Pakistan in Pictures

Abu Zolfiqar · Nov 7, 2011

me and some friends ventured out there (admittedly yes, in 4x4s) some years back

suffice to say, i fully 100% agree with you about the trash. We used to bring a bunch of plastic bags and we'd bring our trash with us all the way back to Peshawar.

we have to preserve the natural beauty of the place; and that means picking up after oneself. I do agree that vehicles also do damage to the local environment. They should perhaps make specific zones where off-roading is permitted

krash · Nov 8, 2011

Abu Zolfiqar said:
me and some friends ventured out there (admittedly yes, in 4x4s) some years back

suffice to say, i fully 100% agree with you about the trash. We used to bring a bunch of plastic bags and we'd bring our trash with us all the way back to Peshawar.

we have to preserve the natural beauty of the place; and that means picking up after oneself. I do agree that vehicles also do damage to the local environment. They should perhaps make specific zones where off-roading is permitted

Sir, forget about my backpack, I swear when ever I get back all my pockets, of every piece of clothing that I take, are filled with cigarette *****, chocolate wrappers, tissue paper etc and only half of it belongs to me. People see it as obsessive and crazy I see it as the foremost responsibility for having been allowed into those places. Those places are beyond just beautiful, breathtaking or stunning. As Iv said before they knock all your bloody senses right out of you. The least we can do in gratitude is to leave them as we found them i.e. clean, wild and beautiful. Every time I go there I thank God that not every fat, middle aged buffoon can just load his three kids up in his corolla and drive them up there. Had our north been anything like Nepal we would be finding coke bottles at K2 base camp and bubble gum wrappers at Rush lake. Furthermore thankfully the locals up there are sensible enough to diligently keep the places clean. Those blessed souls quickly pick up any thing you throw away.

Off-roading is ok as long as one doesnt over do it. For example the government or the locals could have easily disallowed any vehicles from going beyond the point where the star hotel is (one of the only three hotels just before driving down to Saifulmalook. I could be mistaking the name though). Its an easy 2 min walk down to the lake from there. The hundreds of jeeps going up there every day are destroying the place.

Ill share one example with you of what these places truly hold and what their value is to the sane and responsible. In 2007 I was on a camping trekk to Concordia and Gondogorola (sadly three people got sick and forced us back before we could reach K2 case camp). We had a Japanese couple, a German couple and three of us with two guides and seven porters. The Japanese couple and the German husband told us that it had been their life long dream of catching a glimpse of K2. The German had been saving money for five years for this trek. They told us how lucky we were to have these unimaginably beautiful places in our country. The German woman told us that she had been dragged into this trip by her husband and was not excited until she reached Chillas. From Chillas onward she had only been crying because of what she saw.
K2 stays hidden behind other mountains until the last part of the trek. After eight days of trekking K2 finally crept out from behind a mountain on our left. This was the first time any of us had ever stood in front of the monster. All seven of us started crying like little girls. The Japanese couple fell into prostration to K2 and we three towards west. We just couldnt believe what we were witnessing. Anyway getting ourselves back together we moved on. Then our guide stopped and started peeing while facing K2. The German walked upto him, smacked him hard on his leg with his hiking pole and said "How dare you pee while facing that mountain you idiot! Iv traveled thousands of miles just to look at it!". This is how much people value these places while we destroy them when ever we get our hands on them.

Im sorry for the long post. I tend to keep on blabbering about these places.

And a pic I took from out last camp site:

VCheng · Nov 8, 2011

I used to go to Thandiani for hikes all the time. The last time I went there after a gap of 12 years, I was shocked to see the amount of garbage strewn about just about everywhere. Very disappointing.

People have to be taught to take care of their own national treasures, for once spoiled, they are gone forever.

aks18 · Nov 17, 2011

krash said:
Id rather first bar many Pakistanis (read: Dimwitted, polluting, senseless, shameless, uneducated, ill-mannered and careless retards who ruin everything they touch) from making frequent trips to the north. Pardon my french but my blood boils when I see whats happened to Naran. There was a time when the road to Naran was barely Jeep-able. Back then you had a hard time spotting any sort of trash anywhere. The famous posters that you see of Saif-ul-Malook are from that time. Then they built a beautiful road from Balakot to Naran. Naran now, though still breathtakingly beautiful, has started to show signs of fatigue from the swarm of idiots that invade it every summer. You wont find the picturesque grassy banks around the lake anymore. The northern bank now is nothing but dust and dirt from all the food stalls and the jeeps parked there. And then theres the trash floating in the lake itself. These idiots are ruining the very thing they go there to see i.e. the mind blowing beauty. These people dont deserve to see these places. Murree is enough for this retarded lot, they ruined it ages ago.

Luckily the rest of the north, despite the brilliant KKH, is allot more difficult to access, due to the terrain, distances and the harsh climate, and hence is mostly visited by the ones who are in love and in result respectful of those places, be it foreigners or Pakistanis. Thankfully the locals up there are acutely aware of keeping these places clean and free of trash. These places are some of those very few remaining on the planet that have remained safe from us devouring animals. Please lets let them remain that way. Lets keep them wild and clean. If you can do that (and endure the difficulties in reaching those places) then no matter who you are you are most welcome to come and have all your senses knocked right out of you by our north.

ps: If you dont see a trash can put your damn trash in your pockets!

i second you , we ppl really dnt deserve this beauty i visited naran back in 2007 and now i can clearly see the difference trees had been cut down around naran trash in river kunhar n smell there ppl are ruining the natural beauty of these places

aks18 · Nov 17, 2011

Pakistani Nationalist said:
Are KKH,deosai,fairy meadows and other beautiful places in Gigil Baltistan province accessable in december by road? i just retored by CJ5 and im thinking of visiting these areas during my winter vacation with 4 of my frnds>> any advice and can u guys kindly tell me the distance between Rwp-G/B? I have a budget of around 80,000...

well fairy meadows is accessible in winters too i have a contact with owner of fairy land cottages talked to him few days back he told me if you want to come here in winter they can arrange things but we have to tell him 2 days before while arriving cz no budy lives there in winters , and about deosai i think deosai is not accessible in winters cz of heavy snow fall .

aks18 · Nov 17, 2011

krash said:
Iv only been from badgram to patan on a bike in march once. Its an amazing feeling. Its still cold and the mountains are lush green at that time. rest of the times its always been a bus or a car (hitch hiked many times too). But sticking ur head out of the window of ur car/bus is pretty awesome and fun too :p

thats cool

but yar while riding bikes in such beautiful valleys bring you more closer to the nature

aks18 · Nov 17, 2011

well here are pictures of lake saif ul malook in snow in 2nd last week of october

enjoy the endless beauty of this beautiful lake hope the govt try to stop the building of hotels around this lake

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this was amazing shot but this steel box ruined the image

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aks18 · Nov 17, 2011

and here comes the most stunning pic of lake

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aks18 · Nov 17, 2011

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A walk from Marfo ghoro........towards the kingdom of secrets.... Biafo, Hisper........ The Lost Kingdom of Karakoram

krash · Nov 17, 2011

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aks18 said:
well fairy meadows is accessible in winters too i have a contact with owner of fairy land cottages talked to him few days back he told me if you want to come here in winter they can arrange things but we have to tell him 2 days before while arriving cz no budy lives there in winters , and about deosai i think deosai is not accessible in winters cz of heavy snow fall .

Yup and they dont clear it until spring, if they do clear it at all.

aks18 said:
thats cool but yar while riding bikes in such beautiful valleys bring you more closer to the nature

I completely agree with you on that. In fact thats exactly why im hanging out of my car's/bus's window most of the time. But see you know what the situation of the KKH has been, for a while now, up till Raikhot. Riding for that long through those kinds of pot holes would shatter my spine :p Lazy a$$ FWO zindabad!

aks18 · Nov 18, 2011

krash said:
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Yup and they dont clear it until spring, if they do clear it at all.

I completely agree with you on that. In fact thats exactly why im hanging out of my car's/bus's window most of the time. But see you know what the situation of the KKH has been, for a while now, up till Raikhot. Riding for that long through those kinds of pot holes would shatter my spine :p Lazy a$$ FWO zindabad!

yeah road condition is worst now

but many people manage to cross those areas easily recently one of my friend returned from his biking tour one bike two guys he even ride his bike on doubling up to tatto village and jeep track of fairy meadows

leme share his pics here

---------- Post added at 03:47 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:46 PM ----------

my friend was lucky to have beautiful n clear view of nanga parbat for whole 3 days and when i visited i just got 30 min time to clearly see nanga parbat then it was vanished in clouds