Over a couple of years, Kumrat valley has become the new designation for tourists nationally and internationally. The valley is surrounded by dense pines, waterfalls and raging rivers, and tall dark mountains.
The valley located in upper Dir recently opened for outsiders before the PTI government and operation Zarb-e-azb there were security concerns that made upper Dir out of bounds for some time.
Now the PTI let the government, who claimed to strengthen Pakistan’s economy through tourism, this valley is being developed. The beautiful Kumrat is now welcoming tourists with open arms.
From Islamabad, two hours drive to the Swat motorway from the Karnal Sher Khan Interchange will lead you to the valley. Maybe you can take the first break at Churchill’s picket at Chakdara where Winston Churchill stayed as a war correspondent during the famous tribal uprising of 1897.
You will proceed towards Timergara on the Dir-Chitral road, the beautiful Panjkora river joined you on this way. The same road takes you to Chitral but it’s 10 hours drive after crossing the famous Lowari top.
You can reach Timergara on the banks of the Panjkora river in four hours from Islamabad. One can find some reasonable hotels at Timergara. About an hour from Timergara, the road bifurcated towards Kumrat valley on the right and you can enter a gorge traveling along the river. You may face tricky and broken patches on this path but still, you can drive carefully.
The common dress of this area are men wears Kameez Shalwar with round prayer caps and the women use to be in traditional veils of KP with shuttlecock variety. In nearby villages, you may rarely found good hotels or restaurants.
You may take around four hours from Timergara to reach Thall town. This place is known as a majestic 19th-century wooden mosque by the river. We suggest you to take a break and explore the historic mosque made of Deodar trees. This mosque looked somewhat similar in architecture to ancient mosques in Shigar and Khaplu constructed by Kashmiri craftsmen.
Thall Bazar and the Kumrat forest have around one hour travel. The majority of rest houses in this area are set in the backdrop of tall black mountains under dense pines and the sound of the river gushing in the back; giving off a surreal feeling.
The food of Kumrat valley is not that tasty but somehow with a bit of effort, you may found good food. After having some rest we decided to trek to the Jahaz Banda meadows.
Kumrat valley is in the north of the main Dir-Kalam road, while Jahaz Banda is to the south of this main road. From here we took a small jeep trek into the Darwaza village. “This area is full of beautiful views to reach the Jhandrai village. By hike through dense pine forests and the first 30 minutes’ stretch was quite tough due to a sharp ascent before the ground became a bit leveled with a continuous upward gradient. We crossed several crystal clear streams and passed through small villages where sometimes even governments seldom manage to reach. It took us about two hours of continuous walk to reach the meadows” a blogger share with the dawn.
Kumrat to Jahazbanda is a beautiful journey with wonderful mountains, clean crystal streams. We suggest you to travel this beautiful valley like paradise.
