Tombs of Amb Sharif

Visited the area a few years ago, it was an awesome bike ride to the neglected relics. I plan to ride there again next year I.A. along with some friends. Some cool shots from the past.

Tolajjah: Ride to a place unseen..

THERE are historical places in our country that few people have seen or heard of. It is for the tourism department to develop these places and attract the public toward it. A few weeks back I heard of this place called Talojah situated in the famous Soun valley. On the top of a mountain there are relics of what might be a fort once. No one knows the history of Tolajjah. It is strange that even though the place is only about 50km from my city I ha never even heard if this place. 

No proper road leads to Talojah. There is an off-road (jeep track) of about 8km from Sakaisar road to Darbar Baba Kachi Wala that is for the trucks to approach the mines in that area. From the shrine you have to climb two hills to get to Tolajah. With some stops and some detours we reached there after a walk of about an hour and fifteen minutes.

The Tolajah ruins was an amazing site. The location completely reveals that it was been built keeping in mind the defence point of view. The approach to the hill top is only from one side and on the other sides end up several feet down the hill. Some of our excitement was marred by the fact that because of heavy Monsoon rains many wild bushes had grown there which didn’t allow us to see the whole place. The ruins are scattered at an area of about one and a half square mile. From the very looks of the place it becomes clear that the ruins are of some fort that might be populated several hundred years B.C. Today, there is no roof top here and because of earthquakes many walls have also been demolished but the traces of a fort remain till day.

It was a ride to a place seen by few humans. Pure adventure, Nat Geo hasn't got here yet. Surprisingly, the place is only 50km away from my town but I had never even heard of it. Two weeks back when a friend mentioned about it, I got so curious and decided to visit the place soon enough.

There is no proper approach to this place. No one knows the history of this place. As people say, the place might have population several years B.C. I have also heard that people have made their fortunes by digging gold objects from here.

Were were four together on two bikes. I was on my 125 for the ride as part of the journey was off-road. It was my first time for a ride on the mountains and also for off-road. Here are some of the pics.

I did almost a distance of 10km off-road, I really wished I had a dirt bike for this journey as the off-road track was a real test of your riding skill and of course he bike. I am glad we made it together.

This is a bit better part of the off road section. The whole journey was done in first gear and some heights were so steep that I had to tell me brother to get off the bike. A little throttle would mean the front end in the air.

There was this cold spring of water

We parked our bikes in the valley and our next journey was to be done on feet.

Some more pics.

Notice the cutting and arrangement of the rocks.

There were these bones of some animal. No, these are not from the B.C. times. Though I wonder how an animal this big should be able o get here.

The place must have been built keeping in mind the defence point of view. There was only one place to approach the hill top and the rest of the sides were like this:

Perhaps a good place for the base jumpers:

Some of the rocks on the boundary wall had this bowl like shape dug in them:

Some of the rocks had been separated because of earth quakes, someone had placed this rock for a bridge:

Many rocks had these strange holes in them:

This is the second highest mountain in the Soun valley, we were right on the top of it:

Decaying glory

THE historic buildings, as we see them today, are the relics of antiquity. These mementos of the past, buildings and monuments, remind us of the culture and heritage which has evolved into what we see today. Whereas the historic buildings stand as a symbol the rich architecture of the past; they also enunciate the diversity of human mind when we compare it to the architecture of the present day.
Pakistan has a rich heritage and where there are historic buildings that are in good shape and are well cared of; there are also buildings that are merely vestiges of their glory. Among such vestiges are the remains of Kattas Fort.
Situated only a few miles away from the Kallar Kahar valley, the Kattas Fort is surrounded by mountains resounding the tale of indifference that it has been a victim of and the misfortune that befell it. Authorities haven't bothered to pay attention to the decaying condition of the fort. According to a local man the fort was in a much better condition a few decades ago when people from surrounding areas started digging the floors and destroyed the walls in the hope of finding some treasure_ though all in vain. The condition of the fort is getting worse gradually. There is no fortification wall, no entrance gate and you don't even have to buy a ticket to enter the fort. The worst that could have happened is that the main road from Kallar Kahar to Choa'saidan Shah bisects the two portions of the fort. It is beyond understanding why the archaeology department has neglected this place completely.

Readers Column, The Nation (Edited)