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Life is Better in Hiking Shoes

Abdul Moiz, an observer, hiker and trekker is a travel enthusiast. He has visited different places of Pakistan, including ‘Azad Kashmir, Astore, Deosai, Skardu, Gilgit, Minapin, Hunza, Chitral and Kalash. His only goal is to show the world the real Pakistan; Pa..

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Life is Better in Hiking Shoes

Abdul Moiz, an observer, hiker and trekker is a travel enthusiast. He has visited different places of Pakistan, including ‘Azad Kashmir, Astore, Deosai, Skardu, Gilgit, Minapin, Hunza, Chitral and Kalash.

His only goal is to show the world the real Pakistan; Pakistan beyond the media’s headlines. In one sentence, he describes life as “Life is Better in Hiking Shoes.” “Traveling was never my passion up until 2011, when I met a member of my family, Mr. Mobeen Mazhar who is already famous for his nature photography. Our family arranged a trip to Nathia Gali, a very common spot for families.

For me, Nathia Gali was the same old boring place with a bit of fluctuation in weather and nothing more than ordinary, but I never knew what was waiting for me there. It was a morning of the same trip when I came to know that Mobeen was going to a place named Miranjani and I decided to go with him – that decision changed the whole purpose of my life. Even though Miranjani is nothing as compared to other very common and reachable places, but still I guess it was the flame that I needed the most.” Ratti Gali Lake Kashmir, Jannat Nazeer? Why is it so? What’s the reason Kashmir is in the heart of so many people? The answer is in this picture.

I was just 17 years old when I traveled to Kashmir, I had no idea what hiking or trekking was. Both words were new to me until I started my trek to an unknown lake in Domial. Most of my group members were not trekkers either, it took us 2 days to cover the 7 km part of trek, which for us turned out to be 17 km.

After a tough climb of almost an hour (which we did terribly) we reached our destination. Everything vanished, every pain cured, every stress released, every sense gone. It was not the world we were living in, it was the Heaven God promised us. It was Ratti Gali Lake. Deosai O Deosai We discovered, not explored, but discovered a beautiful Lake near Kala Pani of Astore, and an unknown village by the name Riat.

Riat lake had been a beautiful shock; a shock that a very few people have experienced. Our minds were already struggling in swallowing its shining, heavenly water and green meadows, and then we came across Deosai. Deosai turned out to be one of the biggest achievements I have ever earned.

A plain green field, with no roof covering it, not even the clouds. Clouds just surrounded the field but weren’t covering it, it seemed that they were afraid of being captured. The sun was not visible. Every plant was a different colorful creation. Rakaposhi There came a day when I reached a small unknown village, Minapin. We trekked through fields, up a tough slope, and then a plain meadow (Happakun Campsite). We decided not to stop and continue our journey towards our destination.

All our pictures looked artificial, with the most attractive series of mountains and a sword shape peak with nothing but layers of glacier surrounding it. Every picture was unbelievable and then we reached the destination, Taghafari Campsite. It was a green meadow with a huge brown slope on one side, a small climbable slope on the other, and an ice-covered Rakaposhi in the front.

The Rakaposhi seemed like a savior, covering the whole campsite by its ice. While standing on the meadow, you could see Rakaposhi in front, Diran Peak on the left and a sea of Diran Glacier down at your feet.

It was 5 in the morning when I climbed the peak and I remained there for two hours with no sense, just staring the mighty Rakaposhi and wondering, is there any heaven beyond that…

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