From Islamabad to Khunjerab: Foreign Tourists Begin Rickshaw Voyage

Fajar Ali

ISLAMABAD: A group of foreign tourists has found a unique way of incorporating rickshaws into an adventure as on Saturday, it departed on a mission to cover around 745 kilometre distance from Islamabad to Khunjerab Pass on the three-wheelers.

“Our eight-member outfit include four adventurists from UK and one each from Italy, Australia, Canada, and the Netherlands,” the team leader Carnall Julian Rohann told media at Media Center of Pakistan Sports Board (PSB).

We’ll complete our mission in a week. We know we’ll have to tackle a huge distance. The journey is quite tough but this is what the adventure is all about, he added.

“The snow-laden peaks and sun-kissed valleys along with winding roads at highly dizzying altitudes make the region a perfect tourist destination.

Carnall Julian said that the trip was aimed at promoting mountain sports tourism in Pakistan. After the venture, the team would release vlogs, stories and pictures of the mountain tourism of Pakistan, especially of Gilgit-Baltistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhawa. The majestic scenes of Gilgit-Baltistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhawa are second to none. The snow-laden peaks and sun-kissed valleys along with winding roads at highly dizzying altitudes make the region a perfect tourist destination. We want the world to know about it, Julian said. Reaching there in the rickshaws is quite challenging. But we’ve years of experience as we have already been taking part in such voyages in India, Nepal, Thailand, and Sri Lanka. We have also practiced here in Pakistan and are confident to complete the mission, he added.

President of ACP stressed the need to project touristic sites with strategic markets to allure mountain sports tourism in the country.

The adventurists will initially stay at Balakot where tourist police will be welcoming them. Their next stopover will be at Batakundi. On the third day, they will cross the Babusar Top and reach Chilas where they will be received by Chilas District Administration. After spending the night there, they will proceed to Gilgit and move to Hunza valley.  Finally, they will reach Khunjerab Pass which is located at a spectacular height of almost 5,000 metres.

The Government of Gilgit-Baltistan and the Special Communication Organization would hold a reception for the team. PSB Deputy Director General Shahid Islam, who was also present during the media briefing, appreciated the efforts of Alpine Club of Pakistan (ACP) and other key stakeholders for the promotion of mountain sports tourism. ACP President Abu ZafarSadiq highlighted the importance of mountain sports tourism. He stressed the need to project this potential with strategic market to allure suchtourism in Pakistan. He thanked Minister for Inter Provincial Coordination Ehsan-ur-RehmanMazari and Director General PSB Col. (Retd) Muhammad AsifZaman, for facilitating and promoting sports tourism.

ACP SecretaryKarrarHaidrispoke about the importance of summer tourism and the role of tour operators in the development of sports tourism and peace.