Three Men in a Boat (to say nothing of the Guide & the entourage)

Prologue

It was another evening at the cafeteria of NUST, the weather unusually pleasant and windy, the six of us sitting outside the main cafeteria building under the shades where mostly you will find love birds doing what they do best, talking aimlessly and endlessly about nothing. We were on our usual meal, i.e. a Samosa and a cup of Tea before calling it off. There were people to be seen in the backdrop[The Girls Hostel Roof], walking in an invisible loop – probably busy on the phone, while others just standing and waiting for their phones to ring. As the weather was clear, an idea spurred on the table of going on road trip in the upcoming summer holidays, and this is where it all began.

The Plan

It was our last paper of the sixth semester and for most of the people it was something to get over with either one way or the other and rush to their homes. Tradition has it, that the ones who finish early, wait for the ones who consume the full time as if they have paid for every minute of the exam. Today i was one of the latter ones, except for the fact that i was doing more than just watching the clock tick. After finishing what was supposed to be done, we all as per second tradition headed straight to cafe because it was here that we found our classmates and held our little discussions about everything, be it the worthless matters of politics or sensitive subjects like “Walcott vs. Messi”, Cafe is the place where it all comes down on everybody’s face. So we were sitting on front chairs when the idea of going on a road trip resurrected by one of my friend[ROAR], it was there in the last few papers but no one actually talked about it much as we were not sure if we will execute it or not. The exact scenario as quoted by him:

I was preparing for tomorrows paper, it was late in the night when i suddenly thought about our trip, and Narran popped out from no where in my mind. i made a note in my head to share it with everybody tomorrow.

So the next day we were told about our “going-to-be” trip to Narran. The details of the visit to northern areas were passed from ROAR’s brother to us. The details being based on his trip to same place two years back and were based on many iff’s and butts. So a plan was drafted based on the permissions that were yet to be granted from homes.

Following the same day we came to know about preoccupation of some of our groupies in interviews and Viva’s still pending. So the plan was delayed a day, on which some of our Boarder friends had serious objections, but somehow the other we managed to put a finger on their lips. So this gave us another day to inquire about the routes and fares but to no avail, the transport which looked reliable cost twice the local transport’s hypothetical rates, so it was ruled out.

Execution

So Now the plan was due to commence on Wednesday instead of Tuesday. On Tuesday i had a Viva to take care of, and besides me, i had my two friends in the group. Unexpectedly the Viva was delayed again, as my teacher had what he called a “Bakwas” – [Translates to nonsense in English] type of illness. So now it was not possible for us to be in two places at the same time, therefore it was decided initially that we will not go, but the rest of the bunch will remain on the schedule agreed earlier.

Delays

On Wednesday we gave our ridiculous Viva, for which we were forced to stay, and we were barely asked anything. Meanwhile rest of the bunch had completed more than half of the journey when we contacted them at noon. After getting through with the viva, we unanimously decided to go the next day and join the group in Narran. I reached home late that night and had to prepare for tomorrow. In the evening i called upon my friends who had reached Narran and were now in their tent and i asked details about their journey. I disclosed it to him that we will start off with our journey the next day and decided a rendezvous point. He told me to make it to Narran before evening because after sunset any kind of movement ceases. It was agreed that we will have dinner together.

Later that evening my Dad still not liking the idea of going locally but i had told him that the other group had made it to Narran quite comfortably, which i doubted myself. I knew what i had to take with me, as the space was limited so i decided to leave some of the things home. That night i finished a novel which i had started a month earlier. I took the following things with me:

1. Jacket
2. Sweater
3. Hoodie
4. Warm Chador
5. Woolen Shirt
6. T- Shirt
7. Undergarments – Packed in Waterproof plastic
8. First Aid pouch
9. Dry fruit bottle
10. . Water Bottle
11. . Toothbrush [From my friend’s checklist]

Out of these eleven items i could only carry 9, one had to be stuffed in forcefully and the other one had to be put in my friend’s knapsack. I had decided to wear a T-Shirt and a loose jeans with regular joggers. My joggers were not in a very good shape. In the end i played Assassins Creed and then Slept.

The Journey Day

At the bus stop

Next morning i woke up before the “rise and shine” call. Had a little breakfast and started waiting for my friend, who had to pick me up that morning. Unfortunately his driver arrived awfully late so instead of our previous plan to leave at 0715 Hrs. from home had to be delayed to 0800 Hrs. It was not something to get worried about but the idea that i had to wake up at six to get ready at seven just wait one hour pissed me off, i might

have had an extra hour of sleep. It took us 40 minutes to get over to the Pirwidhai Bus stop, where after a search operation we were successful in rendezvousing with our third partner. Finding transport wasn’t so hard here at the stop as there were are many transportation companies operating over here, with same rates and almost same

At the bus stop - Me

condition of vans. The trick is to get the right seats, as most of the time they are ready to stuff you on jump seats. So the first vehicle that we targeted was almost filled completely with passengers. so we told the bookie to give us a ticket for the next one which was due to leave in 30 minutes.

It Starts

At around 0930 Hrs. we were onboard our ride that had to take us from Rawalpindi to Mansehra. Its a three and a half hour drive with a brief stop at Abbotabad. The weather was hot, luckily the bus was air conditioned so it was not much of a concern. The drive wasn’t very enjoyable as the blinds were turned in, and the conductor was insisting on not to remove them because AC was turned on.

Majority of the passengers in bus were locals of Mansehra. Figured that out by their language. Some hippies also accompanied us, playing music on loudspeaker of their mobiles. The route to Mansehra starts from the GT road in Rawalpindi going northwest towards Taxila. At the Taxilla roundabout turn right onto Khanpur road this road takes you straight to Karakoram highway. There are three routes that converge on Karakorum highway, one from Taxila, one after Taxila and the highway route that crosses directly over GT road after Wah cantt. We took the last route as i remember seeing the sign boards reading Wah cantt. The first major city you come across on Karakorum highway is Haripur, then comes abbotabad and after a drive of 45 minutes from there is Mansehra.

On Karakorum highway every nook and corner is laden with slogans in favor of Hazara province. I couldn’t tell if these were work of a political party or local people really wanted another province. Like on any other highway intersection, there is a police check post. Things weren’t different here. We were stopped and a police officer randomly searched the van and asked everybody to unpack their luggage, which nobody did and he didn’t seem to bother about that. Strange! Traffic density on this road is relatively low so the van driver raced us up to Abbotabad. Traffic in the city is like any other city in Pakistan, excessive. Here the bus stopped for 15 minutes and some of the passengers got off. Luckily no one got in. As per rule of transporters, the AC are turned off when the vans are about to reach Abbotabad. So less congestion in a van is a major plus, because the weather is not very pleasant up till Abbotabad.
From Abbotabad to Mansehra is a gradual climb, with barren mountains surrounding the road. It is here that you get a feeling of going to a northern area.

Me and my two friends right from the start of the journey were rather quiet. One of the reason being that one of us was sitting at a distance of a jump seat to us but discussion about our regular topics which most of the people find useless wasn’t that dead, worth mentioning is the “guilty” discussion and the “agay dekh” gestures.

Mansehra

Kid at Mansehra forcing us to buy chewing gums

At Mansehra we were welcomed by the intolerable smell of human waste. I believe it was work of van drivers who, as a habit, answered their call of nature on road. Hungry as we were and there were not much of shops visible on the bus stop that offered snacks not even plain chips and biscuits the first thing we had to do was to inquire about vans that were to leave for Narran and their fares. So we started form one corner of the bus stop and went around it searching for vans that would take us to our destination. After half an hour or so, we were successful to locate a traveler agent, and he agreed on a rate that was reasonable. By the way we had to go through the whole bus stop searching for these vans, courtesy of the misleading directions of the locals. The next task was to get some supplies, again we had to search for them, and after some time we were able to find a shop with only chips and biscuits. Hence we bought some of those.  At Mansehra there are kids, who sell chewing gums to passengers, and these kids are so relentless that they don’t leave you till you buy something from them. It was Mid noon in fact it was around 1300 hours when we boarded our van, initially we were sitting on the first rows but the idiot driver made us sit in the back because he had to accommodate ladies – Stupid Ladies. The van we got didn’t look like it will make it to Narran due to its tampered condition, so didn’t look the driver. He looked even younger than me. After settling rather stuffing ourselves into the van, we started off.

Here i proclaim that this was the most uncomfortable journey that i have ever gone through in my life, although there was another one too, and that too happened in this road trip, but that comes in a separate category. We had squeezed in the van which was a Toyota Hiace, four people on one seat. Apart from three of us, we were accompanied by a filthy fellow. I cant tell you why have i used the word filthy. Keeping the dirty details on side, it takes five hours for a public transport vehicle to reach Narran. I believe it should be less than four if you use your personal conveyance.

Its a 120 Km drive and takes around 5 hours. The route is superb and requires stay after every 10 kilometers, not because of exhaustion but of its beauty. Too bad in public transport you cant have that liberty. The roads are clean and traffic density is low. From Mansehra you get on a straight road after crossing a valley. There are little farms around this road. The route mostly consists of hops between valleys followed by gradual climbs at some places. From here to Narran there are 10 major towns 10 Towns.

Mansehra->Labarkot->Attar Sheesha->Bisian –>Balakot –>kiwai->Paras ->Mahandri –> Kaghan –> Narran

From Mansehra to Attar sheesha the route consists of climbs and rocky mountains, there isn’t a sign of snow if you are visiting in summers, but the weather gradually starts to get pleasant as the road gets parallel to a stream at Bisian. This Stream originates from the Malika Parbat mountain range – Located near lake SaifulMalook. The stream and the road go side by side from Bisian to Narran. There are lot of road side hotels besides the stream and food is also available on these stops.

Above & Left: Paras Market

Balakot is known to be the last station where you can find supplies and banks. It is located in the cradle of mountains, on which signs of earthquake still are prominent in shape of huge landslides. Balakot was completely devastated by earthquakes that hit Pakistan in 2005, so now the town looks uniform with almost 90 percent of the houses made from blue fiber glass roofs.

I couldn’t see much of kiwai as i was dozing off at that time, he next town which appears to be just a market is Paras. Here is the point where our wan finally stopped. From paras you get to see first sights of snowy mountains, the one peak standing out from the others is the Noori Top, its distinct and easily visible from this point. We had soft drinks and pakoras here, the stay was for 30 minutes or so we also managed to get

Dozing off in the van

some snaps. This is almost the mid point of Mansehra to Narran route.

Next notable station is Kaghan, here you can also find many restaurants and inns. Notable among them are PTDC and Pine Park. We didn’t stop here and so i have no memory of the city, but i remember that it was covered in clouds, also the mountains on each sides made it look dark and damp.

From Kaghan to Narran its just 25 Km drive and is more or less a straight road alongside the stream. I forgot to mention suspension bridges. You will find many of them across the stream, there are also remains of the old ones, all in all,  the sight looks quite picturesque.

Above: River Kunhar and Noori Top

Narran

Petrol pump at Narran - The placed where we disembarked

The sun was about to set when we stepped into Narran but there was enough light to get around, we had managed to get in contact with our friends and they had given us their location, Saif-ul-Malook. They told us to join them for dinner in the evening. I wasn’t in a mood of traveling more as it had been hectic already, but for sake of a get together we embarked in the jeep already waiting for us in Narran, courtesy of my friends. The road from Narran to Saif-ul-Malook is not more than 10 kilometers, but it takes 45 minutes to reach there, reason being that there is no proper road, its a track. The view is breathtaking when you reach Narran. Its like you have reached end of the world and water is coming down from nowhere. The weather is extremely cold because of the snow that tops the mountains. The whole valley looks majestic if seen from some ground above.  Could see much of it as we were in a hurry to get to Saif-ul-Malook before sunset. The driver “Nazir Lala” had my cell phone number so it wasn’t hard to find him. After getting a refuel we started off.

Nazir Lala was a local, and had been driving since long. He told us about spots worth visiting around the area. I took a note in mind of them and decided to go to all of them. He mentioned, Babusar Lake, Lulusar Lake, Lalazar, Siri, Paye, Shogran and there were others which i cannot recollect. He also told us about his livelihood. He told us about one of our friends, to which he mentioned as “angraiz” and told us about the whereabouts of our friends throughout the day. We kept talking as we couldn’t do nothing else to kill time, also the surroundings were so heavenly that i sometimes lost myself into them. finally after the promised 45 minutes we saw the great Saif-Ul-malook Lake.

Above: Route to Saif-Ul-Malook

Saif-Ul-Malook

Saif-Ul-Malook Lake is located as such that until the last turn of the road that leads to it you cant actually see the lake. So after the last turn i saw the lake, and  had the feeling of getting into a void. The place is so wide that you cant feel the openness like this anywhere before this point – At least i didn’t –. The sun was about to set, we couldn’t see it directly, but it had lit the snowy peaks of the mountains surrounding the place. Still much was visible. We disembarked the vehicle in excitement and started looking for our friends. It was so hard to spot them as very few people actually stay on the lake. We found them a little way down towards the lake. Exchanged our stories about the trip and stuff.

Above: Views of Lake Saif-Ul-Malook from different sides.

There we were informed by our friends that our room –for all of us – has been arranged. After a brief chit chat we went to the actual level of the lake and took some pictures as if there was going to be no tomorrow. There we were welcomed by a man asking if we went to ansoo Lake earlier today, we nodded in denial, there he broke to us that 5 boys went up to the lake, 2 of them returned and 3 still haven’t got back yet. So much for our plans to go there, but we didn’t give attention to it as the beauty of the lake and the surroundings was overshadowing everything, even the cold weather. We again climbed up to our room where we put our luggage. It was a fairly small room about 10×10 foot with an attached bathroom which had dried poop lying in the middle. There is no electricity at Saif-Ul-Malook so we had to see the room in the light of our phones. There were two beds in the room and a table, which left very little space for us to lay our luggage on. Almost after five minutes we received our bedding stuff, which we squeezed into place. In this tiny little room we had to accommodate nine of us. After getting our 9 sets of everything, we were handed over the keys of the room by Master Zahoor i think. We locked it and proceeded for dinner. It was pretty dark and was very hard to see a thing, carefully we walked to a hut, which was supposed to be a dining room.

The Night of Tales

On our way to the Dining room

It was here we met an old chap, who apparently from first impression looked feeble and old, but that guy really amazed us by singing folk lore and other local traditional songs. He also told us stories about the place, also he got along with us in everything we said. In other words he was looking for a potential customer. The hut was lit by a gas lamp as there was no electricity. It was made out of tin and glass, so we could feel the freezing temperature even with putting two warmers on. We ordered three chicken karahi’s and around twenty roti’s. It was a long wait or it seemed so, but i was hungry as i hadn’t eaten much since morning except snacks and stuff. The atmosphere was enchanting as there were very few lights around and the presence of water made the air cold as a freezer. Also the peculiar emptiness of the area could be felt sitting in that room. At last our meal came which was hot but the plates were almost wet and cold, so by the time i managed to put something in my plate it had already turned cold, but i was hungry as hell, so i ate and didn’t complain. It is worth mentioning here that it was so cold that night, that i had to smoke, to keep my internals warm. After the dinner naturally metabolism started and the heat generated by our bodies further worsened the conditions for us as the cold weather felt severe now. In a rush we ordered tea, but after sometime we wished that we hadn’t. It took them so long to make it. The tea was good, the old man then told us that we should get moving to our hut. We wanted to go to Ansoo lake and so we told everyone, there again a guy told us not to go there as weather wasn’t clear. I almost instantly started to think of another place, as i was so succumbed by the cold weather and tiredness.

The moment we got out of that dining area the view was stunning, the sky was so clear that even the constellations were visible, i have never seen the night sky so clear and beautiful. In the light of our mobile phones we visited the restrooms which were nothing but a low ceiling boxes just enough big to accommodate a person. There was no water, so it had to be carried in bottles, no problems there. We told that old, guy or rather he suggested that he would bring firewood to our hut and light it up. So we headed to our hut in light of mobiles. There i unlocked the room and got my chador out . We did some arrangements and then got out for the bonfire, there the old man lit up the fire and started telling the folk lore about saif-ul-malook. It was a tailored to audience version and hence its better that i don’t write it here. The man was good at his work and after spending an hour or so he went home, in pitch black and walked comfortably down in the darkness.

Inside now, there were two beds so i along with my friends who came with me today took the bed as we had to leave tomorrow for the journey that would prove to be more enduring than we had thought. Nobody was in a mood of sleeping so we cracked the hell out of jokes. While everybody else was busy in doing wacky things i slept. There was very less room to sleep as i noticed that now four of us were sleeping on two beds. The night was a bit tough, but as a whole it was comfortable considering the cold weather outside, at least we were warm inside.

Left to right: The hut where we stayed, Saif-Ul-Malook Lake at dusk, Malika Parbat at dusk, Bonfire with the old fellow

The next day I along with my friends who had accompanied me in my previous journey were to leave for the Ansoo lake. Rest of the Lot were to head home as they were running out of cash, also they had their day of adventure at a different spot. We had set our alarms to go off by six in the morning and they did. It was about sevenish when we got out and had our breakfast. The water was cold as hell and we had to take warm water from a the tea shop to use it in the washroom. In the morning, lake Saif-Ul-Malook is at its best. The Gold rendered mountains by clear sunlight are reflected in the crystal clear water, and there is nothing more beautiful about this lake than this scene.

I forgot to mention earlier that on the previous day, when we reached Saif-ul-Malook, we had an encounter with a group of guys who were also there to head for Ansoo Lake the next day. As we thought the weather and terrain would be difficult so it will be good to have company of those lads.

Zero Hour

So as we got up early and had our breakfast early, we waited for the guys who were to accompany us. They were up but very slow in getting ready, we talked to them about the guide and they said everything was arranged and we will get the assisting sticks at the last shop. It was decided that money will be divided upon our return, a mistake perhaps. While the other team was getting ready we decided to use this time for photography. I had put on everything i had except for the chador and i soon realized the weight of the clothes was too much, also i was getting little sweaty.

Left to Right: Saif-Ul-Malook surroundings at rise and shine, The last shop before ansoo lake, my friends trekking their way up

At around 0830 Hrs. finally they landed to the place where we were waiting for them. After introductions we started off. Crossing the lake is fun as you go around throwing stones in the water. I was photographing every moment. We reached the last shop where we met our guide. He was a nice guy, was educated till high school level and had a son. I was surprised to see that he carried only an onion with him, and the  warm clothing was a chador and a jacket. He was wearing normal shoes. At this point we bought supporting sticks and i doffed the extra things and put them in my bag. Here we also bought a pair of sunglasses as we were advised that the wind will hurt our eyes. We started off with a slow pace, with regular stops which were not quite necessary but there were some obese people with us. I was actually getting pissed off of these repeated stops. Initially we were photographing at every spot, but later the frequency became lower. Our group was leading the track now as we had stopped photographing. All the time we were chitchatting and asking the guide how much more is it, and all he was saying that “abhi us pahar kay peechay”. We kept on going, the surroundings were simply awesome, the white peaks in clear sunlight looked heavenly, also the sound of the water from the streams , something I’ll never forget. There were other parties too moving toward the same place, some on horses while others trekking like us.

The water flowing in the springs is crystal clear and cold, there is nothing more refreshing than washing your face with it. I did it couple of times, but don’t even think of stepping into water as you feet will freeze if you start trekking to the peak. Our team members were now not visible at times when we were in the troughs of the hillocks. Pleading us to slow down and wait for them, they were panting and out of breath. Two of them were quicker and followed us till very end. But mostly they were behind.

Above: Malika Parbat, The three of Us

The Guide

The trekking route to Ansoo lake is a tough one, you have to cross Saif-ul-malook , after that the terrain is all rocks and snow.in the first stages of the trek there are small hillocks and some springs also you get to see The Malika Parbat, right from its base and the source of all the water that keeps the Saif-Ul-Malook topped. In the second stage you have to cross the stream that is the source for Saif-Ul-Malook, to get to a hill, which “formally” starts the climb up to that place. This place is normally dry, with few patches of snow. Once you climb up this one the trek proceeds sideways this is the point where it is good to photograph as you mostly get average light and a nice view to capture. The third stage of the trek is difficult, mainly because its covered with snow and secondly due to its steep angle. You have to be really careful here.

As I was saying that Our team was leading. We reached the Malika Parbat base camp and crossed the stream that took us to the base of the hill that marks the start of the climb. It was difficult to cross that stream because the snow- now turned to ice, was hollow at some places and chances were that if we took a step in those areas, it might have broken it altogether. Carefully I with the help of one of my friends reached the place after slipping badly in the ditch. There we rested for a while had a little water plus some biscuits and started waiting for the others to join. They joined in finally now three of them to be precise. We started the climb, it was tough as hell, our guide was cruising here as well, but with our hopes high and will power we managed to climb that up, I was actually scared and got a little height sick. Eventually I had to overcome it by starting off again.

Above: Views from first mountain

Its natural to think about falling off, if you are climbing at formidable heights. I had this constant fear of slipping down the mountain as I climbed. The trick is never to look down. Once you reach at some place to rest, then its quite OK to have a view of your track, this is what gives you will power to continue. I am not trying to portray myself as a hero here but you have to do it, if you want to get over the fear.

Above: Glacier crossing, the parallel trek

The climb was steep. initially it was all Ice, that too again hollow at some places. I was totally leaning forward and fully alert, so that if in case I fell down, I do so on my front. Falling on your back is uncontrollable so its better to lean. My feet were now freezing and it was difficult to dig that stick into the ice as it had gotten a straight edge. Finally the ice discontinued, but now we were walking through running spring or rather climbing through it. It was slightly easier as the mud was loose and easy to dig our feet in. I changed my course a little so to avoid water. The track now changed into what a normal what would look like, but was way too steep. At last we reached the place where we had to move parallel to slope. It was a time to rest and take photograph. I couldn’t believe the height we had covered. After getting our energies back, we looked for our entourage.  One of them popped up and soon we were back en route to Ansoo lake. I was so scared to walk like parallel, as the trek was very narrow and at the edge. Initially it was difficult for me to walk but then I became used to it. my  friends were a little less afraid. They went fine through this part.

Above: Climbing the second mountian

Now after crossing this area there comes a place where you see a mountain top in front of you. Strangely you don’t see anything beyond that. We reached this place, the practice was same, to walk parallel, but the difficulty multiplied as now we were again walking on the ice. my joggers had turned hard and worn out they were even before we started. It was very very difficult to keep balance and our trekking speed had reduced to zero. The thinness in air was now becoming dominant, as we ran out of breath after almost every five minutes. The effect of fatigue was also there but we were mostly out of breath during that phase. We looked around the terrain and found an ice-less spot in our way. We decided that we will make our stop over there. It took longer than we expected. We stopped by to regain our breath while we noticed now that the party following us were largely far behind. Two of them with us now, and we were bucking them up. I was so hungry that I couldn’t resist the temptation of taking a bite on a chocolate that all of us had bought. I took a bite and reinforced it with a pint of water.

At this height, you cant eat too much at once, and that too once you are out of breath. If you try to grab more you get a strange nauseated feeling. So I put the rest of the bar in my pocket and was on my feet again. The guide told us that we were half way through. He might have thought of it was a morale booster for us but instead it turned out to be quite the contrary. With our heads down we climbed and climbed. My friends were now ahead of me, as usual the guide was racing to top. He was bucking us up, but there were no signs of strain on his face, he very calmly took the onion he had brought, took off one of its peel [I don’t know what’s the exact word for it] and ate it. The climb was becoming steeper and steeper, now we had reached a place where it was more that 50 degrees up. We couldn’t find a dry spot to sit, now oblivious to the ice, we sat on it. There were numerous stops in the course, I am mentioning only the major ones. The view was breathtaking. I have never seen anything showing off its might like this. The sister mountains and the flock of peaks which had joined bases was fabulous. I took sometime in reaching that place my friends were waiting for me there before.

Above: Climbing the third and the fourth mountain mostly alone

Our entourage was nowhere to be seen, except for one of their members. The atmosphere was so quiet and moist that you could hear distant voices. I remember hearing ne of them say “yar chal wapis chalein mujh say nahin ho raha” – which in English translates to “Lets go back, I cant do this anymore”. We also noticed on the ice the was life,  a ladybug which initially seemed dead was slowly crawling in the ice. I was so happy to see something alive up here other than us. It was time to continue as we were already behind schedule by one and a half hour. It was not evident to us at that time, but the guide knew it. The next stage was to climb that 50 degree, again with our heads down we took over it, step by step. As we were about to reach the top, I wondered if the lake was after this peak or not, as I couldn’t see a crowd or anything. To my surprise and morale, after climbing that peak we saw the real deal. there was another peak in front of us. it was very very demoralizing to see such distance. We were totally at our limits of physical and mental endurance. We didn’t make a stop there and continued. It was now becoming painful to walk even. Repeated slipping of my joggers and my leaning over had resulted in a excruciating backache, not to forget that my legs were now numb. A group of people, who had taken horses to make this journey over took us. soon they disappeared behind the peak. I was so sure that behind it was the lake. The weather was getting bad, and I was now considering on second thoughts of returning from this point. It was a strange feeling, when your inner ego ,your passion and will are fighting over insurmountable demoralization of the track. It rained a little, which was a worry. After falling repeatedly we came near to the peak.

As soon as we reached it I was in tears. though nobody could see them as I was wearing sunglasses. The way up was of the same length as we had covered and it was so high that it disappeared into the clouds. We could see the horse riding party disappear into that. I was now telling my friends to return. But they bucked me up, also I was not willing to live with this reality in mind that we returned just before our final destination was in sight and so weren’t my friends. The entourage had now disappeared into thin air and we had no idea where they were, except for one of their guy. He was almost with us.

In the last course of our climb I was so out of my mind that I happened to have illusions. there was a huge rock on the top, I thought it was a hut, and I seriously were looking forward to get to it.

Unwillingly we started again it took us an hour to climb to the place where the clouds met the mountain. This was a point from where we could see the top of the mountain. It was still far or it looked so. I was not able to take one step ahead. I was so exhausted or rather brain dead that my body refused to take its commands. We saw a horse man coming down to make money from people by taking them up to the place from here. We refused. After half an hour we reached a point from where the peak was clearly visible and was not far away but it was steep. I had to take a horse from here as my feet were now not fixing into the ice. It had become more than 70 degrees steep. The horse ride was a blessing. My friends catching up sharp, the horse left me just short of the peak. now it was a matter of 10 feet, which I covered in 15 minutes. At the top the last five feet are like completely vertical so you need deeper holes to dig your feet into. With some external help finally it was the moment of triumph.13,500 feet above the sea level, preserved by a guard of mountains. I rushed to the edge to see the lake and there it was.

On the Top

The feeling of accomplishment that you get after reaching the place makes your forget all the toil. Also the beauty of the place is unmatchable. Soon my friends joined me and we congratulated each other. There was another party over there who had over taken us earlier, they were also cheering. The locals were saying shabash jawan [Good work Youngster] and stuff like that. We sat down and took some photographs. I eat the rest of my chocolate,which was exactly one bite. I had dry fruit with me, we shared some of it and took some water to overcome the hunger. We waited there for thirty minutes. The stay was ecstatic. The view was worth the drag. Ansoo lake is situated between three mountains. It is just a small depression and its guarded by the peaks of these mountains, so that you have to climb to the top to take a view. We told our guide to take a photograph of the trio with the lake. That photo is a complete story in itself. It took us around seven hours to reach that place. It was unbelievable, I had never took a trek for such a long stretch and that too in hilly areas.

Partially frozen Ansoo Lake hidden between the mountains, The picture from which this post got its name

Our entourage was now nowhere to be seen. All of them had returned but I commend the guy who was with us till very last of the track. Don’t know why he returned off by just 50 feet or so.

Soon the fun was over as the realization of returning back to Narran dawned on us. It was the same trek all over again. Advantage was that this time we didn’t have to go against the climb but with it. The moment you turn back and look down, you get a vertigo. The depth is so much that at one time you wonder how on earth you climbed that up. Our guide easily came to a walked through it to a lower level, while my friends also managed to get to a better ground , while I couldn’t force myself to take one more step. It was just to steep.

Steep slides on our way back, Dangerous edges and my friends descending

The procedure for getting down was to take a slide till the very end of the peak. It looked very very dangerous but was easy to do so. My friends did it and now they were at the bottom. One of them overturned but was saved by people already standing in there. I was still on top and wondering how to get to ground. The guide was pissed off at my fear. He gave me a hand to get to the starting point of the slide as I was approaching it, my foot slipped and I was on the roller coaster. Lucky I was to maintain my senses and balance along the slide, I reached to the bottom in one piece. We were meant to do this for all the depression – at least the guide told us to do so, but we refused after one slide, as our bottoms had taken the friction pretty much severely. The locals were laughing at us. From there we hurried down the slope, one of my friend slipped and managed to twist his ankle. He went on ground and was screaming crazy. He was given an ankle stretch to subside the pain a little. Consequently he could now stand and walk at a slow pace. Carefully he took one step at a time while the guide was racing downwards. The rest of the journey went almost like this with occasional stops at almost the same places. I changed my clothes a little as due to increase in my pace I was now sweating. I put the shirt off and donned my hoodie. Also as the day was coming to an end the wind was now freezing cold. I had to cover my head and neck. I was glad to see our injured fellow pacing up, he later told us that he was more scared than in pain, so as soon as we got to a lower level he was almost back to same speed. on our way back there was a party which was climbing up. They were on horses. Seeing the bad weather conditions they asked us if there were any hotels up there. We were so infuriated by this question that we told him that there is a palace on top.

Injured Sibzz, Trekking down the hill,Me resting on a dry spot

Finally we reached to ground level. Now it was all game of stamina – in fact all of the exercise was, as the thin air effect had gone, the track was no more steep, but there was ice, and we hated walking on that. In coming down to the ground I also had twisted my leg, I didn’t realize that as they had gone numb. We were totaled now, barely able to walk but had to reach the lake before sunset. We were so much worn out now that we couldn’t take more than fifty meters of continuous stretch and stopped. We couldn’t do much about it except to walk our way down. We were panting badly due to excessive strain on our bodies. I swear I have never taken more than four hours of continuous exercise, and this was now touching the ninth hour. The horsemen were again in for making money, and asked us if we needed to ride our way back. We had to refuse for obvious reasons. The rest of the journey went like this, we had our legs almost crumpled by the time we reached the lake. The trek seems endless, and you feel like revolving around the same scenery all over again after every five minutes.

It was a delight to sight Saif-Ul- Malook again. Toiled, we threw our sticks and collapsed at the benches. Already we were pissed off at the guide who had raced us through waters therefore making us jump over it time and again, there were more reasons waiting for us to add to insult the injury. Our entourage had not paid for the guide and hadn’t returned the sticks and now we had to pay all of the expenses. I don’t know how many times a swore at them. So there was only one way to go by this, and that was to pay so we tried our best bargain and paid for the sticks and the guide. We decided to cross the lake on boat as we could now no more walk the distance. A bargain was made, which was refused, forcefully we sat on the boat and told the boatman to row. We paid him the amount and told him to accept it, which he did after refusing at first. We climbed up to the place where the jeeps were parked and asked for fares. They again gave us a heavy number, but we settled on a bit lower . The Drive was the a pain in the butt. I have never gone through any drive more difficult than this. To add to it, the driver switched on his stereo system, which we requested him to turn off.

Panting, jumping and half dead we reached Narran. Now was a tough task which our friends had done previously for us, to find a place to rest. We landed in main bazar, I must say that the public was good at the time – Yes, I mean the same thing – but we were in no condition to give them another eye. We asked the hotel in which our friends had stayed, he was now charging double the amount, just because it was weekend. We tried a few more place but to no avail finally a kid walked to us and offered a tent at a relatively reasonable price, we took it. It was a reasonably good tent and the best thing was that it was clean. We didn’t look at any other thing, and started to prepare for the evening, I put off my shoes and was relieved to do so. The tent kid was a good guy as he agreed to bring us food in the tent. We ordered just for the sake of eating something before we retired.

Our Tent in the morning

We also told him to bring tea, which we later canceled because he had been late in bringing it to us. We ate the food, whatever it was and took pain killers and antialergics. One of my friend didn’t bother eating and taking the pills and went asleep. the other two us also retired after making some arrangements. There was no better feeling than being in bed at that time.

In the morning I noticed that out tent was located in the middle of the market and we didn’t hear a sound last evening. We were so dead asleep. The other noticeable things were that I had a burning sensation on my forehead and my leg was still uncomfortable. The first could be credited to the sunburn that I had taken the last day, but I couldn’t get why my leg was getting this strange twitchy sensation. It was around nine o clock in the morning, and we were all set up to hit the street. We had a good breakfast, and took a walk around the market. We thought of taking a direct and comfortable bus to Rawalpindi but it had left. So we had to take the same old van. Surprisingly it was the same one that brought us to Narran. I slept through most of the journey on the way back but whenever I was up I was cherishing every memory that we had made.

We reached Rawalpindi. It was time to part, so we left one of our friends at the station and two remaining of us took local transport home.

My dad was not home when I reached. I didn’t talk much to others about what I had been through but I couldn’t hide the limping and the sunburn. When he returned I told him the story and all he could say was that had he known this he would never have let me go. Also he could not believe that I actually made that journey, but apart from that he was also amazed that I actually did make the climb.

It was one in a lifetime experience. I learned many things from this journey.Among them are;

• Ansoo lake is one of the most beautiful places in the world.
• There is nothing more stronger than motivation and teamwork.
• Human will is both the weakest and strongest trait they have.
• To use your determination to kill the desire to turn back.
• If you are all set up to go about something there is no force that can stop you, of course there are hurdles.
• Well prepared is half job done.
• Human body is capable of doing wonders if pushed to the limit.
• To share is to care.

Epilogue

There are numerous other things but lets not get into those. Whenever I look back at the time the whole scene just flashes like a movie in front of me. It has become my determination in my everyday work. To me there is nothing impossible, its just that we are too lazy to attempt it. We underestimate ourselves by many folds. The three of us while sitting in a boat were thinking the same thing, had we taken over this journey if  we had known the drag of it? After all we were just three men in a boat.

Photo Courtesy

I would like to tank the following people for being there to photograph the whole story, and by the way if you didn’t get the pun ,these were the two guys accompanying me to the top.

Omer Farooq Khan

Sibghatullah