Category : Books-Non-Fiction

Sub Category : Travel

The Hunza Valley, a region in the Gilgit–Baltistan, Pakistan, is renowned not only for its spectacular natural scenery of majestic mountains and glittering lakes but also for the beauty of its people, who enjoy a long life expectancy; in my three, days stay at the Valley, I had met few of the oldest people I've ever seen. 

The rough mountain terrain, clean air and water, an abundance of healthy organic foods like dried apricots and almonds, and relative isolation are believed to have blessed the locals with excellent health and long live but Hunza has also been renowned for something else that I've found extremely interesting; being in the north areas of Pakistan where most of the places have illiteracy at its extreme levels, at least three-quarters of people in the Valley – and virtually all the youths of both genders — can read and write. Almost every child in Hunza attends school up to at least the high school level, while many pursue higher studies at colleges in Pakistan and abroad.To my surprise that they could not only read and write but dress according to the latest fashion as well. One of the extraordinary places in this Valley is the Baltit Fort. 

It was four o'clock when we finally decided to climb up the hill to get into the Baltit fort. Thanks to these Hunzai people they had made places to sit along the way, plus the path was clean and very appealing. They had also planted many colorful flowery plants both sides of the path together with the shops for tourist attractions. The view was enchanting.  People by those shops were hospitable.  Old women were sitting by their houses, making different kind of stuff; stuffs like embroidery patterns, wooden crafts and many more. At the gate near the Fort, was a huge vine of large orange and red flowers. The leaves were dropping by the wooden carved arch entrance. We walked past it and entered the heaven. We were at the top of the mountain surrounded by snow-covered mountains visible through clouds. 

The fort itself was amazingly beautiful.  White huge square plus with lots of carved wooden  structure of a different kind.“Welcome to the Baltit fort. I'm your guide, and I'll be guiding you all through the fort. Please stick together move as a group, or else you'll get lost and keep track of the little ones too,” The moment I set my eyes on the guide. I knew that this tour would be more fun plus full of  knowledge. 

The man was not at all getting annoyed by any of children’s action nor by any questions. Moreover, he was playing with the kids along with providing  them information as  much as he could with the cutest smile on his face.We followed him up to the wooden stairs and found our self in a room open from the roof top. With lots of wooden carvings, This place was different from the fort we just visit. wider, more airy and well lit as well. Furthermore, there were lots of spot lights to enhance its features.  

The doors were larger too just like we have nowadays. “The Baltit Fort is basically a very interesting wooden and stone structure with mud plaster. It is a three-story building, with granaries and some stores in the basement on a glacier moraine hill with man made narrow terraces for the stability of its ancient foundations above the ancient cluster village of Baltit,” our guide continued, “historically this village of central Hunza, was called Agaai Koot, meaning the “Heavenly Fort” which eventually became Baltit, because of a slight language influence of some Balti migrants to Hunza in the early fifteenth century along with princess Shah Khaton from Baltistan as craftsmen. Because in Baltit language the words “Elte and Delte” are used to say Here and There.” Then he led us through a door where the floor was made of Iran's rods, and we could see what was down below. Just like any prison nowadays. “The rooms down here were their prison rooms. They kept their prisoners adjacent."“And these iron rods, were they there at that time?” asked someone. “No we have built these for the tourist as it was hard to go through the path from which these rooms were accessed back then,” he glanced to the room to his right saw another group there and  requested us to move towards the roof. They were organizing the flow too well. “Why aren't we going there?” asked  the girl in red. Yes I'll call her that because she was from the other group, wearing a bright red leather jacket and jeans. Asking questions in a stupidest way. “One of our other group is there so we'll be visiting the top floor first and come back later,” the guide answered while guiding us to the stairs. 

The view was breathtaking. We could see the top of the mountains and nothing  else. The valley down below was only visible if you bend down to the wall to look for. The mountains around were all snow covered with clouds floating by. The roof itself was amazing. The wood work and the verandas were quite unique. There was a wooden doom in the center with lots of beautiful carvings. “After 1945, the last ruler of Hunza, Mir Muhammad Jamal Khan, moved to a new palatial house further down the hill, there to our left. This fort was left and they did nothing until his highness Sir Agha khan took the matter in his hands and renovated it. The present Mir of Hunza, Mir Ghazanfar Ali Khan, and his family are still residing. In the house down the hill,” he took a long breath and continued, “you could see some of the biggest mountains from here. Over there that is Rakaposhi mountain, its top is visible from here.”

 We all ambled down the path to to our left. And entered a square open veranda It had small carved doors by by the walls. “These are the rooms for their kids. they used to send there new born away until eight years. After that these were the rooms for them,” he said and guided us to another door. 

“This kitchen was in use till the last residents. These stoves and vessels are made of stones. And some vessels over here are of bronze and silver,” our guide explained. 

The mechanism was same as we saw at Altit fort yet it surely looked more modern and well designed. More ventilation. More light. Even more space. Every room was big enough for us exactly opposite to what we ventured down there.

“This was one of  the guest room.”

“What is this a wall cabinet?” inquired a girl pointing towards an installment down on the floor. About three feet high what looked like a small wooden cabinet without any divisions. 

“Well this was more like a storage box for them. They used it to keep their extra blankets and pillows. We still use these kind of cabinets  in our houses to keep our things.”

“And what's this,” asked a teen aged boy while observing a little rectangular thing which looked like a wooden baby cot with detailed carvings.

“It's a baby rocker,” he bent down and rocked it a little but before he could finish what he was saying, every single kid was doing it again and again.

“Is this a fireplace?” inquired a boy while bending his head down into it.

“Yes it was a fireplace. They closed the out lit for now.” 

Then we entered another interesting room. It was the living room plus a dining hall. It was a sunken room with a level down in the middle which was decorated with amazing carpets and the walls with lots of beautiful paintings and wall hangings. There was a small square hole in the upright corner for storage, just like Altit fort. The only difference  was the roof top opening was large enough  to bring lots of light in. Although when we reached that room the sun was about to set.

“The most important difference you could find here from Altit fort was that people of Baltit fort had a greater interest in music and guest.  They have built this room just for entertainment. It was called the entertainment room back then. They used to invite the royalties from the neighboring states and enjoy with music and lots of great  food,” explained our guide as we entered in a room filled with lots of music instruments and ornaments.  
“This tapestry how much old is it?” asked a girl, glaring towards the beautiful tapestry which stood framed in the corner. 

“This is the most prized possession of Baltit fort. It's more than three hundred years old. One of the royal donated it to us,” the guide was smiling.

 The visit to the Baltit fort ended with a promise to visit the majestic place again. We had traveled all the way from Karachi by road. Stopping to  rest for few hours in between; which was fun but if you want to visit Hunza valley then you have two choices. By road or by air. Either you could get to the Gilgit airport from Islamabad not more then a couple of hours flight and then travel to hunza by road another 2-3 hours drive. Or you could travel by road which is more fun to be honest. As for safety and the roads are concerned, I must confess that it is the most safest and the most finest route as compared to any routes in Pakistan. The freshly constructed highway; the credit goes to the chines, and the amazing scenic views along the way are something you mustn't miss at any rate.