The Adventure of a Lifetime - Part II

The Fairy Meadows Cottages

The Fairy Meadows Cottages....... (HDR)

    The accommodation in our travel package was the camping options provided by the Fairy Meadows Cottages, proudly owned by Qari Rehmatullah. Written about by other travel bloggers and columnists, there are numerous references to Qari sahib all over the internet. 

    Qari sahab is a local resident of Fairy Meadows, one of the 2500+ who call this place their home.  He is also a very respectable and important village elder around this place. 

   He is strongly against commercialization of fairy meadows and wants the area to be left as it is, to the people who live here so that may earn an honest livelihood from tourism, and in return, keep this heaven like it for generations to enjoy and behold. People who have traveled around Pakistan know how tourist spots quickly deteriorate as soon as you build a better road and make it easy for people to access it. Murree is a prime example, and recently, so is Naran. So I hope, personally, that this stays the way it is, and human greed plays no part in destroying the few places left unspoiled.

   

Qari Sahib's resort,The Fairy meadows Cottages, is the oldest establishment of its sort in Fairy meadows. Comprised of wooden huts and a camping ground, the cottages overlook a beautiful green basin covered on all sides by trees, with a blissfully quiet stream running through the middle. And did i mention, the resort faces the immensely terrifying and beautiful, 8000+ meter Nanga Parbat's north face.

the campsite

New cottages under construction in the frontside

The door leading down to the meadows

Panorama of the meadows

Mobile HDR. View from the cottages

   Most photographs of the growingly popular fairy meadows are taken from the camping ground of the Fairy meadows cottages. The resort isn't the most luxurious of the 4-5 resorts here, the more expensive and luxury option being the Raikot Sarai., but the unique view and the location of this resort sets it apart from the competition. And really, by luxury I do not mean a marble vanity and Pay per view channels, all that is thankfully kept away from this place. By luxury, I just mean minor differences in service, which in my opinion are made up for by the view you get every morning when you wake up, be it in a tent, or a hut. 

  The Fairy Meadows Cottages, were under the process of renovations and expansion when we were there, making use of the end of season quiet, gearing up for next year's summer, which I hope and pray is a better season for tourism in these areas after the infamous massacre of mountain climbers on the Diamer face of Nanga parbat. An unrectified mistake from all leading TV channels in Pakistan, meant the news tickers ran the words Fairy meadows with the breaking news, a place which isn't even near the place where the events actually took place. But a misconception firmly set in the public's mind, the tourist inflow to this place suffered massively. 

 The expansion also boasts a VIP wooden hut, with an attached bathroom and an in-room, centrally placed wood heater. Believe me, you'd think it wasn't that important but it is, it really is. especially when the sun goes down. And in this place, that is at 4 pm, when the sun goes behind the mountains on the west, and illuminates nothing but the mountain in front of you. 

  A cheaper option is the one we got, well protected tents with mattresses, sleeping bags and blankets provided, and different sized tents available. the tents were high quality, and the sleeping bags were beautifully warm, so all in all it was very comfortable. For students, and people who are travelling without families, and can bear a bit of cold before you get into your sleeping bag, this is a very reasonable option.

Sunny and Moon enjoying the morning sun's warmth inside the tent

The view from the opening in our tent

Syed Mohammad enjoying the views

Our tents

   One thing that my friend and I, will never forget was the hot shower available at the resort. Unbelievable, yes, true. Especially when you see the minimalist outhouses where the toilets are located (two such outhouses at the back of the resort). Every morning, they heat up water in wood burning boilers and you get to enjoy a shower, warmer and with more pressure than your regular house showers. I wont get into the physics of they do it, and frankly speaking you wont care especially if you've walked the day before, its pure bliss. 

 The food, is simple, omelettes and parathas with tea in the morning, some vegetable or daal in the afternoon, and chicken or mutton for dinner. Of course you can choose to have something different, but it will cost you, and you will have to tell them a day in advance, so that they get the stuff they need. But the food is already expensive, so I'll advise sticking the plain food. Take pickles with you and chili ketchup if you're from the Punjab, or even if you're not, like me, and enjoy a hotter, more painful palette cleanser. The utensils, plates and cups are exceptionally clean so you don't need to worry about that. A very friendly staff meant we went into the kitchen as well, and I can personally report, its all reasonably clean ( Take the Natco on the KKH and experience the food stops they make, trust me, you'll be saying this too ).

Irfan Bhai and Syed enjoying green tea after dinner in the dinner hall 

Haseeb, Atiq, Haroon, Faisal and Abdur Rehman (sitting) 

  

  Note: I can't write about the prices of the rooms, camps or meals here cause honestly I don't know myself, it was all included in the travel package by Traveltoday.pk so I didn't have any say in it, not that I wanted to anyways. 

   

All in all, Qari Rehmatullah and his crew run a very good ship, and it was a pleasure staying with them. If I were to go again, ever, I know where I'll be staying.

Panorama of the grass plains in front of the cottages. Nanga Parbat is towards the left