Tag Archives: BBC

Attabad Lake

Hunza’s Attabad Lake — a lake that wasn’t supposed to exist has become one of the most breathtaking lakes in Pakistan following a natural disaster 15 years ago

19 July 2025

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Introduced by MALIK MERCHANT

On the unsuspecting day of January 4, 2010, a rockslide, 1,200 meters long, 350 meters wide, and 125 meters high, struck the Hunza River in Attabad, a small community in the Hunza Valley of northern Pakistan, forming Attabad Lake, also known as Lake Gojal (please click on the the link to learn about the scale of the destruction as observed by NASA’s Earth Observing satellite and scientists Jeffrey Kargel and Gregory Leonard).

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On January 4, 2010, a landslide occurred in the Hunza Valley of northern Pakistan. The initial disaster buried the village of Attabad, destroying 26 homes and killing 20 people. As the weeks passed, the problems compounded because the landslide did more than destroy a village. It also blocked the Hunza River, creating a long lake, now known as Attabad Lake, which inundated several villages and submerged a significant section of the Karakoram Highway.

Attabad Lake
Travelers and locals cram into boats and ferries for the two-hour crossing of the new Attabad Lake formed by a rockslide in 2010. Photograph: M. Pearson / ShelterBox).

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A man stands in the middle of the Karakoram Highway while rocks tumble down into the Hunza River in Pakistan’s Gojal region. The rockslide dammed the river, creating Attabad Lake (also known as Lake Gojal), which submerged eleven miles of the Karakoram Highway and isolated several villages. Photograph: I. Ali Shimshal / Pamir Times).

The initial mass movement of rock, in a sudden and unexpected event, buried the village of Attabad, destroying 26 homes and killing 20 people. It also submerged several villages and 22 kilometres of the strategic Karakoram Highway, which links Pakistan and China. Tens of thousands of people were suddenly displaced or cut off from overland connections with the rest of the country, highlighting the immediate impact on the affected residents. 

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The spectacular scenery of the Gilgit-Baltistan region attracts climbers and trekkers from around the world. Photograph: Ali Karim.
The spectacular scenery of the Gilgit-Baltistan region attracts climbers and trekkers from around the world. Photograph: © Ali Karim (read Karim’s piece in Simergphotos).

Aysha Imtiaz, in her recent BBC article, highlights the transformation of the Hunza River into a breathtaking lake, which she writes is a must-visit spot in Hunza. Despite its tragic origins, Attabad Lake has become a beacon of hope, providing a rare source of economic opportunity and a lifeline for the local population. A robust system of women entrepreneurs has emerged, leading the way in selling handicrafts and food items, and the community is rebuilding stronger than ever. Please read Aysha’s excellent piece on BBC.

PLEASE CLICK BBC: Attabad Lake — the stunning legacy of a natural disaster

Attabad Lake Hunza
Formed by a massive landslide, Attabad lake is now a popular spot for boating, fishing and adventure sports, and hikers marvel at the beauty of the lake as they see it from high-up. Photograph: Getty Images, via BBC. Please click HERE or on image for BBC article by Aysha Imtiaz.

Date posted: July 19, 2025.

Featured photo at the top of the post: Attabad Lake. Photograph: © Ali Karim.

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VOA and BBC Videos: In a Project Started by the Aga Khan Development Network in Hunza, Pakistani Women Carpenters Break Stereotypes and Prove They Can Build as Well as Men

21 May 2024

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Carpentry is traditionally considered a man’s job in Pakistan, but a few brave women are changing that mindset, from carving unique wooden utensils to building an entire house. In two short films, VOA and BBC Urdu Services spoke to several women who wanted to hammer home the point that not only are women integral to their community and the economy, they can also build things as well as men.

Video 1: Women Carpenters in Pakistan by VOA Urdu Service

“Carpentry is considered a man’s work in Pakistan and women are often discouraged from doing it. Wherever women go, they face issues that affect their honour, religion, culture, and social norms. However, when they step out and do something in order to take care of their family, then they realize that their honour, religion, culture and everything is still in place” — Excerpt from the video below, which has been reproduced from the VOA website. Bezhan Hamdard narrates the report in English.

https://videopress.com/v/TQJ22SoU?resizeToParent=true&cover=true&preloadContent=metadata&useAverageColor=true

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Video 2: Pakistan’s Proud Women Carpenters Breaking Stereotypes, BBC Urdu Service

The following video is in Urdu.

Date posted: May 20, 2024.

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BBC Travel: The Karakoram Highway that Runs Through Pakistan’s Hunza Valley is Often Coined the Eighth World Wonder

4 September 2023

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The Karakoram Highway (KKH) cuts through some of the most astounding rock faces on the planet. Often coined the “Eighth Wonder of the World”, it’s a road trip of dreams, yet few have ever heard of it, or how it came to be. The highway stretches for 1,300 km from Pakistan to China, but Samantha Shea was particularly drawn to the 194km stretch of the highway that runs through the Hunza Valley, a region surrounded by the Karakoram Mountains that give the highway its name.

She writes in her excellent BBC Travel piece, Pakistan’s Epic Road Trip of Dreams:

“This impossibly beautiful section is where you can see pristine glaciers, alpine lakes and snow-capped peaks right from the comfort of your ride. However, as alluring as the journey is, it’s the incredible people and traditions of the Hunza Valley that make this part of the highway so special….Hunza is known for being the most liberal region, in part due to the predominance of Ismailism, a moderate sect of Islam known for promoting tolerance and women’s rights. Education and sports are encouraged for girls, and many go on to study at university and beyond.” READ MORE ON BBC TRAVEL

Karakoram Highway.
Massive boulders tower over a ‘miniature’ SUV travelling on the Karakoram Highway. Photograph: © Ali Karim/Simergphotos. Please click on photograph to read Samantha Shea’s special article in BBC Travel.

As an extension to Samantha Shea’s BBC piece on the Karakoram Highway and especially with regard to her comment about the Ismaili culture in Hunza, we invite our readers to read Ali Karim’s superb photo essay Ismailis of remote Northern Hunza rise high above the tallest peaks, and set a lasting example for us to follow which appeared in Simerg Photos in 2016.

Featured image at top of post: The mighty Karakoram Highway snaking along the valley in upper Hunza. The famous highway starts in Kashgar in Xinjiang, China, and runs 1,300 kms to Abbottabad in Pakistan before an extension of the highway southwest from Abbottabad meets the Grand Trunk Road Hasan Abdal, which is about 40 kms from Rawalpindi. Photograph: © Ali Karim/Simergphotos.

Date posted: September 4, 2023.

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BBC Travel: A New Road to China for Ismailis Living in Afghanistan’s Inaccessible Wakhan Corridor

3 July 2021

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Once an isolated region barely touched by the hands of time, Afghanistan’s Wakhan Corridor stands on the brink of great change with the building of a new road linking it with China. Study map below and click on the map or HERE to read BBC’s new photo travel piece by Simon Urwin.

Wakhan Corridor Map University of Texas.
The Wakhan Corridor is an area of far north-eastern Afghanistan (or Badakhshan) which forms a land link or “corridor” between Afghanistan and China. The Corridor separates Tajikistan in the north from Pakistan in the south. Along with Mazar-e Sharif (Afghanistan), Dushanbe (Tajikistan’s capital) and Ishkashim (which borders Badakhshan of both Afghanistan/Tajikistan) which are all circled in red, the map also shows the Panj River. It is a tributary of the Amu Darya. The river is 1,125 km long and forms a considerable part of the Afghanistan – Tajikistan border. Map: Adapted from University of Texas. Annotated by Simerg. Please click on map for BBC article. Caption includes material from Wikipedia.

Date posted: July 3, 2021.

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