Swat

In a region full of dramatic scenery, Swat stands out as a particularly beautiful corner of northern Pakistan. A broad fertile valley just touched by the monsoon, it stretches nearly 200km from the Malakand Pass to the high reaches of Swat Kohistan. Rich farmland fans out along the wide Swat River basin, centred on the twin towns of Mingora and Saidu Sharif that together form Swat’s urban hub. It’s hardly the first big town in Swat, as the valley was the site of many previous civilisations, including the Kushan kingdom of Gandhara and the Hindu Shahis, each of whom left behind a multitude of historical sites to be discovered. North of here, the mountains start to close in past Madyan, squeezing the river into a leaping torrent, and forcing villages down to the banks or up the valley walls.

The deodar-forested, snowcapped northern peaks are dominated by 5918m Falaksair. The Pashtuns of the valley floor become replaced by Kohistanis (literally ‘people of the mountains’) and nomadic Gujars who tend flocks on the high pastures. It’s a popular area for hiking, and its streams are thickly stocked with trout.