8/2/2019 Monal Pass Trek With ASG
1/10
Monal Pass Trek & back via Saidpur Trek Page 1
ASG Hike from Trail-3 Car Park to Monal Pass and
back via Saidpur Ridge
(Start Coordinates: 3344'32''N 7304'56''E)
(Shaikh Muhammad Ali)
3D Google Map of the entire Hike: Maximum Trek Elevation 3,806 Feet
All the pathos and irony of leaving ones youth behindis thus implicit in every joyous moment of travel: oneknows that the first joy can never be recovered, and the
wise traveler learns not to repeat successes but tries newplaces all the time.Paul Fussell
http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,12084,1272672,00.htmlhttp://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,12084,1272672,00.htmlhttp://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,12084,1272672,00.html8/2/2019 Monal Pass Trek With ASG
2/10
Monal Pass Trek & back via Saidpur Trek Page 2
When you buy a book, you make a valuable contribution towards improving
your society; by becoming part of the chain that starts with you, linking the
bookseller to the printer to the publisher and finally to the writerthe ultimate
spokesman of our collective intellect. When you read, you make invaluable
contribution to your personal growth.
Many a times my friends & fans ask me as to how do I conceive the material towrite and my answer is simple. First I love to travel, and then I read a lot so you
need a place to travel and then you need a plot to write about it. For writing,
you need a thought process and a treasury of vocabulary to go with it. The
supposed simplicity that is reflected in my travel writing was what I learned from
Robert Fulghumwho I read some 25 years ago and the philosophy is borrowed
fromPaulo Coelhoswriting and since I keep reading, my mind keeps working
and since I keep travelling to new places; I thus keep writing to let my readers
know as to how wonderful this world is and what beautiful and serene places
exist around us. We just need to open our Baseerat Ki Aankh read The InnerEye.
We must never forget that spiritual experience is above all a practical
experience of love. And with love, there are no rules. The heart decides, and
what it decides is all that really matters. The more we love, the closer we come
to spiritual experience. Those who are truly enlightened, those whose souls are
illuminated by love, have been able to overcome all of the inhibitions and
preconceptions of their era. Sooner or later, we have to overcome our fears,
because the spiritual path can only be travelled through the daily experience of
love.
To love is to be in communion with the other and to discover in that other the
spark of God. At any given moment in our lives, there are certain things that
could have happened but didnt. The magic moments go unrecognized, and
then suddenly the hand of destiny changes everything.
Before I get carried away by my philosophical thoughts, lets come back to the
topic of this article. I was again invited by the Coordinator ofASGi.e. Ahtesham
Raja (who is also a colleague at HEC) to accompany them for a new hike in theMargalla Hills. On the 18th March 2012, we were expected to meet up at the
car park of theTrail-3of the Margalla Hills and thus trek from here to the Monal
Pass and return via theSaidpurvillage trek.
Adil, Mohsin and I planned to join them while leaving Mamma & Ayesha behind
since we were forewarned that although this trek was not very steep but the
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Fulghumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Fulghumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paulo_Coelhohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paulo_Coelhohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paulo_Coelhohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paulo_Coelhohttp://www.asianstudygroup.org/http://www.asianstudygroup.org/http://www.asianstudygroup.org/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margalla_Hillshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margalla_Hillshttp://www.scribd.com/doc/85623465/Hiking-on-Trail-3-Islamabad/http://www.scribd.com/doc/85623465/Hiking-on-Trail-3-Islamabad/http://www.scribd.com/doc/85623465/Hiking-on-Trail-3-Islamabad/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saidpur,_Islamabadhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saidpur,_Islamabadhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saidpur,_Islamabadhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saidpur,_Islamabadhttp://www.scribd.com/doc/85623465/Hiking-on-Trail-3-Islamabad/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margalla_Hillshttp://www.asianstudygroup.org/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paulo_Coelhohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Fulghum8/2/2019 Monal Pass Trek With ASG
3/10
Monal Pass Trek & back via Saidpur Trek Page 3
walk was rather long and was for 5 km one way. The other reason that I decided
to join was that we would actually be doing two treks i.e. by ascending through
the Trail-3 and descending via Saidpur Ridge.
After saying myFajrprayers, I woke the kids up at 7:00 a.m. and by 8:00 a.m. we
were having breakfast at a Dhaba close to our house.
(Adil & Mohsin waiting for breakfast)
After having a lavish ChaiParathabreakfast, we reached the rendezvous
around 8:45 a.m. where only three hikers had reached. Slowly and gradually
around 21 people joined the group and we started the hike about 9:16 a.m.
after taking a group picture.
(The ASG trekkers group)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fajrhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fajrhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fajrhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhabahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhabahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhabahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parathahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parathahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parathahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parathahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhabahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fajr8/2/2019 Monal Pass Trek With ASG
4/10
Monal Pass Trek & back via Saidpur Trek Page 4
As usual, the group divided into the fast hikers, the medium pacers and the tail
enders. Adil & Mohsin joined the first group which was being supervised by Mr.
Zaheer Uddin Khawaja, the General Secretary ofASGalthough initially I was in
the medium pacers but later joined the tail enders which comprised of four of
us. Around 9:30 a.m. I was able to capture this scenic view.
(A beautiful view of the Judges Enclave from the Margalla Hills)
By 9:53 a.m., the first group had already reached the first stop and took their 10
minutes water break.
(Adil & Mohsin taking their first water break with the leading group)
This group also comprised of three foreigners who were constantly being briefed
by their local counterparts.
http://www.asianstudygroup.org/http://www.asianstudygroup.org/http://www.asianstudygroup.org/http://www.asianstudygroup.org/8/2/2019 Monal Pass Trek With ASG
5/10
Monal Pass Trek & back via Saidpur Trek Page 5
(The 1st group enjoying their water breaks)
Although, I thought that we would all stop at the View point but since the 1st
group had already by-passed us much faster and were almost at a 10 minutelead from us, therefore we did not stop at the View point and thus I took this
picture around 10:22 a.m. of the view point.
(A snapshot of the View Point)
By almost 10:43 a.m., I had reached half the distance with my two mates while
the third gentleman somehow decided to join the first group. Rather than plainhiking, our group was now doing more of a slow nature walking and was
enjoying thefloraandfaunaof theMargalla Hillsat this time of the year.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flora_of_Pakistanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flora_of_Pakistanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flora_of_Pakistanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fauna_of_Pakistanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fauna_of_Pakistanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fauna_of_Pakistanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margalla_Hillshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margalla_Hillshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margalla_Hillshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margalla_Hillshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fauna_of_Pakistanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flora_of_Pakistan8/2/2019 Monal Pass Trek With ASG
6/10
Monal Pass Trek & back via Saidpur Trek Page 6
(After covering half the trek, I am posing at the 2.5 km marker)
From this marker, we could see the Fire Trail and had noticed that the first
group had ascended to the top via this trail but we decided somehow to ignorethis and further continued on the Trail-3 trek.
(The Fire-Trail as seen from the 2.5 km marker)
We were now lagging behind the first group by some good 20 minutes but we
were in no hurry to reach the top. By 12:02 p.m. we could see the Monal
Restaurant from the top but had already left Romano Karim (one of our mates)
behind. He somehow started walking slowly while I was in a hurry to join my two
young brats who had already reached Monal Restaurant and were feasting
on juices there with the rest of the group.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pir_Sohawahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pir_Sohawahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pir_Sohawahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pir_Sohawahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pir_Sohawahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pir_Sohawa8/2/2019 Monal Pass Trek With ASG
7/10
Monal Pass Trek & back via Saidpur Trek Page 7
(A panoramic view of Monal Restaurant from the Antenna Point)
Although I was happy to see Adil and Mohsin relaxing with the rest of the group
but was concerned about Romano who still had not arrived even after a lapseof good 10 minutes. I excused myself from the group and went back looking for
him behind the restaurant and slightly inched towards the exit point overlooking
the Antenna point but Romano was nowhere to be seen. Adil & Mohsin later
joined me and we waited again for another 10 minutes but still we could not
find Romano.
TheASGgroup had already left while after waiting for Romano, the three of us
also started to descend with a heavy heart without him. By 12:44 p.m. we were
already on the descent route to the Saidpur trek.
(My young guns on the way back)
http://www.asianstudygroup.org/http://www.asianstudygroup.org/http://www.asianstudygroup.org/http://www.asianstudygroup.org/8/2/2019 Monal Pass Trek With ASG
8/10
Monal Pass Trek & back via Saidpur Trek Page 8
By 1:00 p.m. we were way into the steep Saidpur ridge and were descending at
a faster pace. Although, initially we were having a hard time sticking to the right
path but thanks to the locals who off and on guided us on the way back.
(Mohsin & I enjoying water break while Adil took this picture)
By 1:55 p.m., we had reached a natural spring on this particular trek and
enjoyed the pure spring water to our hearts content.
(Rejuvenated after having water from the natural spring)
We were about half hour away from Saidpur when we took this picture.
8/2/2019 Monal Pass Trek With ASG
9/10
Monal Pass Trek & back via Saidpur Trek Page 9
(Adil and Mohsin enjoying the comradeship)
About 2:30 p.m. we touched theSaidpurvillage and were already exhausted
since the day had grown warmer. We passed through the entire village whilethe village kids stared at us and by 2:40 p.m. we had reached the end of the
village.
(The Saidpur village behind us)
This was the most boring part of the hike since our car was parked at the car
park of the Trail-3 and we had to walk for almost another km to reach the car,rather exhausted. Although, the children wanted to reach home fast but I just
dropped dead at the Trail-3 kiosk and ordered a hot cup of tea while the
children feasted on some juices. We also ate our remaining sandwiches,
phoned home that we had reached the car park and would take another half
hour to reach home.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saidpur,_Islamabadhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saidpur,_Islamabadhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saidpur,_Islamabadhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saidpur,_Islamabad8/2/2019 Monal Pass Trek With ASG
10/10
Monal Pass Trek & back via Saidpur Trek Page 10
It was a pleasant surprise to see that a Pajero rolled over into the car park and
out came Romano with a friend who had dropped him here to fetch his motor
bike. The children were overwhelmed to meet him again and he informed us
that once he lost us, instead of coming towards the restaurant; caught a cab
and came down to a friends house in F-6. His friend later dropped him here. We
shared notes and apologized for the goof up for which we were not even
responsible but with a happy ending, we came back home to a warm bath and
a lovely late lunch while conquering another two treks and adding two more
feathers to our cap.
I would like to leave my readers with a thought that past and future only exist in
our mind. The present moment, though is outside of time, its eternity. The great
lessons that I learned had been precisely those that my journeys had taught me.
Well, the truth is, Ive always travelled like a mad thing, ever since I was a young
man. Travel is never a matter of money, but of courage and no life is complete
without a touch of madness. Au Revoir!
Shaikh Muhammed AliThe Wandering DervishE-mail:[email protected]: +00-92-321-5072996
8th April 2012, 7:45 p.m. (PST)
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/profile.php?id=554425819http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/profile.php?id=554425819mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/profile.php?id=554425819Top Related