Wednesday 29 July 2015

Trekking in Hindu Kush Pakistan



Image result for trekking images of hindukush

Hindu Kush offers some of the best trekking in Pakistan. Some of the wonderful trekking in Hindu Kush areas dominates the Northern Areas and KPK formerly NWFP are truly spectacular. There are opportunities to cover all tastes and inclinations with everything from easy a day-walks to demanding treks up to four weeks or more. For the climbers here is heaven.
  It offers endless and spectacular opportunities for trekking. It is one of the least visited mountainous a part of Pakistan. There are many treks as compared to Karakorum and Himalaya but only few unknown by the people even the tour agency do not have a clear idea to sell this region for the interested who wish to visit. The unfortunate reason of the area has not a mountain of eight thousand metres there, but there are many beautiful mountains above 6000 m and the Tirichmir 7,780 metres the highest mountain in Hindu Kush. Many of the mountains here still unclimbed and are waiting for discovering. There are many peaks below six thousand meters along the valleys you can climb during the trekking sparing some days in your plan, that adds to the joy of your holidays and trek. I have seen many people interested  climbing such kind of speaks during my guiding.
  Yet the potential of this region remained for the most part undiscovered.  With the exception of one or two treks Darkot Pass, Thoi Pass and Karumbar Pass. Trekking in Hindu Kush is generally completely free of crowds and pollution.
  The days when the Russian invaders set up to capture North Pakistan used the mountain routes and mapped the region and made their ways to reach here, but those maps are rarely found and people don’t have access to the trekking of Hindu Kush. The region is full of adventure and excitements and now I would like to unlock the hidden beauty on the planet.
  Aside from the natural beauty of the landscape and the peaceful, unspoiled environment offers, perhaps the most rewarding aspect of trekking in Pakistan is contact brings with the people who inhabit this beautiful land.
  Trekking in Hindu Kush is complemented by a fascinating variety of cultures; by moving from one valley to the next, it is often possible to see complete change in traditions, cultures, language, lifestyles and ethnic origin of the people. Most treks in Hindu Kush are crossing pass from one valley to the other unlike any other treks in North Pakistan.  Secondly the wonder experience is the discovering the people along the trek because you come across summer houses along the trek where local people always welcome to visit their homes and offer local food milk tea. It one of the great opportunity for the visitors to discover the lifestyle of the people and their culture. It is very important encourage the householder by accepting their offer of tea and local dishes without any payment, because it is the unique culture and traditions of the mountain communities of North Pakistan. The people here are friendly, helpful and peaceful, you need to be afraid of them at any time even you alone.
  Indeed, any step by step description of every trek will be posted in the in the next posts with clear and up to date information. I will always be there to reply your questions. Your suggestions and comments will add to my knowledge. Feel free to contact me. I will be always there to reply.
  There is a huge variety of treks in Hindu Kush more than 20 fascinating trekking routes. Choosing the right trek is extremely important. Most obviously, the trek you undertake should match your level of fitness; unless you are fairly fit and used to walking, setting off on a long, hard trek is likely to be an exhausting experience, and so not particularly enjoyable. Acclimatization is very important before going on the strenuous trek. Trekking in Hindu Kush has the solid benefit of such things most of the treks here always start with low altitude and gradually reach to the high passes to cross.

Thursday 23 July 2015

Karakorum Highway the eighth wonder of the world

  To the North of Pakistan lie the Northern Areas a mountainous
region containing some of the world’s most incredible scenery, a fascinating mixture of different ethnic populations and some superb trekking and climbing routes. The building of the road through the region- the Karakorum Highway linking Pakistan to China has opened up a spectacular overland route between the two countries, passing through some Pakistan's most beautiful mountain areas, and providing onward access to Central Asia’s historic cities. The opening this route to foreigners in 1986 provides adventure travellers, with the opportunity of the unique and exhilarating adventure travel experience.
  The best time to visit Northern Pakistan on the Karakorum Highway is the exact opening and closing time of the Khunerab pass(4,7 00 m) and China are weather independent, though it is officially opened 1st May 30th November. By that time areas such as Hunza are at their colourful shape, in spring (April) and autumn (October), when the trees are at their most colourful. The main tourist season is the summer June to September, although July can get very hot if you visit in the lower parts of Northern Areas and in the Indus canyon and raining September can lead to landslides and blockages on the KKH. July and August are the main trekking and climbing months of the year.
   In its lower reaches, the Karakorum Highway passes through districts such as Hazara and Kohistan that infect administratively part of Khyber Pokhtun Khwan province. However these regions form part of a natural route along the highway, the editorial logic is to include in this Karakorum Highway and Northern Areas chapter. Excursion and diversions to valleys off the main highway are dealt with at the relevant departure point from the Karakorum Highway.
  Further since the history, geography culture of the huge area dealt with this huge chapter is highly fragmented with these issues will often be dealt with separately at the relevant stage of the journey through the region.

 The journey through the Karakorum Highway has its own wonderful experience along the mighty River Indus the road always runs along it that adds to the beauty the Karakorum. Although, it is terrible and fearing for the people, who travel for the first time and is enough once in a life. If you are interested to visit more than once to the North of Pakistan there very few chances to fly from Islamabad to the Northern Areas because the flight depends on the weather and very few seats are available in the plane. You need to prepare yourself for the travel of 24 by Karakorum Highway. Very few like and feel enjoy travelling by it. There is no any option if you will not have a chance to fly to Northern Areas. 

Thursday 16 July 2015

Geography of Northern Pakistan


  The Northern Areas of Pakistan is the meeting point of four of the world’s great mountain chain, the Karakorum, Hindu Kush, Himalaya and Pamir contains the largest concentration of high peaks in the world, and is home to the largest glaciers outside of the Polar region. The region consists largely of the Island of Kohistan Arc, mass of displaced metamorphosed, sedimentary rocks, wedged between the Eurasian and Indian plates. Two great sheer lines run the region; the North suture separates the Kohistan Island from the Hindu Kush and Karakorum ranges to the East and North, and the main mantle Thrust which separates Kohistan from the Himalayas and Indian plates to the South and SE. The pivotal point in the Pamir Knot an enormous tangle of high mountains and Plateau in the North straddling Pakistan, Afghanistan, the former Soviet Central Asian states and China. The major mountain ranges, Alai, Himalaya, Hindu Kush, Karakorum, Tian Shan, Kunkun, and Pamir run from this central feature, bifurcating into numerous sub ranges.
  Although the details of the valleys and the ranges of the work of glacial actions, weathering and erosion, the formation as whole are primarily the result of recent up –lift. The interaction of these processes result in highly unstable and dynamic landscape, where earthquakes and landslides are frequent.
    MOUNTAINS:
The Northern Areas has many of the highest peaks, with five over 8000m, 25 over  7,500m, almost 100 over 7,000m and numerous over 6000m. In K2 (8611m), Pakistan can boast a mountain second only to the Everest in height, whilst Nanga Parbat(8126m) the killer mountain surely be acknowledged as the largest solid lumps of rock of anywhere on the earth.
      GLACIERS:  The Karakorum, range contains some of the largest glaciers outside of the polar regions including SiachHin (72km), Biafo(62km), Hispar(61km), Batura(58km), Baltoro(58km) Gashbrum and Chgo Lungma both are 38km and Chiantir glacier in Hindu Khush is 35km  is still not known. Ice covered in the Karakorum is estimated 23-25% as opposed to 8-10% in the Himalaya and 2.2% in the Alps. The region’s glaciers provide both a creative and destructive force being responsible for loss of agricultural land and damage to road networks through encroachment, but also providing the source for irrigation in a region where rain-fed agricultural is not possible.
   RIVERS:
The dominant river system in the region is Indus, which cuts a deep gorge trending firs E-W the N-S. With rare exceptions, such as Chilas and Skardu, habitation along the Indus river bank has not been possible, with population tending to stick with minor tributary valleys and mountain slopes where river and glacial water is more manageable.                              Numerous other rivers drain the region forming part of the Upper Indus basin, including the Shyoke, Shigar, Astoreru, Gilgit, Hunza, Ghizar, kurumbar, Shimshal and khunjerab.
Other geographical Features:
  There are numerous geographical features in the Northern Areas including numerous passes between valleys, some of which are easily crossed and other which have fearsome reflections and are closed for most of the year such as Karakorum pass. 
The enormous plateau known as the Deosia plain lying W and North West of Skardu, is a spectacular illustration of the effects of glacial actions and environmental change on the landscape.
Climate of North Pakistan:
  Climatically the northern area is the region of extremes. The Temperature fluctuate between the mid to late 40 C in the furnace of the gorge around Chilas down 30 C at the higher altitude. The main valleys such as Gilgit, Hunza and Skembardu generally have annual temperature ranges between 0 C and 30 C. Many parts of the Northern Areas are snow-bound between November and April.
  The Northern Areas are largely outside the monsoon belt and receives only minimal rainfall of about 100mm annually, most of which occurs at high altitude feeding snow-fields and glaciers. The lower sections of the Kaghan valley and Hazara lie on the edge of the SW monsoon and receive upwards of 800mm of rain fall annually. In August the main trekking season rivers are swollen with summer snow-melt and difficult to cross. Spring (April-May) and Autumn(September-October) are particularly beautiful seasons although cold at night.







  

Monday 13 July 2015

Trekking in North Pakistan

North Pakistan-the ancient crossroads in the heart of Asia-is a land of soaring peaks and secluded valleys, of shimmering glaciers and flower-strewn alpine pastures. Yet most of its parts are unknown to interested people. I wish to unlock some of its beautiful and amazing places for the nature lovers to explore and enjoy their holidays. Today the beauty of north Pakistan invites the trekkers, mountaineers, explorers and adventure lovers to grandeur of their landscape and the hospitality of their people follow in the foot-steps of Alexander the Great, of Chinese pilgrims seeking scriptures in the golden age of Buddhism or of the British and Russian explorers.
  Mid-June to mid-September is the best time for trekking in the north of Pakistan. Passes over 5000 metres are best attempted mid- August and mid-September, lower treks usually open from mid-May to mid-October. There are many treks you can go in the month of May, but in some areas the camping will be on snow and cold at night, this is the reason that most of the people prefer to trek in these areas in the month of June an up to mid-September. In August the peak season the summer flowers in the pastures are in full blossom. In April, May September and October ordinary tourist usually visit in northern areas when the main Indus valley is not too hot and the trees are covered in spring flower blossom and autumn gold. About 70 percent of the annual rain falls of 202 millimetres fall between January and May.  The driest months of the year are June, September, October and November.
  The trekking North Pakistan is really amazing as compare to anywhere else. There are variety of treks from a week time to a month depends on your interest and time you like to spend and variety of landscape an easy walk on the lush green meadows or challenging glaciers and rocky moraines.
  The Northern Areas has three mighty mountain ranges, the Karakorum, Himalaya and Hindu Kush. The Karakorum is to the North connects with China, the Himalaya is to the South and the Hindu Kush is to the West connecting with the longest border of Afghanistan. All the mountain ranges have strategic importance in Pakistan, especially mountains and the mountain passes.
  The trekking and the landscape vary in each part from one another. The Karakorum and Himalaya treks are well known but the Hindu Kush is known by very few people in the world which has amazing treks and beautiful snow-capped mountains are waiting for explore by trekkers and mountaineers. I will try my best unlock the locks of this hidden and wonderful part of the for the nature lovers and warmly invite them and enjoy their holidays, with the hospitable mountain communities of the Hindu Kush range.
   I would like to write about all the trekking routes of North Pakistan but mostly the Hindu Kush because, there some of the most beautiful treks and mountains that are still remote and its passes have interesting historical stories of the invaders of the Sub-continent who used travel along these passes and ruled in the sub-continent for many years. Trekking and Karakorum and Himalaya have their own importance with the high mountains of over 8000 metres.
  While trekking in North Pakistan you can come across diverse culture and traditions different from valley to valley and village to village, that gives immense happiness to people and enjoy their trip. I wish to have more feedback comments by the readers of the blog who been any trek or climbing in the mountains north Pakistan that will add to my happiness if you add your experience. 

Thursday 9 July 2015

History of Gilgit the capital of North Pakistan



The capital of Northern Areas of Pakistan is Gilgit. It is thriving frontier town, expanded rapidly about 283,000 inhabitants since the opening of the Karakorum Highway in 1978, connecting with the rest of Pakistan and China. The bazaar is full of with people traders of different parts of Pakistan, Pathans, Punjabis, Balochese, Chitralis and many others speaking babble languages.
   It has pleasant climate in the in the summer and freezing in the winter at altitude of 1,500 metres above sea level.
  Gilgit has been the inhabited for thousands of years. The various waves of invaders that passed through Pakistan also reached to Gilgit, and their various beliefs and costumes were layered on one top of the other. The animism of the early inhabitant from Iran, which was modified in turn by Hinduism following the Aryans, invasion about 1700 BC.
From the first century BC, Gilgit was an important staging post on the Silk Route from China and the Chinese wielded considerable influence in the area. Inscriptions and pictures carved on the rocksaround Gigit tell us about the history, as does the collection of sixth, to eleventh century, Buddhist manuscripts discovered in Kargah near the Gilgit town in 1930.
  There were Buddhist from the fourth century to the eleventh century, Gilgit was mostly Buddhist Gilgit and Yasin were together called the Little Bolor according to the Chinese Tang Annals, with its capital in Yasin.
 Early in the eighth century, three great powers- China, Arabia and Tibet jostled for control here. Some of the rock carvings around Gilgit list the Tebitan kings who ruled in the seventh and eigth centuries. In 725, according to a rock in Gilgit the kingdom of Great and Little Bolor merged under the Tebitan rule. There was a short Chinese interlude from 747 to 715, when the Chinese invaded successfully across the Broghil and Darkot passes and captured Yasin, before being driven back by the Arabs from the west.
  In 711 BC the Muslims forces invaded to the sub-continent from the south by sea, simultaneously reaching Xinjang in the North and Muhammad Bin Qasim was successful in the south, but the northern invasion was repulsed.
  Tenth century brought the invasion of the Shins, a Eurpoid people who spoke Shina still the language of most parts of the Northern Areas drove the native Brushaski speakers up into Hunza, Nagar and Yasin. The Shins may have been Hindus as were Hindu Shahi kings who then ruled upper Pakistan from their capital at Hund on the Indus, just below the modern Tarbela Dame.
  After the fifteen century, the whole northern areas gradually converted to Islam, Pathan came up the Indus from Swat in about the sixteenth century, and the people of Baltistan came from Kashmir before the seventeenth century. Finally early in the nineteenth century the mir of Hunza Salum Khan III, who had been in temporary exile in Badakhshan reached to Hunza converting to Ismaili muslim.
  In 1846 the British sold Kashmir Ladakh, Baltistan and Gilgit to Maharaja of Kashmir Gulab Singh, and appointed him the first maharaja of Kashmir. But the maharaja’s Hindu soldiers could do little to subdue the Muslim tribsmen, despite repeated compaign in the 1850’s and 60’.
After the first Anglo-Sikh war in 1845-46 the British began to worry about a possible Russian invasion through mountain to Kashmir, inducing them to take more active interest in Northern frontier. In 1877, they sent a political agent to Gilgit, the most isolated outpost of the British Empire, to prevent the Russian destabilising the remote mountains kingdoms with influence gain through gifts and promises. There was also the fear that the Russian invasion of India, which was expected via the Khyber and Bolan passes, secondary light weight Russian thrust penetrate the Karakorum and Hindukus passes, totally cut off by snow for eight months of the year, the first British agency failed. It was too small and isolated to make its presence fell and it ended abruptly in 1881.

  The second agency established in 1889, forced better. By then the route from Srinagar via Astore had been improved; there was a telegraph link and the agency included a full compliment of British soldiers.  There followed a series of campaigns to subdue the surrounding kingdoms: in 1891, the British led by Colonel Algernon Durand, overran Hunza. In 1893, they strengthened thefort in Chilas to defend the new road over Babusar pass against the kohistani tribes. The year1895 saw the dramatic rescue of the garrison at Chitral fort by 500 troops from Gilgit who marched across the Shandur pass.