Swat Most Beautiful City of Pakistan
Swat Most Beautiful City of Pakistan. Swat District also called Pakistani Switzerland, A paradise for the tourists who likes natural beauty. It is an administrative district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan. The Lush green valley of swat, with its rushing torrents, icy-cold lakes, fruit laden orchards & flower –decked slopes is holiday makers. It has a rich historical past too. This is Udayana (Garden) of the ancient epics, the land of enthralling beauty, where Alexander of Macedonia fought and won some of his major battles before crossing over the delta of Indus River. This is the valley of hanging chairs, as described by the famous Chinese pilgrim-chroniclers. The valley of swat sprawls over 10,360 sq Km at an average elevation of 875 meters.
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History of Swat Most Beautiful City of Pakistan
Over two thousand years ago this prosperous valley of Swat was the home of a well-settled people, living in well-planned towns. In 327 B.C. Alexander of Greece found his way to udegram and barikot, towns the Greeks possibly indentified as Ora and Bazira, and stormed their battlements. Later the Buddhists came here; they preached, converted and stayed to worship, amidst the serenity of the surroun-dings. Graphic remains dating back to the 2nd century B.C testify to their skills as builders of temples, roads and houses. In the beginning of the 11 th century A.D. Mahmud of ghazni invaded Swat after advancing through Dir and defeated Fira, the local ruler, near udgram, The country was then taken over by the Dilazak and Swat Pathans who in turn were deprived of the land by the yusufzais.
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| Swat River Swat District KPK Province of Pakistan |
Geographical
Indus River separates it from another beautiful Hazara division in the east, Chital and Gilgit, Baltistan are situated in north, Dir in west, and Mardan in the south.
Swat can be divided into two physical regions
Ranges area of Swat Most Beautiful City of Pakistan.
Plains area of Swat Most Beautiful City of Pakistan.
Tourist Season
All the year round, particularly from March to October.
People
The people of Swat are Muslim Pathans, Kohistanis and Gujars, Some have distinct features and seem to be descendants of Greeks who came with Alexander the Great and Settled here.
Costumes
The women of Swat wear colorfully, embroidered long shirts and Shalwar (baggy trousers). The men wear Shalwar-Qamiz and embroidered caps or turbans of silk pieces.
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| Swat Valley Swat District KPK Province of Pakistan |
Languages
Pashto and Kohistani, Urdu and English are also spoken and understood well.
What to see
Saidu Sharif, seat of the Akhund of Swat and later of his granson Shahzada Milangul Abdul Wadud, is the divisional headquarters while adjoining Mingora is the district headquarters and the commercial centre. Worth visiting is the Swat Museum situated between Mingora and Saidu. It has a rich collection of Gandhara art.
Marghazar
White Mahal Marghazar Swat valley
Marghazar 13 km away from Saidu Sharif is famous for its “Sufed Mahal” the white marble palace of the former Wali (Ruler) of Swat.
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| Boat Sight Swat District KPK Province of Pakistan |
Malam Jabba
Malam Jabba is a Hill Station in the Karakoram mountain range nearly 40 km from Saidu Sharif in Swat Valle. It is 314 km from Islamabad and 51 km from Saidu Sharif Airport.Malam Jabba is home to the largest ski resort in Pakistan. The Malam Jabba Ski Resort, owned by the Pakistani Tourism Development Corporation, had a ski slope of about 800m with the highest point of the slope 2804 m (9200 ft) above sea level. Malam Jabba Ski Resort was the joint effort of the Pakistan government with its Austrian counterpart. The resort was equipped with modern facilities including roller/ice-skating rinks, chair lifts, skiing platforms, telephones and snow clearing equipment.
Excavated sites
Various Buddhist excavations exist near Saidu Shairf at Batkara and south towards Chakdara, Udegram and Nemogram, Buddhist stupas and remains are spread all over the southern part of the valley.
Kabal
Kabal is golfers paradise; and eighteen hole golf course is open the year round
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| Malam Jabba Swat District KPK Province of Pakistan |
Miandam
It is an exciting tourist resort of great natural beauty. It offers comfortable accommodation, on the way are beautiful terraced fields, snow capped peaks, wildflower studded slopes and fruit laden trees.
Madyan
Madyan lies in the heart of the Upper Swat Valley in a charming setting with steep wooded hills, terraced fields nearly bordered by stone walls, and here and there, mud houses on the slopes. The Swat River flows here in a torrent through gores and bedrocks.
Bahrain
This is an excellent valley for hiking. A turreted fort stands sentinel over the wild and foaming confluence of the mountain streams with the Swat River. The central mosque of Bahrain with its carved wooden pillars and doors is worth seeing.
Kalam
In Kalam, the rivers Ushu and Utrot join to form the Swat River. Here ends metalled road, though a shingle road leads upto Ushu and Utrot Valleys. From Matiltan one has a breath taking view of snow-capped Mount Falakser, 5918 meter (19,415 ft) and an unnamed 6096 meter (20,000 feet) high peak.
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| Hotel & Restaurant Swat District KPK Province of Pakistan |
Valleys of Ushu, utrop and gabral
Infact the most beautiful part of Swat is beyond Kalam and the valleys of Ushu, Utrot and Gabral are worth exploring. There is good brown trout fishing around Utrot. For their own safety, foreign tourists are advised to contact the local police authorities at kalam before proceeding to the valleys of Ushu, utrot and Gabral.
How to get there
Saidu Sharif, the divisional headquarters of both Swat and the Malakand Division is linked by air with Rawalpindi and Peshawar and by metalled road with Rawalpindi, 257 kilometer (160 miles) via Nowshera-Mardan and malakand Pass and 177 kilometer (110 miles) from Peshawar which is in turn is well connected by air, rail and via Besham on the Karakoram highway.
What to do
There many beautiful valleys with superb landscapes that can be easily visited. Swat is ideal for camping, trekking & mountaineering. Brown trout can be fished for in the clear waters of the Swat River around Kalam and in the valleys of Ushu and Gabral. Fishing license must be obtained from the office of the assistant Commissioner Fisheries at madyan and Kalam.
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| Natural Beauty Swat District KPK Province of Pakistan |
Where to stay
There are several reasonably comfortable hotels and motels in Saidu Sharif, Mingora , Miandam, madyan, bahrain and Kalam and plenty of adequately furnished and conveniently situated cottage hotels and reasonably priced rest houses in other places too.
What to eat
The numerous eating houses serve grilled meat and whole meal over baked bread known as ‘naan’ wash it down with a cup of popular local brew called Kehwa’. Also do sample the top quality Swat honey which is available both in the country as well as in the town.
What to buy
Fruits are plentiful in the main bazaar and embroidered clothes, hand woven rugs and shawls, silverware, carved wood work and objet d’art are available to the shoppers. People from all over Asia mingle with tourists in these bazaars. The hawk eyed Pathans selling their gunblets, the wild Kohistanis buying their goods to take back to their distant hills, the plainsmen from the Punjab; here can be seen many races fro we are in a way on the crossroads of Asia.
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| Swat view Swat District KPK Province of Pakistan |
What Not to Do
Do not Photograph bridges and military installations,
Do not swim in the rivers
Do not Travel without your passport and other travel documents in the Northern Areas.
Do not Photograph local women without his permission
Do not Drive on mountain roads at night.
SWAT VALLEY | ||
DISTANCE FROM SAIDU SHARIF SWAT | ||
| Places | Distance | Elevation (m) |
| Malam jabba | 46 km | 2636 m |
| Udegram | 10 km | 960 m |
| Marghzar | 13 km | 1260 m |
| Kabal Golf Course | 13 km | 873 m |
| Maindam | 57 km | 1829 m |
| Madyan | 51 km | 1321 m |
| Bahrain | 66 km | 1372 m |
| Kolalai | 84 km | 1524 m |
| Kalam | 105 km | 2073 m |
| Ushu | 113 km | 2286 m |
| Utrot | 121 km | 2225 m |
| Gabral | 129 km | 2286 m |
| Karakar Pass | 34 km | 1336 m |
| Shangla Pass | 50 km | 2134 m |
| Pir Baba Sahib | 65 km | 762 m |
| Danggar | 71 km | 686 m |
| Karora | 84 km | 1067 m |
| Chakesar | 102 km | 1128 m |
Pakistan Is the Most Beautiful Place in our world