Written by: Muhammad Umer Farooq
Posted on: February 20, 2024 | 
| 中文
A Gate on the way to Shimshal Trek
The campsite at Chikor has its own beauty, a wide valley with large mountains around the campsite. The campsite was the first green pasture that I had gotten to see after days with small trees and grass. We began our trek at around 8 am and started climbing the mountain next to the campsite.
We began the trek in good spirit, with one of our trek members playing Pashto and tribal songs loudly on his portable speaker, and set the tone of the trek on a cheery note. It was a tough start to the day, but still easier than the ascent we had made earlier for Lupke La. From the top of Shwerth, the Chikor campsite looked more beautiful. Since we had gained altitude again, the surrounding snowcapped peaks started appearing again, adding more colors and views to the day.
The trekkers on the way to the Shimshal Pass
Shimshal pass had been on my must visit list for quite some time. I had seen the lush green pastures in pictures and now after spending a lot of time on the glaciers, as we were ascending from the Askole side, I was looking forward to the natural vegetation and wildlife of Shimshal. At around 10 am in the morning, when I completed a certain part of the ascent, I saw my guide and some team members waiting for the remaining group to catch up. I was out of breath when I reached my team members, but the good part was that we had completed the difficult part of the ascent, and now the climb towards Shwerth was going to be easier. As I caught my breath, I looked around at the peaks and some of them were still covered with clouds. From this height, we could see a valley that could take you to China, and also view the Wasam area, our previous campsite.
At 11:30, we reached a point which now presented an even more beautiful landscape. The landscape was becoming greener, and once again white mountains and glaciers felt very close to us, with gushing fresh water streams. In a few more minutes, we reached a beautiful camp site where the locals had constructed a small room with stones. The campsite was lush green, with beautiful rocks popping up from the ground. Just in front of us were beautiful snow-covered mountains with a beautiful cloud cover. As our lunch was being prepared, I took advantage of the sun and tried to dry some clothes which had gotten wet during last night’s rain, and tried to capture the beauty of the landscape on my phone’s camera.
Breathtaking landscape between the Mingliksar and Shujerav campsite
As we began the trek towards Shwerth after lunch, it started snowing, but far ahead towards the campsite the sky was still clear. The Sher Rock Peak started becoming visible ahead of us on the left side. Starting from around 11 am, the soft green grass, fresh water streams and the beauty of this place gave me a sense of elation. Doing Shimshal Pass after Lupke La, was to serve as a change of scenery and provide some rest before we return to the bustling life of the city.
When we came closer to Shwerth, we crossed some streams and went from the right side of the valley to the left. After making some last small ascends, I got to see a small settlement of houses, some 50-100 made of stones. On enquiring from the guide, we were told these houses belong to the Shimshali people. They would come here frequently from the Shimshal village for grazing their cattle and herd. However, more than 95% of the houses were empty and our guide explained us that with more importance on education, now the villagers send their children to schools followed by higher education, and the duty of looking after the herds is done through a community effort. The responsibility is now divided between the villagers, and they take turns in coming up the Shimshal pass. Based on the number of animals they own, they have to serve more days to take care of their own and the community’s animals. In this way, the community can become better at being integrated with the outside world, by doing other jobs when they are not occupied with their tasks in the Shimshal pass. I found the Shimshalis blessed that they have a village that is called the ‘valley of mountaineers’, and that they also possess summer houses at 4700m.
Lunch site before Shujerav
At Shwerth, I saw a larger number of grazing goats and sheep than I have ever seen. There were so many of them that if you were close to them, all you could hear was their bleating. We purchased one sheep and feasted on it. After so many challenging days, I was really looking forward to this feast, but we couldn’t cook the meat well. Maybe it was because of the height that it did not cook well, but it gave us some good proteins and energy to recover.
The sheep and goats at Shwerth
The next morning, we started our journey from Shwerth to the Shujerav camp site. We passed the Pamir lakes and then Minglik Sar, before entering into another wide green pasture. Just after crossing the Pamir lakes, I found the view most breathtaking. When I turned back, I could see white mountains rising behind the hills, covered with snow and clouds with a blue sky.
Pamir Lake
I think a reason for appreciating the view of this beautiful landscape was that once I start descending towards Shujerav, I knew such a view would not be available.
I asked my guides on how difficult the trek from Minglik Sar to Shujerav campsite was, and on hearing that it’s an easy descent, I decided to sit down in front of the Minglik Sar campsite for some time. I didn’t want to go to Shujerav, if my budget and logistics allowed, I would have definitely stayed at Shimshal pass for more than one night. After spending a lot of time absorbing the beauty here, I began one of the most beautiful descents I have ever experienced. One side of the valley was covered in clouds, while the left side was clear and sunny. As the sun light fell on the entire valley, the colors looked sharp and vibrant. I reached the Shujerav campsite with an hour left for sunset, and our team started preparing dinner.
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