Chitral valley (the land of tradition)

Chitral located in the North west of Pakistan is a beautiful valley in the Hindukush range of Mountains. It has always been a very important route for many invaders to south east Asia, Including Alexander the great Scythians, Mangol Changez Khan and numerous others. Chitral is a small town with a one single street bazaar and a few tourist class hotels. From Chitral one can access Garam Chashma and Shandur by Jeep.

How to get there

From Swat via Dir drive to Dir on your Car where there are Jeeps available at Al Manzar Hotel which will take you via Lowari pass to the town of Chitral.

Hotels and Restaurants

PTDC Chitral is the best choice has a beautiful garden and very good service.
Mountain View Hotel is located in Shahi Bazaar with good clean rooms and hot shower. There are few other smaller hotels along the bazaar and in front of PTDC Motel.

Chittral Fort

The fort is situated by the bank of the river was the site of the 1895 siege of Chitral, and focus for the bloody intrigues which characterized Chitrali politics, whoever held the fort in effect held power in the kingdom. Colonel James Kelly in 1895 crossed Shandur Pass at the head of an expeditionary force sent to relieve the Brirtish forces besieged in the fort at Chitral. Crossing in April, and faced by shoulder deep snow, the decision to bring artillery pieces looked as if it would doom the entire expedition, although they were to prove crucial later as the force battled towards their goal. Inspired by their commander, Lt Cosmo Stewart, the native regiment dismantled the guns and carried them through the snow. As one British officer pointed out: “Nothing can be said too highly in praise of this splendid achievement. Here were some 250 men, Hindus and Mussalmans, who, working shoulder to shoulder, had brought two mountain guns, with their carriages and supplies of ammunition, across some 20 miles of deep soft snow, across Shandur Pass 12,300 foot high, at the beginning of April, the worst time of the year. Today much of the fort is a crumbling ruin, although parts of it have been restored and are still occupied by the decendants of the royal family. Officially it is closed to the public, though if you ask you may be allowed to look round the abandoned parts. Inside there are five cannons, two dating from the First World War. The best views of the fort are on the way into town from the north, or from across the river.