Thandyani is a relatively less known hill station near Abbotabad in the Galyat mountains. The three of us set out to spend a weekend there. We left Islamabad at 7:30 pm (11th April 1986) by a coach and were in Abbotabad at 9:30. After enquiry we were told by a gentleman that Thandyani was 10 or 12 miles from Abbotabad. Ten or Twelve miles did not seem a lot, and we decided to walk. There was a milestone about an hour outside Abbotabad that read Abbotabad 7 km and Thandyani 22 km; we were enjoying our walk and did not mind that our initial information was not accurate.
We reached ‘Kalapani’ (18 km from Abbotabad) at about 1:30. It is a beautiful village at the bank of ‘Harnu Nula’ which flows through the valley. We had a delicious lunch at a dhaba on the side of the road. The people we met there were very polite and friendly. We asked them about any possible short cuts and what was on the other side of Thandyani. We were told that Muzaffarabad was not too far on the other side of the mountain, and one could reach there in a day from Thandyani. We were told that there was a jeep-track from Thandyani to Chamyali, however, it would be probably closed at that time because of snow. From Chamyali, to Pattan there was a walking distance of about three hours, from Pattan we could get a jeep to Phalair, but the jeep may not be available because of the rains. Phalair is on a main road, and after reaching there one could easily get a transport for Rawalpindi or for Muzaffarabad.
We stopped at Kalapani for almost an hour and a half. Thandyani is 11 km from there. Till then we had been walking almost along the road, but form Kalapani the road started to zig-zag upwards rapidly, and it was possible for us to make some steep short cuts. However, we were compelled to stay on the road when we were about three kilometres from Thandyani, as shortcuts were not possible because of melting snow and mud. It also started to rain and hail at that time. We could not find any shelter from rain and by then we were too tired to run, so we were soaking wet when we reached Thandyani at 5:30.
We went into the first dhaba we came across and had several cups of tea there. There was also a ‘Tanoor’ in the hotel, we sat around it for half an hour for warmth and for drying our clothes - by then it had stopped raining. The rest house we were to stay for the night was about a kilometre from that place. The accommodation at the rest house was excellent - rather luxurious by our standards. Chowkidar served us well with very nice tea and a meal, and the bucket of warm water was available whenever we asked for one.
It kept raining every now and then all night and was very foggy when we got up in the morning. We had our breakfast and started to wait for the weather to clear. It cleared but only for a short while, allowing us to take some photographs and appreciate the scenery.
We left the rest house at 9:30. The weather was very unpredictable, and we had not yet decided whether we were walking onwards to Muzaffarabad or were going back to Abbotabad. It started drizzling again! When we reached the point where the jeep track starts to descend for Chamyali we decided to have a vote for our next move. The decision was unanimous - bought some biscuits and sweets; it was exactly ten when we stepped down the track to Chamyali.
Track from Thandyani to Chamyali winds through thick pine forest. There are many waterfalls and snow-covered peaks of Kashmir border the scenery. It kept drizzling for the first hour of our journey, but the sky was almost clear when we reached Chamyali around 11:30. We had walked very fast and had covered this distance in far less time than our estimate. Chamyali is a very beautiful village on a small Plateau. People have used every possible piece of land for cultivation and terraced fields give a very nice view with snow-covered peaks in the background.
We walked down a very steep path for another two or three kilometres until we reached a stream flowing through the valley. We stopped here briefly for some rest. There was no shop in Chamyali where we could had had some tea. The stream was big, and the current was very strong, but fortunately there was a narrow, precarious bridge over it.
We were to walk uphill now for our next destination. The path, though very steep at places, was smooth, and it was an easy walk. It was about half past two when we reached Pattan. We said afternoon prayer, had some chat with children studying in the mosque and people there, took some photographs and were on our way again at about 3:30. There was no dhaba where we could have some food, and we had to depend on the biscuits we had brought with us. Jeep was available for Phalair from here, but we preferred to walk. It had started to rain again. Our journey onwards was downhill, and we walked very fast. We were running most of the time. It took us about two hours to reach Phalair. It was still drizzling but the sun was also showing, and a complete and very bright rainbow was there over river Jhelum to welcome us.
There were no milestones to tell us the distance covered. We did thirty kilometres the day before and we had walked for about the same time, but much faster as our journey was down the hill. Therefore, we must have done at least forty kilometres that day.
We took a Suzuki pickup for Muzaffarabad to have a proper meal and get a bus back to Islamabad.
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