In case you dont want to read the whole article/story here is a quick summary for you to help plan your visit:
Travel Time and Road Condition
Lahore to Islamabad 3:15 hours, motorway
Islamabad to Chakdara 2:15 hours, motorway
Chakdara to Timirgara, 1:15 hours, good road
Timirgara to baab-e-kumrat, 2:00 hours, ok road
baab-e-kumrat to sheringal, 1:30 hours, ok road
Sheringal to Thal, 3:00 hours poor road
Total Travel Time from lahore to Thal with some tea breaks - 15 hours. Hectic as last leg is quite bumpy and tiresome!
Thal to Jahaz Banda
2:00 hours jeep ride to taki top
3:00 hours trekking to Jahaz Banda
Return from Jahaz Banda to Thal is about 3: hours
Thal to Kumrat:
1:30 hours drive to Kumrat (Waterfall)
Jahaz Banda to Katura Lake:
3:00 hours trekking to Katura,
3:00 hours back to Jahaz Banda
Expense:
Hiace per day rent is 8000Rs
Fuel cost plus toll tax from Lahore to Thal and Back was approximately 30,000Rs
Jeep to Jahaz banda from thal 5000Rs
Jeep to Thal from Jahaz Banda 3500 Rs
Camping at Jahaz banda 2500 to 3000 rent of 4 person camp
Jeep/car to Kumrat from Thal 5000 Rs
Camping in Kumrat 2500 to 3000 rent of 4 person camp
What to pack:
- Sleeping bag if you are camping on your own, not required if you want to rent a tent/hut as they have sleeping bags and blankets
- Torch (must)
- Water bottle for trek
- Mosquito repellent
- Sun block (must)
- Essential medicines (must)
As far as dressing goes, we traveled in August. T-Shirt and Shorts for day times especially trekking. Light jacked for night/evening.
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Alright, here is a detailed account of recent trip as promised. Firstly, note that the original plan this year was to visit Deosai and Sakardu but there were number of issues that stopped us from going ahead with that plan and have to review our destination at last moment, deciding upon Kumrat. I am glad we did it, that is one spot off the list now! However, let me be clear, once you have been to GB, those dry terrifying mountains, there is not much that will make your jaws drop. Keeping that in mind, i found Kumrat to be "the next best thing".
Trip Plan:
Considering the work schedule and family commitments of the whole group of friends we planned a short 4/5 day trip. Wednesday Departure, Sunday Return. Our past experience have taught us that it is best to go for a single destination if the time you have at that spot is two days or less. Add a second near by spot only if you have the third day otherwise it is all a bit of a hassle. However, sometimes it is still too tempting to forget that lesson and that is what we did!
Post corona induced lock-down it was not easy to get the whole gang together so we went ahead with 6 people only. However rather than going for a smaller car/vehicle we sticked to our old choice High-Roof/Hiace! It is comfortable, all group get to travel together and on a short trip with long travel time it gives you the option to sleep comfortably on the road! A bit expensive but the main thing is all friends are in one vehicle, travel is half the fun on such trips.
Route details and condition:
We started our journey from Lahore on the evening of Wednesday. Departing at around 7:00 pm, the time line and route details for your reference is as follow:
Lahore to Chakdara (5:30 Hours) is motorway drive, takes about five and a half hour. We made a short stop and Chakri for tea and reached Chakdara at around 12:30 AM at night. On the Swat Express Way, right before Chakdara there are two road tunnels that are supposed to take you through the mountains between malakand and Swat. One of the tunnels is complete while the second one is still under construction so it needs a detour of about 15-20 minutes. Other than that it is all motorway.
Another stop at Chakdara cost is about 30-45 minutes.
Chakdara to Timergara (1:15 hours) road is in good condition. Try traveling through Timergara at early morning hours or in day time. This is a small town but one of the largest timber markets of Pakistan so the traffic gets bit of a problem specially at evening and early night hours as there are hundreds of trucks there loading timber to be transported all across the country. We crossed the town at around 2:30/3:00 AM so it was all clear.
Timirgara you need to continue on Dir Road for about 2 hours until you get to
Baab-e-Kumrat (2:00 Hours). Again, road condition till here is pretty OK. We were traveling at night and there was no traffic at all. The road and area is not very dangerous either so it is safe to travel during night time. Specially if you are on a rented vehicle with a draive it is best as one can take rest on the way. We reached baab-e-Kumrat or the door to Kumrat valley at around 5:00 in the morning. The weather up to this point is pretty same Islamabad/Margalla Hills. Not cold that is! From Baab-e-Kumrat there are two roads, one going left to Dir and then Chitral (Dir is just about 25 minutes from this point) the other going left to Thal via Sheringal.
Baab-e-Kurat to Sheringal (1:15-1:30 Hour) road start to get a bit tricky but is still in ok condition. Takes about an hour to get to Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University, Sheringal in the Upper Dir district. The University is on road side and can be a good spot for breakfast OR even a stay (bachelors) in their hostel is possible if you talk your way to it. We however skipped it but keep that in mind as an option. With not many decent accommodations available on this route this is a good possible spot.
Important to note that while we were travelling during night time and may have missed some things, there do not seem to be many restaurants or accommodations in this whole route. The most likely stop is to be at Thal (if required) and that too is not ideal as again, not many good or even decent options available. So this leg of journey have to be planned in one go without any night stop overs. All you can hope for is a decent meal or tea.
We stopped for breakfast after Sheringal at a road side dhaba and it was BAD! I am not a big critic of food on such tours but this one was really bad. Luckily, there are plenty of apple and pear trees to be found on the road side and by the river side so just ask the first person you come across and he will say "jao jao,, jitna marzi ha khao bahi sahib" and you can end up having a pretty good and refreshing breakfast of farm fresh fruits picked from the tress by yourself. That is what we did and i think it was the best breakfast we had on the entire trip. Much required too after whole night of traveling and what was about to come. We left from here at around 7:30AM
From Sheringal the road is a mess right up to the first planned stop/destination on way to Kumrat, that is the town of THAL! Its bumpy and at spots, non-existent! That 30-35 Km journey take about 3 hours and that is if there are no traffic jams which i have been told are quite frequent. We were traveling at an ideal time both in terms of the day we were traveling and the time of that day so were lucky to get to
Thal at around 10:30 AM!
Thal is a relatively big town and almost everything you will need for your trip will be available here. We were carrying the important things with us already but bought some biscuits, chips, tea bags, milk cartons, etc etc from here. From Thal you have two choice. If you are exhausted after the long journey, just rent a jeep from Thal and go to Kumrat. takes about 1:30 Hrs and you can camp or book an accommodation in countless huts and camps there. If you think you still have some energy in you you can choose the alternative which is to hire a jeep and start traveling to Jahaz banda. That is what we opted for.
JAHAZ BANDA
Jahaz Banda is a large meadow in Kumrat Valley, some 3000 m above sea level. Takes about 2 hours on jeep track to a point called Taki Top. That is as far as the jeep can take you. From here onwards it is about 2:30 to 03:00 hour trekking to Jahaz Banda depending on how fit and use to one if to trekking at some height. Can take you from 2 to 4 hours!
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Jeep track to Taki Top on way to Jahaz Banda
The jeep track is pretty normal, not too risky or dangerous looking. If you have been to even Siri Paye and/or Saif-ul-Malooq you will find this one pretty simple. If you have been to fairy meadows you wont even notice that this is a JEEP TRACK.
From Taki Top one can either hire a mule or do some trekking. To further explain the trekking, first 25-30 minutes if trek is a steep climb, that is where many people give up and decide to hire a mule! Avoid that! Push trough these first 25-30 minutes whatever way you can and once on top it is a relatively straight forward WALK for about an hour, an hour and a half! Last stretch is again a hike, 20-25 minutes, less stepper than the first part but still a bit more than the middle part you have walked though. If you have done it previously, you will be able to do this in two, two and a half hours total. Not very difficult, it is just that first climb that is a bit demotivating to some. Go through with that one.
At the end of this you will have reached Jahaz Banda Meadows. A beautiful place indeed. We reached the place around 2:00 PM
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Evening in Jahaz Banda
There are plenty or tent camps and huts available. Plus a lot of new huts and hotels were being built too.
Unless you are traveling on a national holiday you will be ok. Still you may google and decide to book in advance. On spot, you can get a tent for 4 people for 2000 to 3000 Rs per night on normal days. However the same tent was also being given on rent for 15000 Rs on the weekend as it was a long weekend with August 14th holiday and a lot of visitors were there!! So if you are traveling on such occasion better book in advance. We had our own camps with us so it was not a problem. You can camp anywhere you want, we chose a good spot that was away from the rush, had good view and was close to a camping site of a local guy.
Preferable camp close to an existing site and give the owner of that site 500-1000 Rs for camping there for the entire trip, they will provide some security to the camp when you are away exploring the area.
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View from our camp
Toilets are available all around the meadow but there are like 8-10 of them. If you are there on regular days then that is fine but on rush days it becomes bit of a problem. however with new huts and hotels being constructed i hope this wont be a problem by next year! A couple of canteens also available where you can get tea or snacks. Three dhaba style restaurants are also available where you can get a normal meal OR you can choose to buy chicken and cook yourself.
Proximity
There is a Jahaz Banda Waterfall night below the meadow. It take 20-25 minutes to get there as you need to go down hill. Nice place with good access to a water stream that is a bit calm!
There is another big waterfall some 5-6 Km away from the meadow but there is no trek to that place. Takes 4 to 5 hours as per locals, multiple it by two if you are not a resident.
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KATURA LAKE
Next morning (FRIDAY) a group of our team decided to go to Katura Lake. An alpine glacial lake at height of about 3500 m. It takes about 3 hours to reach there from Jahaz Banda meadows. On way there is a smaller lake as well, called Jahaz Banda Lake. The trek is a little bit difficult than the one to Jahaz Banda. There are two three climbs and then you go down each time as well so it means you will have to climb them again on way back. Plus there is no proper trek, you are walking through stones and boulders. Getting your ankel twisted is a painful possibility. Another important point is that there is not shade on this trek, no forest or trees so use, apply and carry good sun block with you. The sun there will burn your skin in minutes!
The last bit of trek to Katura is most fun, it is a small 50-60 feet climb up the rocks but the view from top make all this effort worth it!
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Katura Lake
It takes about 3 hours each way to and from the lake. Once back in Jahaz Banda it again depends on your preference and stamina. If pressed for time and with some gas in tank i will suggest you start your journey back to Thal to go to Kumrat valley! Otherwise you can choose to spend this second night in Jahaz Banda and leave early morning the next day.
Getting back to Thal from jahaz Banda should take you about 2:30 Hours! (remember that going up it took about 5 hours).
KUMRAT VALLEY
While Jahaz Banda is also a meadow in upper reached of the valley, it is the valley and river bank itself that have attracted most attention so far! Once it Thank it takes about 1:30 Hours car journey to reach the main valley. The whole area is being developed for tourism so there are hundreds of tents, camps, huts and some hotels too!!
I will recommend camping or renting a camp/hut around a spot called Kumrat Waterfall.
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From there it takes about an hour walk to Kala Chashma, 10-15 minutes to the waterfall. 5 minutes to Panjkora river!!
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This is the spot where you need to come if you are looking for peace and relaxing. Hiking, trekking, climbing rocks, exploring glacial lakes is on thing and the peace and serenity of this place is another. Once in Kumrat, do enjoy both.
