Punial
The valley of Punial (Urdu: ڀو نيا ل) is situated in Ghizer District in the Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan, where hundreds of thousands of tourists visit annually. Punial is a mountainous valley 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.
History
The word “Punial” is from the Shina language. It has two meanings: “fertile land” and “bucket of fruits”. Punial is related to neighbour areas of Gilgit city. The first civilization of Gilgit-Baltistan is Brushal. Punial was main part of Brushal. Punially people belonged to Arian “Mazdaism” ( آتش پرست ), after brushal when Shina language penetrated 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 Buddhist. Before recent past occupation of Punially rajas there were tribal heads system. Some rulers 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. First raja of brush family was sifat Bahadur his capital was Gahkuch. Punial covered area from Biyarchi to Hoper and up to Birgal.
Gahkuch
Gahkuch is the main town, and the district headquarters. It is a popular tourist attraction in the region because of the spectacular surrounding scenery.
Sher Qila is another large village in the Punial valley. The distance is 40 km and time required to reach there is about 45 min to 1 hour.
Phander
This Tehsil Of Ghizer District is the most beautiful valley of Ghizer and as well as in Gilgit Baltistan. It is located in Shandure pass which joins the Chitral and Gilgit city. It also can be a path to join Tajikistan and Pakistan.
Phander Valley is well known for trout fish found in abundance there.
This area has a lake which abounds in trout. It is about 170 km from Gilgit city and the time required to get there is about 5 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.