Dir (Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa)

 

Dir is located at a distance of 213 km from Peshawar on the foothills of the Himalayas and is accessible via Chakdara by Dir-Chitral Road and then following Dir-Malakand Road. It was a princely state and ruled by Nawab Shah Jehan Khan and merged with Pakistan in 1969. It is gateway to Chitral in north and to Swat in the east. In 1996, it was divided into Upper Dir district and Lower Dir district.

Historically, Dir has an important position in the Gandhara Art. There are number of the remains of the Gandhara Civilization, and most of the fine and unique collections related the Gandharan Art are preserved in Dir Museum.

Dir has boundaries with Chitral, Swat, Bajaur, and Malakand districts. It also has its boundary with Afganistan. It is situated on the southeast side of the Hindu Kush Range and the Panjkora River is the main river flow through the valley. The Panjkora river runs along the mountainous part of the Dir and forms the Kumrat Valley, and finally ends in the Swat River at Chakdara. It covers think and deep forest on both sides with the deep slopes.

Dir has abundant with natural and splendid scenic beauty. There is abundant of pine forests in the district. There are number of tourist places in Dir which attract lot of tourists from all over the Pakistan. In Lower Dir, there are number important hill stations such as Laram Top, Jakar Baba Top, etc. These hill stations receive snow in winter so attracts number of tourists. The Kumrat Valley is located in the mountainous hills in the Upper Dir and the most visiting location in this region.

Tajoka, also known as Tajoka Sar, is a beautiful mountain peak at elevation of 10,853 feet in the Hindukush Mountain Range in Lower Dir. It is the highest peak in the Lower Dir and is accessible via Barawal Bandi that is located at a distance of 118 km from Chakdara. Tourist can enjoy the beauty of the valley while moving on trek to its base camp.

Laram Top, also known as Laram Sar, is a beautiful hill station at the elevation of 7,345 feet in the Lower Dir at the distance of 30 km from Chakdara. It is surrounded by different high mountains and towering trees with drenches of clouds. In winter season, it receives lot of snowfall, therefore, it attracts a lot of tourists for cool and fantastic weather. Jakar Baba Top is another beautiful hill station encircled by pine trees with scenic views in Lower Dir.

There are many important places in Upper Dir, which attract tourists from all over the Pakistan. Kumrat Valley is beautiful scenic valley at the foothills of Hindu Kush Range. It is located in the Upper Dir district at a distance of 177 km from the Chakdara. It is the most popular tourist spot in the Upper Dir on the banks of the Panjkora River. It has cool and pleasant weather is the summer season, so thousands of tourist visit it. It is famous due to its green pastures, snow-covered and foggy mountains, and lush green forests.

Badogai Pass connects the Upper Dir with the Utror Valley in Swat with the Kumrat Valley in the Upper Dir. It remains closed in the winter season due to heavy snowfall. So best season to cross this pass to visit the Kumrat Valley is the summer season.

Katoora Lake is charming lake in the Lamoti Valley in Upper Dir at an elevation of 11,500 feet. It is beautiful lake in high mountains with lush green forest of pine trees.

Lowari Pass is one of the major pass at an elevation of 10,230 feet in Dir that connects Chitral district. It is lower pass with high mountain on the both sides, so in winter season due to heavy snowfall, it is accessible by jeep. Crossing it by foot can be dangerous due to deadly avalanche from the high mountains.

Lowari Tunnel, having length of 10.5 km, is constructed beneath the Lowari Pass in the Hindu Kush range. It is used to bypass the Lowari Pass and saves half of the drive time between Peshawar and Chitral. It is all weather tunnel, so it facilitates the travelers between the Chitral and Peshawar in the winter season.

There are number of valleys within forest covered mountains in Dir. The Panjkora River is the main river in Dir district, which flows from the Glaciers of Hindu kush Range. It finally merges with the Swat River near Chakdara in Malakand.