The Amazing Chitral (Part 1): From hot waters of Garam Chashma to Majestic view of Tirich Mir

 

Chilam Joshi festival, yes it’s a world famous festival in Pakistan and I had never heard the name of it before 11^th May 2018. One of my student shared a post about this festival, asking, “Sir what is your plan? Let’s go to this festival.” I remember it was Friday and festival was starting on Monday. This was not an ordinary festival; this was the festival of Kalash people where young girls and boys meet and dance to choose their life partners. I always wanted to visit Kalash people to see their unique culture and this time I was up for it.

I called that student and said lets go and we would go on his car. First he said why not and then suddenly after few hours he called me and said that he forgot that he has his flight to China the next day. Then one of my colleagues was also going to Kalash on her car with her family but unfortunately she also had no place for me. My children had exams so my family also refused to accompany me. Bottom line is that I decided to go alone. Luckily I had a student from Chitral so I called her and told her my intentions. She told me how I could take bus from Islamabad to Chitral and then her father would pick me up from bus stop. That was really a big help.

Next day on Friday my family dropped me to Daewoo bus stand on their way back to home and after 15 min I was on the bus to Islamabad. Karachi Company was the bus stop at Islamabad from I had to take bus to Chirtal and I had never been to Karachi Company before. Well from Daewoo bus terminal I got shuttle service and thanks to Google maps, I left the shuttle on Kashmir highway near Karachi Company stop. After a 20 min walk I was at the stop but could not see any bus to Chitral. Actually it was coaster not bus and I found it after a little hassle.

“I need a ticket to Chitral”, I asked.

“Sorry all seats are booked and coaster is full”, the manger replied.

“What about the next bus?” I inquired.

“There is no next bus, this is the only bus going today”, he replied.

“I have come from Lahore and I need to go to Chitral today and I am not going back. Give me a seat even if it is a folding one or if there is no seat I will stand all the way, please do something.” I begged to the manager.

Looking at my desperation and determination he said “wait let me see what I can do for you.”

He called to few people and talked to them and then smiled and said, “You are lucky I got one seat for you, one of the passengers is not going.” That was a big relief for me. It was almost 11 pm when we started our journey to Chitral and early in the morning at almost 6 am we reached to Lawari tunnel. Yes this was the year when the long awaited tunnel was opened for traffic. I should think this was my luck or should I say bad luck. Passing through this tunnel was time saving and a unique experience but because of this tunnel I missed the adventure of Lawari pass. This tunnel connects Upper Dir with Chital and the place is amazing. It was raining heavily and clouds made the scenery more beautiful.

I was at Chitral bus stand at 12 pm when Mr. Zohran Shah (father of my student) picked me. After a brief introduction he asked me “what is your plan?”

“What are the options?” I asked.

“I am going to Chitral Airport where there is inauguration function for a road by Prime minister, we can go there, or if you are tired then I can drop you at home where you can rest”, Mr. Zohran Shah said.

“Is there any place where I can visit now while you go to Airport?” I asked him.

“Yes you can go to Garam Chashma (hot spring)”, he replied.

“Ok then I will go to Garam Chashma while you go to Airport, and I will call you when I will come back from Garam Chashma”, I told Mr. Zohran Shah.

He dropped me back to bus stop and now I was going to Garam Chashma in a fielder car with 6 passengers in one car. I was sleepy and tired and it took 2 hours to reach Garam Chashma.

Garam Chashma

This was a small old village the name of village is Garam Chashma (Hot spring) because it has a hot spring source in it. Foot ball not cricket; Yes Children were playing foot ball in a very small ground near hot spring and believe me they were good. I asked one of them about hot spring and he said, “Can you see that house beside the foot ball ground? Behind this house you will find hot spring”. Rest of the story can be seen in the picture bellow.

That was a small pond and local women were washing clothes in hot spring water. Well I was a bit disappointed but still the water was really hot and this was first time in my life I saw a real hot spring which was a unique experience. I took some pictures and started looking around. There was a waterfall falling from a mountain far away and now I was not staying a hot spring any more I was desperate to reach to cold water of the beautiful fall.

A water stream flowing through the Garam Chashma village

The village was very peaceful and people were also amazing. I was hungry so I decided to eat. I was looking for a traditional dish which I could only find there so I went to an old shop. He had lobia (beans) cooked in a special way. A huge naan (bread) with a plate of lobia with a cup of tea, that was an ideal combination and I loved every bit of it.

After having lunch started to my journey towards that water fall again. But in the way it was a small hut shaped room with colorful flags.

“What is this place?” I asked a guard at standing at the gate.

“What is your religion?” The guard replied me with a question.

Why is he asking my religion? I thought for a moment and then replied, “I am Muslim”.

“No. We are all Muslims; I mean what kind of Muslim you are?” The guard again asked a question.

This time I was a bit afraid and was thinking what should I say? Then I asked him politely, “I don’t understand what you are trying to ask?”

“I mean that I am Agha kahni, what are you sunni or Agha khani?” He replied.

This time I was afraid what would happen if I would reply that I am sunni, he might harm me, I never wanted to answer this question but I had no choice.

“Sunni”, I replied.

A grave of a sofi, Peer Nasir Khusro, who came to this part of the world from Afganistan. Along with a spot, right in the middle of a mountain, where Peer Khusro sat and meditated for months.

The guard smiled and then explained to me that the place I was asking about was a grave of a sofi, Peer Nasir Khusroo. He told me how Peer Khusroo came from Afganistan and sat on a high spot on a mountain and meditated for months until local people got impressed from him. He also told me how Peer Khusroo message of Islam converted many local non-Muslims to Muslims.

We had a very long discussion and after half an hour we were friends and he offered me tea which I politely refused as I had to go ahead for that waterfall. He was so nice that I felt so much ashamed on my previous fearful thoughts. Aga Khani people are very peaceful and loving.

Waterfall

After saying good bye to the guard I was again on my way to waterfall. After almost 15 minutes I reached to the waterfall. There was a small wooden bridge over the stream to the waterfall. After feeling the warmth of hot spring water now I was feeling the cold mist of this amazing waterfall. This village was an astonishing place where water coming from above was cold while water coming from below was hot.

It was getting dark and I had to go back before sunset. I quickly went back to the same spot where the car left me to see whether there was any car available for Chitral city. There was no car but three local passengers were sitting on a bench and waiting for one. They knew from my face that I was a guest not local and offered me a seat. A last car was about to come and they were waiting for it. I was relieved to see them and started waiting for car.

Soon we were going back to Chitral.

Seen Lasht

While going back I didn’t know the name of the village of Mr. Zohran Shah. He told me to call him when I would start my journey back to Chitral but first there were no signals then my cell phone battery got dead. So I had to go back to Chitral city again. After a hassle I managed to contact Mr. Zohran Shah and he again picked me from Chitral and took me to his beautiful village, Seen Lasht.

Mr. Zohran has a wonderful house and he runs a school and a private hostel. It was almost night and getting very cold. His wife greeted me at home. They are an amazing couple. I had a very different perspective about people of Chitral. I thought they would be a bit conservative but all my stereotypes were wrong. She asked me what I would eat at dinner. I was hungry but again I requested her to make any traditional Chitrali dish and that was the best thing which I did that day. She made a special Chitrali soup with local herbs and traditionally cooked Chicken and vegetables. I ate more than I could eat and believe me the taste was out of this world.

Mr. Zohran Shah’S (My host) beautiful house at small village (Seen-Lasht)

I and Mr. Zohran discussed about Chitral history and culture. Where he told me that the local language of Chitral is Khowar and the king of Chitral was called Mehter. How Islam and specially Ismaili version of Islam came to this region. He told me about his highness Prince Aga Khan that how his guidance has enlightened the Ismaili community. We gossiped for hours and he told me many interesting stories. It was already mid night now and although I wanted to continue the discussion but he told me to rest as next day we had to leave early for Kalash. It rained all night and got colder.

Some views of Seen Lasht Village

Next morning, rain had stopped and weather was a bit cloudy. I woke up at 6 am and went out with my camera while everyone in the house was sleeping. I was walking on the road which goes to Garam Chashma and capturing the beautiful scenery when I saw a snow covered mountain toward Garam Chashma. That mountain was unique as it was the only mountain covered with snow in that season. The view of the mountain was not clear as it was far away and small mountain in between was blocking it.

To capture a clear shoot I decided to look for a vantage point and I started to climb a small mountain near the road. At the start there was a small village but then suddenly there was not track to climb up. It was steep and difficult to climb but I was determined so I kept on climbing it using both hands. After some struggle I succeeded and now could see that snow covered mountain clearly.

A beautiful view of a house in field (Seen-Lasht)

Road to Garam Chashma from Chitral (Seen-lasht)

A view of University of Chitral ( top left), from top of the mountain

I took few pictures of that snow covered mountain and the valley bellow. Later own Mr. Zohrab told me that mountain was Tirich Mir, highest mountain of Hindu Kush range. I could see the whole valley from this point. I sat there for a while and then decided to descend as I had to leave for Kalash. On my way back I realized that the mountain was so steep and somehow I got stuck at a point where I could not move down as I was afraid that I would fall and above me there was huge rock which was difficult of climb. I was literally terrified. I was stuck and was thinking that it was a huge mistake to climb this strange mountain just to capture few pictures. No one knew where I was and my phone had no signals. I was thinking if I would fall down and get injured, no one would even know this and no one could come there to help me. I sat there and access the situation calmly. I decided not to go down and decided to try to climb up again and find another route. It was a good decision. I was able to climb that rock up and now searching for new route to descend. My experience of climbing had paid off and I found a comparatively easy route to come down. After some time I was again walking the road going towards Mr. Zohran’s house.

A beautify view of Tirich Mir, 7,708 metres (25,289 ft) (The highest mountain in Hindu Kush mountain range) from Seen_lasht.

When I reached home Mr. Zohran was awake and waiting for me. He asked me where had I gone. When I told him that I went to top of the mountain just behind his house, he got surprised and said that he had been living at that place for years but he never went to top of that mountain.

Now it was breakfast time and along with normal breakfast I was served with a traditional Chitrali bread stuffed with butter and floor called Cheera Shapik. Mrs. Zohran made it by herself and it still waters my mouth. It was the most delicious breakfast I ever had. I asked her if one could find it in restaurants but she replied in, no. So if you get a chance to visit Chitral you should ask your host for Cheera Shapik, I bet you will love it.

After breakfast we were ready for Kalash and I was very excited. Mr. and Mrs. Zohran and his niece were accompanying me to Kalash. On our way he stopped his Land cruiser in front of a house and his bhabi (brother’s wife) joined us from there. Now we were five people going towards Kalash. It was the first day of festival which is called as flower’s day.