Tourism in the Kumrat Valley

Politicians claim to make Lahore a Paris or a country Switzerland, you will hear from the politicians, but when the Swiss tourists show themselves comparing Pakistan’s location with the beautiful scenery of their country, there is a visit.

Locals of Dir Baala District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, about 384 km from the Pakistani capital Islamabad, are called locals here by the ‘Switzerland of Pakistan’ and are probably telling the truth because we get Kristof Dho from his testimony. He was accompanied by his colleague Frankie Coppola. Frankie came to Pakistan 30 years later from Switzerland, and now his destination was Kumrat, where he has dragged thousands of miles away.

If you intend to spend a few days in the natural environment away from the shores of the world and your choice is to visit Kumrat Valley, keep in mind that you will face some difficulties, but when you reach the destination you will This valley can be even more beautiful than you might imagine in the natural landscape. There are many lush valleys in the valley, surrounded by snow-capped mountains. From wherever the rocks hit the rocks, the water of the Panjkora River makes you feel like light music and the aroma of the cedar forests reminds you of the natural beauty you had imagined coming here.

Here we find Professor Amana, a teacher at Government Degree College Nowshera who, like us, had come to Kumrat for the first time. She told: ‘The funniest thing here is the high mountains and the noise of the water along the way, which gives a strange calm. So it is noisy but gives you a lot of peace of mind. ‘ There is peace of mind, but to reach here, big skulls have to be rolled. If it weren’t for this, Kumrat Valley would have been included in other famous tourist destinations in the country but this is not the case.

Difficult journey

Kumrat Valley Camping Pods

And its causes are the same problems that we have mentioned in the beginning. Traveling on the rockiest paths is a must. This is followed by the unavailability of internet and mobile service, and then access to access is not easy.

The distance from Islamabad to the Kumrat valley is 384 km, which is less than the distance from Islamabad to Lahore but it is fixed in at least 11 hours. The journey up to the top was easy and on the paved road, so it was decided quickly but the real test started from here. After that, the mobile service in the Sheringal area left and the road going further to the village Thal continued.

The distance from this location to Kumrat is only 12 km, but it takes about an hour and a half to set up. Entering the Kumrat valley, at the foot of the mountains, the branch of Panjkora River flows down the river Kumrat, and on the other hand, there are small villages and then they are surrounded by natural landscapes were only tourists come to see the beauty.

Hotels in Kumrat

Kumrat Valley Camping Pods

Here you also see some recently constructed hotels whose local owners appear to be trying to provide tourists with basic necessities of life, but success cannot be guaranteed. Our stay here is in a hotel where having a washroom connected to your room makes it a ‘super deluxe room’ and increases rent.

There was something special about this hotel at the beginning of the Valley Kumrat and that after Shringel, only mobile signals were coming here and that too of Mobilink. It is not a big deal to say this but if you know that they are unlikely to go beyond this, then there is no problem in reporting goodwill to your relatives from here. Generally, hotel rooms are available from two to six thousand rupees per night. However, this is not the only accommodation arrangement in the area. Camping facility is available on payment of Rs one to two thousand, while huts made of wood and tan are available for Rs.15, 00 to Rs.2500. If you want to enjoy the natural beauty and you have your own camping arrangement, there is no charge for camping where you can find trees, but think about getting rid of them in the open.

Enjoy Trout Fish in Kumrat Valley

You may have been fooled by the name of trout fish several times in the cities, but here you can eat them too, and you also have the choice of whether to fish ‘fish’ or the river. Trout hunting is banned all over Pakistan but these fish are farmed here. Before relieving the fatigue of the trip, we also enjoyed the trout and went to bed the next morning for a walk in the valley.

‘No jeep, no life’

If you do not have a four-by-four jeep in the Kumrat Valley, you cannot plan ahead. So if you have a situation like this you need to get the help of locals who seem to be ready to help you lighten the pocket.

Jeeps are available for rent. If you find out that the fare is up to the fountain, then there are seven thousand to pay. It is clear from the rent that Dojanga is the most located place. Yes, this is the last place as far as the Jeep Rush goes, but from here it also has a limit and you have to go hiking. The distance from the hotel to Djonga is only 24 km but it is done in a minimum of three and a half hours and the reason is that there are rocks in the path there is no galaxy.

Raoshi Dub

The first place to visit is the Raoshi Dub, after embarking on a trip to the Kumrat Valley. Locals call it a field that was once full of flowers but now potatoes are grown here for two reasons – one for the economy and the other for fear. According to Shaukat Ali, a resident of Nawaz Sharif, when Nawaz Sharif came here, he asked to give this place to the government, which the local Kohistanis forbade because they consider the land here as their property. After that, Imran Khan also came on the helicopter and he wished to make it a national park which was rejected by the people again. ‘ According to him, pink potatoes started to grow in place of flowers so that the government did not think about acquiring agricultural land.

Kumrat waterfall

If Raoshi walks ahead of the dub, then the waterfall falls. It takes 20 minutes to get off the jeep to reach the waterfall. The fall from the high mountains continues throughout the year except during those few days in winter when severe cold and snow cover it. In cold weather, its water was very cold even in the summer and could not be bathed in the heat of July.

Tobot Dub

If you go ahead, another cupboard is welcomed by the name of Tobot. There is also farming, but in addition to potatoes, peas, turnips, cabbage and salads are also grown, but the purpose of this farming is for the locals to fill their stomachs and their families. Here a farmer gave us potatoes, after a half-hour trip to the fountain, we ate from a shopkeeper at the black spring and all the traveling companions agreed that they never ate more delicious potato dumplings.

Kala Chashma or Black spring Kumrat Valley

Where we stop to eat dumplings is called Kala Chashma. The water of this Chashma was very clear, but why should anyone name it Kala Chashma? Probably a lot of people gathered at the place where it came from, and they called it Kala Chashma. The water in the springs is so cold that it is difficult to hold in the hand for a minute. Locals also drink this water as medicine. According to them, it is refreshing and there are breaks in the body that block the path of diseases. We ate on Kala Chashma, but you must make sure that when you start the journey from here, the stomach is empty as the crowds of rocks on the road begin to rise, and when the jeep runs you can see it. Some of the clock pendulums sitting inside start to move. There is only one cure for this problem and focus on the beautiful scenery along the side of the road that is enough to make you feel the biggest pain.

Pajartan

Photo Credit: Faisal Rehman

 Going beyond the black springs makes your travel test even harder. The number of rocks and their digestion increases, and you start to feel tired, but the locals force you to go ahead saying, ‘You’ve just seen Kumrat. no.’ until now we were traveling on one side of the river but now it was Bari to go to the other side.

There is also a small village of Pajartan and a beautiful pasture or bandana where there are still flowers. Perhaps the reason is that the route to this location can only be pedestrianized, and very few tourists dare to travel. In fact, locals cut a large tree and placed it on top of the river to cross the river. The locals bravely pass through this bridge, but for us citizens, this bridge is straightforward.

Dojanga

Kumrat Valley Camping Pods

Only eight kilometers from Pajartan to Dojanga were left but it is painfully difficult. There are many difficult and narrow paths. Our jeep was also hit by rocks at several places and finally, we reached Dujanga after walking on those rocks. Dojanga is actually a crossroads of three different valleys and no further vehicles can be reached from here. To the east, there are Kundal Shi Banda, Kakshin Banda on the west and Shazur Banda where one can go hiking.

The breeze was greeted with drizzle in Dojanga. The fragrance of flowers and the pollution-free climate have given way to exhaustion. Seeing these scenes, our colleague Musa Yawari blew up his drone and photographed the area, and the driver and I got some cheap ones. Dojanga is an area where there is no accommodation and you can’t stay overnight but the scenes here were such that no one in the whole team wanted to go back.

At the same time, the idea was that we had come to the rocks but found a galaxy for the return route because the idea of ​​going back to these rocks was eroding the spirit. As these thoughts were circulating in our mind, our local guide asked, ‘you will not go further Shazor Banda?’ The answer came, ‘Now we have enough. I will go back. ‘

Our response to our reply was, ‘You have not seen the Kumrat yet, the true beauty is there’. The idea of ​​more scenic landscapes and the fatigue of the five-hour hiking trail continued to prevail and the return journey to the cloud began. On the return trip, it was only a few miles away that some jeeps were parked on the way and some people were seen walking. If you find out that the rocky road that the locals call the road and through which we passed, a tree has fallen off.

There is no administration here, so the passengers of the vehicles who arrived before us had talked to the locals to cut down that tree and now we had to pay Rs 4,000 as compensation for the hard work. Was. As soon as the tree was cut down, we started to enjoy the rhubarb of a few young men sitting by the river and watching it here was tied up. The tree was cut off and the journey started again.

It was ten o’clock by the time I got back to the hotel. After eating, the sleeper left behind at ten in the morning. When the hotel manager learned about other locations, they suggested the name Budgoi Top and Jhazz Banda. These places are not part of the Valley Kumrat, but if you come here, it is as if you must visit the dying Ayubia. The problem is that traveling to these two destinations is difficult too. This adventure needed more time, ending with me, so I started the journey back. The return journey provided mobile service, internet, smooth roads, but not the natural environment we left behind.

Difficulties and Facilities

There are only two things you’ll find in the name of ease in the Kumrat Valley. A pure and healthy diet and a natural environment. In addition, the market will be full in the name of difficulties. But the natural beauty of the Kumrat Valley can be overcome. There is no road and that is why people do not go here. Most of the cars that people have in Pakistan are not able to drive here. Jeeps are mandatory here so visitors cannot be encouraged. The route is daunting and then has to go hiking. There is no administration. So the garbage tourists who throw them have no one to pick them up. There is no urge for tourists not to throw their garbage around.

Being trapped somewhere in the rain or in the wake of a natural disaster only helps the locals, who are of course very supportive, but there is no government-level arrangement to evacuate them. If you get stuck in a problem, there is no way to report it. There is no mobile service or internet name. Satellite phones also work only on top because of the dense forest. All the way there is no toilet arrangement that is often needed. There is also no lighting arrangement on the way so you have to finish the trip day or arrange the lighting yourself.

There is no place to eat on the way. So you have to make some arrangements to get food along the way, or you have to come back and eat. The locals speak less of the tourists and they understand the Urdu less. Most people here speak Pashto or Kohistani, there is no question of English. Local women are not visible, and even if one looks, the knees are covered with black cloth, even the eyes are not visible. That’s probably why female tourists are reluctant to come here.

People here do not like the camera and if you take a picture with a population in the background, people forbid you that there is a population. That is why we had to be very careful in flying our drone copter for filming. However, the area is very peaceful and locals respect and protect tourists, especially women. The risks generally posed to women in urban life are minimal.