Trip to paradise (Gilgit Baltistan) ~ Idea and planning
Trip to paradise ~ Idea and planning
Many people say and believe that heaven doesn't exist in this world. I don't say that they are wrong and I used to believe it but then I went to GB(Gilgit Baltistan) and everything changed.
It is said that whoever sets foot in GB once, utterly changes for good. I'm the eye witness of this folklore. I sat foot in GB once, inhaled its air, interacted with its people and I changed completely.
GB is one of the most beautiful places in the world, having sky-touching mountains, glaciers, waterfalls, lush green valleys and above all, its warm welcoming and kind-hearted people.
It was the month of May and the wind was blowing like hellfire. We became fed up with the harshness of the weather. We were thinking about what to do to avoid this hellfire for some time and thought of planning a trip to the northern areas of Pakistan.
It was the end of May 2018 and the holy month of Ramzan. We were four friends who planned to travel together and I was made the leader of the group. I proposed to start our journey at the end of May, few days after the govt announced summer vacation from 17th May. The rest of my group members proposed to wait until eid, celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr at homes and then leave. But I hit upon an adventurous idea., "to celebrate eid in GB"
It was quite a unique idea and my fellows hesitated at first, but then I convinced them that if we go in this season, 1: The roads and hotels wouldn't be overcrowded, 2: and we would have an opportunity to learn about the culture and tradition of these people to. So, we all became agreed unanimously.
Departure
Our departure was very dramatic and exhausting. I like train travel a lot and want to make train travel the first choice and any other transport service as the last choice, but our encounter with train travel compelled us to say goodbye to train travel for good. We weren't expecting such a tedious start. It felt that we have been waiting for ages at a railway station. Thanks to the efficient and up to the mark services of Pakistan railways that we finally left for our destination after waiting only for 18 hours (the train was 18/19 hours late). This was our first and most probably last train ride.
Our first halt was a village (baitwell) near Faisalabad. We were invited by our friend who proposed strongly to meet him and take some rest on our way to GB. Exhausted by the train ride, we thought of killing two birds with a single shot. We accepted his invitation graciously. We reached there around 7 pm. Almost half dead after the tiresome journey of economy class of the train(we could afford but tickets of other classes of almost all trains were reserved weeks ago and only tickets of the economy class where available), we went directly to the nearby turbine and enjoyed the cool water for hours. We felt as if we were in the oasis of Timbuktu after travelling in the Sahara desert.
After taking bath in cool water, we started feeling a strong urge for dinner. It felt as if we were starving for days. We took our delicious dinner and decided to have some walk. Our host showed us around and was briefing us like a tour guide. After roaming around for an hour, we came back, fasten our seat belts and started our journey towards the beautiful valleys of the dream.
Fed up after the hectic journey and stroll, we got up late in the morning, went to the turbine and remained in cool water for almost half an hour. Our breakfast was ready until then. We took our breakfast, thanked our host and went to the daewoo terminal. (after our delightful encounter with the train, we didn't even think about it) The bus was about to leave as we reached the terminal. To our disappointment, only backseats were available. The next bus to Islamabad was ages behind. So, we had to buy the tickets and board the bus. The bus departed as soon as we made ourselves comfortable in our seats. The journey of the motorway has its charm. It always fascinates me. We enjoyed our 4/5 hours journey and reached the Islamabad terminal.
Uber and Careem taxi services made inter-city travel easily accessible, convenient and economical. There is no need to bargain at all. The automatic fare calculation system calculates the fare according to the distance travelled. We reached at General Bus stand, where our quest to spot the right bus stop started and it seemed it would never end. The bus stop was overcrowded probably because of Eid. It seemed all of Pakistan is going to GB. Finding four seats for Gilgit seemed as difficult as getting a Canadian visa. One of the buses was going to Sharda (Azad Kashmir) and the conductor said that we can climb to the roof if we want to go there as the buses are already overcrowded inside and even not a single folding seat is available. We were told that if we travelled on the roof of the bus, only our frozen bodies would reach there. It seemed we wouldn't be able to get four seats for Gilgit. We have been roaming around at the bus stop for hours and no one was guiding us where to go. At last, we thought of staying at a nearby hotel and depart the next morning.
https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2017/05/15/09/25/satpara-lake-2314191_1280.jpghttps://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2020/06/17/19/32/gilgitbaltistan-5310849_1280.jpghttps://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2021/01/03/21/45/gilgit-baltistan-5885736_1280.jpg