It was already dark when we entered Mardan,
a beautiful city to visit or live there.
What I noticed while searching the way to Malakund,
most educational institutions were named after Quaid-e-Azam, Ghazali and even the roundabout named after Dr. A. Q. Khan.
Seems like the entire Khyber-Pakhtunkhwah highly honors Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan as a national and Islamic hero, which he really is.
One and an half hour long drive was expected from Mardan to the mountainous route of Malakund to enter Swat.
Oh yes, it does feel scary to drive at 100 km/h on the turning edges of the mountain with two-way traffic on it..
But there is no other way to enter the valley.
There were many check posts built by Pak-Army for security reasons. The soldiers were soft spoken and civilized. They apologized for their questioning, and that was also a big surprise for me.
For my surprise, there was a heavy traffic on the mountain even at 9 at night.
Even after entering Swat, it is a long drive to the city.
As I don't even take naps during a journey,
all I wanted to do,
was to find a resting place and go to sleep.
Swat Continental is quite affordable.
I took a shower with freezing water at midnight and tucked myself into the bed for a fast sleep.
The banging on the door at 9 next morning,
it was my daughter waking me up,
telling me to get ready to go up to the mountain of Malam Jabah.
a beautiful city to visit or live there.
What I noticed while searching the way to Malakund,
most educational institutions were named after Quaid-e-Azam, Ghazali and even the roundabout named after Dr. A. Q. Khan.
Seems like the entire Khyber-Pakhtunkhwah highly honors Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan as a national and Islamic hero, which he really is.
One and an half hour long drive was expected from Mardan to the mountainous route of Malakund to enter Swat.
Oh yes, it does feel scary to drive at 100 km/h on the turning edges of the mountain with two-way traffic on it..
But there is no other way to enter the valley.
There were many check posts built by Pak-Army for security reasons. The soldiers were soft spoken and civilized. They apologized for their questioning, and that was also a big surprise for me.
For my surprise, there was a heavy traffic on the mountain even at 9 at night.
Even after entering Swat, it is a long drive to the city.
As I don't even take naps during a journey,
all I wanted to do,
was to find a resting place and go to sleep.
Swat Continental is quite affordable.
I took a shower with freezing water at midnight and tucked myself into the bed for a fast sleep.
The banging on the door at 9 next morning,
it was my daughter waking me up,
telling me to get ready to go up to the mountain of Malam Jabah.
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| First night in Swat |
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| This is where I spent the whole Thursday |
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