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Tourism Potential Of Malakand Region A Presentation By Mr. Allah Dad Khan

MALAKAND AND SWAT REGION The Malakand division of the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan covers one third of the total area of the Province. The region is further divided into Chitral, Dir, Swat, Buner, Shangla Districts and Malakand Agency. It's distinctive features make the area a "Tourist's Heaven"

SWAT MUSEUM This museum is situated between Mingora and Saidu Sharif. The archaeological finds belong to Gandhara Buddhist art of Swat. The samples of local embroidery, jewelry and carved wood objects are on display.

NIMOGRAM BUDDHIST STUPAS While travelling from Chakdara towards Saidu Sharif, one reaches Landakai. About 7 km from here, a road leads towards Nimogram, which is further 21 km away. A Buddhist monastery is situated here on the top of a hillock, giving an overall view of the area. There are three main stupas, surrounded by a number of small votive stupas. Dressed stones have been used in the construction and bear similarity to Andan Dheri monastery.

SHINGARDARA STUPASite

About three kilometres from Barikot, one gets a glance of a magnificent Buddhist stupa on the right side. This stupa is perhaps the only one, whose dome is complete. The period of its construction is estimated between third and fourth centuries AD. Just about one and a half km away from this stupa, one can see large figures of Buddha carved on the rock.

MINGORASite

Mingora has been an important trading centre for the last 2000 years. The bazaars are interesting to explore for semi precious stones, hand-woven and embroiled clothes, shawls, bedsheets, woodwork, tribal jewelry and antiques of different kinds. The hills having the world famous "Emerald Mines" are located to the north of the town.

SAIDU SHARIFSite

Saidu Sharif and Mingora are twin cities. Saidu Sharif has several government buildings, the Swat Museum, the Tomb of Akund of Swat and the archaeological remains of the Butkara Buddhist Stupa.

MARGHZAR Marghzar is a small town situated at the foot of Mount Ilam about 13 krn away from Saidu Sharlf. It is famous for its White Marble Palace, built by the Wali-e-Swat in early 1940's. The palace now serves as a hotel. While going towards Marghzar, a road turns to Islam Pur, which is famous for its woodwork, shawls and blankets.

MIANDAM

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This is one of the upcoming hill resorts, about 56 km away from Saidu Sharif. The surrounding area offers natural beauty, with forests, orchards, mountains and streams which can be enjoyed by hiking.

MADYANSite

Madyan is a tourist resort on the banks of Swat river. It is 1312 m above sea level. The town is famous for handicraft, embroidery and antique shops. A trout hatchery is also located here. Many beautiful side valleys can be approached from here. The distance of Madyan is 56 km from Saidu Sharif.

The town of Bahrain is situated 66 km from Saidu Sharif and is 10km from Madyan. It is another popular riverside resort, with bazaars worth exploring for their handicrafts. The surrounding area has beautiful valleys and is suitable for hiking. The mosques and buildings are worth seeing for wooden carved pillars and other fixtures.

Bahrain:SiteBahrain is ten kilometres north of Madyan and only slightly higher, at about 1,400 meters (4,500 feet). It is another popular riverside tourist resort, with bazaars worth exploring for their handicrafts. Some of the houses have carved wooden doors, pillars and balconies. These show a remarkable variety of decorative motifs, including floral scrolls and bands of ornamental diaper patterns almost identical to those seen on Buddhist shrines and quite different from the usual Muslim designs.

Kalam:

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Kalam, 29 kilometres (18 miles) from Bahrain and about 2,000 meters (6,800 feet) above sea level, the valley opens out, providing rooms for a small but fertile plateau above the river. In Kalam the Ushu and Utrot rivers join to form the Swat river. Here, the metalled road ends and shingle road leads to the Ushu and Utrot valleys. From Matiltan one gets a breath-taking view of the snow-capped Mount Falaksir 5918 meters (19,415 ft.), and another un-named peak 6096 meters (20,000 ft.) high.

Ushu Valley:

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The valleys of Ushu, Utrot and Gabral beyond Kalam, constitute some of the most beautiful parts of Swat. There is good trout fishing around Utrot. Foreign tourists are advised to contact the local police authorities at Kalam before preceding to the valleys of Ushu, Utrot and Gabral.

Utrot and Gabral Valleys:

SiteThe valleys of Utrot andGabralbeyond Kalam, constitute some of the most beautiful parts of Swat. There is good trout fishing around Utrot. Foreign tourists are advised to contact the local police authorities at Kalam before preceding to the valleys of Utrot and Gabral

CHAKDARA MUSEUMSite

The Chakdara Museum is situated about one km from the fort. It has an excellent collection of Buddhist Gandhara Art, from first to seventh century AD. It helps people to learn about the rich cultural heritage of the area.

CHURCHILL PICKETSite

Close to the Chakdara Fort, a picket crowns the hillock towards the west. This is known as the Churchill Picket because Winston Churchill came here during the Pathan Revolt of 1879. This place was used by him for sending reports. He was then a war correspondent.

CHITRALChitral is the "Jewel of the Hindukush" guarded by the majestic Trichmir Peak. The famous town of Chitral is situated about 322 km from Peshawar. It is also connected to Peshawar by air. The whole area is mountainous, having green valleys and the towering Trichmir Peak (7700 meters) of the Hindukush. The Chitral Fort is one of the famous monuments of the town. There is also a palace inside the fort and a beautiful mosque outside the fort. All the foreign visitors to Chitral must register with the police on their arrival. Chitral is about 322KM (10 hours jeepable journey) from Peshawar. Daily two flights are available from Peshawar to Chitral.

KALASH VALLEYSThe world famous Kalash People live in the three valleys of Birir, Bumburet and Rambur. The Kalash are an ancient tribe and have a religion and a culture of their own. They have many festivals around the year during which the men and women perform colourful dances. The major festivals are Chilamjusht, Phool and C

GARAM CHASHMASite

Also known as "Hot Springs". The village by the same name is about 45 km to the north west of Chitral. The jeep journey takes about 3 hours. These hot springs contain sulphur in their water which is good for healing skin diseases, headache and other pains and gout. The village has a big market, where the caravans from Badakhshan bring precious stones and other products. The town gives a look of "Caravan Sarai". It is also famous for "Patti" a typical woolen cloth.

Hotel Innjigaan Located at Innjigaan (Popularly known as Garam Chashma).It is quite modest hotel but takes care of basic necessities. The best it offers is a very clean and healing outdoor Swimming Pool, fed by Natural Hot Springs.

Pathak Festival at Garam Chashma in Lutkoh Valley, Chitral.Lutkoh Valley, commonly known as Garam Chishma, celebrate its traditional cum religious spring festival of Pathak. Pir Nasir Khisraw, an 11th century spiritualist poet and Sufi philosopher came here to preach Islam. He went into 40-day spiritual solitude. His disciples believe that in his 40-day meditation, he attained spiritual enlightenment, and they celebrate Phatak Festival in the memory of this day of enlightenment that falls on the first week of February.

Mastuj Valley, Chitral.Mastuj is a Valley and Tehsil of Chitral District in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan

A Snow Leopard in Chitral National Park.Chitral National Park (also calledChitral Gol National Park) is located in Gol Valley and Kafir Kalash land of Chitral District in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province.The word Gol in the local language means the valley.The Park is at a distance of two hours drive from Chitral town.The snow leopard, an endangered species, lives in the mountain ranges of Central Asia. In Pakistan, their protected areas are Chitral National Park, in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province and Khunjerab National Park, in Gilgit-Baltistan Province

Joshi (Spring) Festival in Kalash, Chitral.The Kalash people celebrate the end of winter in May each year with the Joshi (Spring) Festival.The first day of Joshi is Milk Day. People go from house to house, dancing and singing. Each household offers milk that has been saved for 10 days before the festival.

Kalash Museum.

PTDC Motel in Kalash Valley

Chitral Air Port

Khot Valley Torkhow Chitral

Rayen Valley Torkhow Chitral

Hindukush Heights Hotel, Chitral.SiteHindukush Heights is the best hotel in Chitral. Tatler, UK, in its travel guide 2010 ranks it among the best 101 hotels in the world. The hotel is run by its owner Siraj Ulmulk, an ex PIA pilot, and his wife Ghazalla Ulmulk.Hindukush Heights has a branch of their hotel at Mastuj in northern of Chitral.

Tirich Mir Peak.Site

Tirich Mir is the highest peak of the Hindu Kush Range, located in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.Tirich Mir overlooks Chitral town and can be seen from the main bazaar.Its height is25,289 feet (7,708 metres).The mountain was first climbed in 1950 by a Norwegian expedition

Summer Palace of Former Mehtar of Chitral.SitePhoto by Hector Salazar. Birmogh Lasht, located on a prominent ridge at an elevation of 2,743 meters (9,900 feet), has the summer palace of the former Mehtar of Chitral. The palace is 15 km from Chitral town and about 1200 metres above the town and valley.

Lowari Pass (or Lowari Top), Chitral 20 June 1989.Photo by Noor Mohammad Khan. Lowari Pass(Elevation 10,500 feet) connects Chitral with Dir. Lowari Top is the lowest pass to enter Chitral, the rest all being 12,000 to 15,000 feet. The Lowari Top is one of the four major mountain passes to enter Chitral. The others are the Dorah Pass from Badakshan in Afghanistan, Shandur Top from Gilgit, and Broghol Pass from the Wakhan Corridor in Afghanista. Lowari Top is closed by snow for all type of traffic from late November to late May every year.In 1954, the Mehtar of Chitral was killed when his airplane crashed into Lowari Top

Lowari Tunnel, Chitral.Its the first time that Lowari Tunnel remained open throughout the harsh winter of 2011-12.The 8.75 km long tunnel, which is still under construction, was built to reduce the distance between Dir and Chitral districts and ease movement of traffic throughout the year.More than 150 vehicles use the tunnel every day.

SHANDUR PASS

The world famous Shandur Pass is about 3738 m above sea level and lies midway between Chitral and Gligit. The distance from both Chitral and Gilgit is about 168 km. These areas remain snow- clad in winter and turn into a green heaven during summer. There is a big lake in the area. One can approach the Shandur Top by jeep from either side. The traditional Polo Tournament between the Gilgit and Chitral teams is held here every year in the month of July. Foreign tourists and natives come to see the festival.

Polo Match At Shandur

Shandur Lake

Qaqlasht Festival in Chitral.The 4-day long Qaqlasht Festival is organized every year in mid April at the sprawling ground of Qaqlasht, 80 Km from Chitral town. According to local legend, Qaqlasht Festival is being celebrated for the last 500 years. Many sporting teams participate in a variety of games including cricket, football, volleyball, polo, Ghaluzchun Ghall (Polo without horse, more like a field hockey) Sia-Khaman (a shooting competition with an antique gun called Sia-Khaman)), falconry (an event where falconers exhibit skills of their falcons to hunt its prey), tug-of-war, athletics and paragliding

Tordeh Chitral near Chitral, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa-Province

Trekking over chateboi Glacier Chitral

Trekking in the Yarkun Valley Mastuj Chitral

Kalkot Kumrat valley, Upper Dir