Goran Gatti, Baluchistan – Off-Road Expedition


Quite often the glamorous sights and sounds of tempting destinations worldwide lures us away from the abundant destinations within Pakistan. These last few days I was actually on a 4×4 expedition trip a secluded mountain called Goran Gatti located deep within Baluchistan within the Hingol National Park.

Goran Gatti is a breathtaking 3 km wide plateau mountain scaling at 1020m high, located roughly 300 km from Karachi, the only possible way to reach this beautiful destination is to either traverse on an extremely slow camel back journey or alternatively attempt the terrain with a few capable off road vehicle and maybe test our luck. The OffRoadPakistan club has since early 2007 been trying to reach this destination with three previously unsuccessful attempts embarked upon this fourth expedition hoping the last Baluchistan flood had tried up enough to allow a smoother passage. I personally was part of the previous two attempts but this time we were far better prepared then ever before, the challenge was to be the first ones to reach this mountain on jeeps

Our route was planned along the Hingol River to Aryan, a distance of 35 kilometers, and then turning left, following a water course for 27 kilometers to Goran Gatti Mountain. The park has a unique setting, not only being the largest National Park of Pakistan covering a mind boggling area in excess of 610,439 Hectares or nearly 6200 Sq kms., but also the only one with integrated terrestrial and marine habitats. The Hingol River, the largest river outside the Indus river system snakes through the park for over 100 kilometers and forms the link between mountains, valleys, riverine habitats, coastal sand dune areas, estuary and the Arabian Sea.

Under the umbrella of the 4×4 club called OffroadPakistan a team of 20 odd thrill seeking adventurers of Karachi packed their off-road vehicles to depart from Karachi for the 5-day adventure into the wilderness of Baluchistan

The initial approach to Hingol National Park is on well paved Karachi-Gawadar coastal highway some 200 km from Karachi to reach the Arabian Sea outlet of the Hingol River from this vantage point the smooth paved tarmac of the Coastal Highway was traded in for a dirt track northwards heading towards a prized Hindu temple called Nani Mander. A few kilometers shy of the Hindu temple the off-road fanatics jumped of the ‘kacha track‘ and truly went into four-by-four mode charting their ‘own way’ north following the river bed. It wasn’t too long after that nature started throwing at us every possible obstacle ranging from large boulders, thick brushes, trees, open desert, truckloads of dust and sand and sometimes we even had to gentle wade through the the occasional river bed which often camouflaged the unforgiving quick sand fondly nick named as ‘ghup‘. The uncharted route adopted by these vehicles was technically ‘the best drivable path’ with occasional guidance from a few local guides riding along side with us.

Cutting edge satellite technology was definitely in toe alongside as we had elaborately planned and analyzed the entire route on the satellite images obtained via Google Earth we even carried a laptop with the entire area cached if we might need more precise details for referencing. As a safeguard we carried an elaborate set of printouts of screen captures to some relevant sections the area. A few cars even sported on-board GPS devices to keep us on track with the planned route. All this geek paraphernalia was needed to ensure that we simply do not get lost while at the same time making efficient use of our time and resources.

The first day of driving ended at around sunset where we carefully chose a campsite overlooking the Hingol River. The selection of a campsite is important decision to ensure a safe and a good nights sleep, the sand must be soft so as to provide a natural cushion underneath the tents, the campsite must be at a safe distance from the river to avoid any overnight flooding which might could potentially wash everything away, and lastly it should also provide for some shade so that the campers can have a comfortable early morning breakfast. Camping as usual is fun with the company of some good friends who sit around to share their own campfire jokes and stories making it all a memorable experience.


The second day, the hot sun had the entire team scrambling out of bed early, after a hearty breakfast and a quick dip in the cold Hingol river [crocodiles are known to prowl in the Hingol river, but none were spotted] we wrapped up our tents and headed westwards towards Goran. The torturous route chosen was the remains of a dried up river bed which may have at one time been a tributary draining flood water into the main Hingol river, navigation was tough weaving through boulders sand and tree, it apparently seemed to be an old river bed as we did not encounter any water or quick sand throughout this westward drive. This route apparently had a camel trail and we were amused to find out that this trial was still actively used as a camel back drug smuggling route towards Gawadar & Iran

En-route one of the vehicles got struck by a large loose boulder to fatally fracture the front tie rod in half, holding up the entire convoy of jeeps for a good few hours until the expert panel conjured up a creative solution to solidly repair the broken piece to a fully functional and drivable state and in roughly 2 1/2 hours we were on our way. With this unforeseen delay we were forced to camp out some 10 km short of Goran leaving the last 10km drive for the third day

The following day with such a short distance to our final destination it was mutually decided not to break camp for that day and we planned to return later in the evening to spend another night at the same location. With an upbeat atmosphere, as the looming mountain was within touching distance the off-roaders set off to make history and by noon we had easily navigated the terrain to finally touch the base of the Goran Mountain which was apparently the last jeep-able route which stood roughly 290m above sea-level. While some prepared to rest at the base a few adventurous young souls decided to try and actually trek up hoping to fully conquer the mountain, but predictably we were unprepared for the cliffhanger type of rock face and were forced to turn back very soon

Typically the drive back is quicker and challenges a bit dull. The fourth day we were easily able to return to our old campsite (Day1) which lay next to the Hingol River and to the luck of our avid group of anglers we were treated to twelve scrumptous fishes freshly caught from the river

Our return home on the fifth and final day we decided to detour to see the active Mud Volcanoes located roughly 150km from Karachi. [An easy day trip drive from Karachi]

OffroadPakistan is now gearing up for another adventure tour to Tharparker and Nagarparker sometime in December and soon thereabout a medical relief camp to Baluchistan along the lines of one which we organized to Dhuran in March 2008 (picasa pictures)

A word of advise to all Pakistanis – continue to explore Pakistan it simply breathtakingly beautiful, though its sad that the security situation within the country has turned away the tourism industry but at least until then we as Pakistanis can help explore the still untouched and virgin areas of our nation


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16 responses to “Goran Gatti, Baluchistan – Off-Road Expedition”

  1. Bites85 Avatar

    Ahh great adventure… I wish i could also go one day 🙂

  2. Ramla A. Avatar

    Always a very interesting and inspiring account. The medical camp sounds very interesting. A worthy cause, to serve this poorly served area of Pakistan.

  3. Newb3e Avatar
    Newb3e

    great man…I would also explore Pakistan before those sick fucks break it into small countries(hope not).How can I join offroad Pakistan?

  4. Le Mystique Avatar

    Wonderful!
    How huge are the Mud Volcanoes?

  5. farrah, k.raja Avatar
    farrah, k.raja

    I am so jealeous!!but glad as well you enjoyed and a worthy cause.
    I appreciate deeply your vision and inner beauty to relate to this beautiful landscape we sure do need to re-discover and re-invent our Pakistan.

    1. Salman Avatar
      Salman

      Hi, i would like to visit such a grorgious area of pakistan.

      Hope you will guide me for that location if u already knew.

  6. hamid omar Avatar
    hamid omar

    A good article about the trip! Specially that one picure has the Red Truck in it! Few more pictures of the area should be added! Spell check required also! Pl. Post it on the OFFROAD site also!

  7. Jawad Avatar
    Jawad

    Bravo! Some questions:

    1. What does it mean for this area to be a national park? Did you come across park rangers? Are there any restrictions on vehicle access?

    2. All men? All 4X4 in club, or are there members who do this on motorcycles too?

    3. What sort of history was made. First ever vehicle to GG, or first ever from your club?

  8. Zaheer Iqbal Naru Avatar

    @author
    were these mud volcanoes bubling.
    summits always fascinate me. wonder how it felt when u climbed upto the crater of these mud volcanoes?

  9. Dr. Farrukh Malik Avatar

    I loved the account bro. Hats off to all the off roaders.

  10. hamid omar Avatar
    hamid omar

    Our vehicles were probably the first ever to make it to the Goran Mountain (base). Before Pakistan came into being, this was a camel route to go to Pasni/Gowader fishing villages – ofcourse the route was around the mountain – not over it!

  11. hamid omar Avatar
    hamid omar

    The mud volcano(s) in the Hingol National Park are the biggest and highest in the world – the mud is always bubbling (you have to climb op to the top to see it) and often we have seen the mud oozing down the slope! If you do go to see it, stay a safe distance at the top for the mud is a very deep quicksand!!!

  12. hamid omar Avatar
    hamid omar

    Jawad – Hingol area is a National Park – no hunting allowed – yes it is monitered by the wild life park rangers – you need their permission to go inside the main park – their office is located on the main coastal highway next to the Hingol bridge – once inside, no restriction as yet to where you go!

  13. hamid omar Avatar
    hamid omar

    Well one more comment – for some years it used to be men only trips – but for some years now we do have a number of females with us! Some members do have mountain/off road capable motorbikes but have not taken it on any ‘offroad’ trip so far. One member plans to make an attachment behing his Jeep and take it on the next trip!

  14. Adeel Avatar
    Adeel

    It is so nice to see that a group in Pakistan is attempting such trips.

    Congrats to the whole group for completing this trip successfully.

  15. mahmood sultan Avatar
    mahmood sultan

    well done and nice description!

    we (my son, ahmad and a freind) did the same route in 2004 on my toyota hilux double cabin. we had two wildlife game scouts and a local man whose village is the last settlement on the route. we reached below the peak and wrote our names near a natural pond on the base of the cliff. we also could not climb up but believe there is a way from the north west side of the hill.

    it took us two nights and three days from karachi.