The night sky in Kirthar range is so clear that you can spot the Milky Way with your naked eyes. The landscape is so …

By Farooq Soomro | January 7, 2015

The night sky in Kirthar range is so clear that you can spot the Milky Way with your naked eyes. The landscape is so vast that it stretches beyond man-made boundaries.

A land so enriched with history that one feels lost in time. The mountain range forming a natural boundary between Balochistan and Sindh is home to several peaks, most notably Gorakh Hill (5,700), Kuttay-ji-Qabar (6,877) and Bandu-ji-Qabar (7,112) .

The 150+ mile long stretch provides a sanctuary to different wild life and its torrents, tributaries, canyons, ponds and historical sites making it an ideal excursion for a variety of people.

Unfortunately the uncertain security situations cloaks the ground reality that the local hospitable people are more than eager to welcome tourists and help improve the image of their area.

I went to Gorakh Hill last year and had been yearning to go back to Kirthar range ever since. A family friend was hosting a kacheri on Badro Jabal and I jumped into the invitation as soon as I heard about it.

Badro Jabal in Kirthar range was a much safer and easier destination than the rest. It was only 320km from Karachi and a metal road connected it with the Indus highway.

The drive was rather uneventful until we reached the elevation of 3,000 feet where we saw the panoramic view of the valleys below. An oil exploration company had dug wells across Badro plateau and we could see dirt roads connecting various spots across the mountain.

We found a small guesthouse there that had been built by the government a long time ago and was now in desolate condition. We made a stop there and walked leisurely to the edge of the mountain. We saw a dirt road below in the gorge.

Here we met a local shepherd there who lived across the gorge. He told us that they had been promised development in the area due to the oil companys investment.

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The night sky in Kirthar range is so clear that you can spot the Milky Way with your naked eyes. The landscape is so ...