Nathia Gali around to Islamabad

I meant for Murree to be my sole attraction for the weekend, but later decided, upon some advice, to head to Nathia Gali and take the long loop around to Islamabad.

The road to Nathia Gali possesses wide lanes, more great views, and little traffic on this Sunday morning. The roads sweep around peaks and along ridges to their destination.



I arrived in Nathia Gali around noon and parked past the bazaar at the far end of the town. A shop owner greeted me and directed me up hill, [I desperately needed relief in the form of porcelain]. Here I found a tiered park with beautiful flowers and flat recreation areas where locals picnicked.



At the top of the hill are three arches and today there was a man selling clothes and another selling herbal medicine. I walked to the right (north?) and found a church from the 1940s and a secluded park. At this same juncture, I came across an older man asking for assistance. He seemed kind and I agreed to get him some food, but not money. We walked together to a tent where I saw a man cooking, and I offered to buy food. He offered the food free of charge, despite my insistence. The two of us sat in the tent and ate bread (roti) and dal. Afterwards, I thanked the cook profusely and we parted ways amicably.




I headed around and up the hills towards the Green Hotel Resort, whose view I had been told about. [My advice: take a car] Much walking later, I reached the resort that shared the hill with many very nice houses. The resort seemed nice with various types of rooms, a dining hall, a shop, and a terrace facing more trees than the valley. I received directions down the hill from their apparent horse-riding instructor, Vehead (sp?). I was anxious to get on the long rode home.

I walked through briefly with the translator for the above food transaction [I could not speak with neither the older man nor the cook], then headed out of town.

The following drive was laborious, but surprisingly enjoyable. The road swept downhill into the valley and river bed that some men where digging through. I reached Abottabad that laid spread out upon the land. [Traffic was a little hectic on the section out of town as it was the late afternoon on Sunday and people hurried into town; they peeled in front of me and thank Allah I stayed driving dead ahead to avoid the cars two feet in my lane facing me at equally fast speeds]. The road continued to Haripur, Hassan Abdul, Wah, Taxilla, and many small towns in between.

The motorway (M2, M1) was a pleasant surprise, wide lanes with freshly painted lines. [Boy, I like roads with lines]. I also discovered the pleasures of the fifth gear. I found scarce traffic along the apparent four-lane motorway. I say “apparent” because many heavy trucks seemed to drive on the outside shoulder of the road – making room for small cars and vans.

I cruised passed more toll plazas (booths) along the great loop to Islamabad [5-10Rs/each], and arrived home around dusk. Two days = 260 km + one tired guy.