Fairy Meadows – known for its lush landscape, snowy mountains, and warm hospitable people is located at an altitude of 3,000 meters at the foot of the flowing glacier water from the magnificent and gorgeous Nanga Parbat the “Killer Mountain”, in the Diamer district of Gilgit-Baltistan, formerly known as the Northern Areas.
Apprehensive as I was that the early monsoon in Karachi would hinder my trip to Fairy Meadows. Fortunately my flight to Islamabad was on time and my long-standing dream seemed hours away. Boarded the plane on time, with a sigh of gratitude, but as luck would have it the flight got delayed due to aircraft’s technical issues. After an hour and some minutes delay and a few hostile passengers row with the staff of the domestic airlines, we boarded another plane and headed straight to capital city of Pakistan. I was petrified to the core due to the sudden changes in the weather – more so with the everyday news of heavy rains, thunderstorms, landslides and choked roads. But that certainly did not dampen my spirit and enthusiasm to visit Fairy Meadows where the legends of Nanga Parbat are kept alive, as they say!
Nanga Parbat is the ninth tallest mountain in the world, also known as the “Killer Mountain”, stands at 8,125 meters (26,657 feet), and is the second tallest mountain in Pakistan, after K2. It is located in Diamer District of Gilgit-Baltistan region in Pakistan. It is also the first mountain in the great Himalaya range, which stretches up to 2,400 kilometers to the east, running through six nations and ending in Tibet. These lush, green meadows and forests lie at the base of Nanga Parbat at the western edge of the Himaliyan range in Pakistan.
Our trip schedule was:
Islamabad to Chillas ( 11 Hours by Road) Chillas to Raikot Bridge ( 2 Hours by Road) Raikot Bridge to Tatto ( 1½ Hours 4 X 4 Jeep Drive) Tatto to Fairy Meadows ( 3 Hours Trek)
Picturesque landscape makes every bit of the journey more precious. Our short stretch breaks at Lulusar Lake and Babusar Top were incredible and much needed. It took us almost 16 hours to reach Chillas, where we stayed the night. People in Chillas are not as hospitable and humble as you may experience in other parts of Pakistan. The next morning was warm and sunny with the glorious Indus River flowing on one side. Surprisingly the hotel we stayed the night, Punjab Hotel and Indus View Restaurant serves no breakfast, not even a cup of tea.
A little less than 2 hours we reached Raikot to embark on our actual journey to Fairy Meadows. Shangrila Resort Hotel is a clean decent place for a stopover. I bought juicy succulent apricots and plums outside the hotel. Being a Karachitte myself I’ve never had yellow, green & bright red plums. The fresh fruit is a treat in the mountains especially the apricots.
Loaded up in a 4x4 jeep with little luggage to carry up to our destination. The coarse, rocky 2 & a half hour jeep ride certainly give you an adrenaline rush. The rock-strewn road is completely un-maintained, there are no guardrails to protect you on this unpaved, uneven road, and it gets so narrow that near the end you’ll have to cover the last section walking.
Getting to Fairy Meadows is a huge risk that prevents many from enjoying the view. The gravel road has not undergone any repair since it was built by the ethnic villagers of the Nanga Parbat Mountain hundreds of years ago which makes it one of the dangerous roads on the list. The road is steep and just the width of the jeep, with unstable gravel road hacked out of the barren hills.
As you move on the meandering track you will come across a collapsed bridge, and may encounter sights of a battered jeep which happened to roll down the towering barren mountains, and a jeep being pulled out by the locals that fell in the flowing river. In both the cases the drivers remained unhurt – quite experts at jumping out of the vehicle! Drivers must remain cautious as the pass has been known to claim the lives of careless drivers. One false move and it’s a very long drop from the cliff to a fiery death.
Trek Begins
We began our trek from a place called Tato Valley Jall (Jhail / Jail).
The hike to Fairy Meadows is amazing but a bit demanding. You start your walk along a muddy rocky trek laid in a narrow valley surrounded by grand mountains. Following a rather steep and incline that rises sharply, the raging stream on one side and the deep, narrow gorge farther down. The landscape begins to unroll and reveals the overflowing gems of colossal beauty. The shroud of sky rocketing peaks, the puffy clouds have concealed the captivating charm and splendor of Nanga Parbat. The higher you rise, the mystifying it gets. Pine growth thickens. The aromatic smell of wild heather mixed with pine (the local people call it chirr). That feeling you get at the sight of sparkling streams, an endless variety of yellow, purple and white wild flowers strewn all over is irrefutably breathtaking. Their fragrance filled the air. There is plenty of water and the landscape turns green and rich. Finally after a few sharp inclines and a strenuous leg-breaking walk that leads to the top of the wide hill and a clear view of the incredible lush green meadows and thick clustered pines - enter the enchanted place called Fairy Meadows.
It’s a treat, after a four-hour treacherous uphill and breathless trek from Fairy Point, and you enter the breathtaking meadows, with Kehwa Lake on one side and horses grazing on the other. Trek time defers from person to person. Skirting the meadows are thick pine woods and then the perfect and final backdrop – the majestic snow-clad Himalayan mountain range.
I covered half my trek talking to the horseman Tasneem Nawaz Khanwa who named his horse ‘Baadal’ (cloud). He had some interesting views to share on the Karachi, Pakistani politics, Imran khan’s vision and our education system. He pointed where he lived, named a few mountains like Buldar Peak, Nanga Parbat and Nanga Parbat viewpoint overlooking the majestic Rakhiot glacier. I ended up teaching him three sentences in English for which he was very thankful and a few minutes later practiced them with a Chinese tourist. His brother was a student at a university in Karachi and Tasneem is of the opinion that education in this part of land is very important. He told me I must try ‘sonchal’ the local saag here.
From north to south, roughly, the peaks stand in order of Bulder (5,602 m), Rai Kot (7,070 m), Chongra ( 6,448-6830 m), Silver saddle or Daimer Gap, Ganalo (6,608 m), Juliper North and South( 5,245 m & 5,206 m) together with immense unruly glaciers running for miles and miles.
The other horse man with a very cool haircut Sohail Tanveer called his horse ‘Sultan’ and was very proud of it. His brother and cousin were studying in Karachi as well. He taught me a few sentences in Wakhi language (the local language). He told me stories of his influential grandfather who helped a family of 4 brothers and about his family, his home. He told me a little about the village and their plantation. Also explained the procedure of how they get pine nuts from the pine cones, which I didn’t know. He was quite opinionated about a lot of things including how the cigarette smoking keeps him going (up and down the treacherous trail) until evening and why he strikes his loyal buddy – the Sultan! He had his reasons for everything he did, which he tried justifying and I kept defying them till we both gave up! Both the gentlemen were humble, courteous and very respectable.
At Broad-view Resort & Campsite we were served the local green tea – Tumoro (wild thyme tea – that grows in abundance here). For 2 nights we were served the special saag - ‘sonchal’ as we had all requested. The dinner was followed by a marvelous bonfire and an excellent dance performance by the local hotel guys. The drum beat on a tin canister with a stone was rhythmic. We spent a little more than an hour around the fire before heading towards our camp. The temperature drops suddenly at night. At night, Nanga Parbat glows white in the still darkness, if not covered by thick fluffy clouds. I experienced my first clear milky way here which was beyond belief. The resort offers basic wooden cottages and camping to the tourists. Hot water facility, fairly better wash rooms, dining hall and basic electricity are the ultimate luxuries unknown to the trekkers here.
All through the night it rained and the pitter-patter on the camp seemed very pleasant.
Next morning after breakfast we headed out to catch a glimpse of the mesmerizing Nanga Parbat but the peak was behind the veil of clouds.
We set off for our trek towards Beyal Camp from there we were to go to Nanga Parbat View Point and straight to Nanga Parbat Basecamp. The steady uphill morning walk on a track that encompasses a thick cluster of pines along a murmuring stream unwinds the tranquil path to the scenic Beyal camp. It was perfect, the neighing horses and the cold breeze that comes down from the icy peaks of the Nanga Parbat. On the way you will witness cut up, broken down, lightning struck trees and sky rocketing Papyrus plant Beyal camp is a small idyllically romantic camping spot located right at the foot of towering peaks by the stream at few kilometers from Fairy Meadows at an elevation of 3,500 m.
The lush green pastures, drenched meadows where cows, horses, donkeys, sheep and goats graze away happily till sunset is a perfect hideout from the hustle and bustle of big cities.
The clouds were still in front of us covering the peak, the beautiful green valley where we stood – it was a scene right out of a dreamland. You actually have to be there to experience it, for no camera can capture the serenity, the peace and the magnificence of this place. It is here where we had the best tea made from powdered Nido! The place was fairly clean except a few wrappers, empty plastic bottles and juice boxes tossed in the clean running streams. At Beyal Camp the locals had made wooden litter bins. Unfortunately the clear sign on it: “USE ME!!! Keep the area clean…Don’t Throw Rubbish in open places” went unnoticed.
Homes and people
Houses here are nestled among the mountains built out of pine logs leveled with birch barks used for the roof. The men are known to play polo, sip tea and cut firewood with the echoing thuds of their axes. The women pick wild mulberries, raspberries, and strawberries in the meadows as well as tend to their vegetable gardens. They plant potatoes and corn along with sonchal (saag) and some salad leaves which the locals call ‘asghar’ which one of the girls at Beyal Camp offered and I loved how fresh and crunchy it was. They were kind enough to invite me not for tea but for supper and stay. Every girl knows how to sew and most of them stitch their own clothes. Some of them study and stay in Chillas but spend their summer and winter vacation in Fairy Meadows.
Local men seldom show up with their herd of sheep and goats. Natives are extremely warm, courteous and openhearted yet taking pictures of their settlements, children and ladies in particular is not accepted.
We then moved towards Nanga Parbat Viewpoint. We could go as far as the Viewpoint and not the Base camp, as briefed by our experienced travel guide Muqeem Baig. Since it rained last night the way wasn’t clear and safe. Muqeem hails from Shimshal, the land of Mountaineers. He is a professional Mountain Guide, Climber & an Adventure Sports Trainer. His passion led him to start his own trekking company in Islamabad, Climax Adventure Pakistan, which is one of the best so far. Muqeem inspired by his father, Qurban Muhammad, who has to date saved many lives on the icy heights of mountains like K2 and Nanga Parbat. Qurban Muhammad sahab's over 12 years of mountaineering record is brilliant as he has twice scaled K2 and Gasherbrum-II beside scaling Nanga Parbat, Broad Peak, Gasherbrum-I, Spantik and Kunyanchish.
The hike upstream along the murmuring stream through the thick alpine and coniferous forest from the Beyal camp is pleasant. You encounter lush green grassy planes and junipers along the path. Slowly, the ascending trek leads you to a lone giant rock standing at the verge of a vertical cliff. As if the skies move and split, an unbelievable and fantastic horizon of rising peaks, huge masses of snow and glaciers embracing the world around you appear at close quarters, storming your field of view. This is lower view point (3,667 m).
I stayed back as I couldn’t walk further. My foot couldn’t take more stress after my recent healed bones, or I was too scared to walk further.
I planned to stay back in the grassland. Found my spot on a rock close to a large Juniper tree. This was my long-time dream to sit in a forest or a meadow all by myself with absolutely no one in sight. This was beyond what I had ever imagined…under the shade of Juniper tree in a valley with Nanga Parbat in sight concealed in a blanket of clouds, carpeted with bristle-cone pines, Juniper trees and shrubs.
Flora of forests includes Pinus wallichiana, Pinus gerardiana, Artemisia, Pinus peuce, Stone oaks, Junipers Pinus smithiana and Abies pindrow trees. The high altitude areas receiving low sunlight have flora e.g. birch and willow dwarf shrubs. The region has proved to have biological importance for researchers. Recently thirty one species of Rust fungi used in several medicines have been discovers in the region. Fairy meadows is home to over 400 different species of herbs.
Tourists can also observe the activity of brown bears and musk dears (endangered species) in the region.
(Taken from different sources)
It started drizzling as I had just settled on the rock. Enjoying the raindrops with no fear in the world, listening to birds chirping, herds of mountain goat and sheep grazing in the meadows, an occasional cow moo-ing, chewing grass. I could stay here forever. An hour passed by clicking pictures, making videos, even recording the quietness of the place – anything to freeze the moment. The beauty of visiting these places is that you just cannot seize the moments in a mere lens. The group returned in an hour. We had lunch at the same place which served the best doodh patti (milk tea) of the trip. Daal chawal (daal & rice) and potato curry we had here was lip-smacking finger-licking delicious!
The walk back was relaxing. Casual conversation, picking wild flowers, collecting wild thyme (purple flowers to make my special herbal tea), clicking pictures of the sun’s last rays on the mountains, strolling down some of us parted ways. My son and I tried taking a detour and lost our way back to our resort amidst talking and photography. A couple of tries later, slipping and falling and shrieking for help we found someone to help us out. Back on the right track the man offered herbal tea to recharge myself, which I kindly declined.
Resting and waiting for dinner to be served, we were all very exhausted. Our dinner was served with local namkeen lassi (saltish drink made from yogurt and milk), which honestly speaking none of us could devour beyond one sip.
That night the weather turned harsh, our camp couldn't stand it. Thus, we were shifted to a cottage for the night. All huddled in one cozy room. The morning was beautiful after the intense thunderstorm.
And if you are lucky as we were, you can get a clear view of the gigantic Nanga Parbat, the ‘killer’ mountain. If the heavens are kind on you, you may just see a full rainbow, or even a double rainbow, after the rains clear the sky. Fairy meadows located at an altitude of 3,000 meters at the foot of Nanga Parbat, in the Diamer district of Gilgit-Baltistan, formerly known as the Northern Areas.
The road is an unforgettable experience. It’s winding, in some places only wide enough for one vehicle, and in many places bordered by a drop of hundreds of meters (many hundreds of feet) unprotected by guardrails. Words can’t describe the road and pictures don’t do justice to what you have experienced. This drive is only recommended for the people who are serious mountain lovers and have strong nerves. This is a stunning place for photographers and nature lovers. But this road is definitely not for the faint of heart, so, if you want to go there - bring a lot of courage with you!
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