There is only one word to describe the high hilltops and slopes covered with dense pine forests as they lie hushed all under a thick white sheet of snow… awesome!
Truly and utterly awesome!
Located to the south of Abbottabad, the picturesque mountain top of Thandiani, surrounded by pine forests from all sides, is till date the most unspoiled of all the hill resorts of the country (more so when we consider its accessibility, which is only about 30 km from Abbottabad and a delightful drive on a fine road), providing such fantastic views that at times you feel you are looking at a painting or a picture postcard.
Being lucky enough to be currently stationed in Abbottabad, I have visited the place very frequently in the past few months. And yet it has not ceased to appear wonderful and beguilingly novel each time I take the curling steep road or one of the many naturally created treks leading into the tremendously thick pine forests, and beyond.
Be it the green summer foliage, the gold and russet-hued autumn finery or the white serenity of winter, the hills of Thandiani have an unlimited kaleidoscope of scenery that tends to take you out of the humdrum of everyday world and absorbs you in its splendour completely.

“Most of the people who come here expect a proper hill-station at the top of Thandiani,” so opines Safder Khan Abbassi, a local resident, who has a hotel at Thandiani top, where he stays from the month of April to late September and then comes down to his house on the slopes to pass the severe winter season by looking after his small herd of sheep, a few patches of terraced fields and a large family of more than a dozen members.“But the plateau top in itself does not offer much.”
No matter which direction you stand facing, there is an amazing panorama of stunning views stretched as far as the eyes can see. To the east lies the River Jhelum valley across which stand the mighty mountains of Kashmir and Pir Panjal. Towards the north are the Kohistan and Kaghan valleys with the majestic Malika Parbat and Nanga Parbat standing tall and mighty in the background. The south offers the lovely vista of the Galiyat area and to Thandiani’s west and south-west lies stretched the lush vale of Hazara valley fading onto the black mountain ranges leading to the Peshawar region.
The next time you ponder on a prospective location for your vacation, and you really want to make it a special one, think of thick pine forests where clouds embrace the tall treetops, the cool wind caresses the sun-kissed slopes, flowers sprout up abundantly on the velvety mossy floor of the forests and thin strips of smoke curl up from the chimneys of small houses poised delicately hither and thither on the hill-tops and slopes and think of hushed white stillness where you can sit for hours listening to the sound of silence…
Think of Thandiani.