After a break of about 3 hours at Mansehra, we started our rest journey. The google location pin of the place where we had to reach was given to us by Babaji's servant on WhatsApp. Hazara Motorway has six tunnels, two in Abbottabad which I mentioned in my previous blog and one each in Buttal, Kermong, Mansehra and Thakot.
If you haven't read the previous chapters of my journey, here are the links.
5 Days Road Trip to Northern Pakistan | Part 1
Sukkur-Multan Motorway (M-5) | NHA
Wild Cannabis and Engineering Marvel of Pakistan | Part 4
Up to Mansehra, 39 km of it is a six-lane controlled access section while the remaining 79 km is a four-lane road. We entered Shangla, covering 78 miles in 2 hours and 30 minutes.
Shangla is a very beautiful place but it is getting lost from the sight of tourists because there are no basic facilities for tourists. The paved road winds its way eastwards up the hill to Shangla Top. After that the slope starts and ends at the place of "Alpurai". It is the headquarters of Shangla district and is a beautiful town with all the basic necessities of life in its long bazaar. It has a degree college, hospital, high school, telephone exchange and district offices. The mausoleum of the famous Pashto Sufi poet Hafiz Al Purai is also located here. Now we have reached Bisham.
Bisham is a picturesque and attractive area of Shangla district, located at a distance of 97 km from Mangurah. From here, one route leads to Abbottabad and the other route leads to Gilgit and Khanjar Ab. Here you can also see the historic river "Abasin" and enjoy the beauty scattered in the vicinity of Bisham. The above mentioned places of Shangla district are rich in natural beauty, but due to lack of tourist facilities and bad condition of roads in some places, these areas are hidden from the eyes of tourists. Before Alporai comes a place called Board from where a road leads directly to Alporai. Surrounded by high mountains, this place is very beautiful. There is a river flowing in the middle of it which makes the beauty of this place even more enchanting. After covering a distance of about 15 km from Bisham, we reached Balkanai. We were warmly welcomed. Babaji was resting in the courtyard at that time. Their faces could be seen with joy when they saw us. Everyone kissed Babaji's hand and sat on the chairs placed in front of him. It was 6:45 in the evening. As we were coming from a long journey, arrangements were made for our bath and rest. Then we had dinner with Babaji, his family and devotees. After dinner spent some time with Babaji and talked a lot.
After Isha prayer we went to our room. Accommodation for women was arranged separately. We were talking in the room, then Hafiz Nadeem and @shrazi entered the room and brought milk for us. After they left we went to sleep. The journey, emanating from the heat of Sindh, ended at the mountains of Shangla. In Karachi it was difficult to spend the night without air conditioner and in Shangla we felt the need of blankets. We woke up refreshed in the morning after a very restful full sleep. In the morning, as soon as I came to the balcony, my heart was happy to see the tall green beautiful mountains.
This place is nothing short of a dream. Our breakfast was arranged on the lawn below. After breakfast we met him in Babaji's room and asked permission for our return journey.
We went to Mai Pak's tomb and prayed there.
Balakani village is located in Shangla district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa at a distance of about 3000 meters above sea level.
As of 2017 census, the village has an estimated population of 11,251 people and 1501 households.
The village has a government primary and middle school for boys and a primary school for girls.
Most of the villagers are engaged in agriculture. While very few people work in government or private sector.
Balkani was damaged by earthquakes in 1974 and 2005. It was also severely affected during the 2010 floods that displaced many people.
*That's it for today, but my journey isn't over yet. I will be sharing the next chapter of this blog's continuation on Travel Feed soon.
Please let me know your opinion by commenting.*
Disclaimer
As I mentioned in my intro, from the last 2 decades I have been active on social media, google mapping and reviews, youtube and thatsup. I will share my own past interesting content from these channels, but all my upcoming content I will share on hive.blog first.
Follow me on