Punial
The valley of Punial (Urdu: ڀو نيا ل) is situated in Ghizer District, where hundreds of thousands of tourists visit annually. Punial is a mountainous valley near Gilgit in the Northern Areas of Pakistan. The Punial valley is situated at an elevation of about 5000– 9000 feet. It has pleasant weather and a hospitable populace. The territory of Punial has an area of about 35,900 km².[citation needed]
{{History}} The word “Punial” is in Shina language. It has two meanings “Fertile land” and “Bucket of fruits”. Separatly we can’t define the history of Punial. It is related to neighbour areas of Gilgit baltistan. The first civilization of Gilgit baltistan is Brushal. Punial was main part of Brushal. Punially people were belong to Arian “Mazdaism”( آتش پرست ), After brushal when shina language penatrated in the area. The area were Hindus in Punial. After Dardistan a great civilization namely Bolor established in Gilgit Baltistan. The whole population of Punial became Buddist. Before recent past occupation of Punially raja’s there were tribal heads system. Some rulars ruled on Punial like shout and other tribal heads of different tribes. Before 150-200 year ago Brush family from Chitral established their ruled on Punial and Punial become separate independent state. 1st raja of brush family was sifat Bahadur his capital was Gahkuch. Punial covered area from Biyarchi to Hoper and up to Birgal.
Gahkuch is the main town, and the district headquarters. It is a popular tourist attraction in the region because of the spectacular surrounding scenery. "Green Palace" is a well-known restaurant located there.[citation needed]
Sher Qila is another large village in the Punial valley. The distance is 40 km and time required to reach there is about 45min to 1 hour.
Phandar
This area has a lake which abounds in trout. It is about 177 km away and the time required to get there is about 8 hours.
Shandur Pass
This is 12500 feet high pass which connects Gilgit to Chitral. The pass remains snow-bound during winters. It is 250 km and 15 hours away by jeep.