Weekend away part 2 - Lake Saifal Muluk (again)

We took another trip up to Lake Saifal Muluk, a popular tourist destination. Last time it was entirely covered in snow, we had it all to ourselves, and we had to walk.  Make sure you view the panoramas at full size.  Really.

This time the road was open, so our Land Cruiser joined by other jeeps.

It was only when we reached the summit that we could appreciate just how many!

Lake Saifal Muluk from the jeep trail.  Click for the full glorious bigness.

And from further round the lake.  Click for large version.

These chaps followed us for a while trying to sell us a ride
on a horse.  That didn't seem like a bad idea for the river
crossing part, but first we had to show willing to keep on
walking in order to get the price down.  Worth Rs50 (36p).

While we were crossing it was cloudy and getting a little chilly.  3/4 of the way
round, the sun just started to peek through...

...until it looked like this:  the silhouette of one mountain range superimposed on
the other.  (Click to see full size.)

And then this happened.  The rain spots on the camera lens are an occupational
hazard of rainbow weather.  (Click for the big version - it's certainly worth it!)

Malika Parbat ("Queen of Mountains"), while at 5290m small compared to the
8000m-plus peaks further north, has a reputation as an extremely difficult climb
- and you can see why.

Holidays part 5 - Naran & Lake Saiful Muluk

Continued from parts 1, 2, 3 and 4.

One of the main highlights was this expedition up to Lake Saiful Muluk. In summertime you can take a jeep part of all of the way, but since the jeep track was buried under several feet of snow, we'd be walking the whole way.

A couple of km in, and well into the snow.  The group ahead dropped behind us,
and at some stage disappeared altogether.

Don't look now, but you're being followed by half a pirate.

Bashir goes ahead, kicking out steps for the rest of us -
in his loafers.

A long way up...

Made it! - 4 hours, 10km and 2600ft of snow from Naran.

Lake Saiful Muluk - somewhere under that lot!  (click for large version)
The big lumpy peak left-of-centre with the hanging glacier is Malika Parbat.

Lunch consisted of the day's second set of parathas with omelettes inside.

At this point Bashir handed Jenny a blanket and pointed down
the slope.  Jo's plastic bag was somewhat faster, leading to a
high-speed snowy somersault or two - like in a cartoon but
thankfully minus the giant snowball part.

The descent took just over half the time of the ascent.

The slidey-trails go back a long way up!

Next day we went for a gentler and flatter walk a little way up the main valley.
Here's the next wee village, currently deserted.

After a pause for a drink, we decided to go and see what what was round the corner
before heading back - this was what we found.  (click for large version)

An executive decision to leave on the Thursday evening instead of Friday
morning proved to be a fortuitous choice, as a storm chased us down the valley.
Had we stayed the extra night we would have had to hike over landslides to get
my parents to the airport on time!

Halfway through this glacier we met a stuck minibus.

One more reminder of the flood's toll on the road.