Far, wide and beautiful
A trek to the Wakhan Corridor, through the Broghil and Ishkomen valleys, is surely meant
for those with a flair for adventure
By Irfan Ahmed
As June hit the plains of Punjab with all its fury, we once again looked northwards to the sanctuary of the mountains. This time we needed something to test our mettle, something to satiate our thirst for adventure – and hence a trek through the beautiful tracks along the Wakhan Corridor, through the Broghil and Ishkomen valleys.
We were seven like-minded people, from Pakpattan, Lahore and Islamabad, on way to Chitral and further to Kashmanja by jeep. This was the starting point of our track and the opening of the Broghil valley.
Our ultimate destination was Sost at the Karakoram Highway (KKH), after trekking through the Chaupersan Valley across the Chillingi Pass, with a rest day along the magical Krombar Lake, famous for its peculiar blue tinge.
This track, covering a ground distance of around 100 kilometres, is suitable for traversing between June and September, but if you want to behold the true colours of its abundant flora and fauna and the tranquil beauty of Krombar Lake, July is recommended. Maximum altitude on the track, if one does not venture to cross any of the adjoining passes, is around 4,200 meters from sea level at the Krombar Lake.
For traversing along Wakhan Corridor, trekkers either opt for Kashmanja and Mitrandas, jeep accessed villages from Chitral and Gilgit respectively. From both these sides the track is easy regardless of unavoidable crossing of Chitti Boi glacier in Ishkomen Valley. However, this glacier has no hidden crevasses in summers and can easily be crossed in a couple of hours without any need for technical gear.
For those who have a flair for adventure, this track also offers opportunities for crossing the adjoining passes; more popular ones are Darkot Pass (4,700 meters) between Yaseen and Broghil valleys and Chillingi Pass (5290 meters) between Chupersan and Ishkomen Valleys.
Wakhan Corridor is also used as a synonym for Wakhan, an area of north-eastern Afghanistan which forms a land link or corridor between Afghanistan and China.
The corridor’s north was split by making the Panj and Pamir Rivers the border between Afghanistan and the Russian Empire after an agreement between Britain and Russia in 1873 and between Britain and Afghanistan in 1893. On its southern side, the Durand Line agreement of 1893 marked the boundary between British India and Afghanistan. This left a narrow strip of land as a buffer between the two empires which became known as the Wakhan Corridor in the 20th century.
We had the good fortune of getting the flight to Chitral which saved us the painful road travel through Lawari Pass besides bypassing the turbulent area of Dir. On reaching Chitral we finalised the preparations for the long trek ahead and roamed around the old Shahi Bazaar.
Trich Mir, the highest mountain in Hindukush range was visible from the bazaar, as it could have been from anywhere in Chitral, but seeing its vast snow-covered expanse behind the electricity and telephone wires was not too alluring. Traffic, heat and undesirable advance of artificiality in the centre of naturally beautiful surroundings made us run away from the town as early as possible.
After the six-hour jeep travel we reached Mastuj, a quiet and sleepy hamlet surrounded by the high and rugged Hindukush range. Staying there overnight, we travelled towards Kashmanja, the doorway to Broghil valley from where our trekking had to start. It was another jeep ride of 10 hours – and the same terrain that Marco Polo treaded on hundreds of years ago.
Unlike the other major tracks in Baltistan, here porters must be changed in each valley. So, we hired porters from Kashmanja and after two days were required to hire new ones in Shawar Sheer and further in Suenj after another couple of days.
Our passage through Broghil valley was marked with green meadows; carpeted with dainty flowers of varied colours. The air was pleasantly cool and fragrant, and carried occasional twittering of some birds and ceaseless noise of flowing river hidden from us in the depth on the left flank of the valley. There were a few isolated settlements of shepherds whose mud houses were constructed on raised areas next to water springs.
Having camped at beautiful camping sites of Ishkerwaz and Shawar Sheer after passing through fascinating meadows of Lashkar Ghas and Arshad Ghas, we were to reach our destination of Krombar Lake where we had to spend a rest day. As we were nearing Krombar Lake weather was turning berserk with furious gales mixed with snowflakes and small hails. It was unusual to experience snowfall at this time of the year. And here we were… where the overcast surroundings and snow covered surface even denied us a glimpse of the lake.
The next morning brought some relief… I came out of my camp and went straight to the lake. The view was stupefying. Surrounding mountains were covered with white snow. The sky was clear. Krombar’s weather and setting rejuvenated us… It was a scene from a fairy fable.
Moving ahead we came into Ishkomen valley, which was less green but had the wild beauty of its own. We camped at Suenj and crossed the Chittiboi glacier.
Our porters, hired from Suenj, killed a Markhor, a rare species whose hunting is prohibited, and prepared a delicious dinner of its meat at our following camp at Sokhtarabad. There, officials of police checkpost and the locals advised us that Chillingi Pass was not yet passable. Our porters refused to provide their services. We were forced to further trek through Ishkomen valley to reach Gilgit instead of our initially envisaged destination of Sost across Chillingi Pass and Chupersan Valley.
We camped at remarkable Varghaut jungle and Pekin camping sites before we reached Mitrandas to hire a jeep. But our luck, no jeep was available and we had to walk to the next village of Borth to rent one.
On our way back to Gilgit we stayed overnight at PTDC motel at Phandar which was situated at the vantage point of the valley with fabulous view on both sides. On one side, there was shimmering river snaking through the fertile valley, adorned by rectangular fields in varied hues from fresh green to harvestable gold and bordered by towering mountains. The other side was bejewelled by the stretch of serene, emerald Phandar Lake.
We also went for a jeep ride through Yaseen valley where trekkers descend while scaling Darkot Pass from Broghil Valley. However, electrification poles marred immaculate natural scenery, which we had feasted our eyes on in the Broghil and Ishkomen valleys during trekking.
Having trekked in Broghil and Ishkomen for eight days followed by two days’ jeep safari in Yaseen and Phandar valleys, we were desperate to reach home. But heavy rains resulting in landslides hindered our journey back to Gilgit. But we were desperate and crossed the affected part of the road on foot to reach Gilgit from where all roads led to our sweet homes.