Lawari top Kpk Best Tourism place in Pakistan

Lowari Pass (or Lowari Top) (el. 10,230 ft.) is a high mountain pass that connects Chitral with Dir in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Lowari Top is a relatively low pass, by far the lowest pass to enter Chitral, the rest all being 12,000 to 15,000 feet.

Lowari Top is closed by snow from late November to late May every year. During this time, jeeps cannot cross so men must travel by foot. This is dangerous, as there are high mountains on each side of Lowari Top, and a deadly avalanche can come at any moment without warning.

Every winter a few persons are killed by avalanches while crossing Lowari Top. Their bodies are buried under the snow and it is only when the summer comes and the snow melts that their bodies are found and their fate learned.

Nevertheless, Lowari Top remains popular because it is the shortest route from Chitral to Peshawar. The other way would be down theKunar River to Jalalabad through hostile Afghan Territory or the much longer route across Shandur Top to Gilgit.

Lowari Top crosses the Hindu Raj Mountains, a spur of the higher Hindu Kush. On the Chitral side of Lowari Top are the people of Ashret, who speak the Phalura language and were assigned by the Mehtar of Chitral to be the guardians of Lowari Top.

On the Dir side reside Gujjars, some of whom make their living as porters carrying loads across Lowari Top.

In 1954, the Mehtar of Chitral was killed when his airplane crashed into Lowari Top. Even today, PIA pilots often turn back because of winds and fear of crossing Lowari Top.

The word "Top" is believed not to be the English word "top" but a word from an ancient language no longer spoken there.

The Lowari Top is one of the four major mountain passes to enter Chitral. The others are the Dorah Pass from Badakshan in Afghanistan,Shandur Top from Gilgit, and Broghol from the Wakhan Corridor in Afghanistan.

The Lowari Tunnel was constructed beneath Lowari Pass by a Korean company in 2009. However, the tunnel was abandoned shortly thereafter and has since fallen into disrepair.

 National Highway Authority (NHA) has refused to allow Chitral-bound trucks stranded on the Dir side to use Lowari tunnel, terming the demand a conspiracy of the timber, mineral, grain and oil mafias. "There is absolutely no problem for the poor people of Chitral and the problem is of the VIPs [and] I'm sorry we can't facilitate the elite at the expense of poor Chitralis as the tunnel is for them", said a top NHA official. 

Highly credible sources told this correspondent that the influential people are worried about their timber and mineral smuggling business. "Their names are on my fingertips. We've sent their videos to the relevant authorities identifying who is involved in what illegal activity", they added. 

"There is no shortage of any edible items in Chitral. The oil stocks are replenished and if there is shortage of grain why has the district food controller not been taken to task for his negligence as the tunnel was open for nine months", they argued. The sources also said NHA had given Rs 35 million to the army to clear the snow on Lowari top which is why the road is still open.