10 Best Natural Places to Visit in Pakistan

JAN 1, 2013
10 Best Natural Places to Visit in Pakistan

Natural beauty is un matched. Pakistan have world most beautiful places for visit, specially at its best in northern areas of Pakistan and Kashmir region. This part of the country is famous all around the world because of sky high mountains, lush green valleys, mighty rivers, beautiful lakes, and amazing wildlife. The Pradise on Earth ‘Neelum Valley’ Mini Switzerland ‘Swat Valley’ and Mountain Kingdom ‘Hunza valley’ are the major tourist attractions in Pakistan. All these places are real natural beauty of the world. Here a list of top 10 naturally beautiful places of Pakistan, you will not found these beautiful places all over the world.

1. Neelum Valley

Neelam Valley is a 144 km long bow-shaped valley in Azad Kashmir Region. The Valley is situated at the North & North-East of Muzaffarabad (The Capital of Azad Kashmir). Running through the Lesser Himalaya, the Neelam River valley has excellent scenic beauty, panoramic views, towering hills on both sides of the noisy Neelum river, lush green forests, enchanting streams and attractive surroundings make the valley a dream come true.
Neelum valley is one of most attractive place for tourists due to its famous lush greenery, springs, streams,lakes and hilly and slopy mountains. Some of its famous places like Athmuqam, Kutton Jagran, Karen, Neelum, Ratti Galli, Baboon, Noori top, Sharda, Sharda Fort, Sharda University (The Oldest University of Sub-Continent) Kel, Surgon, Halmet, Taobut and many more.

2. Hunza Valley

The Hunza Valley is a mountainous valley in the Gilgit–Baltistan region , It was formerly a princely state. The Hunza valley is situated north/west of the Hunza River, at an elevation of around 2,500 metres. The Valley has three Regions – Upper Hunza (Gojal); Center Hunza and Lower Hunza.
Hunza valley is the most beautiful place to visit and have many places to see. Some of these beautiful places are. Rakaposhi Base Camp; Diran Base Camp; Hoper Glacier; Passue and Gulmit; Khunjrab Pass; Atta Abad lake and Nagar valley.

3. Swat Valley

Swat is a valley and an administrative district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan. It is the upper valley of the Swat River, which rises in the Hindu Kush range.
Swat Valley, Mini Switzerland of Pakistan has many attraction for visiting such as Mahodand Valley & Lake, Natural Ushu Valley & Ushu Forest, Malam Jabba (Famous ski resort in Swat Valley), Madyan, Swat & Kalam Vallies, Bonir, Der and many other naturaly beautiful sites.

4. Kalash Valley

Kalash Valley is one of the major tourist attractions in Pakistan. This is situated in the Chitral district of Pakistan. This valley has a historic background but its history has controversies. Kelash is actually a very old greek civilization. The people beloning to this civilization are called ‘The Kelash’. Belongs to old tribes and have their own religion and culture. This valley has a unique and amazing culture. The People here live in small villages which they built on the hill sides. These villages are at the banks of the streams and rivers. People construct their homes with rough shaped logs. People of Kalash are cheerful, they celebrates many festivals like Uchal Festival, Phoo Festival and Chomos Festival. There are many attractive sites for visting.

5. Kaghan Valley

The Kaghan Valley is a beautiful valley in the north-east of Mansehra District . It attracts many tourists from not only Pakistan but also from the whole world. Laying in lower Himalayan mountains range, the Kaghan valley, famous for its bewitching splendor and natural beauty, is one of the most charming tourist resorts in scenic Hazara division. There are many beautiful and attractive spots like Shogran, Jared, Naran,Lake Saiful Muluk, Lake Dudipat Sar, Lake Lulu Sar, Babusar Pass and much more to do.

6. Murree Hills

This is a summer hill station, summer resort and is sitated in Murree, the subdivision of Rawalpindi District and includes the Murree Hills. Murree was the summer capital of the British Raj in the Punjab Province. People from all over the Pakistan wish to go there in summer to enjoy its beauty and in winter season for astonishing experience of snowfall. Bhurban and New Murree (Patriata) are amain tourist centre. One of the most favorite tourist point of Murree is Galliat, it has fascinating greenery and scenic beauty that attracts tourist belonging different regions of Asia. Most Popular Picnic Points of Murree Hills are Dunga Gali , Muskpuri Hill , Nathia Gali, Bara Gali and Mall Road.

7. Shandur Pas

Shandur – The Highest Polo Ground on Earth, is a bout 3738 meter an above sea level and lies midway between Chitral and Gilgit. Each summer a hug event called the Shandur polo festival is organized here, which is a big source of attraction for the tourists. Different come against each other in this freestyle contest. The pass is generally unpopulated and passing through its snow covered slopes in winters is an exceptionally difficult adventure. The polo ground is about 168 Km from the main town Chitral and accessible by jeep. The road is closed during winter due to heavy snow.

8. Rawalakot

Rawalakot is a town in Azad Kashmir, and is the district headquarter of Poonch Division. It is in a beautiful valley surrounded by hills, which is located 80 km away from Rawalpindi and Islamabad. Rawalakot is a summer visiting point The winters in Rawalakot are cold and chilly. There are many attraction for vistors like Banjosa; Toli Pir; Poonch River; Tatta Pani; Banjosoa Lake; Sudhngalli and many more.

9. Ziarat

Ziarat is the capital of Ziarat District, Balochistan, Pakistan. Ziarat is a famous holiday resort of Balochistan and nearly every trip from Karachi to Quetta stops at Ziarat. Ziarat was the summer residence of the chief commissioner of Baluchistan, and sanatorium for the European troops at Quetta. There is a good water supply, and the hills around are well-wooded and picturesque. A visit to Quetta is incomplete without a trip to Ziarat. Ziarat is a hill station in the Sibi district of the province of Baluchistan. It remains quite cool during summer and receives enough snowfall during the winter.

10. Jehlum Valley

This is an ideal valley of Azad Kshmir region for both the domestic and international tourists. The curling river Jhelum passes through from East to West between the high green mountains of this valley. This valley has a most beautiful valley “Leepa Valley” . This is the most fascinating & loveliest valley in Azad Kashmir. Its lush green rice fields in summer and typical wooden Kashmiri houses present a wonderful view to the people visiting the area. Walnut, Apple, Cherry and honey of Leepa are very popular and in great demand. There are many visting sites like Peerchanasi, Chikar, Chinary, Leepa, Chakothi, Ghari Dopatta, Chokothi Cham-fall and Zilzaal Lake.

Is This the Most-Viewed Photo of All Time?, Bliss, Mona Lisa, Charles O’Rear’s photo, Charles O’Rear

Is This the Most-Viewed Photo of All Time?
July 16, 2012 by Todd Wasserman


It may not be as well known as the Mona Lisa, but Charles O’Rear’s photo, Bliss, may have been viewed as many times, if not more.
Published in 2002, the photo got most of its distribution as the default desktop wallpaper for Microsoft’s Windows XP’s “Luna” theme. O’Rear snapped the photo while he was on break from another assignment in California’s Napa Valley. O’Rear, a former National Geographic staffer, didn’t disclose what Microsoft paid for rights to the photo, but O’Rear has said it’s “extraordinary.”

Long acknowledged for its exposure across the globe, the photo drew attention once again on Monday when a photo blog claimed the audience for the photo at 1 billion. The entry got wide circulation on Google+.

However, O’Rear told Mashable that the 1 billion figure “has always been a guesstimate.” However, “All the folks I talk with agree it is the most ‘recognizable’ photo ever. If it were shown to a villager in rural China, for example, good chance they would recognize it. If it were shown to astronauts on the ISS, good bet they would know it, too. I have seen it appear in photos of the White House situation room, the Kremlin, etc.”

Can you think of a photo that might have been seen more times?

Image copyright of Microsoft, thumbnail courtesy of Flickr, Mike Baird

How to Get Started With Viddy

How to Get Started With Viddy
11/05/2012 by Amy-Mae Elliott on Mashable

Haven’t you heard? Photos are so 2011. Video is where it’s at. More specifically, take a look at Viddy, a social video editing and sharing app that has just surpassed 26 million users.

Much in the way people use social photography apps to beautify and share everyday moments, Viddy wants to do the same for videos. The app gives you 15 seconds to capture your footage, whereupon you may add filters and music to give the clip a cinematic feel. Then, access built-in social options to share your clips with friends.

If you haven’t yet signed up, don’t worry. Our easy guide shows you how to get started with Viddy, from setting up your account to finding people to follow to posting your first clip.

Take a look through our simple walkthrough above and get shooting. Then, come back and link in the comments to any great Viddy clips you’ve created and would like to share with the Mashable readership!

1. Viddy

Launched in April 2011, Viddy is available on iTunes for iPhones, iPod touches and iPads. It's free to download.

The app lets you capture, edit, filter and share 15-second video clips, or "viddys."

One-click share your creations to popular social networking sites, and find fresh content to watch.

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2. Sign Up

Once you've download Viddy, sign in with your Facebook or Twitter accounts.

Alternatively, you can sign up with an email address.

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3. Find Your Friends

When you sign in with Twitter or Facebook, Viddy will show you a list of your online buddies already signed up.

From here, you can choose to follow them by hitting the "Follow" button.

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4. Suggested Users

You can also follow Viddy's "Suggested Users."

Browse this list by tapping the contacts-style icon on the top-right of your display. Suggested users are listed by "Popular" and "Featured."

When in the "Suggested Users" screen, tapping the contacts icon again takes you to the "Find Friends" options.

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5. Find More Friends

Here you can find more of your buddies by allowing Viddy to scan your phone's address book, or search for your friends by name.

If you signed in to Viddy with Twitter or Facebook and want to link your other account, tap "Find Twitter/Facebook Friends" and give the necessary permissions.

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6. Check Your Profile

While you wait to build your followers up, check your profile by hitting the icon that looks like a Rolodex card in the bottom-right-hand corner of your display.

This gives you an at-a-glance look at your profile, the viddys you have created, your followers and people you are following.

If you tap the cog icon in the top-right-hand corner, you can also check your settings and edit your profile, including changing your avatar.

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7. Your Viddy Stream

Now that your profile is set up and you've found some friends, you can tune into your personalized Viddy stream.

This can be found by tapping the icon on the bottom-left of your display (the film strip).

Here you can tab between clips from people you're following, clips you have liked and "Featured" content, as curated by Viddy.

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8. Likes, Favorites, Tags and Comments

To favorite a Viddy, simply tap the heart icon under the clip and it will be saved to your "Likes" list.

To comment on a clip or read comments made by others, just hit the speech bubble.

To view tags, hit the tag icon, and if you need to "Flag" a video, there's a skull and crossbones icon to report the content.

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9. Quick Sharing Options

If you want to share a Viddy clip you like, hit the green "Share" button.

This gives you quick-share options for Twitter and Facebook.

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10. Advanced Sharing Options

More advanced sharing options can be seen by hitting the plus icon.

From the next screen you can share to Tumblr, via SMS or email the clip to a friend.

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11. Discover More Content by Browsing

The next thing to do is discover some great content.

If you want to browse, tap the flame icon at the bottom of your display, which will take you to the "What's Hot" section.

Here you can view popular, trending and new clips. It's a great way to find interesting people to follow and get inspired to create your first clip!

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12. Discover More Content by Searching

Alternatively, you can view content either by trending tags, categories or finding fresh Viddys via keyword search.

Activate this kind of search by tapping the magnifying glass at the top-left of your display and scrolling down.

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13. Activity Stream

One more area worthy of note before we look at creating clips is the "Activity" tab.

This can be found by tapping the icon with three people on it, second from the right at the bottom of your display.

Here you can see what clips the people you are following have created, liked, commented on and who they have started to follow.

By clicking the square icon at the top-right of the screen, you can also see your Viddy "Notifications," such as who has followed you, who has liked one of your viddys, recent comments, etc.

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14. Creating Viddys

Hit the central lens icon to create your first clip. You can choose to use your phone's camera or select an existing clip from your Camera Roll.

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15. Advanced Options

If you choose to use your camera to shoot a live Viddy, start shooting straight away by hitting the red button, which will start your 15 seconds of recording time. Or take a look at the advanced options.

From the bottom-up these options include changing the aspect ratio of the video from 4:3 at 480p resolution or going widescreen with a 16:9 ratio at 720p.

Next up is the ability to add a grid overlay to your display, useful if you want to ensure your clip stays level.

Then there's the timer option -- hitting this will give you a three-second countdown before recording starts.

The next icon up turns on the audio meter and shows the volume level as you are recording.

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16. Locking Advanced Options

The next three advanced options offer the ability to "lock" settings for your clip. You can choose to lock the focus, the exposure level and the white balance.

To lock these settings, tap the screen to set the level you'd like and then tap the icons to lock them down.

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17. Shooting a Clip

Once you've tweaked the advanced settings (or not) you can go straight into shooting.

Just hit the red button to record and Viddy will count down your 15 seconds before presenting you with the option to use the clip (hit the green check mark) or delete it (the red cross).

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18. Using Video From Camera Roll

If you want to select a video from your Camera Roll, choose the "Video Library" option once you've hit the lens icon. This will bring up all the videos in your Camera Roll to choose from.

If you select a video longer than 15 seconds, you can edit it down with a slider tool.

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19. Adding Filter Effects

Once you've captured your viddy, play around with the special effects the app offers.

A few free effects are pre-loaded -- tap them to see a preview. You can control the intensity of the filter effect by using the slider scale at the bottom of your display.

You can adjust the audio in the same way -- moving the slider to the right will give you more music, to the left makes the original audio louder.

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20. More Effects

Get more effects -- both free and paid for -- by hitting the "+More" icon. This takes you through to the Viddy Marketplace, where you can also view any "Packs" you download.

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21. Uploading Your Viddy

When you're happy with your edits, hit the "Next" button on the effects screen.

Now you can add a title, a short description, select appropriate tags and share your Viddy out to your connected social networks.

When you've edited the fields, just hit "Post" to send your viddy live.

Now, link us to your Viddy creations in the comments below!

Source: Mashable