Swat wakes up to tourists
Local hoteliers offer free stay to attract visitors. Now that's an offer not to miss
By Javed Aziz Khan
To lure the tourists back to the picturesque valley of Swat, the local hoteliers offer free stay to tourists visiting Bahrain, Madyan and Kalam. The offer is valid until January 20, 2010. One hundred and fifty hotels have been reserved for free stay to tourists.

The plane descended between the snow-covered peaks of Karakoram as it approached the Gilgit airport. Our second landing was at Madina Guest House, the first choice for budget tourists and backpackers, especially foreigners. It serves as an information centre and urban base camp -- for cultural tourists, trekkers, and climbers -- of Burushal, now known as Gilgit-Baltistan.

Next morning, after a good round of socialising, I headed towards Jutial. Jutial is 5 kilometres from Gilgit and is used by all tourists from surrounding valleys to get public transport -- for a better view of the local culture. The bus fare from Gilgit to Hunza is just Rs120, and the locals are very warm towards non-natives. The bus detoured from the Karakoram Highway (KKH), due to the bridge being under construction, towards Nomal. Nomal is 25 kilometres from Gilgit and is known for its cherries. From Nomal, the bus took a connecting bridge to the KKH.

Naltar, a ski resort maintained by PAF, is around 20 kilometres farther from Nomal. The road winds along the river and mountains offering myriad views of terraces and settlements that usually have well-defined top lines marked by water channels.

The bus had a midway stopover at Jaglot, locally known as Guro (meaning reddish brown in Brushaski). The almost straight bazaar, with mountain on one side and river on the other, has a profoundly peaceful effect. The air was chilly and the only consistent sound was that of a stream gushing towards the river with a volume of water that was enough to run multiple watermills simultaneously. A man in his mid-forties was making chap-shoro, bread stuffed with minced meat and spices, and then finely sealed to form a D shape and baked on a hot plate. The price for a freshly baked chap-shoro was way below expectation, compared to the branded pizza of

that size, and the taste was exotic.

After savouring chap-shoros with tea under the willow trees, bundles of birch bark at the nearby shops caught the eye. The bark is used for waterproofing in buildings as well as a packaging material in the traditional butter preservation practice in which packed butter is kept in the ground for years, and sometimes even decades, under constantly flowing fresh water.

The bus resumed its course on the KKH, with a short stop for the breathtaking view of the Rakaposhi. Cameras snapped for a while. Luckily the sky was clear due to late autumn and the peak boasting the world's highest wall was glowing; otherwise the view is usually obscured by clouds in summers. The driver's sensibility was appreciated by all and the bus moved on.

Heavy construction work was in progress throughout the way, carried out by the Chinese for the planned expansion of the road. This added a couple of more hours to the otherwise three-hours-drive.

The bus driver was forthcoming when asked for his advice regarding hotel options for Hunza. He recommended Mulberry Inn for stay and Hidden Paradise Inn for dining. The bus dropped me by the Mulberry Inn where I could see a mulberry tree that had shed almost all its foliage. The staff was very welcoming and offered me a room with a special view. I was informed that the best of the view is that of the first light at dawn, illuminating the Ultar mountain range and Baltit Fort.

After dumping the bag in the room, I walked towards the Hidden Paradise Inn, which unexpectedly was a small structure at a side of a ridge, with various levels of seating on some terraces. The view of the Altit Fort from there is magnificent. Luckily, yak's meat was available on the menu which left me with no choice but to order it. The meat was tender like mutton and one could taste all the purity of herbs from the wilderness in it.

According to the hotel staff, local tourists are more into trying out different cuisines and shopping, while the foreign tourists are interested in exploring the mountains and glaciers. A Jeep's ride to the glaciers in Nagar costs between Rs1500-2000.

Since I was not planning on seeing any glaciers, I decided to explore the settlements on foot. The walk from my hotel to Altit Fort was an estimated 25 minutes. I got my lunch packed for the walk, which consisted of some dry fruits and bruz-shapik -- or cheese chapatti -- layers of bread with cheese, walnut and apricot oil, and some greens. I took the advised track and came across a village where some children and women were weaving baskets from natural materials. I spent some time there and found out that it was the artisan's village of Hunza where there are not only basket-makers but blacksmiths, sharma (local rug) weavers, and musicians too. The village is right in the heart of the Central Hunza on the ridge above the Hunza River.

The inhabitants of this particular small social group are not Broshu. They can speak Brushaski, however they have their own language, called Domaki, which had evolved through times as a language for secret communications against the then ruling Burshus.

I maintained the track, having confirmed it from an elderly lady, carrying some semi-dried weed and a small kid in a basket on her back. The common villagers of the Hunza valley are much more polite and civilized, in terms of their manners, when compared to the rest of average Pakistanis.

I stopped by a waterfall. A villager shared that it was coming from the Ultar glacier (UluTher-or the pastures in the gorge). Water coming from the Ultar glacier is the major source of irrigation in the Hunza valley.

Upon entering the Altit village, I came across a group of elderly men who welcomed me and offered me water from the nearby well. The water was not very clear, but I gulped it down upon their insistence, despite my hesitation.

A young man offered me a guided tour of the Altit settlement. The settlement has been restored and conserved, with most of the houses about 200 to 300 years old. These are stone-mud and wood structures. The entire street maize is paved with stone, with proper underground piping for regular and rain water, which was well-maintained. There is a beautiful pool with a few willow trees on its boundary.

We walked through the fort's garden towards the fort, which has the distinction of having the oldest structure (almost 1000 years) in the entire Gilgit-Baltistan region. Luckily we found Mr S.U. Baig, the project manager of the Altit conservation project. The project is led by the Aga Khan Cultural Service Pakistan, and not only is conserving the built heritage but is also creating sustainable job opportunities for the local community.

The fort is on the apex of a 300 metre high sheer cliff above the Hunza River. A vertical rock, standing detached from the main body of the rock like a finger, has its own story. My guide narrated that there was a tradition of forcing the convicts of the Mir's court jump to the tip of the column and never having them back until one young man proved it otherwise, who was pardoned and given a second chance. From the top, one can see the sculptural forms of the sacred rocks across the river on the southern side.

On our return through another track in the garden, I was surprised to see an apple tree laden with apples in the season just before winters. It tasted simply heavenly. With that taste in my mouth and mind, I left for the hotel.

To lure the tourists back to the picturesque valley of Swat, the local hoteliers offer free stay to tourists visiting Bahrain, Madyan and Kalam. The offer is valid until January 20, 2010. One hundred and fifty hotels have been reserved for free stay to tourists.

The poor publicity of the package though has not attracted tourists in large numbers, yet many have landed in Swat -- to relive their past memories of once peaceful scenic valley. "Special security arrangements have been made for the visitors. They are properly served and facilitated," says Rahmat Siddiqi, General Secretary, Kalam Hotels Association.

"All 150 hotels and restaurants in Kalam will offer free stay to individuals and families," says Zahid Khan, President Swat Hotel Association, adding they received 125 tourists on the first two days of the offer -- "You can witness the festivity in the main towns of the valley. A large number of families are here to enjoy the cold weather."

So far, "The area has remained peaceful. Girls are enjoying school," emphasises Mohammad Idrees Khan, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Malakand.

Swat is slowly but steadily returning to normalcy. After the military operation to eliminate the militants' network in the Malakand division, it is more peaceful than any other part of NWFP, except Hazara division.

The tourist industry that was hit hard by militancy is catching momentum. Cinemas are screening Urdu and Pashto language films. Swatis and tourists thronged the music gala held on Jan 10 and the sports festival organised in Mingora recently. The festivities are returning and the locals are joyous. Once again they have a lot to offer to the visitors.

Swat once hosted hundreds of thousands of guests from all over the country and abroad. It was a profitable industry that employed thousands of Swatis in tourism-related professions.

"This is just the beginning. We are hoping to revive full-fledged tourism in the coming summer season if the government honours its commitment to repair roads and improve other facilities," says Farmanullah, a luxury hotel owner.

The valley's infrastructure needs a revamp. For instance, the road leading to Kalam from Mingora is pathetic. The issue has been discussed repeatedly in the NWFP assembly but no action has yet been taken.

After a meeting with the owners of local hotels, the provincial government announced to set up a ski resort in Kalam. This would be the second in Swat Valley after Malam Jabba which was ruined by militants after they captured it in 2008.

The government while expressing its commitment to boost the hotel industry has recently held meeting with hoteliers. NWFP Minister Ayub Ashari, MPA Jafar Shah and Brigadier Zubair have had discussions on the repair of the Mingora-Kalam road and Mataltan-Maodhand road with hotel owners in Kalam and Bahrain. They have also pondered on interest-free loans to hotel owners who have suffered huge losses in the last three years.

The military authorities, while honouring their commitment with the hotel owners, have reduced the number of checkpoints. "It is a great initiative on part of the hotel association. These areas were safe even while the operation was going on. Yet, tourists shied away from visiting the area as the road meandered through the troubled parts of Swat," says Ayub Ashari, a NWFP cabinet member.

"We own a home in Bahrain where we used to stay in summers and sometime in winters for the past two decades. We haven't visited the place since the trouble started in the valley. Now peace has returned, and one hopes the government will improve the road condition and minimize the number of checkpoints to make travelling easy, especially from Galiat and Murree," says Mohammad Idrees Bacha, a local politician of Malakand. He opines the offer needs better publicity in media.