FROM ABBOTABAD TO THANDYANI AND BEYOND �.
Participants:
1. Mr. Muhammad Haroon Chhotani
2. Mr. Muhammad Naeem Khalid
3. Dr. Shoaib ud Din
We had heard that Thandyani was a nice hill station near Abbotabad and were set out to spend a weekend there. Left Islamabad at 7:30 pm (11th April, 1986), and were in Abbotabad at 9.30. We did not know the exact distance, therefore, asked a gentleman who directed us to Thandyani and said that it was 10 or 12 miles from there. 10 or 12 miles did not seem much and we decided to walk. There was a mile stone a few kilometres outside Abbotabad which said that Thandyani was 22 Kilometers and Abbotabad was 7 kilometres, but we were enjoying our walk and did not mind that our first information was incorrect.
We reached KALAPANI (18 km from Abbotabad) at about 1.30. It was a nice village at the bank of HARNO NALA which flows through the valley. We had a scrumptious lunch at a restaurant in the village. The people we met in the village were very polite and hospitable. We asked them about any possible short cuts and what was on the other side of Thandyani. We were told that Muzaffarabad was not very far on the other side of the mountain, and one could reach there in one day from Thandyani. Nice idea we thought, but they did not know much about the rout. Another person was called who told us that there was a jeep-track from Thandyani to CHAMYALI, which was probably closed at that time because of snow. From Chamyali, to PATTAN there was a walking distance of about three hours, from Pattan we could get a jeep to PHALAIR, but the jeep may not be available again because of the rains. Phalair was on the main road to Murree, and one could easily get a transport from there for Pindi or for Muzaffarabad.
We stopped at Kalapani for almost an hour and a half. Thandyani is 11 kilometres from there. Unitll then we had been walking almost along the road, but form Kalapani the road started to zig-zag upwards rapidly, and it was possible for us to make some steep short cuts. However, we were compelled to stay on the road when we were about three kilometres from Thandyani, as shortcuts were not possible because of melting snow and mud. It also started to rain and hail at that time. We could not find any shelter from rain and by then we were too tired to run, so we were soaking wet when we reached Thandyani at 5.30.
Went into the first hotel we saw, and had tea there. There was also a �Tanoor in the hotel, we sat around it for half an hour and dried our clothes. By then it had stopped raining. The rest house where we were to stay for the night was about a kilometre from the hotel. The accommodation there was excellent, rather luxurious by our standards. Chaukidar served us well with very nice meal, tea and the bucket of warm water was available whenever we asked for one.
It kept raining every now and then all night, and was very foggy when we got up in the morning. We had hour breakfast and started to when we got up in the morning. We had our breakfast and started to wait for the weather to clear. It cleared but only for a short while, allowing us to take some photographs and appreciate the scenery.
We left the rest house at 9.30. Wheather was very unpredictable and we had not yet decided that wheat her we were going back to abbotbad or were walking towards Muzaffarabad.It had started drizzling again. When we reached the point where jeep track starts to descend for Chamyali we decided to have a voting for our next move, the decision was unanimous. Bought some biscuits and sweets. It was exactly ten when we stepped down the track to Chamyali.
Track from Thandyani to Chamyali winds through thick pine forest. There are many water falls and snow covered peaks of Kashmir border the scenery. It kept drizzling for the first hour of our journey, but the sky was almost clear when we reached Chamyali by 11.30. We had walked very fast and had covered this distance in far less time than our estimate. Chamyali is a very beautiful village on a small Plateau. People have used every possible piece of land for cultivation and terraced fields give a very nice view with snow-covered peaks in the background.
We walked down a very steep path for another two or three kilometres until we reached a stream flowing through the valley. We stopped here briefly for some rest. There was no hotel in Chamyali, where we could had had some tea. The stream was quite big and the current was very strong, but fortunately there was a small bridge over it.
We were to walk uphill now for our next destination. The path, though very steap at places, was very good, and it was an easy walk for us. It was about half past two when we reached Pattan. We said our prayer, had some chat with children studying in the mosque and people there, took some photographs and were on our way again at about 3:30. There was not any hotel in Pattan either, and we had to depend on the biscuits we had brought with us. Jeep was available for Phalair from here but we preferred to walk. It had started to rain again. Our journey was down hill from now onwards, and we walked very fast; we were running most of the time actually. It took us about two hours to reach Phalair. It was still drizzling but the sun was also showing, and a complete and very bright rainbow was there over river Jhehlum to welcome us.
There were no milestones to tell us the distance covered. We did thirty kilometres the day before and we had walked for about the same time, but much faster as our journey was down the hill most of the time. Therefore, we must have done atleast forty kilometres that day.
We took a Suzuki pickup for Muzaffarabad, which is ten kilometres from there, to have a proper meal and get a bus back to Islamabad.