I love photography, I love singing, I love writing and I love voyaging, and to assemble these four things would basically be a conclusive dream. I was home alone and had some time off for myself. It was the ideal minute and everything appeared to be in place; so without even batting an eye, I planned a trip up north of Pakistan to celebrate the Independence Day with the local people there.
Travelling is quite often intended to be stuffed with fun and adventures but I wanted this experience to be different and unconventional. I purchased an economy class rail ticket to experience a different side of the world. My plan was to use public transport all the way and locate the least expensive accommodation for the time I had to spend there and, trust me, despite all the trouble, it was a life time experience I had.
Early morning, around 5am, I got my train for Rawalpindi from Karachi. It was a long, tedious and extremely tiring journey that never appeared to end. I had a single seat with a broken back rest to travel on. It took me over 35 hours to reach Taxila, a city close to Rawalpindi. I chose to hop off the train and proceed with my trip from this little city. I was attempting to connect my telephone to 3g and check which place had a decent climate to go to and there I saw Nathiagali with a forecast of constant rain showers. I took a rickshaw, had my lunch at a close-by dhaba and got a transport that dropped me to Hasanabdaal. From that point, my next spot was Haweliyaan where I enjoyed a reprieve and continued my voyage for Nathiagali. It took me five to six hours by road to reach Abbotabad and was informed that Nathiagali is not exceptionally far from this point.
I was, to a great degree, drained as I couldn’t get a moment’s rest from the minute I left Karachi. My eyes were shutting down despite trying hard to keep them open. All of a sudden, I felt that my eyes were open yet I could see nothing; I rubbed my eyes but it was to no avail; everything was white and foggy when I, at long last acknowledged, that it was just mist. The typical meaning of mist doesn’t remain here. Haze implies visibility lessened to one km; here haze decreased visibility to a few feet.
I asked the bus driver which place it was and he answered “Nathiagali shru hochuka hai“. After a couple of kilometers, it got icy, followed by heavy rainfall. The bus had to stop because of the downpour. I had kept a waterproof jacket and rather than sitting in, I wrapped myself up and hopped out of the bus. I strolled up slope and could see nothing. I felt like I was flying between the clouds. After strolling for a couple of kilometers at last, I could see why they say Nathiagali is similar to paradise on earth.
From a myriad of sounds comprising of birds chirping, the wind whispering through the pines, human prattle blended with giggling, rainfall hitting the surface, all of a sudden, I entered a zone of aggregate hush as though a sound proof door had opened and closed behind me. It was supernatural. Wherever I looked, I could only see rich green slopes and mountains with pine trees shining because of the precipitation. Profound woodlands of oak, cedar and pine, mist in summers, relentless rainfall and wild life moving before you comfortably show magnificence. There was no sunlight peeping in from anywhere and dark clouds drifted over the mountains. At last I saw a chai dhaba; I had some tea and approached a local inquiring about spots for accommodation close-by.
According to local directions, I went to this little lodging on the outskirts of Nathiagali named Abshaar Hotel. It was delightful. The lodging was based on a peak and had a characteristic spring streaming down. After settling down with the room rent, I decided to eat. I was presented with sizzling chicken Karhai and Chapatis. The nourishment was to a great degree delectable or presumably I discovered it excessively divine as I was eating something after about two days.
Soon after getting some rest, I was out with my camera to preserve the excellence and beauty my eyes could see. It was beautiful to the point that I never wanted to head back home. I spent three days there, did mountain climbing, trekking, met local people, explored new places, explored the woods, invested energy with the aged locals and circulated Pakistan’s flags and badges as the independence day was round the corner.
The local people of Nathiagali treat you with absolute neighborliness. On the off chance that you plan to visit the spot, try going between June and September, as after November there is hardly anything open because the snowfall shuts everything down; furthermore it gets hazardous as the streets get tricky to drive on due to rain and snowfall. I shall post in a few photos I took there; however truly, no photo can characterize the excellence of the spot. Visit it to experience it.
