Footloose, NOS, The News International
Lake in the rocks
A long way up the mountain, the Kharfaq Lake presents inspiring views en route to Khaplu
By Danial Shah
Gilgit Baltistan is famous for its high mountains, water streams, sand dunes and far away lakes. Some lakes are famous, more touristic and accessible — also there are some lakes in the wild, far away and are difficult to access.
I was staying at the Khaplu Palace and Residence when its guest relations manager Abid told us about the Kharfaq Lake, “It’s sad that I haven’t been to this lake in our own Ghanche District. I’ve heard it’s beautiful and hardly any people go there”.
This excited me. Having a day to spare in Khaplu I decided to visit the Kharfaq Lake.The next morning, Abid and I left for the town called Kharfaq, a 45-minute drive from Khaplu. We parked the car on the main road and Abid went inquiring about the lake.
Everyone in the bazaar surrounded him and we had to take permission from the local committee. I tried to grasp their conversation but then Balti is one complicated language. Though I picked a few words from the conversation like jheel, Kharfaq and angrez.
Some street children gathered around the car and kept whispering ‘angrez’, ‘angrez’. I don’t know what made me look like a foreigner to them?By the law of the local committee, one local guide must go with the outsider to the lake and a fee must be paid. For foreigners, it was Rs1,000. Abid convinced them I was not a foreigner but a local journalist and hence they agreed on Rs500.
Mohammad Amir from a nearby village joined us as our local guide. Amir is a grade 10 student and a farmer who works as a local guide in summer breaks.Amir said it would take 45 minutes to go up the lake — “It’s an easy trek and it’ll take an hour to reach there, if we rest en-route.”
But Amir was oblivious of the habits of city dwellers — that they do not like to walk it and would rather take elevators and park their cars close to the entrances.
We bypassed the main road, and took the shortcut through the Kharfaq village. It led us to a beautiful path of stones with lush green trees on both sides and a water channel flowing downhill. The path then turned uphill, with stones embedded in the soil to facilitate the steep climb.
Abid took a head start while Amir stayed with me all the way up. The path seemed endless… but the anxiety to see the lake kept us going. I had to make frequent stops on the way up to give my city lungs some rest. And sometimes, to cover up for my lack of stamina, I would pretend to be taking photographs. “Our destination is not so far, just 10 minutes away”, Amir would say, pointing somewhere in the mountains.
Finally, the climb ended and before us was a picturesque meadow, being tilled by the local women. River Shyok flowed in the backdrop. But we had still not reached our destination!One hour hike had already stretched to two hours and the lake was still “just 10 minutes away”, Amir said yet again.
Thereafter, the terrain changed, the lush green ground gave way to rocky ground. Our stomachs grovelled, and feet ached… finally, Amir said, “We have reached. That’s the lake!” He pointed at the piece of rock on the mountain top which according to my calculation was not more than 10-minutes away. Adrenaline rush had me running towards the lake. I saw a glacier on top of the mountain, and a patch of turquoise green water at a distance started to appear.
It took us two hour forty minutes to finally reach our destination.Kharfaq Lake was like no other lake I have seen. There was no greenery, just dark mountains and rocks around it, with no signs of human life.
Kharfaq Lake is situated about three kilometres above the village and presents an inspiring view en route to Khaplu. At the height of 13,000ft, the fresh water lake is famous for trout fish and is an attractive location for camping.
I threw my bag aside, rushed towards the water, sat on a stone, took rest and indulged myself in the calm and serenity of the place. No wonder best moments don’t come easy. I thought descend would be easy but to my surprise it was easy until the stone steps. It became much more difficult as I had to exert pressure on my feet and knees. Our descent took one hour and forty-five minutes.
Dan Millman in his book ‘Peaceful Warrior’ says, “It is the journey that brings happiness, not the destination”. I realised that it really wasn’t the destination, but the whole journey to the Kharfaq Lake that remains etched in memory.