A Fairy Tale
It all started with a passion for photography & shooting the landscape of Pakistan. The milkyways & the stary nights. Magnificent pictures taken by Syed Mehdi Bukhari have always been a source of motivation & brings freshness, whenever one looks at them. Have always been inspired by the beauty of our north & this trip was one such experience to see it live.
The hunt for an appropriate group started on Facebook & to my surprise there were many tour operators with all of their different packages. We decided to go for “The Trekkers” as it suit our plan.
That was it…
Myself & one of my colleague, Bilal were up & running for our dream trip.
Our journey started on the night of 6th June, 2014 & we were right there in Trekker’s Lahore office & having a chit chat over coke, at ~ 23:00 hrs. The journey started, without even a single thought that it would take 25 hours to reach Chilas & believe you me, it was tough, especially when the driver stopped the AC as soon as we took Karakoram Highway. Had a breakfast at Havellian, a small town closed to Abbottabad.
And we travelled, travelled & travelled, with snail’s speed on a number of occasions. Thanks to the condition of KKH & whenever we were on standby driver. Took our lunch at Dasu at 19:00 hrs which was more of a dinner. Finally, it was 00:30 hrs when we reached Shangri-La Resort, Chilas & yes, the date changed twice during our journey to Chilas. An awesome stay in Shangri-La though, & we loved the hospitality of the people. Great people to Fly with stay with.
Next morning, took my cam out the bag & had a couple of shots of the surroundings, followed by a standard breakfast, Paratha & Omelette. Had a chit chat with the owner of the resort who told us that the construction of Bhasha Dam is affecting their site, as the water level would rise; however they are planning to shift their resort at another location. But was really impressed with the way the resort has been setup in such a remote location. Designed mostly for the foreigners as Pakistani’s generally don’t bother to go beyond Murree or Naran.
We reached at Raikot Bridge at ~ 1200 hrs & took jeeps to start an adventurous trek to Tatu Village. The trek was awesome, full of sharp corners with a width that only an FX could have crossed, but still our jeep managed. Some of our colleagues had a tough time too, as they were unable to bear such an adventure. We started our trekking to Fairy Meadows, assuming that the final destiny is round the corner but only to know that the jeeps have dropped us way before Tatu village, as the road ahead was not clear. So, with lots of motivation we put our foot down & started moving to Tatu & the trek started to test our body. Initially, it was calm but soon it was a real challenge for our Lungs, Heart, Legs & many more things. After trekking of ~ 2 hours, we did finally reached Tatu village where we had a lunch, daal chawal.
Started my trekking to Fairy Meadows a bit early than the rest, as I thought “Slow & steady can win complete the race” & the target in mind was to complete it without taking a khachar. Slowly & gradually, making progress, with odd rest on the stones placed on the sides, I managed to reach the first entrance gate of the Fairy Meadows National Park. Later on, it started raining & thanks to my upfront planning, I put my raincoat & resumed my journey but it gets really cold. And it was 18:45 when I managed to see the meadows for the first time with my heart clocking over 100 beats per min. Full of sweat but feeling cold, I was immediately offered a hot a cup of transitional Qehwa & it felt so good. It took 02:50 hrs for me to reach Fairy Meadows from Tatu village & some of colleagues took more than four hrs.
Took our dinner & went straight to our camps only to realise that its very difficult to sleep in a tight sleeping bag with two people snuffing on each of my sides. Ultimately, I had to take a blanket and make a compromise on snuffing part.
Next morning, I wake up with a voice of our guide “Panj minute di game ee pai jaaan. Uth ke wekh lo” (Its a great scene which will only last for five minutes. Wake up & see). When I came out of my camp, what I saw was a scene that I’ll never forget. The first light of dawn on the face of Nanga Parbat. It was a dream & I took a lot of shots. Absolutely stunning view. Later realised that its just 04:45 hrs & I had only five hour of sleep in the night. But it was the calmness of the jungle that kept me fresh from that onward.
It was a rest day for us & therefore after breakfast we went on to explore the meadows. So, the photographer inside me, took a lot of shots, especially at the reflection lake. Was really impressed with the beauty & aggressiveness of the Killer Mountain. Lying in front of 8000+ meter peak with clear blue sky & a lush green meadows, these were memorable moments. It also gave an opportunity to get to know each other, as we were 18 in the group & its good to increase our circle of friends.
The third day at Fairy Meadows started very early as we have to take a trek to Nanga Parbat Base Camp. We decided to go as far as we could & we will not be attempting Base Camp. However, there were five individuals who decided to try their luck to Base Camp & they started their trek at a quick pace. We, myself & Zia (friend) were relatively slow, enjoying the views & taking pictures along the way. It was a bright sunny day & the trek to Bayal Camp offered excellent views with a river flowing next to us. Stillness. Freshness. Cool Breeze. Though the Jungle. View of manga Parbat right in front. What more anyone could ask for? We reached Bayal camp at ~ 10:00 hrs & took some rest.
The next milestone was View Point & the trek was becoming steep with lot of rocks coming in. With small steps, slowly & steady, we kept walking. Sweating but feeling cold on the outside. Gaining height & facing difficulty in breathing. But we managed & reached View Point. The view was magnificent, Nanga Parbat covered in clouds but still that mighty look & Raikot glacier right in front of us. Never saw a glaciers with so many sharp edges, seems it was specially designed for someone who desparately want to attempt suicide with a probability of zero failure. Dark clouds hovering over & in moments snow started to fall right on us. What a wonderful feeling that was & we decided that its an end of todays trekking & we’ll go back now.
In the mean time, our guide (Maaz Maqsood) came & immediately asked us to move on to the next mountain right ahead of us. “What? No way” Thats what, my response was. But he really motivated all of us, to stretch a little bit & black mailed us that the it would be unfair to leave from here, without going to Upper View Point. So, now there was another hectic task of a climbing a big mountain. It was tough, in fact very tough. Little by little, inch by an inch, we literally crawled our way to our destiny. Taking rest, after every minute. Supporting each other. We did managed to reach the top of the mountain and once we were at the top, it was worth of it. Suddenly, the view of Nanga Parbat got clear & took a lot of shots. May be it was for us that clouds gave way to Killer Mountain to shine with all of its glory. An amazing scene. Snow all around. A scene that one can never forget. A place, one could never thinking of returning back. Inspiring, thats what it was.
Soon, Maaz got us realised that we have to return back now & we started the decent. Tough on the knees but we decent quite fast & reached Bayal camp in an hour, where we had lunch. We ultimately reached Fairy Meadows in the evening while the other team which attempted Base Camp succeeded & they also returned by night.
We had to leave fairy meadows, next day. Hard to believe, but it was time to say good-bye to Naked Mountain (The word Nanga Parbat means Naked Mountain). With a heavy heart, we started to decent & reached Tatu village & then onward to Raikot bridge on KKH, where our coaster was waiting. And we were again in the coaster, ready for a 24+ journey back to Lahore.
Would specially like acknowledge the efforts of Maaz Maqsood who I believe, is a true leader. Cool & calm. Professional with lots of stamina & most importantly, with lots of courage & integrity. He’s the one who kept me going despite losing all of my strength.
We managed to reach Lahore in 27 hours, making another record of a single long journey. But, all these hardships were worth of it & the photographs speaks themselves, of the beauty.
A tour that brought new friends & new experiences.
