5.10 am and reached Khwazakhela in half an hour. There, I filled the petrol tank and moved on. As we reached the point where a road was going rightwards for Besham, I stopped the car to take a photograph. From Khwazakhela, Kalam was just 68 km. Anyway, I turned the car and put it on the road to Besham. The car had moved just a few meters and my wife said, 'why not Kalam, it's just 68 km away.' I stopped the car along the road and looked at my son. There I found just a blank look. I just turned the car and we were going to Kalam.
As we moved on, the scenery was mesmerizing. But the road was just average and at some places it was unpaved. Just as I was started regretting the Kalam decision, I was on a newly-built carpeted road. After one hour drive from Khwazakhela (35 km), we reached Bahrain at 7.00 am. It was full of hotels. As we left Bahrian, the newly-bulit carpeted road vanished and we were on a dirt road. This bumpy and at many places rocky road took us to Kalam. We travelled for two hours 45 minutes and just covered a distance of 33 km.
But no regrets as someone has rightly said that the road to heaven will never be a highway. It was really a scenic route. Kalam is also full of hotels. Most of them were still not open. We went to a restaurant for a meal. They had only paratha, olmelate and channay. As I don't like paratha, I asked for the bread or naan and chicken karahi. They agreed to cook chicken karahi in an hour but refused to serve naan or bread.
We had enough snacks with us. So we went out and started taking photographs. After a short stay we left Kalam at 10.10 am. On way back, we took many photographs. It was 2.00pm when we reached Khwazakhela. We had decided to have a lunch in Khwazakhela, but we all had eaten enough snacks. The road from KhwazaKhela to Besham was very good. We reached Besham at 3.40 pm and traveled 64 kilometers.
In the morning, I had decided to stay in Besham. But it was just four o' clock and we were in Besham. So, we decided to move on, reach Chilas and stay there for night. The road from Besham to Pattan is now carpeted. But after Pattan it is full of potholes. Chinese are constructing the road. But the pace of work is very slow. The condition of road is very bad form Pattan to Barseen (a few kilometers from Dassu). After Barseen it is comparatively better. But still you have to be watchful of potholes.
We reached Chilas at 11.05 pm. One thing that I noticed this time on KKH was police petrolling. From KP-GB border to Chilas, I found police patrolling parties after every four or five kilometers.
In the morning, we left Chilas at 8.00 am. The road from Chilas to Raikot bridge is average. From Raikot to Jaglot, it is excellent. We had breakfast in Jaglot. At 11.00 am we left KKH and took Skardu road. At 5.30 pm, we reached Skardu safe and sound.
