The Banjosa Lake is one among the many amazing man made artificial lakes which never flows but still has clear turquoise water. It is located at Poonch district which is 20 kilometres far from the district city of Rawalakot, Azad Kashmir.  The road named is metallic. The Banjosa lake is also very convenient and approachable from Islamabad and Rawalpindi. Its height is 1,981 meters. It is oval shaped surrounded all around by pine forest and mountains. The view is charming and romantic at a time. The weather mold the scene of Banjosa lake throughout the four seasons. The summers keep the atmosphere cool and pleasant, the winter surprised with extreme cold and icy. The months of January and December are best to see the snow fall. The scenic beauty and clear water to maintain the ambiance of the Banjosa lake.

Banjosa Lake is only planned tourist resort in the northern Pakistan. It offers spectacular views  from the windows of the hotel to the wide open plain along the lake. The lush forests reflection gives the awesome view at the daytime, in night the house lighting glitters over the water.  The arched wooden bridges over the lake gives it some uniqueness. The lake has been maintained very carefully as the domestic and international tourists make the huddles in a pleasant weather.

Take a cheap flight to Islamabad. The drive from Islamabad to Banjoosa lake takes at least 4-5 hours. The road is accessible and wide. Basically it is a jeep track. The track starts from the highway Islamabad  to Kahuta road  then Azad Pattan  to  Guine Nalla road  then the valley of Rawlakot is in front  of you. Banjosa is just a few miles away. The lake at the day time laden with the spectacular views. The water shines when the sun rays dance over the waves. The green emerald leaves waving along the cool breeze to kiss the water.

One of the best activities is boating here. People of all ages appreciate it a lot. When the boat starts its  journey, the children become less scared with water but as it further goes the beauty and enjoyment comes over the fear. Young and old both enjoys a lot while dipping their fingers in water, or splashing over one another. The sweet noise of visitors mingles with the water splashing the increase the harmony and beauty of the Banjosa Lake.

Gandhara Civilization

The Influence of the Greek culture came to Pakistan because of the invasion by Alexander the great. The religion of Buddhism was approved as the state religion which flourished for over 1000 years. At that time the cities of Taxila, Swat and Charsaddah were three important centers for traditions, trade and education. Taxila was filled with hundreds of monasteries and stupas. These centers have been the origin of unique sculpture art lately known as Gandhara to all over the world.  Now a days these sculptures have a well known position in the museums of England, Germany, France, USA, Japan, Korea, China, Pakistan, India and Afghanistan. When the Buddha passed away, people built 84,000 stupas for veneration.But, lately it was replaced by sensitive human imagery. One of the prominent and the zenith sculpture of "Fasting Buddha" display in Lahore Museum, Pakistan. Soon, the light of Islam broke in in this part of the world and thousands of Mosques, Madrassahs, tombs  were created to worship only one GOD.

 Pakistan’s national heritage is so rich and diversified  which makes the Pakistani feel proud. It is also from one of the treasures of Pakistan. Gandhara civilization can be seen in the cities of Peshawar valley, Mardan, Swat, Dir, Malakand, and Bajuaur agencies, Taxila and Jalalabad. The fascinating record of Gandhara civilization, revealed in the 20th century, at the sites of Taxila and Swat. The rock carving has been found along the Karakoram Highway. Among many other arts the footprints of the Buddha were also found in the Swat valley which later placed in Swat Museum.

The land of Swat is celebrated throughout the world as the holy land of Buddhist learning and faithfulness. Swat attained reputation as a place of Buddhist pilgrimage. According to one record the Swat valley  is filled with fourteen hundred beautiful stupas and monasteries. The site of Butkarha-I, contain the original relics of the Buddha. Some of the famous stupas are:

Dharamarajika Stupa is the oldest Buddhist monument in Taxila. The Dharamarajika Stupa contained the silver scroll commemorating the relics. Takht-i-Bhai wealthy Buddhist remains right about 10 miles northeast of Mardan. It has an architectural diversity and romantic mountain setting.

The Gandhara's language was of Middle Indo-Aryan dialect, usually called Gāndhārī. Gandhāra education was controlled by the dynasty of the Persian empire. The Gandharan Buddhist texts are both the Buddhist and South Asian manuscripts discovered so far. Most are written on brisk and clay port.

If you are interested to visit that ancient civilization of Ghandara. The Pakistan International Airlines is operating domestic flights to Peshawar. It will be easy and comfortable too.

Swat Valley

Swat District

The former princely state in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is populated by Pashtuns and Afghans. The place of great natural beauty with emerald meadows, high mountains and clear sapphire lagoons have the echoes of Pashtu language. The district attracts all over the world tourists for everlasting peaceful and relaxing tract. The Swathe of Swat valley is the Switzerland of Asia. The serene sceneries and smiley faces of locals make double the attractive site of crystal clear water when it stretches over the rocks and shows the trout fish in it. With the elevation of 2500 ft to 7500 ft above sea level, the valley has ceaseless snow on its arrogant pinnacles.

The fertile soil and favorable climatic conditions gave an excuse to many nations for colonization. From Alexander to Mahmood Ghaznavi Swat was ruled by man Buddhist and Hindu Rajas. Lastly the Yousafzai tribe of Pathans became the king of Swat. At the time of Ex-Valley regime the valley flourished and presented a picture of paradise to the world with the great sense of development and beautification. The Taliban insurgency was not as severe as it was in the last couple of years.

Smooth shores

Swat, is the only region upon which it seems like the Creator has been over generous. The Swat is the  kingdom of mesmerizing countryside, sparkling clear water fast-moving water, sundry flora , antique vestiges and thrilling lakes. It offers many spots for gratification, voyage and leisure.

Malam Jabba (hilly station) 40 kilometer away from Saidu Sharif is thrilling spot for ice-skating, chair lifts, and skiing. In good time, the ski resort of Malam Jabba was the tournament platform for skiing. The Spot is now totally devastated but still it was worth as one of the main attractions in Swat Valley.

Swat Museum established with the aid of Japaneses to preserve the allocation of remanings. Its seven galleries contain the illustration of Buddha’s life, Gandhara Sculptures, Terracotta figurines, precious stones, rare beads, carved wood, local embroidery, weapons and tribal jewelry.

Lakes

Miandam and Madyan are another two beautiful resorts few miles away from Saidu Sharif. They are famous among trekkers and walkers because its terraced field along the hillside gives them the real essence of greenery and refreshment. One can buy local shawls, traditional needlework, ornaments and carved wood that sells alongside the bazaar. Another spot of Kalam, is famous as a meeting point of Ushu  and Utrot River. The view of snow capped Falaksir mountain is breathtaking. Pari, Kundal, Bashigram, Spin Khawar and Daral are among the famous lakes of Swat District.

The eternal tradition of spellbinding story telling in long and dark nights of winter are solely to the Swat Valley. Every night all the members of the family lay in Kota and the eldest one used to start the tale with the children huddle together in their blankets like a kangaroo’s Joey. Children are very inquisitive so the responding to the narrator makes the environment more interesting. That bedtime stories were narrated in each house.

Swat with its crude situation still presents many more to explore. The journey to swat is 100 miles from three of Pakistan's most important cities: Peshawar, Rawalpindi and Islamabad. The army is reducing the checkpoint to promote tourism in the valley once again so it gives you the surety of security. Before entering to Swat the tourists will be checked for once but they will not bothered again while they're travelling into the valley. All flies gives you the opportunity to take cheap flights to Pakistan. There are also domestic flights with in Pakistan.

Snow Lake

It is amazing to know that Snow Lake is not a lake itself but a high altitude glacial basin at the feet of mighty ranges of Karakoram. It is over 16km wide as a leader of the Biafo and Hispar glaciers. The 1^st foreign visitor Martin Conway gave this name in 1892. He says that "beyond all comparison with the finest view of mountains it has ever been my lot to behold, nor do I believe the world can hold a finer".

The Biafo and Hispar glaciers meet at the point of Hispar La that arrangement is of the greatest concentration as a glacial ice beside Antartica.  This vast ice river connects two primordial mountains the Hunza in west among Baltistan in east. Another great mountaineer explorer Eric Shipton describe Snow lake as ’the last blank on the map’. Due to its remoteness from all the populace areas of northern Pakistan, it is a stronghold shelter for wild animals like Himalayan bear, ibex, markhor and the snow leopard. This area is savior for the lives of these animals.

At immense height the Biafo and Hispar glaciers are having pointy daggered  peaks, these include Kanjut Sar, Distaghil Sar, Makrong Chhish, Latok group, Latok II, Latok III, Latok IV: and Baintha Brakk/The Ogre . The only Ogre was climbed in 1977 by Britons Doug Scott and Chris Bonington when they had an epic descent with Scott breaking both of his legs and took a week to reach Base Camp.

The trek to snow lake starts by following the K2 Base Camp trail to the Biafo Glacier in the west. The path  follows free rocky moraine ridges on the glacier for the next few days. The basic campsites are Namla, Mango and Baintha which  located in grassy areas behind tangential moraines. From Baintha camp there is another option of taking the wide ice highway making the walking relatively easy as compared to the rocky trek.

If you are one of them who worried about the security issue in Pakistan, I do must say that it is complicated at the border of Afghanistan and down south. But the way from Islamabad is saved and sound. But the permit is required. Take some cheap flights to Pakistan and definitely you will be far enough away from these areas. The native people are very friendly and hospitable.

Shogran Valley

Panoramic view of Valley

Shogran valley is the green plateaus at the height of 7,749 ft in Kaghan valley. The tall pine trees, emerald meadows, cornfields and cow pastures make up the beautiful valley of Shogran. In hindko Sho means “beautiful” and Gaun means “Village”, the whole phrase mean “the beautiful village”.The valley is 34km far away from Balakot.

The Season of Spring

The village gets affected with the earthquake of 2005.On the way to Shogran, there is a place name kewai, a good place to take a nap. Sri/Paya and Dona Meadows are two popular spots near Shogran. The visitor can hire a jeep or hike for two hours to get to these places. Sri Paye has an elevation of 11,200 feet above sea level. The place is lush with the emerald color meadows and beautiful lakes. Most of the time of year the peak is covered with snow. Siri Paye is covered with beautiful yellow and purple flowers in springs a best time to visit when its beauty is at peak. The two mythical stories are attached with the name of Siri Paye. Locals say that “Siri” was a Hindu lady who fell in love with Paye and  Paye (the legendary hero) lived somewhere on the meadows called Paye. Another story has the amazing feature of lion  with supernatural force lifted goat of a villager and ate it at some place with “Siri” and “Paye” of the goat left stinking at two nearby mountains.

On the way to Dona Meadows, the hurdle of a huge glacier should be crosser and a lovely nearby of two lovely waterfalls. Pine Park Shogran is another amazing great effort to create the natural affiliation to the visitors. The mini zoo is also the part of Pine Park Shogran

The shogran valley has a real asset to view. For adventurous trips the Sharan is a good option; two hour hike and the immature jade lawns are here with the quilt of thick forest. There are a lot of hotels in Shogran. So you can stay here. People are helpful & friendly. The most amazing thing to note is that Telenor and Mobilink signals are also available in the Shogran Valley.

Shogran is only 10 km from Kiwai and 34 km from Balakot. First the flight to Islamabad should be take my visitors then there is a road from Islamabad to Kiwai which is 212 km long. From Shogran, you have a various options of  jeep, horse and hike to several scenic places.

Skardu Valley

Skardu Valley

 Skardu is a word of Balti language means "star stone, meteorite". It is the major town of the region Baltistan and the capital of Skardu District. Skardu valley is 10 km wide and 40km long in Skardu region at the meeting point of the Indus River and the Shigar River. Skardu is 2,500 m above sea level. The town is enclosed by grayish brown mountains.

Skardu and Gilgit are the two major tourism, trekking and trip hubs in the Northern Areas. The giant mountainous of the region having world's famous peaks magnetize the tourists, trekkers and mountaineers from all around the world. The best season to travel to Skardu is from April to October outside this time, the area mostly cut off by the snowy, freezing winter. The Askole and Hushe Valleys are the main gateways to the snow covered peaks K2, the Gasherbrums, Broad Peak and the Trango Towers, and also to the huge glaciers of Baltoro, Biafo and Trango. This significance makes Skardu the foremost tourist and mountaineering base in the northern area, that’s why the infrastructure including shops and hotels are reasonable. There are some of the places need to go when visit to Skardu.

Kharfocho Fort: The fort has been attributed to the famous ruler of Skardu named Maqpon Bugha great grandfather of Ali Sher khan. But Mughal historians are of the view that the great fort was built by Ali Sher Khan Anchan himself.

Mindoq Khar: This is a palace built by Gul Khatoon or Mindoq Gialmo on the hill where now stands the Kharfocho fort only. This also called 'Flower Palace'. The Palace was destroyed by the troops of the Sikh ruler of Kashmir, Maharaja Gulab Singh, when he invaded Skardu in 1840 AD.

Hilal Bagh and Chahar Bagh: Just below Flower Palace, there was a terraced garden with fountains built in marble. The palace was destroyed during the great floods in the area after the death of Ali Sher Khan Anchan and a marble Baradari was later constructed at this palace. This royal garden was named Hilal Bagh (Crescent Garden). Another garden was also laid which was named Chhar Bagh on the site where a Girls College stands now.

Buddhist Rock: There is only one surviving of Buddhist. It is located at Satpara road. Probably the rock carvings and images of Buddha date back to the period of Great Tibetan Empire when the Buddhist people of Gandhara migrated and pased through the present northern areas of Pakistan.

Satpara Lake: the lake is surrounded by high glacial mountains. The lake has an island in the middle of its which can be reached by boat. The lake is considered ideal for fishing.

Trip to Skardu plan can make with a flight to Islamabad, then a 2 days journey for Chilas. Then a jeep will move you to the Skardu.

Tirich Mir

Tirich Mir is the highest peak with an elevation of 25,230 ft in the Hindu Kush ranges. It is in the north of Peshawar, KPK near Afghanistan. Tirich Mir East like Rakaposhi and Nanga Parbat is known for being the home of "fairies". The Tirich Mir is a chain of about eleven peaks with different routes to their summits. The horse shoe semi circle Tirich Glacier basin is formed by Tirich Mir East, main summit, west and with the group of north peaks. The High cliff considered dangerous due to land sliding threats for climbers. It can also be seen from Afghanistan. According to a local legend, it is impossible to climb it, because of all the Jinns, demons, witches and fairies that live up there. Almost every year, a few tourists are killed while hiking and trekking around Tirich Mir. Often, they fall into deep crevasses and their bodies are never found.

Tirich Mir view from valley

The established route to the peak passes through Chitral, Reshun and Khosht. There is also a shorter route to the peak which is a two-hour jeep drive on Chitral-Mastuj then one has to take a direct route from Perpish to Barum village and then through the glacier to the peak. This route is recommended for those who already familiarized theirselves with high-altitude-climbing; otherwise there is a great danger of high altitude sickness.

The first recorded ascent of Tirich Mir was made by Norwegians in July 1950. The journey was escorted by Professor Hameed Beg of the Karakoram Club (Pakistan) who reached an altitude of over 20,000ft. Captain Tony Streather of Chitral Scouts tagged along with the mission and eventually climbed Tirich Mir. The Pakistanis first attempt of Tirich Mir was by the Karakoram Club's expedition to Tirich Mir in 1951. The team was led by Mian Abdul Rauf, Daud Beg, Arshad Munir and Captain Shaukat Malik. It set up three precede camps and reached at 21,500ft but give up due to shortage of supplies.

Tour to the main peak, the Base camp is set at Babu Camp. The jeep road goes to Shahgrom but there is also an alternate route over Zani pass that is excellent way to do a short trek. Here is now a daily flight to Islamabad and then to Chitral.