On the foot steps of Prince Saiful Malook (Part 2 of Landscapes of Pakistan )

Awais Yaqub

Here is link to Part One of the Journey

Here is the Panorama of the Lake Saiful Malook.

We started our journey early in the morning hired a jeep for Rs 2500 or 40$ for whole day it took about 2.5hrs to reach the lake on difficult and dangerous roads. The reason of being cheap is that tourism is very low in these days.

After reaching Naran catch a road full of rocks to reach the lake people also treck to the lake

This water is all the way from the lake and meets the river at this place

My breadth just stopped when we were reaching at hight slightest mistake or failure could lead to death !

And our driver was continously smoking as we reached to hight!

Have to pass through glaceirs unloaded the jeep and had to walk on feet

Heavy cars may face trouble

:rolleyes Imagine jeep falling down there

And thank God we reached the lake

Depth of the lake is unknown because underground river empties into the lake

Here is the Story of the Prince Saif Al Malook

The story of Saif ul Maluk is that the Prophet Joseph (yosuf) is asked who will be the handomsomest man after him and he has two seals made, and says that the man will be my descendent and will inherit these seals, and so after many years when Saif ul Maluk comes of age and is bequeathed these seals among many other treasures, on one of them is a picture of himself and on the other is a picture of the beautiful fairy Princess Badar Jamal, meaning the glory of the moon, he falls in love and thus begins his long arduous journey to find her. Later when he does find her, he learns that her soul is trapped in the tallest mountain of the lake which is now called "Saif ul Maluk" and the mountain is "Malka Purbat" which means "the Mountain of the Fairies" and that she is bound to Jinn, and he can only free her when the Jinn is dead, but he cannot defeat him using ordinary means, for the Jinn has hidden his soul in talisman of some sort and hidden it away, Saiful Maluk and his army succeed in finding the talisman and killing the jinn but ignite a 40 year war between the jinn of the earth and those who dwell in the spirit world. Wikipedia

You can see "Malka Purbat" in this image

These are shot with my buddy's 70-200L IS F/4

And back to where we started next day we went to Lalazar

Moogle Pepper

After seeing your jeep trek... I want to do that too!

That color of the water is just cool.. and weird at the same time! Good stuff!

jziegler

An incredible journey. Those roads do look dangerous.

I really love the color in the second photo. And such beautiful reflections in the water of the lake.

Tango

bravo.

Art Scott

FANTASTIC!!!!!!!!!!!!thumbthumbbowbow

THANK YOU FOR SHARING!!!!!!!!bowbow

Tee Why

I like the first two shots the most.
On the first photo, I'd wish for a bit more contrast though.

Howard Barlow

Wow! Man, I want to be you when I grow up.

Awais Yaqub

Thank you all

tsk1979

Great pics!
Is that jeep a Mahindra?

1andyw

This is a wonderful voyage. Thank you for sharing.

AndyW

Awais Yaqub

tsk1979 wrote:

Great pics!
Is that jeep a Mahindra?

It was Toyota Willey
thanks for looking

Awais Yaqub

1andyw wrote:

This is a wonderful voyage. Thank you for sharing.

AndyW

Thank you very much Andy are always welcome

jillo

that is one scary looking road...the thought of plummeting to the bottom would scare me too, but it was well worth it. for sure

Awais Yaqub

jillo wrote:

that is one scary looking road...the thought of plummeting to the bottom would scare me too, but it was well worth it. for sure

The next track was even dangerous ! i got only few photos and my battery died
thanks for stopping by

kitvan

:oogle wow.

Seefutlung

Just great stuff Awais ... that new camera is serving you well. Don't ever stop shooting.

Gary

Andy

Awais, most excellent stuff!

wow wow wow

Awais Yaqub

Thank you Gary and Andy
Nothing will stop me from shooting !

David L. Megahey

Awais that was a great trip! I love traveling with you, even if I'm not right there, it feels like it. Good Job!

Awais Yaqub

David L. Megahey wrote:

Awais that was a great trip! I love traveling with you, even if I'm not right there, it feels like it. Good Job!

Thanks a lot David i am glad you enjoyed them !
cheers

anwmn1

Awais-

What an excellent trip. I never new Pakistan was so beautiful.

I really like the 1st shot and the two shots with the boats (one black and white and one of the boat moving through the water).

Those roads remind me that I need to get back out into the mountains here in AZ & Colorado.

Awais Yaqub

anwmn1 wrote:

Awais-

What an excellent trip. I never new Pakistan was so beautiful.

I really like the 1st shot and the two shots with the boats (one black and white and one of the boat moving through the water).

Those roads remind me that I need to get back out into the mountains here in AZ & Colorado.

Thank you Aaron there are places which are far more beautiful but hard to reach i hope i will visit them once in my life. Tourism industry of Pakistan can really shine but unfortunately it is neglected

Any why thanks for looking

schmoo

Awais I have died and gone to heaven.

What a fantastic set of photos and an amazing journey! You are right - tourism is neglected there because I had no idea there were such beautiful lakes, mountains and glaciers in your country.

Wow, I am speechless. You are such an amazing, versatile photographer.

Awais Yaqub

schmoo wrote:

Awais I have died and gone to heaven.

What a fantastic set of photos and an amazing journey! You are right - tourism is neglected there because I had no idea there were such beautiful lakes, mountains and glaciers in your country.

Wow, I am speechless. You are such an amazing, versatile photographer.

Thank you i am gald you enjoyed. I hope you know K2 is in Pakistan

crashmaster

Fantastic shots Awais!

Yes, Pakistan is an incredibly beautiful country. My favorite areas are in the Karakoram in Baltistan I believe, simply mind blowing. If you have never traveled to the Himalaya's you must do so at least once in your life. The Himalayas make the mountian ranges in the US look like little insignificant rubble piles. Then there are they aboslutely jaw dropping 6000+ ft. granite walls of Trango Tower and Nameless Tower, makes the walls of Yosemite look like little crags. Of course these areas can be quite difficult to get to requiring some glacier travel, but well worth the reward.

Great work Awais!

imonk

Incredible
Simply incredible images you have there! They are all very well captured but I think the first one is something extra special. I hope you print that off on canvas and sell it or something because it deserves to be in a gallery! I really enjoyed looking at your images, some of the best landscape work I've seen in a while.

Thanks for sharing these
Ian

Awais Yaqub

Thanks a lot Crashmaster and Ian
Crashmaster i am surprised you know a lot about mountains of Pakistan

Llywellyn

Amazing trip. That first image took my breath away! I also love that B&W with all the boats.