It was Friday evening, 6:30 PM. I was on the way home when the phone rang. Hey, do you want to go see Kumrat over the long weekend, asked my colleague. It was 1st of May falling on Tuesday and it was a perfect opportunity for a road trip. But I had other plans already. Wife was ready to go see the avengers movie. Freshly packed god of war blue ray ready to be opened. Choices had to be made. I didn’t have much information about Kumrat, other than the fact that it is a beautiful and unexplored valley in Upper Dir, Pakistan. I’m glad I chose to go on the trip.

D ay 1 — Saturday:

8:00 AM Islamabad — 10:00 PM Thall

It is a long and tiring journey. You start off from Peshawar motorway till Rashakai interchange. Then follow along the route through Malakand and Batkhela which follows up to Timargara. An hour away from here there is a fork in the road where the main road goes towards Chitral and you take the fork towards Kumrat. From Islamabad to this point it takes about 10 hours. The forked road is under-construction and not in the best of shape. It takes a further 3–4 hours to reach Thall. Which is a small town with very basic amenities. We had our dinner there and slept in a hotel.