MINGORA: Apart from a number of scenic sites and tourist resorts attracting large crowds throughout the year, there are numerous other stunning places in Swat valley, which are yet to be explored.

One of such unexplored places is Shingrai waterfall, at the foothills of Dwasaray peaks about 20 kilometers north of Mingora. Local tourists visit the magical waterfall in multitudes to enjoy its cool and serene environment.

With the mercury rising, local tourists have turned to Shingrai waterfall, with the number going up considerably on Fridays and Sundays.

“This is a beautiful to visit. The huge waterfall gives a roaring sound amid gigantic hills overlooking it mesmerising the onlookers. We come here every Friday to refresh ourselves amid natural beauty,” Inamulllah Khan, a resident of Mingora, said while swimming in the small lake under the waterfall.

Also enjoying the cool water were young boys and girls of a family who came from Panr area of Mingora. “It is a dazzling place perched between high green mountains,” said one of them

“We came here for the first time and we can’t believe that such a beautiful and mesmerising place is located just an hour’s drive from Mingora,” Abra Nausheen, a university student who came with her family, said. She said it was a perfect family site where people could enjoy serene nature and be refreshed.

While the waterfall offers panoramic view from atop, it captivates visitors with its roaring noise punctuated by chirping of birds.

“Though this beautiful is closer to Mingora than any other tourist spot in Swat, there is no proper road to the waterfall, making it difficult for people, especially women, to climb down the hill to reach the waterfall and then climb back up to the Shingrai village,” Zahoor Khan, a local, said, adding the government should build a road from the Shingrai village to the waterfall.

The tourists also urged the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to properly market the tourist site for national and international tourists.

Published in Dawn, May 14th, 2016