The Pasni Surprise

Pasni is a small fishing town located along Makran Coastal Highway some 500 kilometers from Karachi, or around 120 kilometers short of Gwadar, and is considered as one of the main shipping hubs of Makran coastal range.

Seafood and Sunrise

Two reasons the town can easily be fit into an explorer’s itinerary are the inexpensive seafood and the amazing sunrise along its eastern coastline, the latter is otherwise an exception in Pakistan as country’s coastal line is largely South/West facing.

My Peeks

My first visit of the town was in fact a sojourn during the Road Trip to Gwadar in September 2010. Actually, I aimed to collect some firsthand information especially about accommodation options in the town and about logistics to Astola Island. My travel buddy, Haris, and I wanted to visit the island but the paucity of time, the low tide, and the absence of economy forced us from making the voyage.

A month later, a group of colleagues made a plan to explore the Coastal Highway till Ormara and gave me no choice but to join them. Pasni was actually the Plan B of our trip, in case we would not find a place to spend the night in Ormara. And we did not! The town surprised us with its inexpensive seafood and the magnificent sunrise. However, I could not do the island again, alas, because of time constraint.

Pasni Differentiation

One of the distinguishing features of this town is the presence of a deep sea island, referred to as Astola in the Atlas, under its administrative jurisdiction. This 200 feet high platform, locally known as Haft Lar, mainly attracts scuba divers due to the steep fall on its Northern face and also used as a base by the local fishermen in the netting season. Ruins of an antique Hindu temple and a mosque attributed to Hazrat Khizr increase the mysteriousness associated with the isle.

Although Pasni is a small settlement, which had been further overshadowed by the emergence of Gwadar and hence ignored by travelers, however, history of this town dates back to Alexander’s Indian Campaign and further back to Harappan era.

Astola Island - A Dream Yet to Come True!

Approximately 30 nautical miles from Pasni, located a rare and uninhabited island in the Arabian Sea. The island, shown as Astola on the atlas while famous as Haftlar (seven hills) among locals, is a 200 feet high flat surface with a vertical drop on its North face. The Arabian Sea atoll is famous among scuba divers, because of crystal clear water, and air travelers who report a breathtaking bird eye view while traveling between Karachi and Makran Coast cities.

Due to its desolated nature, the island is abode to various marine species, notably green turtle and Astola viper, and birds. Astola remains inaccessible during Monsoons (June to August) but then serves as a base for local fishermen during the fishing season. A 2-3 night camping looks enough to explore the 4 square kilometer island, however, scuba lovers may enjoy longer stays as well. For seafood maniacs, the adventure camping would be a perfect treat as the place is favorite among fishermen because of the top quality lobsters, jumbo shrimps, and oysters; loads of which can be bought against few pennies. Also, ruins of an antique Hindu Mandir attributed to Kali Devi (the Goddess of Death) and a mosque attributing to the legendary Hazrat Khizr are also present there.

There is a flip side also as there is no regular transport between the isle and the mainland, instead one has to either negotiate customized trips at Pasni jetty or feel lucky if some fishermen agree to carry them along. Because of this uncertainty, I have yet to make the voyage. All I sorted out in my three consecutive trips to Pasni last month is that one should have at-least two nights to make it feasible plus a group in the multiple of 4-5 will be required to make it economically optimum. Now I am looking for a bunch of friends having a pinch of adventure and who can afford the speed boat fuel. Can’t wait!

ONE Road, ~TWO Thousand Kilometers in THREE Days

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After a short day-trip to Rock Formations on Makran Coastal Highway last month, I could not resist and made another plan till Gwadar and beyond.

I was accompanied by a friend Haris; a couple of other friends were also interested but could not join due to other commitments. We planned to leave on Sunday September 19, so I made necessary arrangements on Saturday including arrangement of supplies (food, water, extra fuel, etc) and pre-trip car checkup. We departed around 6:30 in the morning on the scheduled day; first took Northern Bypass from zero point, which actually proved wrong because of heavy traffic, then replenished the CNG cylinder from Hub and Petrol tank from Windar, as per the previous experiences, and took our first major break at Hingol River Bridge for brunch at around 10:30 am.

We than continued till Pasni – bypassing Rock Formations, Kund Malir, and Ormara – and stopped at Pasni Fish Harbor to gather information about Astola Island logistics. At around 5:30 pm, we finally managed to enter into Gwadar city after a journey of around 700 km, and subsequently searched and negotiated for night stay. Early morning, the next day, we visited Zaver Pearl Continental and Gwadar Fish Harbor, and then embarked for Jiwani. On our way, we were struck by a pleasant surprise by the roadside milestone, which showed distance from Pak Iran border in addition to that of Jiwani. That was real good news for us and that too in the wilderness, as I was not expecting a highway type road till Iran border.

We returned back to Gwadar before sunset.

Next morning we started our journey back home after replenishing both, our car’s fuel tank and ours. Instead of bypassing Pasni, as per the morning’s plan, we decided to give Astola Island a second chance, but only to gather further information about the voyage. We took brief stops at Rock Formations and Malir Kund beach first and then went off the highway to follow Hinglaj Yatra. Luckily, the water in the stream was not enough to halt our car, so we made all the way to Mandir by car, and luckily found a troupe from Karachi to add flavor in our expedition. It was around 6 pm when we rejoined the highway, and due to night driving blues, could only made it to Karachi by around 11 pm.

Pictures and tips will follow in coming days, Inshallah, so stay tuned…