In March 2009, a few friends from my MBA batch at LUMS, went on a winter (snow) trek to assail the peaks of Siri and Paye (9,500 feet above sea level). Located 8 kms from Shogran (atop mountains in Mansehra District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), slight detour from the Mansehra to Naran road (goes onto Gilgit and into Southern China. The trip was conducted through the services of Adventure Foundation Pakistan who arrange some spectacular trips to various places in Pakistan. This one, Winter Survival, was no exception. No one stays in these hills over the winter as there are only basic facilities possible and the snowfall is very heavy. We were to be the first one traversing these peaks that year. :)
From Lahore we went to Abbottabad, where we were given training on various aspects of the trek as well as provided with the necessary equipment and gear to manage the journey properly. They had trained instructors and nice facilities for our preparatory training there. From there we went via Balakot to Shogran to begin our trek.
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| Training time |
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| okay, it was a bit boring |
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| Charpai Restaurant at Kewai (image taken from the web) |
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| The team! |
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| Our attire was awesome |
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| The excitement mixed with nervousness was very apparent |
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| so was the humourous mood to hide the fear perhaps! |
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| Team spirit was strong to start-off |
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| We all had quite the load to carry |
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| Night before the start |
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| it was fun! |
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| Had a heavy junk food meal @ the start |
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| Pine Park Hotel and Lodge - Trek start point |
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| Sleeping bag test |
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| Training tips |
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| Tent building practice |
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| It wasnt that simple |
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| Dostana |
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| Tent Nirvana |
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| Brotherhood |
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| Amazing yaadein |
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| Some monkey-ind around |
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| Ready to rumble |
Here is a nice blog by someone else about Siri Paye
https://wondersofpakistan.wordpress.com/2008/07/04/168/
