Towards Pakistan

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towards|Pakistanissue 04

Snow Lakeexclusive

Shandoor Polo Festival 2008

Photographers Interview Deosai Plains

Haramosh Trek Motorbiking in Pakistan

Black Robed Kalash People09 26

2003

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editorial02|

Bidding farewell to the Year 2008, I wish all the PPG membersand readers a very happy new year ahead. At the very outset,as many of you have already complained that this issue hasbeen delayed for a lot of reasons. But I am sure that the waitis worth it as we have done a lot of hard work on the issueand the result is in front of all of you.As decided in the last issue this issue has mainly been on thebeautiful northern areas of Pakistan. It was much morechallenging than what we actually thought; getting articlesand travel pieces on northern areas was not easy. Most ofthe articles deal mainly with the northern areas which are

popular and not so popular. The main article is on one of themost important tribes in Pakistan; the wearers of black robes the Kalash people by Ittiqa Abbas. Shandoor Polo Festivalis a world known polo festival and the polo is rightly beenplayed on the rooftop of the world. Rizwan Ghias, has done agreat job in covering the festival in an excellent manner.Tariq Sulemani, an avid travel writer and photographer whohas traveling different northern areas since last two decadeshas contributed a beautiful and informative piece on DeosaiPlains; while Farid Gujjar and his team of 'The Trekkerz' havevery successfully contributed their travel report on their tourof Kutwal Lake. The highlight of the issue are two articles oneon very less known Snow

Contributerslake which is a deadly lake and is recommended only forserious minded trekkers. M. Kamran, a well known trekkerand writer has contributed a travel piece on Snow Lakewhich is really a must to read; the other article is on MotorBiking in Pakistan by Sheen Kua, who drove his bike from

Khunjerab to Lahore in an adventurous journey. A specialfeature is on less known and traveled Neelum Valley in AJKfrom one of my friends Moazzam Hussain from anotherforum. It is a pleasure for our team to have such greatcontributions from all sides and I thank all the contributorsfor their great contributions.

As part of our regular feature, this time we feature AamirRasheed, a landscape photographer who is working onpresenting the beautiful Pakistan with his quality images. Heis our Person in Focus in this issue. On a personal note I thankFarrukh Pitafi aka Say Direct for handling the task of layout

and designing the magazine and he has done an excellentjob and I welcome him on Towards Pakistan board. Specialthanks are also due to the people who keep on supportingthe Towards Pakistan and made this issue a reality; there arecountless names who kept on motivating me for keep onperusing the dream of bringing Towards Pakistan despite allthe problems. I dedicate this issue to all such friends whohave played a pivotal role in this regard.

And that is pretty much what I have to say for the time being,enjoy reading the rest of the issue and thanks for patience.

Thanks

Yasir Nisar

P.S. Our next issue is going to be mainly on the southernareas of Pakistan, so we would be looking for yourcontributions for that.Do share your thoughts/photos/contributions at

[email protected]

Please spread the word around to your family and friendabout the magazine. Print out the copy and place it on yourcoffee table or around your office. You can also place the linkin your profile and websites or email it to those who you

think would be interested.

Farid GujjarAamir Rahid

M. KamranIttiqa Abbas

Sheen KuaRizwan Ghias

Tariq Sulemani Farrukh Pitafi aka SayDirectd

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towards| |Pakistan issue 0403|

ShandurPolo Tour

2008Polo at Shandur Pass - Half-Way to Heaven

Photos by Rizwan Ghias


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towards| |Pakistan issue 04 Shandur Polo Tour 200804|

Every July, the Shandur Pass in northern Pakistan is the setting for apolo festival played to rules eight hundred years old on what is,perhaps, the highest polo ground in the world. During the 1920s, theruler of Moskuj, the Hindukush highland between Chitral and Gilgit,was told by his Mir, or king, to promote integration within his realmthrough a polo tournament between the best players.

The Shandur pass is situated about 3,738 metres above sea level andlies between Gilgit and Chitral. It is 147 km from Chitral and 211 kmfrom Gilgit. In the winter, it remains frozen due to the heavy snowfallthat engulfs everything beneath its white blanket. At the end of thespring season, this area a plateau among the Hidukush Mountains becomes a lush green land. And the greenery with gallopinghorses, the zealous spectators and the tent city in the high Hidukushunderneath the open skies in the background of the Shandur Lake,

present a magical view. The event marks the annual rivalry betweenthe polo teams of Gilgit and Chitral. Supporters of both sides travellong distances from the remote parts, to watch the thrilling game. Theevent offers a fascinating insight into the lifestyle of the people of thisregion. Their culture and indigenous customs are a delight to observefor the visitors.

Here's a little history on the sport... "polo is an equestrian sport with itsorigins embedded in Central Asia, dating back to the 6th century BC. Atfirst it was a training game for cavalry units for the King's guards or

other elite troops. To the warlike tribesmen who played polo with asmany as 100 players to a side, it was a miniature battle. It became aPersian national game in the 6th century AD. From Persia, the gamespread to Arabia, then Tibet, China, and Japan. Polo was introduced inSouth Asia by the Muslim conquerors in the 13th century," (PakistanTourism News, August 2006, Issue 1, Vol. 1, p. 7).

Shandur Polo festival 2008, the most exciting polo tournament of theregion which was held from July 7 - 9, 2008 was sponsored by Telenor.The three day polo tournament, organized by Gilgit and Chitral polo

clubs, local administration and Telenor Pakistan was played on top of


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Shandur Pass and more than 12,000 local and international visitorsattended the festival and witnessed the traditional polo tournamentbetween the teams of Gilgit & Chitral. In order to make this festivalmore attractive, some more arrangements were done including

tampooq bazi, selection of the best horse of Chitral and the NorthernAreas, paragliding and motorized gliding, traditional dance, musicalprogram and a beautiful display of fireworks.

Polo is one of the oldest games played in the world. And the northernareas are known for the kind of polo played here. Every year, in thesecond week of July, polo teams from Chitral and Gilgit face eachother in Shandur. The very limited rules apply over here and played indifferent manner than international Polo. In the three days event,different matches are played in both the teams while on the third andlast day, the match is been played between Chitral A and Gilgat Awhich is of utmost importance.


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The sticks used in this game are made from special wood and they break many times during the game but they are very elastic. The 3 best teamsfrom Gilgit and Chitral play this big tournament since almost 400 years. The conventional polo rules are not in use for this tournament, the only rulethere is, is that there are no rules, so the games are quiet violent. The game is very demanding for horse and man because of the low amount ofoxygen, very high temperatures and the dusty surroundings.

Chitral-A won the Shandur polo festival for the third consecutive year, beating Gilgit-A by 9-7 in the final played at the highest polo ground of theworld. Gilgit ran over the Chitral goalpost during the first five minutes and scored five goals and sustained the pressure throughout the first half. RajaZulfiqar and Ghulam Abbas of Gilgit gave a tough time to the opponents.


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However, instead of losing nerves, Chitral changed its strategy and interchanged its forward and attack line players. By half time, Chitral managed toscore three goals. In the second half, Chitral scored four goals to Gilgit's two and the score remained levelled 7-7 during the stipulated 50 minutes.The teams were given extra 10 minutes to decide the match. During the extra time, Chitral scored two goals, winning the match 9-7. Chitral'sShahzad Ahmed played a decisive role in the victory of his team by scoring four goals.

The Chitral team included Shahzada Sikandar (captain), Azam Khan, Shahzad Ahmed, Raza Khan, Shahbaz and Israr Wali and the Gilgit teamcomprised Ashraf Gul (captain), Bakhtek, Gulab Khan, Fazal, Raja Zulfizar and Ghulam Abbas. This year NWFP Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hotiwas the chief guest and he gave away prizes to the players and winning team.


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Tell us about your self?

How did you start photography?

My name is Aamir Rashid and I am based in Rawalpindi. Basically I am associated with pharmaceutical business and do photography to express mylove with nature. I am an adventurer and traveler more than a photographer. I love to travel to places I consider magical and beautiful. Mountians aremy prime interest.

Since being traveling for a long time, I felt the need of sharing the beauty of nature and my feelings with others. Photography was probably the bestmedium for this communication. I started photography 6 years back in 2002.

Photographer Interview

Aamir Rashid

Profile:

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towards| |Pakistan issue 04 Photographers Interview10|

Any Particular education in photography?

What Equipment and camera are you using?

Which areas have you captured most?

No, I have not taken any particular education in photography. Much of what I've learned over the years has been self-taught. I'm an avid reader ofphotographic magazines and books. Seeing the work of other photographers also gives me a new insight into ways of recording the aestheticqualities of landscape and makes me realize what I'd been missing.

I am among the people who were the least ones to embrace digital. Until last year I was using my film cameras, 35 mm Nikon and Bronica 120 format.Now I am using Pentax K20D with 16-50mm and 70-200mm lenses and I still miss my film cameras.


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towards| |Pakistan issue 04 Photographers Interview

I have traveled extensively throughout Pakistan with my camera but my particular interest remains with the mountains. I have traveled to manymountainous areas of Pakistan including K2 base camp, Concordia, Gondogoro La, Deosai and Nanga Parbat and also Mount Everest region in Nepal,but the areas I captured most are Kaghan and Swat Valley.

Perhaps the most challenging work was in 2006 when I was amidst the world's highest mountains for the first time in life. This was K2 Concordia tripmade in August, 2006 with two of my friends. Concordia and Baltoro were an astonishingly different world, an immense sea of ice, boulders andmoraine surrounded by world's mightiest mountains. I always loved mountains and here the really big ones were in front of me. We spent many daysin extreme temperatures and returned back crossing the 18,000 ft Gondogoro La which was another thrill and adventure. This whole trip was not onlychallenging physically and mentally but also photographically. This whole trip was not only challenging physically and mentally but alsophotographically.

What is your most Challenging Work?

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What do you like most in your themes?

You have done some major work on Kaghan valley and have explored some hidden lakes over there? How you got to know about that?

Would you like to tell us regarding your book on Kaghan?

I like to capture the special moment when the true beauty of a location appears briefly. I like cloudscapes, sunbursts, magical rays of light, opticalphenomena like rainbows, dramatic sunsets and sunrises.

Well, many of the places and lakes were told by local people. Whenever I travel, I try to get as much as information about the area from the localpeople. But my recent discoveries of many lakes became possible by satellite imagery of Google Earth.photographically.

Yes, I am working on two books on Kaghan Valley in both languages, English and Urdu. Urdu book will be published in November,2008 Inshallah and

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after that I will work on the English book. These books contain the work I have done in the last five years in this valley. During these years I have beento the valley dozens of times in almost every time and season of the year. Moreover, the readers will also find information and pictures of many placesnever explored or photographed before.

No, I spend a very little time in post-production. I use Photoshop for only basic corrections and adjustments . . . No more tricks.

In future I have a very long list of some dream places I have to visit and photograph Inshallah. Other than Pakistan my dream places include Alaska,Taklamakan Desert, Guilin, Karakul Lake and Mastagh Ata, Amazon jungle, Patagonia and Antarctica.

Technical embellishments'. Do you spend a lot of time in post-production?

Future work

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HaramoshTrekPhotos and text by The Trekkerz


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towards| |Pakistan issue 04 Haramosh Trek15|

Planning for trek in the northern areas is always difficult keeping in view ourvacations, funds and members of team who are going with us, but moredifficult thing is to chose the place where we want to trek and this time it was

no exception.

After the trek of Ratti Gali in the may this year which was really difficultbecause of cold weather, we were thinking for comparatively easy trek likeNanga Parbat Rupal Face along with the jeep safari of Deosai and with thepassage of time some other places were also discussed by the managementand finally it was decided that Haramosh will be the ultimate trek for THETREKKERZ. Our Inspiration for this trek comes from Mr. Gulraiz Ghauri, thegreat name in the Pakistan photography, we met him for the Ratti Gali and headvised us that we should go for longer trek, and then we decided for theHaramosh Trek, We get most of information from internet and Flickr and wemet people who had already done this trek.

This time we had a group of fifteen members for this expedition whichinclude Tanwir Jogi working as Assistant Manager Purchase in Nishat MillsLimited, Fareed Gujjar working as Assistant Manager Shipping in Nishat MillsLimited, Abdul Khaliq Qaiser working as Regional Sales Manager in BASFPakistan, Imran Saeed working as Manager Shipping in Nishat Mills Limited,Nadeem Asif working as I. T. Department Head in Allied Motors, AbdulRehman Baig working in shipping Department of Nishat Mills Limited,Shabbir Ahmed working A. S. M of TNT Courier in Nawab Shah, Amir Bashir

working in an automation company, Ijaz Jahangir working as DeputyManager in U. S. Denim, Ijaz Iqbal working as AVP in UBL, Kamran Saeedworking as AVP in MCB, Imran Khalid working in the purchase Department ofNishat Mills Limited, Irfan Saeed, Rahat Khan doing their own business andMudassar who is a photographer by profession.

We hired a Toyota Hiace from Lahore for a week so that we can enjoy beingtogether in the private Van because public transport would not give us thatmuch liberty which we used to have in our own conveyance. At this momentwe had a problem that we have not enough seating capacity of fifteen


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people in the van with the luggage and we sent our leader by publictransport so that he can get first hand information and make necessaryarrangements.

Our team reached Sassi early in the morning around 4 AM and some peopletook rest there. Sassi is in the south of Gilget on the Skardu road and an hourdrive from Gilget. Sassi (or Sasli as described in the old maps and also Surveyof Pakistan Maps) is a small settlement on the road had no proper hotel butthere is only a Caf where you can have a cup of tea or some meal.

We also have breakfast there and took jeep from Jahangir which is solecontractor of Jeeps in Sassi. He charged us rupees twenty five hundred eachjeep for the return trip because of non availability of two jeeps at a time. Wewent to Dassu (or Dache) in two trips. Dassu is a proper village had a smallbazaar but there is no camping place in the Dassu, if someone wants to camphe had to get outside Dassu and walk for half an hour to get and good placefor camping.

Rain never stopped during our traveling, not only that day but rest of all dayson the trek we had constant rain which never left us. Jeeps took an hour toreach from Sassi to Dassu and Jahangir dropped outside Dassu Village.

Since our team was very tired because of two days and nights traveling buteven then we start trek after mid day otherwise people don't start trek after so

much traveling and a very hectic and dangerous jeep trek, although road isnot in good condition and there are very sharp turns but Jahangir's drivingmakes it more dangerous.

We hired porters there who were obviously relatives of Jahangir and theybehaved badly with us on the issue of payment, for which porters arenotorious in the northern area. It is advisable that amount shall be settledwith the porters on lump sum basis and if possible,Record all the dealing in cell phone or in the tape recorder or sign a writtencontract. As they decided with us on the camp basis which they said there will


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there will be three camps but after the trekthey make it five camps and hence amountwas almost doubled and in the end eventhey try to threaten us.

Trek starts with almost sixty degree verticalheight which is about hundred meter or soand then it is a gentle walk for two hours andmost part of this walk along with the waterchannel on footpath like trek, here aresettlement along the trek and there is noneed to get a guide, your porter can guideyou easily, after the water channel you haveto get down to cross a stream and then youhave climb up with the stream, an hourfurther walk takes you to Iskere Village (Iskere named the place where plenty offruits and it was proved since there weretasty and juicy apricots, Apples and Grapesalong the trek you can eat as much as youwish and free of charge, local people arevery friendly and they offer fruits verygenerously. People of Haramosh Valley arevery friendly and hospitable, but it is alwayssuggested that if people are offering

something to you, you should also showsame gratitude and respect for them byoffering medicines and chocolates or

sweets to their children which are rare species there. About one kilometer above the Iskere village there is a beautiful camping site where tons of firewood was also available. We pitched our five tents, three were our old tents and two were new. One of them was a problematic because it could not bearheavy rain of that night water get inside from the parachute so it is suggested that always bring double layer tents for these kind of Area where heavy raincan stuck you and camping could have been turned to a nightmare. This camping site is just below the Iskere Jungle under the pine trees and IskereVillage is just in front of you. There are stunning views of Dobani Peak which is visible from Iskere camping site, early in the morning it looks very beautiful.We had a night there and as already described that rain was there the whole night till morning. In the whole valley there is not hotel or restaurant but you

can get food from locals.


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Next day we decided that we shall camp on the Kutwal Lake and give plan to every member that our destination for that day is Kutwal Lake, no matterhow early or how late you reach there, take your time and just get there.

We start trek from Iskere and from outside the camping site after crossing a beautiful wooden bridge we had to negotiate a steep climb which was really

difficult and it took almost two hours to reach Mani Glacier, it is advisable that when you start trek from Iskere camp, keep drinking water with you as thereis no water till you reach at Glacier and in the glacier only porter can find water for you otherwise it is very difficult.

From Iskere Jungle and Mani Glacier there are some stunning views of Diran Peak (7270 Meters), Miar Peak (6824 Meters), Malubiting Peak (7450 Metes)and Haramosh Peak (7400 Meters). Mani Glacier is a rocky trek with patches of ice apparently it almost two kilometer area but it turned out most difficultpart of the trek as our two boys fell slipped from the rocks and Fareed just escaped from a stone which was thrown below by a fellow trekker, it was ahorrible experience to cross this glacier, after two and half hours trek, beautiful valley of Kutwal starts, with a beautiful pine forest and a small village withthe lush green meadows where cattle are grazing. After crossing village we there was heavy rain so we took shelter under an old big tree of Pine for half anhour.

From there a spectacular view of the valley can be seen and in the rain it was even more beautiful as everything was looking fresh. Outside the villagethere was natural ground and a jungle of small trees and walking there was a great experience, it is so gentle that one never wants to stop. Her we wereoffered traditional Lassi which was pure and very good in taste and we drink about a liter per person. At the end of that meadow after small hike we findbowl of Kutwal Lake which was not looking impressive under the clouds and but next day it was very colourful Mountains reflections were so beautiful inthe clear water and green colour of water was very attractive itself under the clear sky. On that day as weather was not clear so most of the peaks were alsoinvisible until late evening when Spantik Peak (Laila Peak) was unveiled fully along with the mountain range of Haramosh which was partially unveiled forsome time.

We enjoyed a lot as our two member did Kite Flying there, local people were also amazed to see match of Kite Flying in the Kutwal Valley as it was there firstexperience. In the evening we had a program of bon-fire which was sabotaged by the rain as usual and we had to go to our camps early that night afterthe dinner which was consists of Saag with butter (Butter was also given by the locals, it was wrapped in the paper like bark of Birch Tree.

On the sides of Kutwal lake in the green meadows there were so many goats and cows grazing Kutwal Lake is a bowl shape lake and one side is full of Birchtrees, we used Birch bark as fuel, and behind the Birch trees Mani glaciers can be seen getting down from the Haramosh Mountain and we have seen somevery heavy avalanches coming from the Haramosh Peak and one of them was massive as it was fallen for some ten minutes. That night was also under theheavy rain but morning was very clear because early in the morning I have seen first rays of sun on the Dobani Peak and it was really amazing view, at thesame time this view was reflected in the waters of Kutwal Lake, we took some of the most beautiful pictures of Kutwal lake at that time.

After break fast at Kutwal Lake we wait for men who went to see the base camp of Laila Peak which was an hour walk from the lake. Third day we had giventime to Jahangir for the return to Sassi from Dassu and we had to descend in one day from Kutwal Valley to Dassu Village which we make successfully. Itwas all fun to get down as there were no steep climbs and we ate fruits in the way and again this was great experience to walk along the water channel on

good footpath like way. And we get in the evening in the Sassi from where we had to go to Astore and then Rama Valley.


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Text by Yasir Nisar, Photos by Ittiqa Abbas & Rizwan Ghias

The Black RobedKalash PeopleThe Black Robed

Kalash People


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towards| |Pakistan issue 04 Kalash Valleys21|

Located in the North West frontier province of Pakistan, the Kalash people live in three isolated mountain valleys: Bumboret, Rumbur and Birir. The region isextremely fertile, covering the mountainside in rich oak forests and allowing for intensive agriculture, despite the fact that most of the work is done not bymachinery, but by hand. The powerful and dangerous rivers that flow through the valleys have been harnessed to power grinding mills and to water the

farm fields through the use of ingenious irrigation channels. Wheat, maize, grapes (generally used for wine), apples and walnuts are among the manyfoodstuffs grown in the area, along with surplus fodder used for feeding the livestock.


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The Kalasha are a tribe of about 4,000, found in the Chitral District in North-West Frontier Province, onthe western edge of Pakistan and represents an isolated non mulsim group in the Hindu Kush mountainrange of Pakistan. They are unique among the tribes of the Hindu Kush in one respect: to this day theyhave resisted conversion to Islam. (Pakistan is 98 percent Muslim.) Instead they practice a form ofHinduism. Across the border is Afghanistan, they lived in a region called Kafirastan (Land of the infidels).In 1896 they converted to Islam and their territory is renamed as Nooristan (Land of the Enlightened).On Pakistan side, Kalasha practice their religion and costumes more freely, mainly in three valleys ofRumber, Bamburet and Birir, termed as Kalasha Trilogy by A J Sherazi.

During the 1950s several Kalasha villages were forcibly converted to Islam on grounds of the supposed"immorality" of the women. Since then other forms of antagonism have grown up between Kalashaand the surrounding Muslims. Recently the situation has somewhat improved through the building ofschools in some valleys, which Kalasha children can attend. In the late 1970s some roads were also builtinto the area. As a result there has been an increase in tourism and timber exploitation, which have not

really benefited the Kalasha thus far.

Despite their Mediterranean looks, the origin of Kalasha remains obscure. The myth of some Greeksoldiers living with the Kalasha people is being tested by historians on account of scientific basis. Somecope up with a genetic research that Kalasha carry 25% of R2 gene which is a typically local gene ofPakistan. Thus they relate their origin to Indo Aryan migration of 1500BC. They maintain that languageof Kalasha has nothing in common with the Greek language but originated from Dardic branch of IndoAryan languages spoken in Pakistan.

Kalasha religion is a complex polytheistic web with a single dominant creator dezau or Khodai. Many

minor gods acts as messengers between Dezau and Kalasha people. Traditionally the dead are notburied rather a corpse is placed on the ground in a wooden coffin. Wooden effigies are carved out forthe rich and placed near the corpse to ward off evil spirits. Only the rich can afford this as wood carving isvery expensive. Most of these totems are stolen, some are bought by anthropologists and some bywealthy tourists. Like many tribal cultures, Kalasha look at nature with fear and hope. They askpermission from many gods and goddesses to use their land and water. Mahandeo guards crops andanimals and goddess Jestak cares for home and family matters. Two main religious principles of Onjesta(pure) and Pragata (impure) seem to originate from Vedic religion that flourished in the area some 3000years ago. Kalasha believe that opening in the house roof, for light connects heaven and earth througha mythological iron pillar. The Kalasha also have a bizarre belief that chickens will bring the demise of


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their people. Consequently, no Kalasha person keeps chickens, althougheating chicken or eggs seems to be acceptable!

The people farm wheat and millet and live in dark, multi storey mud houseswhich are set into the hillside. Women have a quite a different status toMuslim women in Pakistan: they are allowed to leave their husbands at will inorder to live with another man (although they are not allowed to take theirchildren with them).

Kalasha lives in tightly clustered houses, mainly due to their small numbersand a deep sense of insecurity arising from centuries old isolation. Women domost of the agriculture work while men maintain a sophisticated system ofwater channels and political matters. Kalasha grow corn, bean and potatoes.Women are mostly considered impure and special houses called Bashli orBashalini are made for them to stay in isolation during pregnancy and


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menstruation. These are considered shrines of goddess Dezalik, who looks after births. Men don't go near them during this period. Some men don'teven go near their women till two months after the childbirth.

A dominant aspect of Kalasha tribes is their traditional black robes. Clothes signify independence. The ceremonial colored headdress worn by womenis called Kupas. It is decorated with embroidery, shells and colored threads and hangs down at the back. Another popular headdress is called shushut

while the black woolen or cotton robes are called Pirhan. Kalasha women braid their hair in five plaits; two on each side and one in front. A colored patti(waistband) is also tied around the waist. They adore themselves by wearing red, yellow and orange necklaces. Men also wear black but these days theyare seen attired in white wollen or cotton trousers called Boodt. They distinguish themselves from other men by wearing a feather in their woolen caps.

The Kalasha people are a proudly non Muslim tribe. Kalasha celebrate their festivals with great zest. Their worshipping ceremonies differ by havingdance as an important component and their women wear a head dress of brightly coloured beads which is perhaps more reminiscent of African tribesthan anything seen in this part of the world. They have their particular religious ceremonies accompanied by music, dance and local wine. Springfestivals dedicated to future harvests is Chilam Josh or Joshi. It happens on second week of May while the summer festival is Uchau which includes


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night dancing. It happens in mid August. The biggest Kalasha festival isChaumous which takes place for 10 days in Mid December. Entire Kalashatribes sing and dance and move around in great spirit and jubilation.

Kalasha, the wearers of the Black Robes, are guardians of their ancientanimistic culture. Now more open to outside exposure and in wake of recentwar on terrorism, their identity faces fundamental issues and cultural threats.They are fighting to preserve their originality against forces of modernity.Winds of change affect their economic and spiritual independence. Theirtraditional lifestyle is struggling against ravages of urbanization. Kalasha

needs attention.


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Deosai PlainsText by Tariq Hameed Sulemani, Photos by Tariq Hameed Sulemani & Farid Gujjar


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towards| |Pakistan issue 04 Deosai Plains27|

World's highest plains, Deosai, are the Eden of tourists and their dream. It takesthree hours in a Jeep from Skardu to Deosai. I t is accessible, generally from Julyto August because the roads are blocked due to land sliding and heavysnowfall for the rest of the year. Skardians come to know the accessibility of the

root when Gujjar Shepherds take their cattle to Sadpara, a village of Deosai, insummer. The Gujjars take their cattle from Jhelum and its surroundings todifferent hillsides and finally to Baltistan via Deosai plains. They spend theirentire life as wanderers. Winter, they spend on plains and summer time isconsumed on hillsides. These Punjabi speaking Gujjars carry with themthousands of sheep and horses. They trade wool and milk of these animals. In anutshell, when first of these Gujjars reach Skardu through Deosai, Skardiansstart using that route. But now a good and wide road is being constructed withthe help of American government. When it completed, it is hoped that theroad will be accessible at least in summer (InshaAllah). Starting from Skardu

and, Deosai as the destination, the first thing you will see will be Ali Malik Top.From here begins the actual Deosai plains. Spreading on an area of 85X45 sqkm, 13000 ft high, these plains are so beautiful that their charming beauty inenchants you. The moment you reach there you will find a special and rare sortof clouds, which are characteristic of Deosai. Such a color and formation willnot be found elsewhere. You will find these clouds very close to you at timesbut really far away from one another. You will encounter contrasting rain andsunshine on the road to Deosai. Such weather is a characteristic of Deosai.

The most strange and impressive thing of Deosai is the flowerbed ofthousands of kind that are stretching throughout the plain. You will findflowers wherever you let your sight run. And the real joy is that they differ fromeach other at every passing kilometer. You won't find the same type over andover again.

Badapani and Kalapani :The two big rivers of Deosai are the sources of pure, cool and sweet water. YourJeep would pass over a wooden bridge, built on Badapani, which will leave agreat impression on your mind. This bridge is the specialty of the Badapani. Theother river is Kalapani and your vehicle will pass through it.


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towards| |Pakistan issue 04 Deosai Plains28|

Burji La:The coldest and highest spot is Burji Laa Top. 4800m high, this Top is at a placefrom where K-2, Broad peak, Gasherbroom, Masha broom and many otherhigh peaks can be viewed. Burji La is not accessible through Jeep but two days'

hiking from Ali Malik Top will take you there.

Sheosar Lake:It is the most beautiful lake of Deosai from a tourist point of view. You really feellike fairies are coming down to earth; such beautiful and relaxing this lake is....And this blue watered lake is even more beautified by the grass and ice-capedmountains. It has been officially announced as tourism center of Deosai.

Brown Bears:There in Deosai, exsist rare specie of moderate sized brown bears. WWF is

taking steps to protect this endangered animal. The increasing number oftourist is restricting the habitat of these animals that are migrating tosurrounding mountains. These mountains do not meet with their food and liferequirements. Thus this organization is trying (since many years from now) togive these animals some protection.

Marmot (Tarshoon):With an appearance of some cross breed of rabbit and mice, this animal isfound on places above than 10000 ft from sea level. This animal is a little biggerthan rabbit in size. Marmot is a harmless and a shy kind of animal, which

vanishes immediately, into his hole, on sight of a man. It takes leaves and rootsas food.

It must be said that Deosai is really cold at nights and the sky also cries icesometimes. Thus it is recommended that warm clothes must occupy somespace in tourists' backpack.


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Snow Lakeexclusive

Text & Photos by M. Kamran


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towards| |Pakistan issue 04 Snow Lake30|

exclusiveSnow lake is a dream of every trekker and we were traveling to make this dream come true. First traveling from Sialkot to Skardu, and then buying from theSkardu bazaar to complete all the requirements resulted in over weight. Everybody was enjoying but we knew the worries behind it. Snow lake is a dreadeddream. Other than north pole it's the biggest glacier on earth containing two grand glaciers of the world Biafo and Hasper, but snow lake's love wasdominant than the fear of these two glaciers on us. We tried to gather sunshine of Skardu as we knew that it'll be helpful for us while traveling in vast icytracks of Snow lake. We hired a porter and started journey in jeep in the morning and reached Askole at 3 pm, we arranged another porter and after some

walk we reached Qaiser ground, where we had our first camp.

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From here two most beautiful tracks of the worldstart K2 and Snow Lake. K2 track is quite busy asarmy is deployed there and many tourists fromdifferent nationalities come here. But Snow lake islonely track, people are afraid of going there. After

Qaiser ground there was sky high elevation, fromthere we had a first look of Biafo, it was a hauntingview, so many huge cracks, you can't even look atthat, rather to cross them. Cracks widened and youare gone in the depths of snow. But we were notthat much worried as we planned to travel on theedge. At last a spot came from where we entered inthis great glacier, and we had to travel for six days tocross those dreaded cracks. Nobody knows thedepths of those cracks. Before coming here we

heard that just the beginning of the track is difficultafter that everything is fine, but that proved to bewrong, every single step was dangerous. And itproved everyday as we continued on the track.Before evening we reached Nimla, it was beautifulcamping site full of wonderful flowers. In front ofthat there was scary view of Biafo, and behind werethe monstrous rocks which resembled some castleof Kohkaf, haunting and out of reach. Next day weheaded towards Shunfing, it was long and tiringday. Whole day of this traveling was passedcrossing dangerous cracks. One of our comrades,Mr. Shakil felt in one of them, I and our porterAsghar rescued him. In the evening we reachedShanfung, next day we had a little enjoy walk atBiantha, some friends practiced rope up there, aswe had to travel there with ropes, as some placesare covered with soft ice and you can fall in thedepths, as they were hidden under soft specks.

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We continued next morning from Bianfat and came to Biafo glacier andstarted our journey to Snow lake. Before evening we had to reachMarphogoro, we were expecting to see four peaks of Latok. And we sawthem before noon; they are really beautiful. Before evening we reachedMarphogor and there were many surprises waiting for us. One was

Marpho tower, so high that u can't see even the peak of it. And the otherwas bank of stream passing from there. The stream was so vast that itlooked like a beach of an ocean. We gathered some sunshine from there.It looked like a wonder land; there were some other towers as well. It wasso unbelievable that words can't describe it, just the feeling of beingthere made us breathless. Its morning was also spell casting as theenvironment and the place was breathtaking. Today we had to reachKarphoghoro, it was our last day at Biafo, though we suffered a lot ofdifficulties because of it, but it gave a great experience. Till 2 pm wereached Karfoghoro, there was splendid view of the rocks, unbelievable

view, we saw some anonymous twin peaks, whose view was on our leftside for the last two days. There were many lakes around that whosewater was so clean and blue that you can't imagine, we took our mealsand entered our camps as at 11 pm as we had to start our track. As in theday time snow is melted and sometimes soft, our guide arranged threeteams, which had to move with little distance between them. If one ofthem is in trouble others should be there to rescue.

We started our journey in the lights of head torches. But when we wereout of bolders we switched off our lights. As it was 14th of moon andsnow lake was really glittering in the light of moon. It was really

wonderful and we couldn't even realize when we crossed that part. Itwas cold paradise decorated by moonlight. At last with the rising sun theview became more beautiful with sunrise spreading all over. Then thisblue light started turning into reddish light with little clouds makinggreat view. Before sunrise we reached Hisper pass base camp. Fromthere we saw Snow lake waking up. What a beautiful view it was. Therewere beautiful mountains all around the Snow lake as they wereprotecting it. But despite of these guards we were there to see theeternal beauty of Snow lake. Suddenly there were black clouds and ourleader Khuram cancelled the decision of camping and decided to move

forward.

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We ate some chocolates and headed towards top. After reaching topwe thanked God and celebrated. For all of us it was the first pass above5000 metres. Height of Hisper top is 5150 meters. Sky was covered withclouds and we started descending, at the same time it startedsnowing. We hardly reached Lini base, snowfall was so severe that we

stayed at camps. We were all dead tired, it was 17 hours track which wecovered before reaching top. It was our first camp at glacier. It snowedwhole night and it continued for the next four days. But we continuedour journey.

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exclusiveNext day we shifted to the mountain on our right side as glacier wasfilled with cracks not safe for traveling, they are deadly cracks. Next daywe reached Khani basa it's a beautiful camping site full of flowers.There were so many flowers that we couldn't find a place to camp, sowe had to camp on them. At night it started heavy snowfall thateverything was covered with snow, so we started track late, and wecamped at some anonymous place, then we headed towards red starcamp, from there we headed towards Dachgan. It's a very difficulttrack every step is filled with difficulties and its nature varied. Glaciersafter Hisper top are more difficult than Biafo glacier. We reachedBitanmill after Dachgan it was the first camping site after Hisper top.There was no signs of any snow at that place rather vast beautifulgreen fields were there and in them animals were grazing. We

celebrated there; as it was our last night there.

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Hisper village is beautiful and lonely village. Its green fields were sorefreshing. We took off our shoes and relaxed in those beautiful fieldsunder the trees' shadows. Happiness was reflected from our faces, at lastwe reached the place from where we belong, I mean human world. Therewas a bad news waiting for us, that road is closed and we had to travel to

Horo on foot. This day long track was the toughest of all. Actually we werefinished with our journey mentally, From Hisper to Horo its barren and softmountain with no greenery and water, so boring it was. But please staywith us as horo's lassi is really cold and tasty.

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MobknginPaksanTextandphotosbySheenKua

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towards| |Pakistan issue 04 Motorbiking in Pakistan39|

At last I'm on the Khunjerab Pass (4700m above sea level) and looking downPakistan's KK highway. It's just great to be here as it's a biker's dream. Why?? TheKK ride is not an ordinary experience. It's difficult to come from the Chinese side,and if a biker does start on the KK from the Pakistan side, he/she still needs toclimb 850km or at least 4 full days riding on a rough, uneven and dangerousroad that has been carved out of rugged unstable mountains. The risk oflandslides and rock falls is present at all times - the locals just shrug at this - God'swill they say. Hats off to the Pakistan workers who built and maintain thismajestic road.

Its almost casual atmosphere 80km down at Sost where the customs & visaformalities are done. For my bike entry it took 10 minutes to get the correctstamps. Welcome to Pakistan, you can go now. It's just so easy. The customseven offered tea; it's from here I teamed up the next 2 days with Lili, a Swiss riderand traveler, to ride South along the KK into the Hunza Valley.

I find the abrupt and even brutal landscape of the Hunza valley beautiful. Thevalley is peaceful and calm with lots of trails for trekking. The locals smile andwave to greet visitors. Even the Pakistanis of other regions say the Hunza peopleare a really nice lot. If there were media reports of trouble somewhere inPakistan, it certainly isn't here. Too bad I'm traveling a bit fast through here. It'sworth a re-visit with these kind and nice folks and to drink tea with them maybe some day.

My plan was to stay for a few days in Gilgit and make day trips into the

surrounding mountain area. Three days later, I headed westwards at 6amfollowing the Gilgit river upstream intending to reach Shandur Pass (3500mtrsabove sea level) some 8 hrs ride away. It's up in the plains at Shandur Pass wherethe famous polo competition takes place in July every year between the townsof Gilgit and Chitral. It 's such a serious rivalry must see and be there event forpeople in the region. Unlike the Hunza valley, the Gilgit valley is less abrupt, butstill very impressive. I never did make it to Shandur Pass after a petrol station'spump (whose pressure was unregulated) burst the top seams of the fuel tank.Luckily I found the young mechanic Didar Ali who managed to dismantle andseal it back nicely after an hour's work. Although Didar did not speak any English,

he refused to accept any money for the job saying through his friend translator

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Raja Abid that I was a guest in his area, and instead offered me a cold drink. I couldn't thank him enough because it was to me, a major bike problem.

The road follows the river upstream and there were a number of villages located by the river banks. They seemed so peaceful and the villagers are oftencurious enough to come out to talk to me - like when the men and children at Phander came to visit my campground parked in their scenic peacefulbackyard. That evening I had the best sleep in my tent since China.

Marc de Jong, the Dutch biker, whom I rode with in Iran, was on his way up the KK to Gilgit with another biker called Yves Besancon. We agree to meet uphere. It's a bikers' and hikers' world in North Pakistan. In some of the photo shoots there are roads or jeep trails running up between the mountains. At thefriendly Madina guesthouse (a home away from home) in Gilgit where I stayed a week, I met keen hikers who came from all over to trek and explore thesurrounding mountains. They tell of stories of riding in jeeps on cliff hanging dirt tracks no larger than the jeeps themselves, joy of long walks in themountains, camping out with the shepherds, staying at base camps, walking on glaciers, etc and the scenery. The scenery near the top, everyone saidwas just awesome. Beats being at work, some added. And I'm lying in bed.

There are some bikers out there adventuring but I hardly meet them while out on the road. Then Marc, my Dutch riding partner rode up the KK to Gilgitfrom Lahore to join me and the French rider Yves Besancon did so the following day. That makes 4 bikers when Lili joined us for a drink.

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Yves left to ride up the Khunjerab Pass. The next day Marc & me, we took our time to ride a few km together, then he headed north with another travelerShuyun as pillon towards Khunjerab, and I headed south direction India. The weather was hot and sweaty on the southern KK which snaked rightalongside the fast flowing Indus River beneath. The scenery is spectacular - not easily captured on photos - on some sections the KK highway is so highlooking steep down the Indus River and the colorful and decorated trucks carrying supplies up & down the KK. Folks, this is great art and passion -someone told me some of the drivers put all hard earned money into the dcor.

It had rained heavily further down the KK, and when that happens, nobody moves due to the danger of landslides and rock falls. By the time I got throughthe sandstorm at Chilas (witnessed rubbish, papers & plastic bottles flying all over the town) and arrived at Becham that evening, I had passed through anumber scenes where mud and rock still covered the KK with water gushing down from the mountains. Not a good sign and time to be riding on the road.At one section, I was the first to arrive from my side just minutes after tons of rocks had slided down onto the KK and into the Indus River far below. Thepassengers of the 4 vehicles arriving from the opposite side were already busy trying to evacuate the rocks down the cliff so that they can continue theirjourney. From what I can see the danger of further rock fall was still there. This did not bother the Pakistanis at all and some of them even stood right on theedge of the road on the loose rocks. They must have got so used to such danger - the Indiana Jones of the KK. They just laughed when I said I preferred towait a little before crossing.

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Soon they cleared 30 cms next to the edge and said you can cross safely now, no problem, just don't look down. Yes, I've heard that before - noproblem. So off I jumped onto the bike and unlike the previous river crossings, this time I took my time. Not like in the movies. Relieve, was the word when Imade the few meters across, and walked back to thank these brave people for their assistance. They even said they did not need my help to clear the rocks.

Thus the KK story ends after enjoying 1000km of it. I rode into Rawalpindi and stayed 2 more days after landing up somewhere in the city centre. Unlike the

northern part of Pakistan, here in the south women are once again seen out in the streets window shopping, working in boutiques, eating out inrestaurants, etc. I even found some western fast-food restaurants!!

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There is only one official border crossing between Pakistan and India which is the Wahgah Pakistan / Attari India crossing near Lahore. And I managedattend the famous border ceremony (well, actually I arrived late as usual to the border after it had closed some hours earlier and Pakistanis officials weregiving out VIP front row seats to foreigners). Silly me, but I just did not understand why both countries are proudly parading their war dance at theceremony. I am sure there are many like me who wish there are no need for any gates at all at the border.

Towards Pakistan

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