Borith Lake – Beauty beyond words

Borith lake Uper Hunza, Gojal, with the reflection of Ultar Mountain, was once a popular hunting place The Karakoram Highway 41 for the Mir of Hunza during winters, particularly for birds. A small house was built for the Mir on a hill surrounding the lake just on the edge. Today this house is known as the Borith Lake Hotel. Today the lake has reduced in size, salty over the years due to a reduction in the underground seepage that feeds it. This is the result of receding glaciers and an impact of climatic changes.

The lake is a magnificent bird sanctuary for migrating wildfowl or waterfowls – ducks, geese and swans etc. that stay here on their journey towards the cold regions of Central Asia. This marveling wonder becomes so attractive in the months of March and June when many species of waterfowls arrive from the warmer regions of the Southern Pakistan. A hotel here Borith Lake Hotel & Resort is run by Mr. Tawakal Khan. A nice and polite person, retired army man who is always very friendly and smiling and enjoys dancing!

The infamous chacha (uncle) Tawakkal Khan, who became prominent after the Humans of New York gentleman, the street photographer Brandon Stanton, visited this place and interviewed him. You will meet him when you visit Borith Lake where you can dine and stay. Some say videos of him dancing are viral in Japan too. He enjoys doing that for his guests. Both make the hike up to the lake worthwhile, Mr. Tawakal Khan and the Borith Lake. It is very common for trekkers and visitors to stay at the lake overnight and witness the glorifying break of dawn. Lakes are at their best in the morning if you wish to see mirror-image. The lake has assorted books available for purchase as well. An interesting book that I got my hands on was titled; ‘Let’s Go to My Favorite Travel Country, Let’s Go to Pakistan – By Gilbert Kolonko. You will find this book here only but I was told a handful of them are left now.

"When I'm bored, I call up Radio Pakistan and request a song, then I start dancing. I'll even dance on a rainy day. It's my way of expressing how grateful I am. I am the happiest man in Pakistan." Tawakkal Khan popularly known as Tawakkal Chacha

This lake is rather unusual. The water is not exactly brine (saltwater), but leaves a white crust on your skin once it is dry. It has an unusual taste similar to sulfur or high in alkaline. Obviously I did not taste it. The locals call it a soda lake. Naturally there were not any fish because they are unable to survive in this water.

Borith Lake – a complete break from everything; from the Internet, television, phones, the urge to share pictures with family, honking cars and traffic, city pollution, the noise and the furor. An absolute change of pace; basically this entire trip was. Along the Borith Lake Hotel & Resort there are some grassy areas overlooking the lake to set up camps. What a beautiful sight it would be to wake up to every morning. Around 6 or 7 a.m the reflection of the mountains is at its best. If there is not a breath of wind the lake is like a giant mirror. I wish we had camped here too.

Passu Glacier Trek

While looking around the hotel I saw Tawakkal chacha (uncle) has very proudly put up a print out of HONYs Face book page, amongst other pictures of the Passu and Gulkhin glaciers, suspension bridges and Borith Sir. We spent almost an hour at the lush green surroundings of the emerald green lake, exploring the lakes, taking group photos before we hiked up the rugged terrain we had to travel through to get to the glacier. A relatively longer trekking route can be taken if you like to visit the Passu Gar Glacier by continuing the journey south ways from Borith Lake. The Passu Glacier is one of the white glaciers in Hunza valley. Many tourists visit it every year.

(Taken from the book Gateway to Serenity The Karakoram Highway)