Mountains and Valleys of KPK

The mountains and valleys of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are the province at its diverse, rollicking best. Leave the heat of the cities behind as the road winds its way up over the Malakand Pass towards Swat… the mountains delineate the frontier between urban and alpine. Not that the mountains are undeveloped; Swat’s busy administrative capital, Mingora, is a service centre to places like Malam Jabba, one of Pakistan’s only ski resorts. Therein lies the region’s second draw: the Swat Valley has long been referred to as the Switzerland of the East. Promises of pristine alpine glades, babbling virgin brooks and snow-capped mountain peaks all entice visitors.

Swat is more than just easy access to mountainscapes. Part of its allure comes from its unique culture, legendary in Pakistan and distinct in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It’s also very conservative, at odds with Swat’s reputation as a hippie refuge in the 1970s. The dark days of Taliban rule are over and Swat is again open for tourists, connected to Islamabad with a zippy new motorway. North of Swat is Kohistan, KPK’s wilderness, and amid this the Kumrat Valley, fast emerging as Pakistan’s next favourite mountain destination.

Over the forbidding Lowari Pass, descend into the Chitral Valley:
a world away from the rest of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with its own languages and tapestry of cultures. Closer to the Wakhan Corridor of Afghanistan than Islamabad or Peshawar, even town centres like Chitral and Ayun feel secluded, insulated from the outside world by rings of mountains. Deep in the valleys live the non-Muslim Kalasha, whose colourful attire and millennia-old traditions set them apart from any other community near or far.

Come for the hiking and the scenery, stay for the variety. From ruined monasteries and ancient festivals to ski resorts and lonely alpine lakes, Pakistan’s most famous mountain valleys never stop surprising.