.. by Dur Wali Khan
There are so many beautiful explored and unexplored tourist places and treks in Mastuj tehsil Upper Chitral, which might be enough to attract national and international tourists to enjoy the natural beauty in clean and peaceful environment. The most beautiful tourist points/places in Upper Chitral are as under.
1- Shandur Polo ground and Lake:
It is situated in Upper Chitral, KP province. It is just 30 minutes drive from Laspur Valley Upper Chitral. There are two beautiful lakes surrounding Shandur Polo ground, which attract tourists to enjoy the natural beauty and stay close to nature. There are summer houses (huts) of the people of Sorlaspur, Balim, Broke, Raman and Gasht in Shandur. A beautiful check post and Officers’ mess of Chitral Scouts at Shandur also attracts tourists to enjoy its panoramic view. You can also view the beautiful and green high mountains surrounding Shandur Lakes.
Every year in July 7, 8 and 9 Shandur Festival is organized by Chitral administration with collaboration of Chitral Scouts and tourism department KPK. Where different games are played, but polo is the most dominant one, which is played between Chitral polo teams and Gilgit polo teams at Shandur polo ground.
Thousands of local/national and international tourists gather there to witness the amazing game.
It is worth mentioning here that polo game has been played between Chitral polo teams and Gilgit polo teams since 1928 at Shandur polo ground and hosted by Chitral administration and Gilgit polo Teams joined as guest.
2- Bashqargol Lake:
It is situated in Laspur Valley, Upper Chitral. It is the most isolated hidden paradise in earth and is almost 07 hours journey (on foot) from Sorlaspur and is still un-explored to the tourists. The beautiful lake of Bashqargol is enough to attract the tourists to enjoy the natural beauty. It is also a nice fishing (Trout) point for tourists and most favourable route for trekking.
There are two routes in Bashqargol for trekking, one route leads to Golengol lower Chitral via Ishporili Zom and the second route leads to Makalasht Lower Chitral. Similarly, there are also two trekking routes in Bashqargol Lake, one route leads to Gabral Swat and the second route leads to Dir Kohistan via Thelo Abshar.
It is not too late, most go to Bashqargol Lake to study the nature and stay close to nature. You can view the beautiful high mountains cover with snow and many centuries old glaciers too.
If you have telescope, you can also see Ibex, Snow Leopard, Brown Bear, Lynx and Wolf in the mountains of Bashqargol. It is worth mentioning here that Snow Leopard and Brown Bear are human friendly wild animals.
3- Kachikhani:
It is just 01 hour journey from Sorlaspur. It is an old and famous trekking route leads to Matiltan, Kalam and is almost 13 hours journey. Usually, local people and foreigners use this route for trekking. You can also view high mountains cover with snow and many centuries old glaciers.
4- Rezhungol:
It is almost 02 hours journey (on foot) from Balim Laspur, Upper Chitral. It is the most favourable route for trekking, which leads to Madaklasht via Bashqargol and Phargamgol, Laspur. You can also view the amazing high mountains cover with snow and many centuries old glaciers. But it is still un-explored tourist place in Upper Chitral.
If you have telescope, you are lucky enough to see the Ibex, Brown Bear and Wolf in the mountains.
5- Phargamgol:
It is almost 01 hour journey from Raman Laspur. It is also an old and famous route for trekking. It is about 15 hours trekking route leads to Golengol Lower Chitral.
You can also view the beautiful high mountains cover with snow and many centuries old glaciers here.
If you have telescope you can easily see Ibex, Brown Bear, Lynx and Wolf in the high mountains of Phargamgol.
6- Mastuj Fort:
It is situated on the Shandur road. The fort was built by Katoor ruler in 18 century in around 1780 with couple of rebuilt in 1830 and 1920. Mastuj fort is the oldest fort in Chitral, which was used both for military purposes as well as being the residence of the ruler of the time.
7- Broghul Lake:
It is almost 200 km away from headquarter Booni of Upper Chitral district. May to September is the most appropriate time to visit Boroghul Lake to enjoy the natural beauty, while October to April, it has fully covered with snow and the weather becomes extremely cold. Broghul festival attracts the visitors to enjoy the event. Yak polo is the famous and traditional game of the people of Broghul.
For tourists it is the most beautiful place to enjoy the panoramic view of Broghul Lake. You can view the high mountains cover with snow and many centuries old glaciers.
8- Shepeshun Booni:
It is just one and half hours journey from headquarter Booni. It is a fairy land and has a unique picturesque beauty and its entrancing scenic spell and panoramic view holds the tourists spellbound during summers.
The weather is very pleasant at day time at Shepeshun. There is a beautiful playground to play different games at Shepeshun.
You can also view the beautiful high mountains cover with snow and many centuries old glaciers, but it is still unexplored to the tourists. I would recommend it for adventure lovers to enjoy the natural beauty.
9- Qaghlasht Booni:
It is just 10 minutes drive from headquarter Booni. It is a vast and green plain area, where every year in mid-April Qaghlasht festival is organized. Different games, such as polo, cricket, football, valley ball etc are played. It is a wonderful place for outing and camping. Tourists must go there to enjoy the natural beauty.
10- Pawasum Koragh:
It is almost 02 hours journey from Koragh center. It is a lush green and beautiful place for tourists to enjoy the panoramic view in a clean and peaceful environment. It is indeed a best place for camping and staying close to nature. It is still un-explored to the tourists.
11- Reshun Hydro Power Station:
It is 02 km away from Reshun main market. It was built in 1999 and 02 km long tunnel was constructed to ensure powerful flow of water to produce required electricity.
You can also view the high mountains cover with snow surrounding the power house. For tourists it is a beautiful place to enjoy the natural beauty.
