Not a photography blog!

I guess I am one of those blessed ones who have had the pleasure of feeling a complete bliss in the most beautiful of landscapes in the world. For a very short period of time, but I did and I remember that feeling like it was yesterday.

It was late August of 2005 when I was in the mountains with people I did not know. I had no past no future just that moment with those people.

There are some moments in your life that you just wonder about, for the rest of your lives. You just wish that you could live those moments again and again.

One of those moments in my life was when I was at a hotel at Shogran, Kaghan Valley 2004. I remember arriving at Shogran on a Jeep, taking up a hotel and checking in. At night that heaviest rainfall when we were sitting in that cafe playing cards with friends. The lightening and thunder that I never had seen before. I remember sleeping in the room and waking up to one of the most fresh mornings in my life. The breakfast sitting on the mountain edge. Clouds would gather around the far fetched mountains. Cool fresh air of Himalayas.

The night up in a camp at Pai. The coldest night in a camp at the banks of Saif-ul-Muluk. The phone call I made from Naran when it was drizzling after the electricity went off. The night at Jal Khud.

The time in Naran/Muree/Kalam/Balakot on the other tour. I will always wonder.

I will be looking for any chance I could get in this life when I could, once again, go with no past and future. To live in the moment.

The Scenic View

Originally uploaded by Zishan Haider

When I was young, I always thought about how my life was going to be when I am older. I used to visualize myself as an always smiling guy that is loved by all. Other times I used to see myself as a tough army guy, who can go through any hardship with little difficulty. However those thoughts turned out to be!

I used to think about where am I going to stay. The only thought that ever came to my mind was that I’m going to stay in a valley surrounded by tall green mountains and high waterfalls. And I am extremely content that, in a way, that came true.

Grahamstown is essentially a valley, with not so tall mountains but still beautiful views and greenery. It doesn’t have waterfalls but quite a few dams that are filled with rainwater that flow through the hills. This one in the picture is one of the dams in Grahamstown and is located just when you’re entering Grahamstown on your left corner below the 1820 settler’s monument. Seeing from Google Earth it looks like a small triangle.

People come here to fish, braii and relax especially on the weekends.

Settler Family

Originally uploaded by Zishan Haider

Bronze statue of a Settler, his wife and child, outside the 1820 Settlers Monument in Grahamstown, made by Ivan Mitford-Barberton (1896 - 1976) in 1969. Its located outside Settler's Monument when approaching from N2 highway.

1820 Settlers Monument

Originally uploaded by Zishan Haider

This picture is one of my favorites. I am in love with the detail and sharpness. It kinda reminds me of Pearl Jam's Yield album cover (http://staticandfeedback.com/images/PJ2008/Albums/yield.jpg), although the cover is a lot different.

1820 is the year when British settlers came to Grahamstown and formed colonies. They were granted farms in Bathurst but inexperienced and poor, they were forced to change their trade and finally settled in Grahamstown and Port Elizabeth.

I took this picture just when you're approaching the Memorial Monument.

Originally uploaded by Zishan Haider

This picture in specific was not at all the one I was planning to upload. But when I was editing the colors I came across some unusual ways (well at least for me) of editing and it came out pretty neat.

Personally I feel that this color tone has a "spooky" touch that I was trying to get for a long time.