Hamza Iqbal

I'd seen enough photos of Ratti Gali online that I went in half-expecting to be a little disappointed — the colour always looks slightly enhanced in pictures, or so I assumed. It isn't. The lake really is that colour in person, which was the first thing my whole group said out loud when we came over the final rise and saw it. We took a jeep from Dowarian to the base camp area and walked the final stretch from there, which is short but climbs steadily and does make itself felt at that altitude. Nothing technical, just a reminder that we were higher than we'd been all trip. Snow was still sitting on the far side of the lake even in mid-July, which surprised a couple of people in the group who'd assumed summer meant no snow anywhere. We didn't linger as long as I'd have liked — the group had a schedule to keep and we were back at base camp within a few hours of arriving — but even a short time at the lake was enough to understand why it's as well known as it is. I'd go back and give myself a full unhurried day there if I had the chance. The jeep ride itself deserves a mention: rough enough that a couple of people in our group were audibly nervous, though our driver handled it without any apparent concern.