FireFest by 3Musafir
By: Teen Musafir
Tags: Travel, Wanderlust, Forest, Pakistan, Experience

As we sat around a bonfire surrounded by strangers, in a strange city, humming to an unfamiliar language, it hit us; a vision. The youngsters of our land are deprived of such opportunities, the only place people make friends at are institutions and even then there isn’t fun enough stuff to do in your city. So we thought to ourselves, how do we bring about a community in Pakistan to unite our youth, to introduce a platform for a new social culture and this is what we came up with: Teen Musafir.

Firefest happens to be one of the four flagship events we host yearly. It was also our very first official event for Teen Musafir, the execution however wasn’t all fun and games initially. It took hours and hours of planning and designing, thinking, and rethinking our model, our motto, and what was the best possible way to lay it all down. One of our top priorities while executing what was only an idea in our head was to create a safe space. We knew what we had to do; exclusivity. Regardless of its financial drawbacks, we always chose quality over quantity. The response we received post-Firefest was overwhelming, reassuring us that our vision was understood and appreciated. From there onwards, Firefest became a custom. As the next year rolled up, we knew it was time for Firefest 2.0, except it had to bigger and better this time around.

When you’re tired of the city and you need a break from all the hustle-bustle, camping is the way to go. Sharan forest, in KPK, is the perfect place for such a getaway. It’s like a little piece of heaven on earth that traps in itself blissful tranquillity. Since we believe in experience-based traveling, our aim was to come up with the most fun, eventful itinerary, where you get to connect with nature while also having a blast. Our extensive pre-trip arrangements began early on, sorting out accommodation, travel details, and many more specifics. Finally, on the day of the trip, we loaded our buses from Islamabad and Lahore and got on the road. The best part about our trips is meeting our adventurous, hyped-up musafirs, who’re always just as excited as us. The bus rides are an essential part of road trips, it’s where you take turns to play music, where you play games and become friends with strangers. The craziness starts as soon as you step foot on the bus. We stopped at Balakot, by a beautiful stream, to quickly have breakfast before reaching our final destination. Since Sharan forest is really far up a mountain, we had to fill up in mountain jeeps for the last part of our journey. The jeep dropped us off at the forest, after a bumpy ride. We instantly felt the change in temperature and how much fresher the air felt up here. The location had pods and camps lined up in a field, it was like having one big sleepover.

After assigning everyone to their camps, it was time to freshen up before starting off with our planned event for the night. As night fell upon us, the sky overflowed with stars. Being up there felt like being so close to the sky, so we wrapped up in blankets and stargazed, even wished upon a few fallen ones. From there we gathered around a bonfire, played the guitar, and started singing to our favorite songs, and this time we could sing along, it was happening. Our vision had come alive. The night went on singing and dancing around the bonfire. Once our specified DJ took over, the once wholesome gathering cracked into a full bonfire rave. Under the starry sky, thousands of feet up the ground, us dancing out of our minds like there isn’t going to be any tomorrow. Fortunately for us, there was a tomorrow.

7 am, Maroon 5 playing on loudspeaker across the fields, the musafirs were up and as energetic as last night. A little yoga session to soak in some sun took place before we moved on to morning chai. The agenda for the day included a 4-hour hike to Manshi top. We put on our sunblock, tied our shoes, and started moving upwards. Up, up, up we go, the musafirs singing and chanting, as athletic as ever. Let’s just say the climb wasn’t the easiest one but we made it to the top and oh boy was the view worth it. Acres and acres of lush green fields with ponds that horses drank from, kids running around, and a little hut in the corner serving chai pakoras, it was surreal. We sat at the top, looking down at the miniature world, thinking of the infinite possibilities life had to offer. A guest appearance was made by the rain which added to the serenity of the place but however cut our trip short. We hiked back to our campsite, some of us rested and the others read books to a divine view, either way, we paced down. After dinner, we had in store a final surprise for our musafirs; A horror movie night midst the woods, spooky? We know right! We rolled up in our blankets, alongside campfire, screaming and laughing, making memories that’ll last a lifetime. We weren’t sure when the sun took the moon's place and it was time to say goodbye to this stunning place until next time.

Firefest was over but we were left with so much warmth in our hearts. The people we met on the trip continue to be our closest friends to this day and that’s the beauty of what we do, you constantly meet new people, different people with their own variety of beliefs and visions, you evolve, you learn. You recognize the beauty which lies in being young and alive, to value what you’re blessed with every day. Here’s a little something from an inspiring author “Human knowledge is never contained in one person. It grows from the relationships we create between each other and the world, and still it is never complete”.