On arrival, the lush-green valley of Mahodand engrossed all of us, hence we were lost in it?s charm until we heard sound of a galloping horse. App 95% of the people were visitors from all over the country; the wheatish skin with lithe figure topped with branded attire attracted lots of looks, and therefore the horse rider wanted more share of attention on his plate than the rest in the valley. Poor fella simply throttled the horse into gallop and moments later the clumsy hands were unable to control it. At times, us humans when horrified, we try to control our facial expressions, pretending ourselves to be normal but the pale pigmented skin speaks for itself. The rider was trying to laugh, but everyone could read the hidden horrified expression on his face. Everyone panicked when the rodeo-galloping horse started getting closer to the merciless roaring river but luckily he managed to jump onto the soft sandy riverside on 11th hour. The horse was still tempered and worst of all when it started coming towards our side. Ohh boy?! It was one horrified moment as we didn?t want to be YouTubed. Imagine four obese cousins in a viral video chased by Horse like Spanish styled bull fight. Ahh?! Our prayers were accepted and it never happened. The rider rose and ran towards his vehicle and fled the valley.
About 35Km from Kalam (Swat) lies emerald colored water lake known as Mahodand (maho = Fish, Dand = lake). The 3-4 hours journey from Kalam-valley is fraught with picturesque landscapes, ice-cold waterfalls, thick woods, roaring river that runs parallel to the joint loosening road. I often don?t talk about the beauty of the valleys in my write-ups rather let the pictures to speak for itself but this picturesque valley can?t be portrayed in pictures. First look into the valley of Mahodand, simply let a person to be lost in the world of imaginations. The drive was simply an off-road track, my Honda?s lips (bumpers) were unhitched off of it?s skeleton and had to perform a facelift surgery in the workshop, back in the town.
Locals were very friendly, what I like the most about some visitors is their disciplined attitude towards the environment. None of them left any trash behind, neither were they noticed harming the wildlife (wild flowers, trees, grass etc). Most of the hotels were empty yet the owners were very resistant towards price bargain.
Cousins wanted to catch trout, but I asked them not to disturb the beauty of the water, and I promised them farmed trout later on the dinner table. Dinner at trout farms was one yummy dinner of life, they caught it with a small net, and fried the fish without any spices.
