Travelogue of Sher Ali Saafi

About The Silent Traveler

Hi,

I am Sher Ali Saafi, The Silent Traveler and owner of Sher Ali Photography. The Silent Traveler is my personal travelogue where I share my travel experiences with you beautiful people.

I am a software engineer by profession and currently a freelance Rockstar WordPress developer. If you are a software engineer then you know how boring is your life while sitting in front of computer most of the day. Traveling not only provides me an opportunity to refresh my mind but also to experience life in different perspectives.

When you start traveling then you start capturing moments as well so that not only you can share with others but also look back at them and enjoy those moments again and again. I am very passionate about landscape photography and try to capture the moments as I see them while I am lost in the wilderness.

I started trekking from Margalla trails after a friend’s invitation in 2012 but there was no stopping after that. Since then I have done a lot of treks including K2 base camp & Gondogoro La (5,940m) trek, Snow lake trek, Karomber lake trek via Darkot pass (4,600m), Chitta Katha lake, a round trip around Nanga Parbat covering its Rupal (up to Mazeno base camp) and Fairy Meadows sides, various treks in Lulusar-Dudipatsar National Park, Saral lake trek, Ratti Gali lake trek via Dowarian pass and many other treks.

In August 2017 I plan to do Chillinji pass + Karomber lake + Darkot pass trek. In 2018 I plan to do Lukpe La trek from Shimshal to Askole. If you are an experienced trekker (must have done at least one 5,000+ meter high pass in last 3 years) and interested to join me then get in touch through my Facebook page at The Silent Traveler.

My Photography Work

You can find my photography work on my website at Sher Ali Photography or on Instagram at @sheraliphotography. You can also follow me on my personal Facebook profile using following social plugin:

And don’t forget to checkout my YouTube channel.

 

Traveling is living!

 



  • Fayaz Shah
    February 2, 2016 at 10:25 am

    Dear,

    I read your article published in The Express tribune today. I found it very interesting and informative.

    Thumbs up on all your trekking activities and future plans.

    I wonder if you could possibly guide me in selecting good destination for a 7 day trip from Karachi. We want to visit northern areas along with family; me 40 years old, my wife about 36 years old, one daughter 11 years old, and son 7 years old, all perfectly healthy. Following are few queries coming into my mind:

    1. What would be a good secure location for a one day trekking. It could be multiple treks nearby so that we could keep on moving for at least 4 ~ 5 days. We have very limited budget therefore choosing option of public transport.
    2. We want to visit different places during this summer school holidays of kids. Wanted to see greenery in the period.
    3. We would like to plan a visit for next Winter to see snow and select one day multiple treks.
    4. Since this would be our first trip therefore would appreciate your advise on selecting appropriate and quality gear to carry. Please help me in selecting the gear and from where could I possibly purchase quality items.
    5. How much essential gear could cost us which we may use during our next tours/ trips.
    6. How much is it likely to cost us the trip for a 7 to 8 days including hotel, food, public transport, etc.
    7. We want to visit only places which are secure.

    Since you have good experience and have visited multiple locations during very short period, we will appreciate if you could kindly spare some time to help us.

    Regards,

    • The Silent Traveler
      February 3, 2016 at 10:26 am

      Dear Fayaz,

      Since you will be traveling with your kids so you options will be limited.

      1. You can opt for Naran, Hunza, Skardu, Swat or Neelum valley. All these locations are secure and provide lots of options to explore different areas once you are there.
      2. All the above mentioned places are full of greenery especially Naran, Swat and Neelum valley offer too much greenery.
      3. For now adventure you can start with Dunga Gali and Nathiagali in KPK where you can not only hike Mushkpuri and Miranjani peaks but can also do the pipeline track which is very easy and good for kids.
      4. The gear and its quality depend how you will be traveling. If you are going to stay in hotels then you don’t need any special gear beside warm cloths. But if you want to camp then you will surely need lots of gear e.g. sleeping bags, mattresses etc. You can get such gear from Ascender in Islamabad.
      5. The costs depend upon quality of gear so cannot really say how much it will cost you.
      6. Again this depends on lots of factors. For example the fair from Rawalpindi to Hunza on Natco is around Rs. 1800 per person which will be less/more for a different destination.
      7. All places in northern areas are fully secure.

  • Imran Hunzai
    April 9, 2017 at 9:24 pm

    Amazing journey. Thanks a lot for providing so much detailed info about lakes for backpackers.

    Cheers

  • Mansoor
    March 14, 2018 at 2:29 pm

    Assalmaoalikum Sher Ali,
    I have done a lot of hiking in Finland, Norway, Czech Republic, Austria, Portugal, Taiwan. But i have not done it in my own lovely country Pakistan. I am planning to make a trip to Pakistan inshAllah in July/August 2018. I would really like to visit norther areas and do some hiking.
    I wanted to ask if you have some planes during that time ? For beginning i would like to join someone who has some experience of those areas 🙂

    • The Silent Traveler
      March 21, 2018 at 12:36 pm

      W-Salam,

      I don’t have any plans for July/August but I do have a public trip of 6 days to Upper Dir Kohistan which is happening from 19 to 24 June after Eid-ul-Fitr.

  • Yousaf Niazi
    May 30, 2019 at 12:23 pm

    Usually people start trek to Jahaz Banda from Jandrai village. Where is Takai Top located? Would you please about this route.