Tilla Jogian is the name of mountain/hill located in the district of Jhelum,Punjab Pakistan.Its 3200ft above sea level. And is very sacred religious site for Hindus and Sikhs.Almost 55km from where I live. There's a lot to talk about the site it self but in this article I'll write about my experience visiting the Tilla. So I've fantasised to visit the Tilla Jogian from the last 5 years when one day in high school my friend mentioned about it to me. Zain told me that his maternal families village is near a mountain where there are thousands of year old hindu temples and you can actually see the whole district Jhelum from its top. When i heard about the view i thought i would even be able to see my house from the top but alas naked eye can see so much.
So Last month all of our high school friends had a meetup after a longtime. Many of my friends had went abroad for there studies so when they came back it was mandatory to meet them. That's where i put up the idea of going to tha Tilla. The trip was finalized after a week.
So a little background to me. I've never hiked in my life. And plus the weather was almost 30° degree Celsius.
We started our journey at 7am from Jhelum with 2 of my friends namely Zain and Sameer in a car. With us as a guide was Zain's uncle. He got in with us in Dina a town where all the nearby villagers come to buy there monthly groceries. He was there for the same reason and wanted us to give him a lift. In the return he would guide us to the tilla as he was an expert who grew up seeing it everyday.
The trek started at 11am. The sun was right above our head. And the heat was scorching. After almost the first 10 minutes of the hike i was thirsty as a dog. But the water we had was mounted on a camel with all the other supplies we had to take up with us to cook food. Because on the top there was no water or supplies. So i was told to wait for a place at half of the trek. Upon reaching the halfway point. I sat down in the shade and blacked out. It was so scary. I was cursing myself for choosing this destination. I drank water had some sweets. And after minutes rest i was able to get up and move.
After that the good thing happend that the trek started to get covered by trees which reduced the heat massively which helped me alot to trek. After almost 2hours of struggling i reached the legendary Tilla Jogian. And there it was the view i was imagining in my mind for the last 5 years. Right in front of my eyes. It was breathtaking. At least for me...
Upon reaching and getting the initial views. We rested a bit on the grass. And then started to check out the history old temples and a Pond made out of stone. One of temples was said to as old as 1000BCE. But they weren't preserved very well. We took some pictures and enjoyed the view and headed back to guest house .
We gave the supplies we brought to the cook and a friend of Zain's uncle to make us a meal and he happily agreed. He made a Chicken Pulao. A rice dish with meat. We enjoyed the pulao and then again went out. The weather at the top was very different from the start of the trek. Its was very cool and windy. We loved our time up there
So now it was almost 4pm. It was time for us to get down and head back to our home. Its took us almost 1 and half hours to get down. 30 minutes less than going up.
After getting down we got in the car said thanks to Zain's uncle for his hospitality and headed back to our home. We were devastated with tiredness of the hike. But the nostalgia of Experience we had kept us fresh. We reached back at almost 7:30pm. Its was a trip of a lifetime
