Kalam The Beautiful Place Pakistan

Kalam is situated in the North of Vally Swat. The Boundries of Kalam Touches Distt- Dir in the North. It is a eye catching Place and rich of Natural Beauty. This is a Place of Tourism Specially in Summer. In Winter the Valley is Covered with Snow and so it is called the off season of Tourists.

PEACH FESTIVAL IN KALAM SWAT REVEIWS

A festival marking return of peace to Swat valley continued in Mingora, a similar event got under way in Kalam with a car rally on Sunday. Kalam Festival is starting from July 11, 2010 as Swat peace Mela continued with active participation of visitors from all over the country. Swat Hotels Association and Pakistan Army has arranged the peace festivals in collaboration with the Provincial Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Authority (PaRRSA) to celebrate restoration of peace and promote tourism that suffered a lot during the almost three years of militancy.

Along all major roads in the valley, especially along those leading to the festival venues, the organisers set up counters to assist tourists from within and outside the valley.

Kalam festival will continue till July 18 along with festive activities in other parts of Swat valley like Mingora Grassy Ground, Kanju, Fizzagat and Marghuzar. The festival has succeeded to a great extent in attracting tourists, as hotel occupancy in Mingora, Fizzagat, etc remained 20 to 25 percent while in Kalam it is up to 40 percent

In collaboration with the district government of Swat and provincial disaster management authority, the army has organised the festival to help revive tourism in the once conflict-hit area.

The eight-day festival in Kalam would have musical night, Basant, industrial and cultural exhibition, peace rally, mushaira, puppet show, Sufi dance, car rally, cricket and volleyball tournaments and paragliding. The government and the people of Swat believe it will go a long way in reviving tourism in Swat.

The security in Swat has improved alot. The military has reduced the number of checkpoints on the main road to Kalam from nearly two dozens to only one at Charbagh. The visitors are also required to register before entering Kalam.

Pictures of SWAT, A beautiful place on earth:

TOURISM SLOWLY RESURFACING IN SWAT VALLEY

View of the White Palace, a tourist resort, in the Marghazar valley in Swat. photo: Fazal Khaliq

SWAT: Before the insurgency in Swat, tourists of many nationalities would visit Swat to enjoy the picturesque views and calming effect of the valley.

Places like Madyan, Bahrain and Kalam valley would be flooded with tourists from all over the world, but all this changed after the Taliban took over the region.

To make matters worse, the floods washed away roads and homes, leaving the valley disconnected from the rest of the country.

With most the roads in Swat washed away, the Marghazar valley was the only place that was accessible to tourists. Famous for the Sufaid Mahal (White Palace), now a tourist resort, built in 1941 by Miangul Abdul Wadood, the valley was visited by many tourists this Eidul Azha.

The white marble of the palace was brought in from Bhopal and the palace was designed by Victorian architects. Nearly 14 kilometers away from Mingora, parts of the palace were destroyed in the recent floods that hit the region.

The valley attracts tourists for its majestic beauty and serenity, where high peak mountains surround a stream flowing form the Elum hill in a coiled approach.

A Large number of tourists on Eid day could be seen sitting along the crystal clear water of the stream sipping hot tea while some were enjoying a meal with their families up in the green hills.

Shaukat Sharar, an architect and social activist of the area, sitting along the stream said, “We only live once so we need to enjoy life to the fullest. People here are full of life and are resilient.”

The valley was so full of people that it was difficult to get through the crowd and cars were stuck in traffic jams for hours on end. The markets were full of life while local people were seen selling and haggling with potential customers light heartedly.

Restaurants were brimming with people who were enjoying the food and scenic views.

Umar Hayat, a resident of the valley and sells walnuts, told The Express Tribune, “With the grace of Allah our business is now very good; when people come to the valley it adds to our incomes.

“I have been selling walnuts that grow in this valley; I used to earn Rs 2,500 to 3,000 a day before the insurgency but then everyone stopped coming here, these days I can earn up to Rs 800.”

Marghazar valley offers beautiful views to tourists and was host to thousands of people this Eid. The local people have appealed to the government to help rehabilitate the region so they can once again develop their tourism industry and earn higher incomes.

The insurgency left the people of Swat demoralised and burdened but they showed resilience and are ready to bring their lives back on track.

Swat Valley The Beautiful Place

I am very fond of travelling and I love to explore new places. Visiting different places is my hob by and my father always helps me in arranging trips despite his busy schedule. I have seen many places in Pakistan but the trip to Swat valley is nothing less than a beautiful dream for me. Today I wish to share with you an interesting and enthusiastic journey to the beautiful Swat valley. My excitement knew no bounds when I learned that we were going to Swat. To add fun and to lessen our tension, we planned to travel in our own car.

We started our journey at 5:00am from our city Layyah, in southern Punjab. After an exhausting journey, we reached Kohat, a city in NWFP, to pick my younger brother from Cadet College Kohat. We then proceeded towards Peshawar, the capital of NWFP.
We reached Peshawar at 3:00 in the afternoon, and proceeded to the hotel. The next day we resumed our journey to Swat valley. Our first stay was in Mingora, a small city of Swat valley. On the way we passed from the cities of Chasadda, Mardan, Dargai, Bat Khela and Bari Kot.

Besides being a beautiful valley, Swat is historically interesting as well. It offers hundreds of archaeological sites spanning 5000 years of history. For the sportsman and trekkers, it offers good fishing and hiking opportunities.

Saidu Sharif and Mingora are twin towns, two kilometres apart. Saidu Sharif is the administrative capital of Swat division while Mingora is the district headquarters and main bazaar area. Both are 990m above sea level.

We reached Mingora after a five-hour drive, and proceeded towards the hotel, which is at a distance of 2km from the main city. The hotel itself was very beautiful and worth seeing building. The building was very old, built in the 19th century. The hotel has a small zoo and some shops of its own. We had lunch there and then I went out with my mother to buy some items from the shops.

We spent the whole day there and the next day we went out for our next point, Kalam. On the way to Kalam, we saw Swat Museum which is on the east side of the street, halfway between Mingora and Saidu. The museum is a worth seeing place for visitors especially for history lovers.Mingora’s main market is a nice place for shopping. It’s just like shopping malls in big cities like Karachi and Lahore.Afterwards, we visited Islampur, which is a village two kilometres off the main Saidu-Marghazar road, where visitors can see handloom weaving and buy hand-woven shawls and blankets.

At 12:00 noon, we reached Kalam. On the way to Kalam, a road turned to the most important ski-resort of Pakistan, Malam Jabba. We reached there after a three-hour drive from Mingora. The road of Malam was very dangerous for driving, especially for untrained drivers. I was very scared during the whole journey to Malam Jabba.

The next point or small town on the way to Kalam is Khwazakhela, which is about 30 km from Mingora on the east bank of Swat River. Khwazakhela is the largest commercial centre in this part of the valley. From there the view of Swat River is too beautiful.After that we reached Miandam — a small summer resort at 1,800 metres, 10 kilometres up, a steep side valley and 56 kilometres from Saidu Sharif. This is a good place for walkers. The most attractive thing for visitors is the orchards of apples, pears, honey and other fruits.

Another resort we visited was Madyan. It is a tourist resort on the Swat River. At 1,321m above the sea level, it is not as cool as Miandam, but it expands over a large area and has many shops. Antique and modern shawls, traditional embroidery, tribal jewellery and carved wooden items are sold along the main street.North of Madyan is Swat Kohistan where walking is not recommended without an armed guard.

From Madyan, we went to Bahrain, which is 10 kilometres north of Madyan and only slightly higher, at above 1, 400 metres. It is another popular riverside tourist resort, with bazaars worth exploring for their handicrafts. It is about 29 kilometres away from Kalam. The road was dangerous, so we hired a taxi from Bahrain and left our car at the taxi stand there. Then we started our journey to Kalam. We reached Kalam in one hour. We saw many waterfalls on the way to Kalam and I captured most of them in my camera. Kalam is about 2,000 metres above sea level and the valley provides rooms for a small but fertile plateau above the river. We reached there in the evening and checked in a hotel. As our hotel was situated in the main market, after having dinner, I went to the bazaar with my father. We came back at 11:00pm and went to sleep.

The next day we planned to go to Ushu River, I had heard that the place was very beautiful but the way to the river was very dangerous, as after Kalam there was no metallic road, but I persuaded my family to go there at the cost of our lives.We hired a jeep and went for Ushu River and a waterfall there. Thank God we didn’t meet any accident in our whole journey.

Beyond Kalam the road divides. A dirt road follows the Ushu and Utrot rivers. All was going well, but we all were afraid as well as thrilled which increased the fun of the journey. Anyways after an hour, we reached at a glacier. There we spent some time and then decided to go back to avoid further risk of the dangerous journey. We came back to our hotel in the same jeep.

This ended our beautiful journey and the next day we departed for our hometown bringing with us the beautiful memories of the Swat valley. ?

Pakistan The Beautiful Swat Valley

Swat valley is considered perfect for spending holidays. It is full of beautiful views of cold lakes, slopes covered with beautiful flowers and gardens full of fruits-laden branches. It is located at an elevation of 975 meters. It is the only valley where the tourists can go at any time of year as its weather is not as extreme as compared to other valleys.

This was some information and description about some of the valleys located in Northern areas of Pakistan providing a clear picture of their beauty.