Ali Hameed

Lost in Phandar

2017-03-26T04:49:00.003-07:00

Phandar Valley

Time is money and money is time. Time is something we either race against or ignore altogether. Time is what makes you choose life changing decisions and ultimately to grow old with experience.
Even today there are some places where time slows down. Cultures are more preserved and people genuinely seems happier, but there is a place I stumbled upon where time does not exist at all, this is Phandar in northern Pakistan.

Phandar Valley is located around 160 km from Gilgit, it is also know as Little Kashmir. I dont know why I decided to visit Phandar as it was not part of my original back packing trip plan.

I took a local van and it took around five hours to reach Phandar from Gilgit and went to Sadabahar hotel which was suggested to me by someone in Gilgit. I spent around two days there and met only one tourist family there which shows the performace of tourism department.

Ali - Phandar local

I met one local guy in the van on our way to Phandar, later on I went to his house and met his other friends and cousins. I must admit that it's an incredibly beautiful place, locals are not too wealthy but I think it's one of the happiest villages of Pakistan. I had the pleasure of having evening tea with superintendent of police (SP) who confirmed that crime rate there is almost 0% which makes it not only the safest but happiest place as well :)

Close your eyes and you don’t step back in time, you just realize that time does not matter here, everyone and everything moves at its own pace, there are no deadlines to be met and no expectations to follow and you are lost in Phandar...

Phandar Lake

Khalti Lake

how to reach Krakow from Prague?

2014-09-05T07:16:00.002-07:00

How to reach Krakow from Prague:

If you are looking to reach Krakow from Prague then I would recommend to take local train to Cesky Tesin and from there cross the bridge to enter Polish town Cieszyn and take the bus for Krakow.

Cesky Tesin/Cieszyn is a small town located on the Czech/Polish border. It is divided into two parts by the Olza river: Český Těšín (Czech) and Cieszyn (Polish). On that bridge there were once terrifying frontier posts full of scary-looking gentlemen in uniforms. Nowadays, both Poland and Czech Republic are members of the Schengen agreement and travelling around both parts of the town is not a problem whatsoever.
Here is how I reached Krakow from Prague:

view from the bridge between Cesky Tesin and Cieszyn

I went to Prague train station and got the ticket for Cesky Tesin (cost 12.25 Euros or 340 CZK).
Train departed at 12:16PM towards Zilina from Prague train station.

Reached Cesky Tesin around 16:30.
From there crossed the bridge behind the train station and entered the Polish side of the town Cieszyn.
Reached the city center and got the money exchanged.
From city center bus station is on 10 minutes walking distance.
Got the bus ticket for Krakow from there at 21 PLN (5 euro).
Bus departed at 5:30 PM and reached Krakow around 8:30 PM.

Engelberg - Switzerland

2013-09-25T13:01:00.001-07:00

View from Hotel Belmont

Engelberg - heaven on earth
Engelberg (mountain of angels) is a very picturesque town in Switzerland , reachable via Lucerne - Engelberg Express train. This beautiful town is famous for its beauty and a lot of tourists visit this town everyday to see the majestic Mount Titlis and Ski Resort. More than 50% of the visitors were from India, I was told that many Bollywood pictures are filmed in Engelberg and this is the reason why this town is so popular there. Below are few pictures from our summer trip:

Engelberg Tourist information center in the middle of town

Wafia Tabina - Engelberg

Engelberg railway station - the last picture that I captured there

Lucerne - Engelberg Express

2013-09-19T12:26:00.002-07:00

Engelberg is a beautiful town, gateway to Mount Titlis. I recorded this video from Hotel Belmont's balcony and you can see the swiss panoramic train Lucerne - Engelberg express passing by.

Zurich - The Smart City

2013-09-15T06:24:00.000-07:00

Zurich is Switzerland's largest city with around 4 million population.There is no doubt that the city of Zurich is

Switzerland’s most popular tourist destination, if not one of the top European favorites overall. There is a lot to see, discover and do when you are visiting this culturally and historically renowned city. It is a major transport hub and both the Zurich Airport and main train station ( Zürich Hauptbahnhof) are the largest and busiest in the country. Zürich city is located by the Limmat River at the point where it emerges from the Zürichsee (Lake of Zürich), is a beautiful city with vistas of snowy mountains in the distance and a charming Altstadt (Old Town) made up primarily of medieval churches, guild halls and town houses.

Zurich old town

Zurich — best known by many for being the city with the highest cost of living but to the citizens of Zurich, their city offers a high quality of life and given this positive view, it’s no surprise that citizens are also very satisfied with the city’s overall “smartness.” The city has a vast network of Trams which are heavily used. Swiss Railway and Zurich Traffic apps are available for Smartphone users and support the heavily used, efficient trams and trains.

Visit to Old town is a must. Zurich Old Town is a cultural, social and historical melting pot. Zurich's Medieval houses, narrow lanes and guild and town halls from the Renaissance period offer an attractive backdrop for world-class entertainment. A tour of the Old Town lets visitors experience Zurich's multifaceted past.

Doner Kebab, Zurich Alstadt

For muslims, Halal food is available all over the Zurich, thanks to Turkish Doner Kebabs which are cheap and present almost everywhere in the Zurich city.

Jungfraujoch to Kleine Scheidegg

2013-09-10T06:13:00.001-07:00

I made this small video clip when we were coming back from Jungfraujoch (Jungfrau - The Top of Europe) by train to Kleine Scheidegg in Switzerland

Sesam felafil kebab - Zurich

2013-08-12T08:10:00.000-07:00

Very nice Halal shawarma (Durum Kabab) @ 9 CHF‎ near Zurich HB

Thanks to Turkish Doner Kebab shops, halal food is available almost everywhere in Zurich.

Sent from my BlackBerry 10 smartphone.

I Love you Imran Khan, Song by a macho man.

2013-05-08T13:06:00.001-07:00

I Love you Imran Khan, Song by a macho man in UK

Imran Khan blasts Faisal Raza Abidi.. Funny as well

2013-04-28T10:25:00.001-07:00

Imran Khan vs Faisal Raza Abidi (a loser)
Imran Khan shuts Faisal Raza Abidi's mouth by asking a simple question about Asif Zardari's corruption. Where did the 60 Million Dollars come from? A very simple question which Faisal was unable to answer and started pesonal attacks. Imran Khan took good care of him.

Nawaz Sharif & Zardari - Aik aur love story

2013-04-25T14:59:00.000-07:00

Starring: Nawaz Sharif (PML N) & Asif Zardari (PPP)
Support PTI and Naya Pakistan!

Amazing Song by Atta Ullah Khan Esa khelvi for Imran Khan's PTI & Naya Pakistan

2013-04-12T09:23:00.002-07:00

Amazing Song by Atta Ullah Khan Esa khelvi for Imran Khan's PTI Naya Pakistan

Banega Naya Pakistan, A song for PTI & Imran Khan by Ata Ullah Khan Esa Khelvi
Tabdeeli ka nishan, Imran Khan ka naya Pakistan

I am voting for PTI

2013-04-10T06:50:00.001-07:00

Vote for Tehreek-e-Insaf, vote for Naya Pakistan

Fatima Bhutto

2013-04-01T12:44:00.001-07:00

Speech by Fatima Bhutto
Pakistan Nation on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Fatima Bhutto SlowTV on blip.tv

Naya Pakistan Insha'Allah - Official Video

2013-03-29T13:23:00.001-07:00

Song by Junaid Jamshed & Salman Ahmed
Vote for change, vote for PTI.
Insaf ki awaz uthay zulm ki deewar gire

INSHA ALLAH - NAYA PAKISTAN" Song by Junaid, Salman, Shahi & Nusrat

2013-03-29T13:15:00.001-07:00

New song by Junaid Jamshed and Salman Ahmad
Naya Pakistan Insha Allah.

Amazing Run out by Jesse Ryder

2013-03-28T12:01:00.001-07:00

Parveen Shakir - Chalne ka hausla nahiN .. ..

2013-03-15T15:35:00.001-07:00

Lata Haya

2013-03-15T15:31:00.001-07:00

Mitti Da Bawa - Jagjit Singh

2013-03-06T10:21:00.001-08:00

mitti da bawa nai o bolda

Tribute to Jagjit Singh By Anup Jalota, Papon, Talat Aziz

2013-02-01T11:04:00.001-08:00

Mehdi Hassan / Tari Khan Live......Samne Aake Tujhko

2013-02-01T10:51:00.001-08:00

The Original Grumpy Cat

2013-01-31T12:24:00.001-08:00

good to know

2013-01-26T01:46:00.000-08:00

Good to know better to share:

40 Tips for Happy Health Life

Health:
1. Drink plenty of water.
2. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.
3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants, and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.
4. Live with the 3 E’s — Energy, Enthusiasm, and Empathy.
5. Make time for prayer and reflection
6. Play more games.
7. Read more books than you did in 2012.
8. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.
9. Sleep for 7 hours.

Personality:
10. Take a 10-30 minutes walk every day —- and while you walk, smile.
11. Don’t compare your life to others’. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
12. Don’t have negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
13. Don’t over do; keep your limits.
14. Don’t take yourself so seriously; no one else does.
15. Don’t waste your precious energy on gossip.
16. Dream more while you are awake.
17. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
18. Forget issues of the past. Don’t remind your partner with his/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.
19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don’t hate others.
20. Make peace with your past so it won’t spoil the present.
21. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
22. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
23. Smile and laugh more.
24. You don’t have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

Community:
25. Call your family often.
26. Each day give something good to others.
27. Forgive everyone for everything.
28. Spend time with people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6.
29. Try to make at least three people smile each day.
30. What other people think of you is none of your business.
31. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your family and friends will. Stay in touch.

Life:
32. Do the right things.
33. Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful.
34. Forgiveness heals everything.
35. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
36. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
37. The best is yet to come.
38. When you awake alive in the morning, don’t take it for granted – embrace life.
39. Your inner most is always happy. So, be happy.

Last but not least:
40. Enjoy LIFE!

Nutrition zone

*Taken from Elevation burger page!

MUHAJIR NAMA

2013-01-23T10:38:00.001-08:00

Muhajir Nama by Munawwar Rana

muhajir hain magar hum aik dunia chaur aye hain
tumhare paas jitna hai hum utna chaur aye hain

Elevation Burger - Dubai

2013-01-18T11:35:00.000-08:00

Elevation Burger - Ingredients matter
Finally we have Elevation Burger in Dubai ( opened couple of days ago on Sheikh Zayed Road), I was unable to find the menu online, went there and below is the snapshot of their menu:

Elevation Burger menu

Elevation Burger

Location: Latifa tower, Sheikh Zayed Road (near Crown Plaza).

Phone:

+971 4 388 0000