ASTOLA ISLAND (Balochistan-Pakistan)

Astola Island is an uninhabited island in the Arabian Sea in Pakistan's territorial waters. Locally it is known as Jezira Haft Talar or 'Island of the Seven Hills" as it has a  series of seven small hillocks . Astola is a medium-sized Island, approximately 6.7 km in length with a maximum width of 2.3 km. It is Pakistan's largest offshore island and the only significant offshore island in the northern Arabian Sea. The island is. Its highest point is 246 feet above sea level. It is approximately 25 km south of Pakistan's nearest Makran coastline and 39 km southeast of the Pakistani fishing port of Pasni, sub district of Gwadar District in Balochistan province. Administratively, the island is part of the Pasni.

Astola island consists of a large tilted plateau and deep chasms and crevices, which are several feet wide.There are several natural caves and coves on the island. The south face of the island slopes off gradually whereas the north face is cliff-like with a sharp vertical drop. There is no source of fresh water on the island and the vegetation depends on occasional rainfall and soil moisture for survival.

Astola is used as a base for fishermen who frequent the Island between September and May to catch fish in general and lobster and oysters in particular. Between June and August, the Island remains free from human interference due to rough sea and high tides. There are no lodging facilities on the island and overnight tourists had to  camp on the island and bring their own provisions.

Astola Island is a popular and unique destination for eco-tourism, The isolated location of the island has helped maintain endemic life forms. The endangered Green turtle (Chelonia mydas) and the Hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbracata) nest on the beach at the foot of the cliffs. The island is also a very important area for endemic reptiles such as the Astola Viper (Echis carinatus astolae). The island is reported to support a large number of breeding  turtle, seabirds including coursers, curlews, godwits, gulls, plovers Larus hemprichii, sanderlings and several species.

Astola Island is also home to coral reef and identified as a `hotspot` of coral .  More than 30 species of hard coral and eight species of soft coral have so far been identified here.

Vegetation on the island is sparse and largely consists of scrubs and large bushes. There are different type of species of vegetation on Astola Island. Prosopis juliflora is the most significant and largest shrub widespread species of vegetation. Indigofera oblongifolia and Hycium depressum are also prevalent forming large bushes. Other types of vegetation found include Sueda fruticosa, Aerua persica, and Tamarix dioca. .There are no trees on the island.

The remains of an ancient Hindu temple of their Goddess Kali are also located at the Island this is the reason why Astola Island is known to Hindus as Satadip. There is also a prayer yard which is dedicated to the Muslim Pir Khawaja Khizr who according to legend is said to rule the oceans. He is also believed to visit the prayer yard occasionally and offer prayers. The prayer yard is mostly used by the fisherman in the fishing season.

Camping, fishing and scuba-diving expeditions are popular on Astola Island.

The route to Astola Island is very easy. It can be accessed by rented boats via Pasni. To reach Pasni one can has to travel by road from either Gwadar or Karachi via the Makran Coastal Highway. Motorized boats from Pasni are available which take approximately 5 hours to reach the Astola island.

Trango Towers

Trango Towers Group

The Trango Towers are located on the north side of the Baltoro Glacier, in Baltistan, a district of the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan. They are part of the Baltoro Muztagh, a subrange of the Karakoram range. Trango Towers are impressive and extremely difficult granite spires rock towers and hardest to climb. These granite Towers offer some of the largest cliffs and most challenging rock climbing in the world. Trango Towers group has seen some of the most difficult and significant climbs ever accomplished, due to the combination of altitude, total height of the routes, and the steepness of the rock. All of the routes are highly technical climbs

Trango Towers — Their vertical faces are the world's tallest cliffs. Trango Tower center; Trango Monk center left; Trango II far left; Great Trango right

 

These Towers are at the Elevation of 6,286 m (20,623 ft)and there Prominence is approx. 800 metres (2,625 ft). All of the Trango Towers lie on a ridge, trending northwest-southeast, between the Trango Glacier on the west and the Dunge Glacier on the east. The highest point in the group is the summit of Great Trango Tower at 6,286 m (20,608 ft). The east face of the Great Trango Tower features the world's greatest nearly vertical drop.

Trango Tower Group have the following peaks:
1- Kruksum  (S)6650-M
2- Kruksum  (N)6600-M
3- Trango Ri  (II)6515-M
4- Trango Ri  (1) 6452-M
5- Kruksum   (E) 6300-M
6- Trano Ri   (III) 6300-M
7- Trano Ri   (IV) 6300-M
8- Great Trango (I) 6286-M
9- Nameless Tower 6239-M
10-Great Trango (II) 6237-M
11-Great Trango (III) 6231-M
12-Monk 6150-M

Great Trango Tower

Great Trango itself is a large massif, with four identifiable summits: Main (6,286 m), South or Southwest (circa 6,250 m), East (6,231 m), and West (6,223 m). Just northwest of Great Trango is the Trango Tower (6,239 m), often called "Nameless Tower". This is a very large, pointed, rather symmetrical spire which juts 1000 m out of the ridge line.

Nameless Tower

North of Trango Tower is a smaller rock spire known as "Trango Monk." To the north of this feature, the ridge becomes less rocky and loses the large granite walls that distinguish the Trango Towers group and make them so attractive to climbers; however the summits do get higher. Trango II  lies northwest of the Monk, and the highest summit on the ridge, Trango Ri , lies northwest of Trango II. Just southeast of Great Trango (really a part of its southeast ridge) is the Trango Pulpit , whose walls present similar climbing challenges to those of Great Trango itself. Further to the south is Trango Castle , the last large peak along the ridge before the Baltoro Glacier.

Gasherbrum II (Pakistan) World's 13th Highest Mountain

Gasherbrum II is located in Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan. It is the world's 13th highest peak It is the 5th highest Peak of Pakistani .

The elevation of Gasherbrum II is  8,035 metres (26,362 ft), with the Prominence of 1,523 m (4,997 ft).

Gasherbrum II is located in the Karakoram range. The Karakoram range is a large mountain range spanning the borders between Pakistan, India and China. In Pakistan it is sitauted in Gilgit-Baltistan region. The Karakoram is home to the highest peaks which are over eight kilometres (five miles) in height. The Karakoram range is about 500 km (311 mi) in length.

Gasherbrum II  also known as K4. Gasherbrum is often claimed to mean "Shining Wall". This name of  Gasherbrum comes from "rgasha" means "BEAUTIFUL" and "brum" MOUNTAIN" in local Balti language, which means Gasherbrum as "BEAUTIFUL MOUNTAIN".

Gasherbrum II ranked  the third highest peak of the Gasherbrum massif. Gasherbrum is a remote group of peaks located at the northeastern end of the Baltoro Glacier in the Karakoram range.

Gasherbrum II is included in the list of Eight-thousander. The eight-thousanders are the 14 independent mountains on Earth that are more than 8,000 metres (26,247 ft) high above sea level. They are all located in the Himalayan and Karakoram mountain ranges in Asia.

Gasherbrum II was first climbed on July 7, 1956 by Fritz Moravec, Josef Larch and Hans Willenpart of an Austrian expedition.The standard climbing route is via the southwest ridge as it is relatively free of objective hazards such as ice falls and avalanches.

BROAD PEAK (Pakistan) World's 12th Highest Mountain

Broad Peak is the 12th highest mountain of the world. It is 4th highest peak of Pakistan. It is at the elevation of 8,051 meters (26,414 ft). It has Prominence 1,701 m (5,581 ft).

Broad peak is located in the Karakoram Range in Northeastern Pakistan. The mountain is located along the western Baltoro glacier between K2 and Gasherbrum IV.  It is located about 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) from K2. It is part of the Gasherbrum massif on the border of Pakistan and China.

Broad peak is included in the list of eight-thousanders.The eight-thousanders are the 14 independent mountains on Earth that are more than 8,000 metres (26,247 ft) high above sea level. They are all located in the Himalayan and Karakoram mountain ranges in Asia.

It is called Broad Peak because of its breadth at the top.The summit ridge of the peak is over 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) long, therefore British explorer W.M. Conway thought Broad Peak was a suitable name. 

The local name of Broad peak is Faichan Kangri which means 'Broad Peak' in Balti language. Broad Peak also known as K3. 

The Broad Peak has three seperate summits.  These  peaks in the Broad range are called Broad Peak, middle and central. The main summit is 8,047 meters, central summit is 8,016 meters, and north summit is 7,550 meters.

The first ascent of Broad Peak was made by Austrian Expedition led by "Marcus Schmuck" along with "Hermann Buhal", Kurt Diemberger and "Fritz Winter Resteller" in June 9, 1957.

There are two routes to the Broad peak from Skardu .First is  via Askole and second is via Gondogoro Pass. To climb first route is more better. Gondogoro Pass is a mighty 5600m, so most trekkers use this route for the way back.The main route to the summit, via the west ridge, is moderately strenuous, but like other mountains in the Karakoram range, weather is often the determining factor. 

Broad peak is one of the safer 8000m peaks, but the risk of avalanches should never be disregarded. Best season to climb Broad peak is from June to September.

Shehr-e-Roghan (Gondrani Caves)

Shehr-e-Roghan (Gondrani Caves)

 Shehr-e-Roghan  or Gondrani caves are found near Bela city in Balochistan province of Pakistan.These caves are located at a distance of 18 kms from Bela and 175 kms from Karachi. These are ruins of ancient and mythical town, which were built in 7th century. During the era of  British rule there were about 1500 caves but now a days barely 500 caves are left.To reach these mysterious caves, a gravel road from Bela city headed towards a small stream, whose sides are surrounded with hundreds of cave houses.

These caves are built in several levels. Pathway connect together the caves. The caves are consisted of one small room with hearths and wall niches for lamps. There are also some with front porch. The ceilings are all darkened from wood smoke.

There are many local mystical lengends. Some says it is a city of jinns, while others claim that this was a was a huge Buddhist monastery because 1000 yrs before Buddhism had flourished in this area.

There is another legend about this was the city There was a king who had beautiful daughter during the reign of King Solomon. Her name was Badiul Jamal.. She was agonized by six hideous demons who attempted to carry her off. Seven heroes came to her rescue, but all died trying to save her. Then prince Saif-ul-Muluk ride into the scene, conquered the demons and free the princess.

FORT MUNRO

Fort Munro is a hill station in Dera Ghazi Khan District, Punjab, Pakistan. The station lies on the Quetta Road 85 km from the city of Dera Ghazi Khan  and is about 185 kilometres from Multan in the Sulaiman Mountains.Its elevation is 1800 meters (6,470 feet) above sea level and it attracts many people for short stays during the hot summer. Fort Munro is called Nimroo in the local Balochi language.

Fort Munro was built as a hill station by the British and is still the only such resort in south Punjab. It’s named after a Generall Munro, at one time commissioner of DG Khan. during the British reign before Pakistani independence.

The area is known for mangoes and also for its cool resort in summer for the people living in south, Punjab.

There are numerous hotels and restaurants in Fort Munro. Places of interest nearby include Dames Lake, the mountain Ganji Pahari, and the British Graveyard. Girdu is an adventurous route to reach Fort Munro. Ganji Pahari is a famous mountain.Dames Lake is an excellent lake with boating facility.Trimon Fall is a magical fall in mountains. The water is very cold and falls into a bowl cut out from stone. It is a legend that one sufi saint named Ali Muhammad Laghari made this bowl for people to drink water. Water droplets tricke down on the small narrow path on a number of places. Jheel is another lake with beautiful view. There is Children Park with majestic viewpoint of the valley.

Fort Munro can be reached either from Loralai (Balochistan) or from Multan (Punjab).It attracts many people for short stays during the summer. But in almost empty in winters.There is  breathtaking drive up onto the Balochistan plateau.  

SULEIMAN MOUNTAINS RANGE (Baluchistan- Pakistan)

The Suleiman Mountains are located in Baluchistan, the largest province of Pakistan. Baluchistan is approximately 347,190 square kilometers. Baluchistan is a land of contrast. It has places with rugged mountains and plains stretching hundreds of miles.

Baluchistan is located on a plateau in the west of Suleiman and Khirthar mountain ranges. The Suleiman Mountains are a major geological feature of northern Baluchistan province of Pakistan. It is the bordering region between the Iranian Plateau and the Indian subcontinent.  Bordering the Suleiman Range to the north are the arid highlands of the Hindu Kush.

The Suleiman Mountain Ranges continue from south of Gomal River, lie between Baluchistan Plateau and the Indus Plains. On reaching the Murre-Bugti Hills, they turn northwarBaluchistand and extend up to Quetta. Quetta is situated at elevation of 1677 meters (5500 ft) above sea level. Quetta is one of the best known tourist resort and also provincial capital of Baluchistan. It is Pakistan’s only largest high-altitude major city, known as the "Fruit Garden of Pakistan".  The Suleiman mountain range is east of Quetta (Pakistan), overlooking the plain of the Indus river.  It is named Kowhai Suleiman. This mountain range is related to the Prophet of God, Hazrat Suleiman. Who climbed this mountain and looked out over the land of South Asia, which was then covered with darkness - but he turned back without descending into this new frontier, and left only the mountain which is named after him. Further south, Suleiman mountain range meets the Kirthar Mountains, which merge in to the Kohistan area of Sindh. The Suleiman Mountains rise to an average height of 600 m that decreases southward.

The highest peak of Suleiman Mountains is Takht-e-Suleiman which means Solomon’s Throne. The famous mountain peaks in the Suleiman range are Takht-e-Suleiman 3,483 meters (11,427 ft), Koh-i-Takatu 3,472 metres (11,391 ft), Kaisargarh 3,444 metres (11,299 ft), and Giandari. The mountain range enters in Punjab in Dera Ghazi Khan District and approaches the Indus River near in Rajanpur district.

Local inhabitants believe that Prophet Suleiman, by exercising his miraculous power, had confined those mischievous Jinns inside it who had refused to obey his command. The evil-spirited Jinns are supposed to remain imprisoned almost all the year, and in Safar, the second month of the Islamic calendar, they are allowed to go free for a while.