Lake Saiful Muluk National Park, Kaghan Valley, Pakistan - June 2009

A lot of snow had fallen during the winter of 2008/2009 and even towards the end of June there was a lot of it lying around. It appears as if the last winter was colder than preceeding winters in large parts of Europe and Asia. The last time I had visited the lake it was in August 2000 and there was no snow on the ground.

The whole area as soon as you left Naran all the way to the lake was now part of the Lake Saiful Muluk National Park. It is an area of outstanding beauty and of tourist value but wildlife such as black bear, leopard, wolf, markhor, ibex, musk deer, monkey, pheasant, partridges, eagles, vultures are all quite rare now.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saiful_Muluk

Lake Saiful Muluk (Urdu: سیف الملوک)is a lake located at the northern end of the Kaghan Valley ( 34°52′37.34″N 73°41′37.71″E) near Naran. It is in the north east of Mansehra District in the North-West Frontier Province, Pakistan. At an altitude of 3,224 m (10,578 feet) above sea level it is amongst one of the highest lakes in Pakistan.
The lake is accessible by a 14 km road from Naran (which is accessible by a road from Mansehra via Balakot and Kaghan) during the summer months. On foot, the trek from Naran to the lake takes about 4-6 hours. The water is clear with a slight green tone. The clarity of the water comes from the multiple glaciers all around the high basin which feed the lake.
A fairy tale called Saiful Muluk, written by the famous sufi poet Mian Muhammad Bakhsh, is associated with the lake.[1] It is the story of prince of Persia who fell in love with a fairy princess at the lake.[2] The impact of the lake beauty is of such extent that people believe that fairies come down to lake in full moon.
A poet and writer from Balakot, Ahmad Hussain Mujahid, has written the story of Saif ul Malook. The first edition of the book Saif ul Malook was published in 1999.
Mansehra District has had a flourishing tourism industry in the past due to its many mountain ranges and the Saiful Muluk Lake, however since the 2005 earthquake the region has seen a decrease in tourists. This lake is about ten thousand feet above the ground level of Naran, this beautiful lake reflects many colors in minutes.[3] Lately there has been an interest in building hotels in the area.[4]

Taken in: Pakistan / North-West Frontier / Kaghan (show map)

Taken on: May 25, 2009

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Camera: Kodak EasyShare Z710 Zoom, f/4.0, 1/800 sec, 6.3mm, ISO 64 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Kodak EasyShare Z710 Zoom
Aperture:	f/4.0
Exposure Time:	0.001 sec (1/800)
Focal Length:	6.3mm
ISO:	64
Exposure Bias:	-0.6 EV
Flash:	Auto, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Program AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	Uncalibrated
Software:	Picasa 3.0
Show full info

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