14/07/2023
Ladies and gentleman, Assalam u Alaikum. I had a wonderful whirlwind 4 day tour to Kumrat, upper Dir in Kohistan, Khyber PakhtunKhwa with a family of four customers and Javed Beg sahib of Thunder Tour operators, a friend who I have been travelling with, lately.
We travelled for 11 hours in an APV which was kinda longish and tiring with namaz (prayers), tea and lunch breaks.
We stopped at Thal in upper Dir and shifted into a 1995 model Toyota, Land cruiser, which is very common in that valley. It is a 30 Kms rough jeep-able track and street cars are a sure NO NO on this path. It took us another 3 hours to get to our guest house ð in the far north of Kumrat.
Kumrat is an alpine forest yet slightly less dense as compared to Sharan, off Paras in Kaghan. The first day was spent in reaching Kumrat and thus we were pretty tired after the 14 hour tiring journey although the rooms were spacious enough for 4 people and we had a late dinner and rested.
On the second day, we got up early and took a jeep ride further north to Kala Chashma (Black Spring), popular due to the black stones underneath the water. We later visited the main Aabshar (Waterfall) which is surely a God's marvel on earth ð
The popular Jahaz Banda trek, the peak of one of the nearby mountains we could not do since the jeep ride and the hike takes at least 5 hours both ways and is surely NOT recommended for families with ladies who are not hikers, like us.
Such trips surely add more moolah to your tight budget. There's another tourist attraction called 'Dou jangi / janga' which takes you to the northern most dead end and into thicker forests.
This is another five hours yet painfully rugged drive and is surely not recommended for the elderly, ladies and kids although I plan to visit this beautifully serene area amongst thick deodar forests, in my next trip. In Shaa Allah ð
The Panjkora river which flows from Afghanistan, sometimes flows smooth and serene while at some places, it becomes pretty wild and even dangerous too ðŊ
The Panjkora River is at an elevation of 3,600 m (11,800 ft) and runs a length of 220 km (140 mi) through the beautiful lush green mountains of the Dir District and in Kumrat Valley.
Due to a 48 hour spell of constant rain last year, there was a landslide before reaching Kumrat on the jeep-able path and thus that place is still in ruins.
Thank God there were no casualties, yet over 300 tourists had to be rescued in an army ðŠ helicopter but I must hasten to add that due to global warming and fast and abrupt glacier melting over the years, such issues have become more and more common in the northern areas. In the evening, we walked around our hotel and enjoyed a hot cuppa cha on the ravishingly stunning Panjkora river.
The next day, we went local hiking ðĨū down south and visited other guest houses, hotels, glamps (glamorous camping) and Cedar huts which are mostly located, on and off the riverfront.
There are around 200 - 300 makeshift and permanent accommodations in the longish yet beautifully serene Kumrat valley now, and the influx of tourists has exponentially increased after Khan sahib ( the ex PM of Pakistan), visited the place.
On the fourth day, we had to bid farewell to this beautiful valley, the memories of which we would surely cherish for the rest of our lives âĪâðĨ
The rates of the accommodation vary between Rs. 4 - 38k per night with one to four star facilities equally matched with the supporting meals too.
The rates vary on weekends, public holidays and during school ðŦ holidays, drastically.
This trip thus adds another feather ðŠķ in my travelling cap ð while Astore, Deosai, Chitral, Khunjerab and Neelum valley are the four or five tourist places out of the 80+ in Pakistan, which I still need to visit and that too in the near future.
If any of you or your friends or families are interested in visiting this heavenly place then I can surely be your tour guide or your tour planner. Lest I forget to mention that 'In God I trust, rest all pay cash'. Laughter ðĪĢ
My 150 year old phone almost crashed due to the heavy load of pics and clips that I made on the way ðģ
I must hasten to add that only Jazz signals reach there and that too with a painfully weak and intermittent connection. Although it is good that we are cut off from the cruel and artificial civilization for a few days but practically all of us are childishly hooked to the NET ðĨ
which is such a shame ðĨē
We again got up early on the last i.e the 4th day and headed towards Islamabad, the beautiful âĪïļ around 9:30 am while reaching here around 9 pm i.e around 11:30 hours.
While I close this post and bid aurevoir to you, I wud like to share a beautiful saying which I chanced upon in the coniferous mountains of Pueblo, Colorado, USA in 1990 and it goes like this:
"Take only pictures. Leave only footprints".
Since the place is kinda far, it is less polluted and mostly un- littered with plastic bottles, chips packets and shopping bags (NOT shoppers, which is incorrect English), as compared to other tourist sites in the northern areas of Pakistan ðĨē
So please RUSH and visit Kumrat ASAP before it becomes another Murree or Faisal Masjid and Lake view park on weekends and public holidays ðģððĨī
The pics and clips can be appreciated once I make a YouTube clip, which should take at least a month or so. What a drag ð
In the meantime, please visit my YouTube channel i.e. 'The Wandering Dervish' and enjoy clips on Management, Tourism and a close to the heart subject, Sufism.
God bless and happy travelling ð
Shaikh Muhammad Ali (The Wandering Dervish) ð
WhatsApp: +92-321-5072996
