The Siblings Behind A Gorgeous Heritage Resort In The Hindu Kush

With its picturesque views overlooking the Hindu Kush mountain vary, an award-winning Pakistani vacationer resort, Villa Ayun, based mostly in Chitral, Pakistan, appears like one thing out of an Enid Blyton storybook.

The charming construction, established on acres of century-old ancestral property (courting again to 1920), stands as a sight for sore eyes and a soul weary of contemporary dwelling.

However maybe probably the most particular half concerning the villa is the truth that it was spearheaded by siblings, Maria Ul Mulk and her brother, Junaid Ul Mulk, who launched the resort in 2021 with one single objective in thoughts: to encourage accountable eco-tourism with a sustainable bent on residence turf.

Following within the footsteps of their paternal grandfather, Khush Ahmad Ul Mulk (the son of Chitral’s former ruler in pre-partition India), a forward-thinking environmentalist and an artist at coronary heart, the siblings reveal that they grew up in a house the place their grandfather continuously opened his doorways to one and all.

From recognized (and unknown) trekkers, hitchhikers, writers, international dignitaries, and extra, Mulk welcomed everybody.

And it’s this very inherent, openhearted hospitality, handed on from their grandfather, that each Maria and Junaid appear to embody. Internet hosting and being of service to not simply their friends – but additionally to the Chitrali neighborhood at massive – is extraordinarily near their hearts.

That includes fruit orchards and botanical gardens, unfold over 30 acres of land, the siblings’ dedication to sustainability (identical to their grandfather) vary from quite a few initiatives akin to utilizing renewable vitality (from personal micro-hydel mills and photo voltaic panels), rain water harvesting, sourcing and serving natural (and pesticide-free) produce, common afforestation drives (the place the group planted over 5,000 timber), and lots extra.

Aside from coaching and hiring employees for the villa from the local people, the group additionally backed the launch of Meržuri, a life-style model that carefully works with feminine artisans within the area to uphold and protect indigenous Chitrali crafts and needlework.

“We didn’t merely inventory their work [at the villa] but additionally actively co-designed and curated the model’s very first line of handcrafted luxurious cushions and exhibited them on the villa, thus serving to introduce it to a nationwide viewers,” Maria states, including that Meržuri’s work can also be presently being stocked at a number of well-known luxurious items retailers in Pakistan.

“We realized early on in life that this was a particular place to be shared with others,” states Maria.

“When our grandfather was first granted this property, it was barren and devoid of a lot greenery. Nonetheless, as he painstakingly introduced extra water to it, pushed by his love for crops and the wilderness, he was capable of convert it into a fantastic mountain oasis. Although skilled as a talented hunter in his youth, as was customized in that period, his voracious urge for food for books and inherent nature as a deep thinker, induced him to mirror on man’s relation along with his ecosystem. By the point we have been born, the fort was crammed with books on horticulture, the gardens have been blooming with distinctive crops from world wide, and using pesticides and looking on the property had been strictly prohibited – a price he made positive to impart to us at an early age.”

For the brother-sister duo, the mission was by no means to run simply one other resort, however to protect their household legacy, together with Chitral’s tradition and heritage.

“Inside a number of months of us opening up, we began getting affords from bigger resort teams who noticed nice potential in taking up our enterprise,” Maria reveals. “For 2 younger entrepreneurs – with promising careers elsewhere and an especially difficult operational atmosphere – it was very tempting to handover the administration of the villa in return for a secure revenue. Nonetheless, this isn’t any outdated enterprise. It has been a ardour undertaking that we had constructed from the bottom up and whose legacy has been sustained by our whole household. No outsider would have forgone monetary alternatives to run it in response to our environmental, cultural and social values. Therefore, we selected the tough choice to develop it organically ourselves. Whereas it might have slowed our progress potential within the short-run, it has allowed us to remain true to our core values.”

“We’re deeply embedded on this society,” Junaid says earnestly. “The inhabitants of the property, whether or not house owners or employees, have lived right here for generations. As a result of it’s a place that’s residence to us, it has instilled an amazing sense of responsibility to making sure the historical past embedded within the partitions stays revered and the connection with our neighborhood stays intact. We see ourselves as custodians somewhat than house owners.”

Whereas the siblings agree that there’s immense potential in Pakistan’s tourism trade, they consider there’s a crucial want for the event of sustainable tourism in a area extraordinarily weak to the affect of local weather change.

“Pakistan wants a complete and unified eco-tourism coverage, devoted funding, a greater regulatory framework and strict implementation of environmental by-laws, from tourism zoning to environmental affect assessments and constructing codes,” says Maria. “We wish to see extra eco-tourism trainings and certifications that present requirements for tourism trade gamers to fulfill, supply credibility to these making real efforts, and in addition assist travellers make extra accountable selections. Specifically, a big milestone could be the establishing of environment friendly waste administration, waste disposal and recycling crops by the federal government in vacationer locations. In all of Chitral, there’s not a single recycling plant!”

Pointing on the pressing have to protect historic websites, the siblings point out that they’ve witnessed historical heritage websites being “dismantled to make excessive rises” in Chitral, the place valuable, vintage woodwork has been bought for firewood.

“Given our expertise as natives of an indigenous space and never simply tourism trade gamers, we wish to see the promotion of extra community-based tourism that’s immersive, extra respectful of native tradition and traditions and has a neighborhood trickle-down financial have an effect on,” states Junaid.

Having been awarded the Tourism Excellence Award by the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) Authorities this 12 months, Maria and Junaid stay unfazed by the accolades.

There’s nonetheless loads that must be achieved and deliberate for. It’s an thrilling time and the siblings, one can inform, are brimming with concepts and desires for the street forward.

“We have been raised to take pleasure in our native tradition, heritage and historical past…to have the ability to share it with the world and to play a small function in preserving it has been so particular,” Maria states. “Taking a look at our neighborhood and seeing our work have a tangible affect could be very rewarding. There are such a lot of people and small companies round this valley that rely upon us for his or her livelihoods now and we hope that we are able to all develop collectively.”