Islamabad has been ranked second in the most beautiful capitals of the world (Referenced here). It is true. Every time, I’m back to my city, it takes my breath away. I can’t help noticing the vibrant green colours and the sheer exuberance of Margalla hills. Even my earliest memories of Islamabad have included trekking. We lived in E-9 sector right next to the mountains where we would spontaneously hike onto the Margallas. Our longest trek was from Taxila to E-10 Islamabad with Asian Study Group.
Over the years, we completed Trail 3 and 5 a number of times. I went on Trail 6 once with a friend in the evening but we only did a quarter of it. I have also done hikes from zoo to Daman-e-Koh and from E-7 to the top. Other than Islamabad, I have done a lot of hikes including Dungagali to Mushkpuri, Nathia gali to Miranjani, Kotli Satiyan to Patriata, Nathia gali to Ayubia National Park and a few in Wales. Living in Lahore for the past two years, I have been dying to climb some mountains recently.
Yesterday, four of my friends and I went on Trail 6 which is the only major trail I hadn’t completed in Islamabad. I went with a couple of my good friends from different workplaces/groups. One was my colleague in my first internship, one was my colleague at my previous job, one colleague from my most recent office and one from my Discover Pakistan trips. None of them knew each other. I’m happy they got along well from the start of the track. We played London Stop somewhere on the hills, jumped from random rocks and had some fun race-you-to-that moments. The views from the top were gorgeous and the whole experience was amazing.
We went to Chayekhana in the end to reward ourselves to Aloo achar parathas, Keema, lassi, juices, Spanish and cheese omelettes. Played Chess there too. It’s such a luxury to have fun friends in life!
Which hiking trails have you all completed in Islamabad so far and which one is your favourite? I would love to know. Thanks for stopping by.
