From chaos to pure magic (Chitral, Kalash, Kumrat, Jahaz Banda & Katora Lake Tour)

Travel N Tours

Road Trips / Vacations / Hiking / Trekking

ism1 (ism1) 2014-07-18 06:03:50 +0500 #161

Sheir aya Sheir aya woh siyasat wala nahi............Paharon Ka Sheir !!!

btw @mssr Waqas bhai, thread is going superb ........... keep continue the wonderful show

MSSR (MSSR) 2014-07-18 13:25:54 +0500 #162

Thank you aghabbas bro

Yeah sufian..waqas is our best trekker

MSSR (MSSR) 2014-07-18 13:27:11 +0500 #163

haha... i am salman. Not waqas. waqas is our team member and the best trekker thats y xoofi was appreciating him

MSSR (MSSR) 2014-07-18 13:42:09 +0500 #164

We were happily crossing the vast jahaz banda during our return. It was a golden sunshine after all that hailing and raining and the temperature felt awesome. We were clicking snaps, laughing and having good time. After crossing jahaz banda, it was a continuous descend. Immediately after descending we were at that place where there are wild flowers spread everywhere. I must say it is the most beautiful part of the jahaz banda track.

Rest immediately after crossing jahaz banda.. look at the height!

Jahaz banda starts after the final ascend at our back

Entering into the cedar forest which is full of wild flowers

Water stream which runs along with u in this patch of the track

MSSR (MSSR) 2014-07-18 14:18:22 +0500 #165

A buffalo having meal in the meadows

All the way to lowari top

Rest break at a huge log

These yellow wild flowers are abundant on this track

MSSR (MSSR) 2014-07-18 14:25:06 +0500 #166

Descending down is always easier than ascending and i always find it the best part of the trekking My that day's chapli kababs were still making their presence felt and my sickness got only worse. Having yogurt in brunch made the life easier for a while but now the nausea came back roaring again. I tried to vomit few times but nothing was coming out. Sher nawab and shahbaz had some other opinion. They said "paharon ko aap pasand nahi aya, bcz jo pahar ko pasand nahi aata uski tabiat aisay ho jati hai". I said "koi baat nahi agar paharon ko main pasand nahi aya bcz mujhe toh pahar bohat pasand hen".. one sided love, sighs!!! :*
Poor sher nawab went in search of some wild herbs which are meant to cure this sickness. after some time he found some and made me a drink out of it. Which i drank and i was bitter off course. Then he gave me to leaves of that herb to put them above my ears so that their smell keeps me nausea-free

After a long descending across the cedar and wild-flower forest, that plain part came again which gave us huge respite during our trekking to jahaz banda and that day we thought that the tough part is over, only to come across the steep cedar forest

That beautiful meadow came again and we again had a 15 minute break there.

Group photo at that meadow

MSSR (MSSR) 2014-07-18 14:37:57 +0500 #167

Having fun in the meadows and poor junaid was the obvious bakra

MSSR (MSSR) 2014-07-18 14:43:47 +0500 #168

after leaving that meadow, we were again on the continuous and very very steep descend. Ayaz was way ahead of us and we were trekking quite leisurely due to luxury of time. Everybody was surprised and patted himself on the back for all the height we ascended that day It was a continuous downhill travel with a narrow track which was very slippery in few small patches.

MSSR (MSSR) 2014-07-18 14:47:12 +0500 #169

MSSR (MSSR) 2014-07-18 14:57:56 +0500 #170

After the extremely long trek downwards, we were finally out of the forest and into the relatively less steep patch. Jandrai was now not very far. Everybody was feeling tired now due to continuous application of brakes during the steep descending and continuous concentration to avoid slipping.

Looking back

Crossing a wood logs bridge which are abundant in this area

Then we came across a wide fresh landslide which had blocked the narrow track. It created a huge volume of mud which was impossible to cross. The area adjacent to the track was extremely steep so were in state of confusion. Me, junaid and butt were ahead and everybody including porters were still behind so we had to do something on our own. Junaid took bold step and successfully crossed that area from the steep adjacent grassy slope by use of a trekking stick. Me and butt also carefully crossed that area with that stick. Nawab and shahbaz (porters) arrived and to our surprise, they crossed the landslide like it was not even there. Then everybody else arrived and successfully and carefully crossed the tough patch from the sloppy area.

The landslide

Helping each other in crossing the slippery slope

MSSR (MSSR) 2014-07-18 15:14:26 +0500 #171

Butt's Boots!

Butt especially purchased these shoes from a pathan for this trek and they fell apart on the very first day of trek while going up. He had to tie them with rugs of cloth to avoid further wear and thankfully they managed to survive the remaining trek. Condition of the shoes after crossing the muddy landslide patch, look like a snap from the medieval times

Xoofi (Xoofi) 2014-07-18 17:12:22 +0500 #172

Dudipatsar trek yaad agaya.. I lost my one shoe after falling into a bog and then had to complete remaining trek on chappals

ism1 (ism1) 2014-07-18 18:29:38 +0500 #173

oooops sorry mixed up with other......... a lot of pending threads yet to be cover

baltistan (baltistan) 2014-07-19 17:13:25 +0500 #174

Excellent job sir. Thumbs up

MSSR (MSSR) 2014-07-20 11:00:22 +0500 #175

Oh! that must had been a bad experience.

Haha..no problem. this happens!

Thanks a lot bro. Ur username is rocking, i love this place

MSSR (MSSR) 2014-07-20 11:15:02 +0500 #176

After crossing that muddy landslide, the outskirts of jandrai village came into sight. We had completely descended the hills and what lied ahead was relatively less steep path which was supposed to lead us into the village. Water stream was running at our left hand and awe could witness another track (which was very narrow) at opposite said of water stream. A huge herd of goats were daring to use that track The sun was gradually setting behind the mountains which were in our front. Wooden cottages of jandrai were scattered away from each other and smoke was emerging from their chimneys. It was dinner time but our trekking was stretching like a rubber band. We had anticipated the return trek to be physically easy but lengthy but we were taking more time than anticipation. So everybody was just walking with their heads lowered and eyes fixed at the feet.

MSSR (MSSR) 2014-07-20 11:19:21 +0500 #177

Sun setting behind the mountains

Couch of the local lads!

That herd was definitely fitter and speedier than us.. so they crossed us while we could only step aside to give them the way

MSSR (MSSR) 2014-07-20 11:34:29 +0500 #178

It was 8pm when we finally reached inside main settlement of jandrai village. We were taken to raja taj's home (where we had chapli kababs and qehwa during start of our trekking) where they had arranged for our dinner meal and night stay. Everyone was extremely tired after a full-day trekking so we crashed into our floor bedding. After a while the dinner was served which comprised of chicken yakhni, chicken curry and plain boiled rice. Yakhni was hot, extremely tasty and energizing but couldn't relate with the taste of rice and curry due to absence of flavors in them. Perhaps they cook them in that way and its local style. Anyways, our bodies got all the warmth and energy which they were lacking. Hot tasty qehwa was served after dinner. After getting done with the meal, raja taj muhammad introduced with his younger brother. Our luggage (which we stored that day in museum) had been brought here so we started packing them and prepering stuff for tomorrow's travel.

Inside guest room of raja taj muhammad's home. All walls of the room are totally covered with posters and pictures of various famous places of north pakistan.

MSSR (MSSR) 2014-07-20 11:42:20 +0500 #179

When we were done with packing, raja taj brought the vehicle for our tomorrow's return journey till Dir. That day we had refused bawar khan (who brought us till jandrai and was willing to take us back to dir) because we wanted to give this opportunity to some jandrai local but now it was getting difficult to arrange a jeep from jandrai. Raja taj arranged a double cabin which runs as public transport every morning. It was open from back side so i asked the driver to cover backside with some sheet to save from dust and sunshine because all seven of us weren't supposed to accommodate inside double cabin and few of us were definitely going to sit at the back. After finalizing the rate and getting his agreement over covering the backside. we had a chit chat session with raja taj muhammad. Everybody had many questions about this place, the customs, what they do, what they cultivate, how do they earn and whats history etc and raja taj tried to answer with as much detail as possible. It was getting late so he excused us and went inside the house while we too drowned into the sleep at 12am.

MSSR (MSSR) 2014-07-20 11:51:24 +0500 #180

It was almost 5:30am, when we woke up and immediately started to get ready because we had to leave ASAP. Today's travelling was extensive and we were supposed to reach islamabad by evening/night. Our ride had arrived at outside. Raja taj offered us breakfast but we thanked him and decided to eat in Dir. After a while, everyone was ready with their backpacks and driver had prepared his ride with sheet over its back portion and pillows & rugs placed inside for sitting. I thanked raja taj and paid an undisclosed amount to him which he took after some hesitance. He was definitely the best host we have encountered so far in our lives. Everyone is those areas are extremely simple, nice, helping and full of affection. Our country is definitely blessed because it is inhabited by such wonderful human beings.