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Friday, June 26, 2015
Thursday, June 25, 2015
Naran, Kaghan Valley
Naran, Kaghan Valley
Naran is a medium sized town in upper Kaghan Valley in Mansehra Distc KPK province of the Pakistan. It is located 119 kilometers (74 mi) from Mansehra city at the altitude of 8,202 feet (2,500 m).
Naran is one of the most scenic town in Pakistan, attracting thousands of tourists, trekkers, photographers and nature-enthusiast, every year. The Kunhar River, swollen by glacier melt, passes through this town as it meanders its way through the valley.
Naran can be considered as base station to scenic destinations like Lake Saif Ul Malouk, Lalazar Babusar, Noori Valley and Purbi Valley.
Transportation
Naran is connected by Naran road from Mansehra. In the tourist season (1 June to 31 August) public transport runs daily between Mansehr In winter the road which leads to Naran is blocked due to heavy snowfall and it is very difficult to reach there.
Weather
In Naran, the climate is warm and temperate. There is significant rainfall throughout the year in Naran. Even the driest month still has a lot of rainfall. The average annual temperature in Naran is 10.1 °C. The region is Alpine in geography and climate, with forests and meadows dominating the landscape below peaks that reach over 17,000 feet. Following is the weather history of Naran.
Lake Saif-ul-Maluk
Naran to dusty jeep track is approximately 9 km in length with hiking tracks difficulty level ranging from easy to medium. It can be traveled by jeep in one Hour. Net elevation gain is around 700m.
Lake Saif ul Maluk
Ansu Lake
Ansu is tear shaped high-altitude lake situated adjacent to Malika Parbat. It can be reached via 11 km trail starting at Saif-ul-Malook. This trail can be divided in two steps. a) 7 km walk from till base of Malika Parbat. b) 4 km hike up the mountain with net elevation around 1000m. It can be traveled by Trekking in 4-5 Hour. Lake remains accessible from early June till late November, with deteriorating weather making it difficult at start and end of season.
Ansu Lake
Lalazar
Lalazar is a plateau once known for beautiful wild flowers and soothing pine forests. Though recently cultivation of potato and other corps declined the natural beauty, but still enchanting view Malika of Parbat and lush meadows make it a must visit. Lalazar can be reached through a muddy jeep track of 01 hour starting from Battakundi. Some people prefer trekking over riding the jeep. One famous, moderate trek starting from Lake Saif ul Malook through picturesque Hans Gali ends at Lalazar.
Lalazar
Other Tracks (Originating/Ending in Naran Valley):-
- - Balakot (Gate of Kaghan Valley)
- - Noori Top
- - Dudipatsar Lake (Queens of The Lakes)
- - Saral Lake
- - Fairy Land [Place Discovered in 2014 by Shahzada Naveed]
- - Battakundi
- - Ratti-Gali Lake (Lake is in AJK)
- - Sat-sar Mala Lakes (6 Lakes in One Place)
- - Gitidas
- - Gattian Lake (Lake is in AJK)
- - Jalkhad (Mindblowing Place)
- - Lulusar Lake
- - Sarkatha lake (Lake is in Kohistan) [Lake Discovered in 2013 by Shahzada Naveed]
- - Saif-ul-Malook II [Lake Discovered in 2013 by Shahzada Naveed]
- - Sangal Lake [Lake Discovered in 2013 by Shahzada Naveed]
- - Katha-sar Lake (Lake is in Kohistan)
- - Ghazi Sar (Awesome Place)
- - Maheen Lake (Lake is in Kohistan)
- - Babusar Top (End of The Kaghan Valley)
Wednesday, June 24, 2015
Pashtun culture
Pashtun culture Pashto is based on Islam and Pashtinwali, which is an ancient way of life, as well as speaking of the Pashto language and wearing pashtun dress. The culture of the pashtun people is highlighted since at least the time of Herodotus (484-425 BC) or the Great Alexander , when he explored the Afghanistan and Pakistan region in 330 BC. The Pashtun culture has little outside influence and, over the ages, has retained a great degree of purity.
Holidays and special events
The biggest holidays for Pashtuns is the Islamic Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha, followed by Afghan Independence Day (August 19) and Pakistan Independence Day (August 14). The arrival of Sparlay or Spring, known as Naw-Wraz (New Day), is also celebrated by some Pashtuns. It is an ancient annual Pashtun festival which celebrates both the beginning of spring and the New Year. Amongst some Pashtuns, Sheshbeeyeh, a prelude festival to Nava Wroz is also celebrated. This tradition still survives, mainly amongst the southerners; in Bannu and Waziristan[1] During these holidays, Pashtuns set up festivals in which they usually attend mosques to make special prayers, have cookouts in parks, and go to fairs.
Pashto poetry
Afghanistan was noted for its poetic language even before the Islamic conquest of Afghanistan. The Pata Khazana contains Pashto poetry written as far back as the 8th Century. Some notable poets from the region of Afghanistan-Pakistan include Amir Kror Suri, Khushal Khan Khattak, Rahman Baba, Nazo Tokhi, Ahmad Shah Durrani, Timur Shah Durrani, Shuja Shah Durrani, Ghulam Muhammad Tarzi, Khan Abdul Ghani Khan, and many others.[2]
Pashtun men usually gather at special events and listen to Pashto poetry. There are TV programs which broadcast such events to the wider Pashtun audiences, one TV program is on AVT Khyber channel in Pakistan with Amanullah Kakar as the presenter.
Music and dances
Traditional Pashto music is mostly klasik ghazals, using rubab or sitar, tabla, portable harmonium, flute and several other musical instruments. Today's modern Pashto music is influenced by neighboring music such as Bollywood filmi as well as western or European.
Below are list of main and known styles of Attan in Afghanistan. All these different styles may be practiced and mixed by Afghans in other valleys, and its not uncommon to see Afghans of one province being better at a different regions' style[3][4] (Pashto: اتڼ; ALA-LC Romanization: Ataṇ), also referred to as Atan or Attan, are the following:
Attan dance
In this dance, the dancers perform to the beat of the musician. This dance typically performed by men & women. It involves 2-5 steps, ending with a clap given while facing the center, after which the process is repeated again. The hip and arms are put in a sequential movement including left and right tilts, with the wrists twisting in sequence, with ultimately a hand is projected outward and brought in a 'scoop-like' fashion towards the center where the other hand meets it for a clap. This dance is typically performed with the musician dictating the duration and speed.
Khattak dance
The Khattak Dance is performed by the Khattak tribe, mainly in Pakistan but also in some eastern parts of Afghanistan.
Mahsud Attan (Dance)
A unique dance routine using rifles performed by the Mahsud tribe of Pashtuns. Originally it was used to dance at the time of war, but later on became a cultural dance. The dancers dance empty handed and require only large drums. Nowadays though it is danced with the guns in the dancers hand; loaded guns are taken in one hand, up to the beat of the drum the dancers move forward in a circle. After taking two and half steps, each dancer turns about, and cocks the gun. All the dancers do this in a uniform manner and by completing the turning steps they fire in the air simultaneously. The sound of each of the guns goes on one time and seems to be a single big bang.
Waziri dance
Waziristan is a large area and has particular Pashtun culture. Two drummers and a flute player play a particular tune. All the Wazirs standing around them. Two persons leave the circle; go dancing towards the drummers, and come back dancing in the same manner. During performing both the persons turn around two times at a time once towards each other facing face to face and once keeping faces in opposite direction. After doing this separately they march while dancing to the assembled crowd. As they reach the circle another pair of the performers start and moving forward in the same fashion.
Clothing
Pashtun men usually wear a Partūg-Kamees in Pashto [sometimes worn with a pakul or paṭkay]. In the Kandahar region young men usually wear different type of hat similar to a topi and in the Peshawar region they wear white kufis instead. Leaders or tribal chiefs sometimes wear a karakulhat, like Hamid Karzai and others. The Pashtun Lūngai (or Paṭkay) is the most worn headpiece in Afghanistan with different tribes having different styles and colours to indicate what tribe or region they come from.
Women and girls wear traditional long dresses [some wear a light piece of cloth to cover their hair].
Cuisine
Main article: Pashtun cuisine
Sport
Main articles: Sport in Afghanistan and Sport in Pakistan
Cricket
Further information: Afghanistan national cricket team and Pakistan national cricket team
Football
Further information: Afghanistan national football team and Pakistan national football team
Buzkashi and polo
Further information: Buzkashi
Some Pashtuns in Central Asia participate in buzkashi, which is a sport introduced in the region during the Mongol period from the 13th century and onward. The word "buz" means "goat" and "kashi" means "dragging" or "pulling" in the Persian language. The basic objective is to carry the headless carcass of a calf or goat around a flag and back to the starting point while on horseback with other riders trying to do the same thing by taking the carcass away from you. Not a team sport, it is every man for himself and that becomes apparent as soon as the game starts. It is played on a large open dusty field which does not appear to have many boundaries. The game is a microcosm of power politics in Afghanistan. Although buskashi is primarily an individual sport, alliances are built up between various players. Between the alliances, the strongest players finally take control (or in this case the remnants of a headless calf) and ride off to victory
Monday, June 22, 2015
My Beautiful Pakistan
My Beautiful Pakistan
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