Friday, November 23, 2012

Jeep ride Raikot bridge to Fairy meadows Pakistan

To reach Fairy meadows from Raikot, first you need to hire a jeep (cost: Rs. 6000 in 2012) till Tatu village and from there to Fairy meadows its a 3 - 4 hours walk/hike, below is a short video of the jeep trip.

Raikot bridge to tatu village:




Below are some pictures taken on our way to Tato village from Raikot bridge:


Tattoo bridge
Wooden bridge near Tattoo - A gift from students of Univesity of Lahore (UOL relief)

Ali Hameed





Ali Hameed & Haroon Liaqat
Ali Hameed & Haroon Liaquat



Ali Hameed on the way to Tatu village
Ali Hameed in the Jeep on the way to Tatu village
Muhammad Javed & Haroon Liaqat
Muhammad Javed & Haroon Liaqat



Ali Hameed
Ali Hameed - Jhel village Pakistan



Thursday, November 22, 2012

About Fairy Meadows Pakistan


Fairy Meadows Pakistan
Fairy Meadows Pakistan
Fairy Meadows is a meadow on the north side of Nanga Parbat (elevation 8,126 metres or 26,660 ft) 9th highest in the World and 2nd highest peak in Pakistan), a few kilometers south of the Karakoram Highway and the Indus River in the Diamer district of Northern Areas, Pakistan. This legendry name Fairy Meadows is everlasting gift of a German mountain climber Willy Merkl (the one who led the first German expedition to Nanga Parbat, he died in 1934 on his second attempt to conquer the killer mountain) to the local people, local name of Fairy Meadows is Fantori.

Nanga Parbat is a Persian word, which means Naked Mountain, Nanga Parbat is also called the "Killer Mountain" as more then 40 climbers have lost their lives trying to conquer it during expeditions and locals call it Daimoryi, which is the end of Himalaya. Most tourists who come to see Nanga Parbat stay at Fairy Meadows, which is at an elevation of 3,300 m (10,827 ft). On the route to the meadow lie two small villages, Tatu and Fanturi.


beautiful view from Raikot Sarai
The Killer Mountain
The Killer Mountain Pakistan
Fantori village, Fairy meadows
Fantori village, Fairy meadows Pakistan
log cabins
log cabins in Fairy Meadows
camps in Raikot Sarai
camps in Raikot Sarai Pakistan

local children
local children of fairy meadows/Chilas Pakistan

Fairy Meadows - Pakistan

Fairy Meadows
Fairy Meadows
On 15th July we woke up very early and at 7 am Taimoor came to pick us, it was cold in the morning. We loaded our bags in his jeep purchased some drinks and snacks from a bakery and started our journey. It was cold and Taimoor asked me to wear Jacket and I told him that I forgot to bring it!! Taimoor said without it we cannot proceed as it will be very cold in Fairy Meadows so we stopped at Jaglot and started finding some warm clothes, thankfully at 8:30 am shops were open and I got one Jacket after a lot of search.
Raikot Sarai
Raikot Sarai

We started our journey again and reached Raikot bridge at 10:30 am. After reaching Raikot we hired a Jeep from Raikot bridge to Tato, Taimoor said he will also be going in our jeep and we agreed. It was not an easy 45-minute jeep track. We reached Tato village at 11:30 am and told the jeep driver to come at 12pm on 17th.
walking track to fantori
After few minutes we started our walking track from Tato village to Fairy Meadows. Not an easy one!! Its a three to four hours track, finally we reached Raikot Serai, Fairy Meadows at around 2:45 pm. Dilber Khan  the manager of "Raikot Sarai" welcomed us there and showed us rooms, I selected a room and came back to the lawn. There I met Raji Wali Khan and others. It was very cold there so had to wear the jacket. I was introduced to a couple, they were from Belgium, had some very good time talking to them.
Ali Hameed - Bayal camp
Ali Hameed - Bayal camp
It was very cold at night, next day I planned to go Beyal camp but due to continuous rain I couldn't go there, had some wonderful time talking with Taimur, Dilber and Raji, in evening I asked Taimur to send message to our Jeep driver at Tatu that we will come on 18th. Next day weather was clear so I went to Beyal Camp, it was raining but I reached there safely and stayed there for 2- 3 hours. It was very cold there, I came back at 4 pm to Raikot Serai. On 18th July at 11 am we left Fairy Meadows for Tatu where our Jeep was waiting for us!
Fairy Meadows is an amazing place to visit, we stayed there for 3 nights and after almost seven months I am still missing it badly! I plan every night that I will go there again next July but who knows when will that July come???




Cottages in Fairy meadows
Cottages in Fairy meadows

Greenland hotel Fairy Meadows

More cottages in Fairy Meadows
Update: I went there again last year (2012) and this time visited Tarishing and Astore valley along with Hunza and Fairy Meadows :)

Once you've lived with mountains
You will return
You will come back
To touch the trees and grass
And climb once more the windswept mountain pass


Ruskin Bond

Gilgit game


PIA ATR at Gilgit Airport
PIA ATR at Gilgit Airport
I was planning to visit Gilgit since my childhood but was never able to go there, even once I had to cancel the tickets at Islamabad airport just before the fight. But in 2006 I decided that we have to go there by all means! That was a very nice trip and we enjoyed a lot and I heard a lot about a place called "Fairy Meadows" but we couldn't go there and I decided that I will comeback next year. So in 2007 I waited impatiently for the summer to come. I booked the air tickets on 4th or 5th July 2007 for 14th July, and we reached Islamabad from Lahore at 5:30 AM on 14th via Daewoo, we were at airport at 6 am and heard a bad news that weather is not good, our flight delayed but finally we reached Gilgit at 12:15 pm and it rained for an hour after we reached there!! We stayed at Taj Hotel and I went to meet Rehmat Nabi who owns "Raikot Sarai" for some guidance regarding our Fairy Meadows trip. I spent 3 hours in his office and found him a very good person, he introduced his cousin Taimur Khan to me and it was decided that Taimur will pick us from hotel at 7 am and will drop us to Raikot bridge. Below are some pictures of that Gilgit trip, I will write another post on "Fairy Meadows" later.


Azadi chowk Gilgit
Azadi chowk Gilgit

NLI chowk Gilgit
NLI chowk Gilgit
Indian Army helicopter, Gilgit
Indian Army captured helicopter on display in Gilgit