Sallam Pakwheelers:
well mulk may tu kafi tension chaal rai the kuch dinu say so may nay soocha kuch na tension release ke jay by doing what i like best, traveling ofcorse.......
this time plan as to visit kohat and its surroundings with a side trip to Talagang region histric site known as "Sassi Da Kallara"...... Naturally the Basecamp was Fateh jang Mithial where my travel buddy Safeer would host me. we were only two participants this time with local asset Mr. Yasir Khan Shinwari guiding us to kohat and ahead.... the journey eventually got big on us really covering a large distance of 700 Kilometers.... the weather too was not ideal for photgraphy so i cud only manage a few....
day 1:
left for Attock to pic up a contact who would guide us to the fisrt destination... Khata Dam in Pindi Saral Attock. this is a small dam in private property used mainly as a fish farm... its a gud BBQ picnic spot though and can be reached on foot(25 mins) or by bike or jeep from main road.... it had already started raining and light was terible so cudnt do much there and returned to our car to continue to Mithial via Basal.
day2:
left early for Kohat picking up Yasir Shinwari from Jand. he is a resident of kohat. our main aim was a couple of dams, historic sites and a small hike in kohat but the constant rain ruled some of the targets out as they cud not be reached on foot as well... in kohat we covered Tanda Dam and the famous Durrani Graveyard which is resting place of the durrani leaders of kohat region in the 19th century..... with the weather conditions favouring a snowfall destination we decided to move to Hangu and further to Samana which is the edge of Tirah Valley Orakzai Agency. by the time we reached near Samana the snowfall had got very heavy and road was blocked.. so we parked our car and carried on foot enjoying pure abundant snowfall..after a long time..... after spending an hour here we decided to returned b4 road conditons got to tricky for our vehicle... we returned to hangu to treat ourselves with Chapal kabab and Lobia chaat for lunch. back tracked from hangu to kohat to to Mithial dropping of our host Shinwari on the way.... this was my second first to kohat but first one was when i was a boy so i only got to explore it now and discover many new targets for future.... if anything the unexplored buti of FATA/Agencies is knocking on my heart and mind .....
day 3:
a relatively late start after a long sleep towards Tarap in Jand region.. the butiful wing road to tarap has always fascinated me since my eariler visit to Makhad Sharif a couple of years ago.... on the main road in Tarap is a butiful but decaying Baoli (stepwell) designed like many other we have seen elswhere.. this is also believed to be built in Sher Shah Suri rule.... but if govt duz not take any action soon it wont last long... next was the main target of the day ... in Shah Muhammad Waali village just after crossing soan river is a Hindu era temple called Sassi Da Kallara or locally only called kaalar..... its construction is very different than the other temples located all over salt range, hence it sparks interest of Historians and travelers alike... its locaction is awsum indeed. on a hill top with magestic views of soan river and mountains behind it on one side and fields on the other ... chilling winds and the mere remoteness of the temple make it worth the visit... a short hike 30 mins with a steep ascend is also required..... we encounterd dificulties in that the whole area was muddy with rain ......
after this it was all the way back to mithial and then to tarnol to pindi for a well deserved rest... atleast for Safeer who did all the driving hahahahahah
stay tuned for less but good pics..... it was toooooo gloomy folks.......
