Kumrat valley — the hidden gem of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Kumrat valley is one of the most beautiful and unexplored parts of KP and is fast becoming victim to rampant commercialisation.
Omar Mukhtar Khan
Kumrat valley has become the new big thing for the last couple of years with fables of its dense pines, tall dark mountains, waterfalls and raging rivers. The valley is in the region of upper Dir and was until recently not open to the outside world.
Besides the local conservative traditions, there were security concerns which made upper Dir out of bounds for some time. However, thanks to the government, the area is now peaceful and local economic growth generated through tourism is fast taking care of some of the misconceptions surrounding the area. Kumrat is now welcoming tourists with open arms and so last summer, I found myself enjoying the benevolent hospitality of these mountain people.
Since my longtime friend Yakub has partly shifted from the US to Pakistan, I am finding myself more and more on the roads to nowhere. We left Lahore at 6 am on a sunny September morning and in four hours, diverted to the Swat motorway from the Karnal Sher Khan Interchange. In six hours, we were looking at Churchill’s picket at Chakdara where Winston Churchill stayed as a war correspondent during the famous tribal uprising of 1897.
Churchill’s picket.
As we proceeded towards Timergara on the Dir-Chitral road, the beautiful Panjkora river joined us. Yes, this road takes you to Chitral in about 10 hours after crossing the famous Lowari top. We reached the beautiful Timergara on the banks of Panjkora river in seven hours from Lahore. Timergara has a few reasonable hotels to stay in and a lovely Dir scouts mess to lounge in if you have the right connections. But in Robert Frost’s words, we had miles to go before we could stop and sleep so we continued on the Dir-Chitral road alongside the river.
Timergara.
About an hour from Timergara, the road bifurcated towards Kumrat valley on the right and we entered a gorge travelling along the river. Up until now, the road was perfect but then it started to become a bit tricky in terms of pot holes and broken patches. However, it was still an easy road to drive on.
We crossed small mountain towns with men and boys wearing round prayer caps and the women mostly in veils of the shuttlecock variety. The rough road was taking its toll on us and to our luck, no one had a good idea of how far Kumrat was. We were hungry but could not find a reasonable place to break bread and this is when we already travel with pretty low expectations. This was the real Pakistan, simple people living their lives in poverty but they looked happy.
It took us four hours from Timergara to reach Thall town, known more for the majestic 19th century wooden mosque by the river. We took a break to explore the historic mosque made from huge planks of Deodar trees and embellished with intricate wood carvings and motifs. The mosque looked somewhat similar in architecture to ancient mosques in Shigar and Khaplu constructed by Kashmiri craftsmen.
Shiringal — on the way to Kumrat.
The 19th century Thall mosque at the banks of Panjkora river.
Our destination, the forest rest house, was another hour from Thall town up in the Kumrat valley. There was almost no road from Thall bazar to the Kumrat forest rest house and only SUVs with good clearance worked here. At around 6pm, we entered the well-located and well-maintained forest rest house at the mouth of Kumrat valley.
The rest house was set in the back drop of tall black mountains under dense pines and the sound of the river gushing in the back; giving off a surreal feeling. The only thing missing in all this was some good food after a long tiring drive but we were lucky to have an excellent cook at the rest house. After having some late night tea under a starry sky, it was now time to sleep.
A view of the forest rest house at Kumrat.
The next morning, it was trekking day to the Jahaz Banda meadows. And for me, this means a maximum of four to five hours of trekking in the whole day so it doesn't get too strenuous. We first came down to Thall Bazar and took the main road towards Kalam.
Just to clarify, Kumrat valley is to the north of the main Dir-Kalam road, whereas Jahaz Banda is to the south of this main road. After about 10 minutes, we took a small jeep trek into the Darwaza village on our right and it took us around an hour of some tricky bends, a number of villages, and some beautiful views to reach the Jhandrai village, the launching pad for the meadows. Here, there is a famous host, Raja Taj Muhammad, who runs a small hotel with a museum in the village, offering a one stop shop for all tourism related matters. But unfortunately, we did not get to meet him.
If you want to save some 15 minutes of trekking time, you can actually drive past the Jhandrai village on a narrow jeep trek which soon crosses a bridge on a mountain nullah and further upwards until the trek meets a dead end with ample parking space and another small tea kiosk and lodging place. We parked our vehicle here and had tea at the local
dhaba before starting the trek. The
dhaba owner told us that this was a good season and a lot of people had been coming in and he was making good money. We also hired a not-so-friendly guide with a horse to take us to Jahaz Banda, lest we got lost. And before you make any guesses, the horse was just an insurance and we almost didn’t use it. My friend had brought two extremely useful walking sticks this time around and that made our lives much easier.
The hike took us through dense pine forests and the first 30 minutes' stretch was quite tough due to a sharp ascent before the ground became a bit leveled with a continuous upward gradient. We crossed several crystal clear streams and passed through small villages where sometimes even governments seldom manage to reach. It took us about two hours of continuous walk to reach the meadows.
The narrow jeep trek to Jahaz Banda.
A village on the way to Jahaz Banda.
The walk to reach the Jahaz Banda meadows.
The Jahaz Banda meadows.
The meadows are surrounded by snowy mountains and thick pine forests.
A view of the glaciers around the meadows.
The meadows were flats, the size of five to six football grounds in all, surrounded by snowcapped mountains and tall green pines. Lucky us, there were not many people as the tourist season was now closing. However, I could see what happened in the last few months through the piles of garbage and plastics everywhere. Add to that, the locals were constructing all sorts of hotels and kiosks there which were not only shabby but also very unfriendly to the environment. Fortunately, the meadows are still beautiful, just like Murree is still beautiful despite the rampant and ruthless commercialism that it has been living through for the last 40 years.
After a short rest break and some steaming hot tea, our guide takes us to the beautiful Jahaz banda waterfalls about 15 minutes from the meadows. Reaching the waterfalls was a precarious trek. I have never seen such beautiful waterfalls from this close in the middle of dense jungles. You can also trek further to the beautiful Katora lake three to four hours away. However, we left it for another day. But if you're planning to trek to Katora lake, there are a few makeshift lodging places in the area where one can stay overnight. Our guide also told us about another three days trek that leads from Jahaz Banda to Kalam in the Swat valley. But for now, that trek into Swat is a dream in our books.
The Jahaz Banda waterfalls.
View of a valley on the way.