Passu Cones picture taken by me in 1998 from the border village of Susat on Karakoram highway.

Passu Cones or Passu Cathedral, a set of great mountain peaks (more then 6,000 meters) that inspires me for more then 11 years, when I first saw them and still inspiring on my every visit on karakoram.

Situated near China and Pakistan border besides Hunza River in Pakistan. No one clearly mention the origin of the name Passu, but there are 3 places there.

• Passu Glacier with Passu peak
• Passu Cones
• Passu Village

If  you  are travelling on the famous Karakoram highway, you will start seeing the Passu cones after about an hour drive from Hunza valley.

In winters you can see the foots of the glacier from the road. Passu Village is famous for many reasons, you can get more details here on Passu Village.

Passu now provide many of the modern time  facilities, with the most memorable Passu In resort and the looks of full moon from there. My beautiful days were when I spent 4 days camping near Passu Village for my first trip for rock climbing. And thats the place where I first did my free climb, I consider myself luck to start from that place.

Many of the climbing associations and adventure foundations consider Passu as one of the great bouldering and rock climbing place.

You will find the Passu villagers  most literate and friendly in their region. Its a great place to visit atleast once in life time, to enjoy t he view of Passu cone, different high altitude peaks including Passu peak over Passu Glacier.  Enjoying a real safe glacier, that is most easiest to reach.

I have seen many pictures of the place  but its nothing like seeing these great art work of God face o face.

We enjoy the moment of Rock Climbing in Passu. See Passu Cones in the back drop.

Passu is also the gateway to Shamshal valley, a hidden pearl for trackers. Will discuss on that some other day.

If you ever visit Passu never miss the Apricot Cake from ‘Passu Inn’ 

Popularity: 42% [?]

Here is another addition to our family ski vacations reviews.

One of the best outstanding ski resorts in the world is our today’s focus ‘The Great Aspen Resort’ for Ski family vacations, located in Colorado. It provides a variety of ski areas for all levels and covers more then 4,400 acres spread over four lovely mountains. Aspen resort is also well known for its nightlife because of its downtown and the Quieter Snowmass resort area that has plenty of things for every age.

Aspen resort area host multiple bars and restaurants you ever want or need. You can get a leisurely walk through this deluxe city to discover many shops, boutiques and more. In the city center area there are lots of historical buildings, reach with history presenting a treat for history lovers. One of these is the Ute bank building; dated back to the silver region approximately the 1750’s.

Aspen Ski Resort

Aspen take care of the needs of everyone to avoid any boring moments and make your visit memorable. You are sure to find a slope in Aspen Mountains that suits your level of skiing.

Aspen Snowmass is one of the well-liked resorts of the world, so make sure to make your reservations in advance.

Popularity: 13% [?]

Red River, also known as ‘Ski town of the Southwest’, one of the best ski vacations resort.

Situated in New Mexico, United States, Red River ski vacation resort is one of the most popular ski resorts since many decades. This resort offers 6 chairlifts and one surface lift, and you will find the trails here equally divided into different levels of beginners, intermediates, and professional.

At Red River ski resort, stop elevation is about 10354 ft, and the vertical drop down face of the mountain is nearly 1601 ft. It’s very unfortunate that it doesn’t snow that much and about 82% of the snow powder is created artificially. There are 58 trails scattered in the area of about 245 acres.

Red River also has a ski training school that offers private and group lessons to visitors. You can quickly be on the slopes after your lessons, even if you’ve never skied before. Also include lessons for snowboarders, who are welcome on the Red River slopes too. You can also easily rent all of your snowboarding and ski gear for very practical rates and enjoy your ski vacations in low effective cost.

Resort has 3 restaurants, offering delicious meals with amazing fare. Lodging is available in chalets, inns, cabins or private condominiums in surrounding area, and many lodging and ski packages, are also available through Central Reservations of Red River. The resorts also offers snow pass rates to allow great money saving on your family ski vacation, by reducing rates for teens and free skiing for children.

Ski vacation with family

You can also enjoy taking scenic chairlift rides, horseback riding, biking, hiking, snow-mobiling, hunting and camping. Or take one of the jeep tours to go see the deserted gold mines in the area, these are also worth visiting. So, it does not matter even if you don’t ski, there is still bounty of fun to be had at Ski Town of the Southwest, Red River Ski Resort.

The nightlife in Red River resort is also very great. For the younger crowd, there is a great game room located right in the center of the town. After a day on the slopes, you can relax at the lodge or visit variety of the taverns in surrounding. The great thing about the resort is that every place is within walking distance of the lodging location, and transportation shuttles are provided to and from the slopes.

Another important service is for childcare service that is also available while you spend your day on the slopes. Your child will be well tended at the Li’l Buckaroos Child Care center that offers lunch for your child too. At Red River, everything has been given attention and taken care of to make sure that visitors and tourist enjoy their ski vacation at most and make it memorable.

Red River Ski Resort Area

Popularity: 23% [?]

About 60 kilometres to the west of Dera Ghazi Khan there’s a single hill resort of Southern Punjab, Fort Munro at a height of 6470 feet. Passing by the ancestral abode of Legharis, Choti Zarin, one enters the tribal area where laws of the country don’t apply. On the way one also passes by the tomb of the famous sufi saint Sheikh Sakhi Sarwar.

After a few hours of travel the road ascends and travellers enter the Rakhi gorge. This is the only travel-worthy mountain pass in Southern Punjab which joins Punjab and Balochistan. Although passenger traffic is comparatively thin, trucks and pick-ups carrying commercial goods like fruits and vegetables make driving difficult. But overall the road is in good condition. As the altitude increases and temperature decreases, the road becomes trickier with mountain rocks over-hanging the road.

Travellers cross several small hamlets on the way until they arrive at Khar, the last known town before they enter Balochistan. The road leads to the top of the hill originally named ‘Loilaresir’, renamed by the British as Fort Munro. The top of the hill is actually a wide platform where the colonial residence of political assistant (PA), Sandeman Lodge, is situated. Besides Sandeman Lodge there are other buildings including the Commissioner House and DCO House.

In route to Fort Munro

The history of Fort Munro goes back to the late 19th century when Sir Robert Sandeman was sent to the area. Sandeman established himself at the strategic hilltop of Loilaresir and named it after Colonel Munro, the Commissioner of Derajat Division. According to one account, the British wanted to establish themselves somewhere in Gurchani’s area but Sardar Jamal Khan Leghari, the grandfather of the former President Sardar Farooq Leghari, requested the British to give him the pride of the Raj. Sardar Jamal marked an area for the British called ‘Bara Pathar’. It was the sole domain of British and a no-go area for the locals, who could only enter with the permission of PA. The British spent summers at Fort Munro while winters at DG Khan.

The folklore says that the local people were quite afraid of the white race, and to remove this fear, British used to leave stuff like onions and gur behind when leaving for DG Khan to assure the people of their friendliness. With passing time, people started respecting the institution of PA. It is said that PA was carried from Fort Munro to DG Khan on a man-made palki.

It was in Fort Munro that Rev Father T.J.L. Meyer published the first English-Balochi Dictionary in 1909.

Fort Munro, Southern Punjab

Fort Munro is the summer headquarters of this tribal territory. It is headed by a PA who also heads the Baloch Military Police that is responsible for maintenance of law and order. The system works on the principle of ‘collective responsibility’, somewhat similar to the tribal traditions in NWFP. The PA also commands the Baloch Levis. However, after the implementation of the devolution plan the PA doesn’t have much fiscal independence and the results can be seen in worsening civil facilities like health, infrastructure and water supply.

There are a few places to look around while at Fort Munro. There are numerous pine trees all around with hillocks limited only by horizon. The landscape here is not very green rather it is somewhat semi-arid with shrub vegetations. The nights at Fort Munro can be made worthwhile by enjoying a bonfire in sprawling lawns of Sandeman Lodge or one has an option to play billiards in the reasonably-maintained colonial-era billiards room.

Just outside the PA House, at the edge of the hill overlooking the valley, is a 1950 monument commemorating the union of Baloch tribes with Pakistan. The names of all prominent Baloch sardars including the Mazaris, Gurchanis and Legharis are inscribed on this stone plaque. At this place there is a tall pole for hoisting the national flag. According to the tradition, whenever the PA is in Fort Munro, the flag is hoisted. The tribals from remote areas then know that the PA is around and they can visit him.

All that remains of the fort at Fort Munro is a tall burj that is in ruins. An interesting walk can be to the British cemetery situated just around the DCO House. In total there are about five graves — two of infants Walter, son of Mr and Mrs W.C. Oram, and James Fedreick, son of Captain J.W.C Hutchinson. It is the oldest grave at the cemetery. Then there is the grave of Fellow of Royal College of Surgeons Horace Alleby Smith, a medical officer, and one N.H. Smith, who drowned in the Dames Lake at Fort Munro.

Lake in Fort Munro

An intriguing story surrounds the fifth and the last grave of Maud Evelyn, the wife of Captain M.L. Ferrar of Indian Punjab Commission and the only daughter of an ICS Officer. She died on Oct 13, 1906 at the age of 30 while giving birth to a baby boy at Khar. Some reports suggest that around 20 years ago, a letter was received by the tribal area’s political administration from a British official who claimed that his mother had died during his birth at Khar. He requested the administration to take special care of the grave of his mother Maud Evelyn.

Now the captivating part is that as per media reports on Sept 15, 2006, around eight foreigners entered Fort Munro which is out of bounds for any foreigners. These suspicious people stayed in Fort Munro for three days and allegedly stole the coffin and remains of Maud Evelyn and drove back in full police escort. The issue was investigated by the government but we do not have record of the outcome of this investigation. So apparently we could not secure the grave of the maim sahib despite the iron cage around the grave.

Fort Munro is the only hill station of the area and all local tribal chiefs including Legharis and Khosas have their summer retreats here. Another beautiful place to visit is Dames Lake. This is a small lake surrounded by orchards with boating facilities. The lake keeps on transforming from lake-to-pond-to-lake depending on the annual rainfalls. With a TDCP hotel and restaurant at the banks of the lake, it is the best place for having a dinner and especially the traditional Balochi Sajji at Fort Munro.

Having several government guest houses as well as some private hotels at Fort Munro, the Government of Punjab plans to develop some orchards, rest houses as well as chairlifts, actions that would definitely boost the tourist potential of the area.

Popularity: 71% [?]

Derawar Fort, cholistan in Bahawalpur

The next day we visited two palaces presently occupied by the army before our departure for Lahore. First we visited the ‘Darbar Mahal’, a grandiose palace based on subcontinental architecture.

Noor Mahal/Palace, Bahawalpur

Popularity: 34% [?]

Accommodation for tourists here is scarce. The only hope for tourist though is medium-sized Shangrila Hotel, which is under-construction and will be ready by January 2010. “The government departments instead of facilitating us have been creating problems. So far, the government has not provided us electricity or clean water. They have been asking us to work with it on self-help basis. This clearly shows the government’s ‘commitment’ for promotion of tourism in this area,” says Arif Aslam Khan Chairman Shangrila Resorts. According to him, his father (late) Brigadier Muhammad Aslam was the person who made it possible for travellers to reach Fairy Meadows.

Fairy Meadows, a Treat for Mountain lovers

The four-hour track up the pine forests is one of the most revealing experiences of my life. The most memorable moment of the journey was when we saw the peak of Nanga Parbat. There it was standing right in front of us. The clouds covered it during the first three hours of the journey and Abbas Ali Khan had predicted that it could be near impossible for us to see the peak in such weather. “It might be covered with clouds for the next 24 hours,” he announced in a gloomy tone. Almost at the same time, however, wind started blowing and in seconds the weather cleared, to reveal the peak.

Nanga Parbat from Fairy Meadow

Popularity: 100% [?]