{"id":3437,"date":"2012-07-26T01:31:10","date_gmt":"2012-07-25T20:31:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/aasims.wordpress.com\/?p=3437"},"modified":"2025-04-14T02:46:56","modified_gmt":"2025-04-14T02:46:56","slug":"day-2-innocent-smiles-trek-to-rush-lake-nagar-valley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aasimnaseem.com\/blog\/day-2-innocent-smiles-trek-to-rush-lake-nagar-valley\/","title":{"rendered":"Day 2 &#8211; Innocent Smiles &#8211; Trek to Rush Lake, Nagar Valley &#8211; Pakistan"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_3928\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3928\" style=\"width: 174px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-3928 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/AasimNaseem.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/12025731154_7e855edf5a_b.jpg\" alt=\"12025731154_7e855edf5a_b\" width=\"174\" height=\"232\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3928\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shalter Peak and Potato fields of Hoper village. Nagar Valley<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>It&#8217;s day 2, Monday, 9th of July, 2012.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We are on our way towards <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Hunza_Valley\">Hunza<\/a> from <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Rawalpindi\">Rawalpindi<\/a> via <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Northern_Areas_Transport_Corporation\">NATCO bus service<\/a>. Last night we crossed\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Besham\">Besham<\/a> and its surrounding \u00a0areas. Still, we had 9 hours of travel left.<\/p>\n<p><strong>01:00h &#8211; 06:00h<\/strong>. The whole night passed in failed attempts to sleep. No footrests means no rest. Sometimes the shoulder of your neighbor gives you some moment of relaxation, or sometimes rest at the back let you pass some span of time in a semi-sleep condition. Overall, a very tiring night. The local music from speakers on Driver&#8217;s Choice is also enough to make you cry silently. (:<\/p>\n<p><strong>07:30h.\u00a0<\/strong>Bus has a stay at\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Chilas\">Chilas.<\/a> It is a small town located on the left side of <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/River_Indus\">Indus river<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0It is a part of the\u00a0<a title=\"Silk Road\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Silk_Road\">Silk Road<\/a>\u00a0connected by the\u00a0<a title=\"Karakoram Highway\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Karakoram_Highway\">Karakoram Highway<\/a>. This is breakfast time, and half-fried eggs, layered parathas, and a cup of hot tea look like a meal from heaven. After having a tummy-full breakfast, we restarted our travel in 30 minutes.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><strong>10:15 &#8211; 10:45h.\u00a0<\/strong>We are passing <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Juglot\">Juglot<\/a>. This is another small town over <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Karakoram_Highway\">KKH<\/a>, situated at 45km from <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Gilgit\">Gilgit<\/a>. It is one of the most important town as it is connected with all districts of the\u00a0<a title=\"Northern Areas (Pakistan)\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Northern_Areas_(Pakistan)\">Northern Areas<\/a>. The population is nearly 50,000, and it is considered as a center point for oil, wheat and flour for neighboring areas.<\/p>\n<p><strong>12:30h.<\/strong>\u00a0And we are at <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Gilgit\">Gilgit<\/a>, a major milestone of this travel. Smiles. (: Its start looking like we are very near to our final stop (although there is still 3 to 4 hour&#8217;s more travel till <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Hunza_Valley\">Hunza<\/a>) This is also a planned stop for <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Northern_Areas_Transport_Corporation\">NATCO service<\/a>. We have 30 miniut stay here. Let have a little walk on bus terminal to stretch out our frozen legs. (:<\/p>\n<p><strong>14:00h &#8211; 14:15h.\u00a0<\/strong>We have another short stay\u00a0for lunch. Well don&#8217;t know the exact name of the area. There are few hotels at road side, a water gallery which flows side by side of road and some fruit shops. Many people are having lunch here. We are sitting near a spring water and having <a href=\"http:\/\/www.coca-cola.com\/en\/index.html\">Coke<\/a>. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/shahzadiqbalbutt\">Shehzad butt.<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/rizwan.yq\">Rizwan<\/a> is eating shoarma type bread pieces. I tried but its taste didn&#8217;t appeal me. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.coca-cola.com\/en\/index.html\">Coke<\/a> is first choice for me. (:<\/p>\n<p><strong>15:30h &#8211; 15:45h.\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0And finally we are at <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Aliabad,_Hunza\">Aliabad<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Hunza%E2%80%93Nagar_District\">Hunza District<\/a>. Unloaded our lugguags and left the <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Northern_Areas_Transport_Corporation\">NACTO<\/a> bus after almost 24 hours. <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Hunza_Valley\">Hunza<\/a> say welcome to us. (:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Hunza_Valley\">Hunza<\/a>\u00a0(or hunza valley) is situated at bank of <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Hunza_River\">Hunza River<\/a>, at altitude of 8,200\u00a0ft. <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Hunza_Valley\">Hunza<\/a>\u00a0is\u00a0basically consist of\u00a0<a title=\"Aliabad\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Aliabad\">Aliabad<\/a>\u00a0which is the main town, and <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Karimabad_(Hunza)\">Karimabad (Baltit in old days)<\/a>\u00a0which is a popular tourist place.<\/p>\n<p><strong>16:00h.<\/strong>\u00a0Our next destination is <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Hopar_Valley\">Hoper Valley,<\/a> next to <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Hunza_Valley\">Hunza<\/a>. We are talking to different drivers for fare and comfort. Finally a\u00a0Suzuki Bolan&#8217;s driver cames up with our terms and we are now heading towards <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Hopar_Valley\">Hoper<\/a>, our last point to stop, and first to stay.<\/p>\n<p><strong>18:00h &#8211; 18:15h.<\/strong>\u00a0<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>A valley of\u00a0green plateau, tall trees and innocent smiles has arrived. This is <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Hopar_Valley\">Hoper<\/a>. Our final stop in travel of last two days. Driver took us to <a href=\"https:\/\/fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net\/hphotos-ak-ash4\/318751_10150958431173595_269241569_n.jpg\">Hooper Inn hotel<\/a>. We got fresh there and placed our camp on small grassy area.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-3927\" src=\"https:\/\/AasimNaseem.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/12025410545_d827218ec1_z.jpg\" alt=\"12025410545_d827218ec1_z\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" \/><\/p>\n<p>A unique style and gathering of kids in Hoper valley when they saw camera in our hands. Innocent smiles.<\/p>\n<table border=\"0\" width=\"100%\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"50%\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-3929\" src=\"https:\/\/AasimNaseem.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/12025732944_311558976f_z.jpg\" alt=\"12025732944_311558976f_z\" width=\"480\" height=\"640\" \/><\/td>\n<td width=\"50%\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-3930\" src=\"https:\/\/AasimNaseem.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/12026191736_0cda77ed55_z.jpg\" alt=\"12026191736_0cda77ed55_z\" width=\"480\" height=\"640\" \/><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"text-align: center.;\" colspan=\"2\"><span style=\"color: #333333.;\">View of Hoper Valley along with <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Ultar\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Ultar peak<\/a> at back.<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>While reaching Hoper, we have a\u00a0splendid\u00a0view of following mountains<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Nanga_Parbat\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Nangaparbat<\/a>: Known as killer mountain. Situated in\u00a0<a title=\"Himalayan Range\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Himalayan_Range\">Himalayan Range<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0viewed from <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Karakoram_Highway\">KKH<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Rakaposhi\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Rakaposhi<\/a>:\u00a07,788 m high,\u00a0a\u00a0<a title=\"Mountain\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Mountain\">mountain<\/a>\u00a0in the\u00a0<a title=\"Karakoram\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Karakoram\">Karakoram<\/a>\u00a0<a title=\"Mountain range\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Mountain_range\">mountain range<\/a>\u00a0famous by its white shiny\u00a0peak,\u00a0covered by\u00a0snow in almost every part of year\u00a0.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Ultar\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Ulter 1<\/a>: visible from Hunza(<a title=\"Aliabad\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Aliabad\">Aliabad<\/a>) and part of\u00a0\u00a0<a title=\"Karakoram\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Karakoram\">Karakoram<\/a>\u00a0<a title=\"Mountain range\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Mountain_range\">range<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Ultar\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Ulter 2<\/a>: usually visible from <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Nagar_Valley\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Nagar Valley<\/a>.<br \/>\nBoth Ulter 1\/Ulter 2 are 7000+ meter high.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/postcards.delcampe.net\/page\/item\/id,143943989,var,GT123-Pakistan-Shalter-Peak-Postcard,language,E.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Shalter Peak<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Ladyfinger_Peak\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Lady finger<\/a>: Adjusent to <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Ultar\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Ulter 1<\/a>,\u00a0situated in\u00a0\u00a0<a title=\"Karakoram\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Karakoram\">Karakoram<\/a>\u00a0<a title=\"Mountain range\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Mountain_range\">range<\/a>\u00a0is particularly notable for being a sharp, unique shape and \u00a0relatively snowless rock.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>20:00h.\u00a0<\/strong>Dinner with <a href=\"https:\/\/fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net\/hphotos-ak-ash4\/s480x480\/283656_10150906963358595_1624045716_n.jpg\">chicken qorma<\/a>. We have tin pack food for trek and this one is the first meal from that bucket.<\/p>\n<p><strong>21:00h &#8211; 22:00h.\u00a0<\/strong>Sitting in open area and talking shaking. We are served with Tomoro, a local qehwa called mountain tea. The sky is clear and thousand of stars are shining above us. This is a spectacular scene no doubt.\u00a0Such crowded sky is\u00a0absolutely\u00a0impossible in city life. Last time I had such sky when we were in\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.zemtv.com\/2012\/03\/16\/kail-valley-neelum-district-azad-kashmir\/\">Kail Valley of Neelum District<\/a> in <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Azad_Kashmir\">Azad Kashmir<\/a>, a year back.<\/p>\n<p><strong>22:00h.\u00a0<\/strong>Two tablets of Panadol Extra and then time to enter in camps. Weather is slightly cold and sleeping bags will be a good place to hide and sleep. Our first night in camp for this trek.<\/p>\n<p>Please turn off the lights and torches. I&#8217;m tired now.<\/p>\n<p>See Also<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/AasimNaseem.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/19\/trek-to-rush-lake-nagar-valley\/\">Trek to Rush Lake, Nagar valley<\/a><\/strong>.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/AasimNaseem.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/21\/day-1-surprises-trek-to-rush-lake-nagar-valley\/\">Day 1 \u2013 Surprises :: Trek to Rush Lake, Nagar valley.<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/picasaweb.google.com\/113867437392687177582\/TrekToRushLakeNagarValley#\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Trek to Rush Lake in Picasa Album<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/s07.flagcounter.com\/count\/evu\/bg_FFFFFF\/txt_000000\/border_FFFFFF\/columns_6\/maxflags_248\/viewers_0\/labels_1\/pageviews_1\/flags_0\/\" alt=\"free counters\" border=\"0\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s day 2, Monday, 9th of July, 2012. We are on our way towards Hunza from Rawalpindi via NATCO bus service. Last night we crossed\u00a0Besham and its surrounding \u00a0areas. Still, we had 9 hours of travel left. 01:00h &#8211; 06:00h. The whole night passed in failed attempts to sleep. No&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4610,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[116,181,185,198,264,313,407,487,489,523,525,599,603,673,790,792,809,881,924,1022,1045,1046],"class_list":["post-3437","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-saunterer-soul","tag-aliabad","tag-azad-kashmir","tag-baltit","tag-besham","tag-chilas","tag-day-2-innocent-smiles-trek-to-rush-lake","tag-gilgit","tag-hooper-inn-hotel","tag-hoper","tag-hunza-district","tag-hunza-valley","tag-kail-valley","tag-karimabad","tag-lady-finger","tag-nagar-valley","tag-nangaparbat","tag-northern-areas","tag-rakaposhi","tag-shalter-peak","tag-trek-to-rush-lake","tag-ulter","tag-ulter2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aasimnaseem.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3437","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aasimnaseem.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aasimnaseem.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aasimnaseem.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aasimnaseem.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3437"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/aasimnaseem.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3437\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4611,"href":"https:\/\/aasimnaseem.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3437\/revisions\/4611"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aasimnaseem.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4610"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aasimnaseem.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3437"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aasimnaseem.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3437"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aasimnaseem.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3437"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}