The morning at Gabin Jabba was beautiful, surrounded by magnificent mountains. The summits of most of them illuminated by the rays of the morning sun. It was indeed a beautiful sight but we had a tough day ahead and a lot had to be done. Our camps can be seen, before we packed them and left for Daral Dand (Lake).

As we started the climb on Day 2, We knew it would be tough as we had to climb a vertical 1100 meters to the top of Daral La (pass) and then descend 400 meters on its other side while covering a distance of only 7 kilometers. The views during the climb were spectacular and showed diversity and uniqueness of the landscape. Swat river can also be seen in the distance if observed closely. Gabin Jabba meadows, where we camped for the night are behind the black mountain at the bottom right of the picture.

This moment was magical. After 2 years of trying to reach a lake, this was the reward. Battling and overcoming all the hindrances in our way we earned this view. It was indeed a beautiful sight. Daral Dand was in front of our eyes. Standing there, at almost 2 kilometers from the lake we even decided where to set up our camps. Little did we know what was going to happen next. 

This picture reminds how the mountains can be so heavenly beautiful as well as so shockingly deceiving at the same time. They can give you all that you need yet in a blink of an eye take away all that you have. In the mountains, you don't play by your own rules but by the rules of nature. We were helpless and powerless in front of the circumstances we were up against and it was due to those circumstances that we did not reach Daral Dand that day. We spent the night in a Banda (A small hut built with rocks & wood by the shepherds). It was a long night. No one could sleep as the roof kept on dripping the whole night due to heavy rain. The picture shows the entrance of the Banda and two of my comrades sitting by the fire.

After a long restless night, the first rays of daylight in the morning brought with it priceless happiness. As I got out of the Banda, it came as a surprise that Daral Dand was a mere 20-30 minutes descend. There was this utter disappointment that despite being so close to Daral Dand, we couldn't camp by it. But regret was not an option, and we had to move on. We packed our gear and moved to Daral Dand where we had planned to get some sleep after the sleepless night at the Banda. This picture shows the view of Daral Dand from outside the entrance of the Banda right before dawn.

Not much needs to be said as this was one of the most exciting moments of the 4 day track. All our tiredness and exhaustion was for the moment buried under our excitement. What we had come for, this far, was finally at hand. Daral Dand welcomed us with such spectacular views. This picture was taken as I approached it at 07:09 hours.

Upon reaching Daral Dand, the excitement was so high that the sleep said bye bye xD. The spectacular views never failed to amaze us. Daral Dand showed a perfect reflection of the landscape beyond. It might even trick the viewer. Ps. Invert your phone, the picture might be upside down.

The excitement at Daral Dand didn't last long. Upon analyzing the situation and considering all the factors, we decided that staying there for long wont be wise. None of us had slept in the last 24 hours but there wasn't much choice and we had to move. Therefore after packing our backpacks and our camp which we had set up to sleep we started the journey of Day 3. As we left, I took this last picture of Daral Dand which happened to be so awesome

As we left Daral Dand and started our journey towards civilization, we were immediately welcomed by these heavenly green meadows filled with fresh water streams. The view beyond that was also breathtaking. Magnificent snow caped mountains of the Hindukush, their summits surrounded by clouds welcomed us. This was the last picture that i took during the expedition as my phones battery died after that. The track ahead was also extremely technical, and the slightest of mistake could have been fatal. Therefore photography was not our priority either. We reached civilization at exactly 17:08 hours the next day.