Let It Shine: Gary Barlow to cast the Take That musical in brand new BBC One reality show

Could it be magic?​

Gary Barlow has got a brand new reality show coming to BBC One - and Take That fans are going to love it.

Let It Shine - as it's currently called - will see Gary putting together the cast of a brand new Take That musical and we basically can't wait.

Over eight weeks, Gary and three mentors will be searching for stars who can live up to Take That's legacy in the stage show, which is being created in association with Mark Owen, Howard Donald and Gary himself.

Lake Saif ul Malook

Lake Saif ul Malook is a famous tourist resort, well known for the associated story of a Persian prince Saif ul Malook. It is located about 8 kilometers (5 miles) north from the town of Naran in northern end of Kaghan Valley, in District Mansehra, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The lake with its majestic and mesmerizing natural beauty, pleasant atmosphere and associated tale and history, attracts thousands of tourists each year from all around the country during the summer.

The lake is also famous for being habitat of large size Brown Trout fish, which weigh up to 7 kilograms. Lake Saif ul Malook also provides a marvelous view of Malika Parbat, which is the highest peak of Kaghan Valley.

The best time to visit Lake Saif ul Malook is between May and the end July. It remains covered in snow during winter, and the road to the lake stays closed due to heavy snow fall.

Altitude:

Lake Saif ul Malook is one of the highest alpine lakes of Pakistan. It is located at an altitude of 3,224 meters (10, 578 feet) above sea level.

Depth:

There are lots of controversies about the depth of Lake Saif ul Malook. In fact, there is no authentic source to tell the exact depth of lake. The local people of the valley say Lake Saif ul Malook is 1 kilometer deep, some of them says it is 1.7 kilometers. However, a team which recently conducted a survey on all alpine lakes of Northern Areas of Pakistan told that the depth of Lake Saif ul Malook is 50 feet.

If we take a look at figures given above, the one (50 feet) provided by the team which conducted survey seems to be more realistic, as if we consider the geography of the area surrounding the lake, it would be marvel of nature for a lake to be 1-1.7 kilometers deep at an altitude of 3 kilometers above sea level.

Story of Lake Saif ul Malook:

The classic story of Lake Saif ul Malook is written by Sufi poet Mian Muhammad Bakhsh. It is written in the form of poetic verses.

The story is about a Persian prince named Saif ul Malook who fell in love with a fairy named Badi ul Jamal (transformation in English: Glory of the moon), whom he saw in his dreams. The prince thus started his journey to find his beloved fairy Badi ul Jamal. He was clueless in his restless journey until he met a Devish (holy man), who told him how he can find her. Devish also told him that he had to go through many exams before he could find and marry Badi ul Jamal, because she was a fairy and prince was human.

The prince then starts his journey for the impossible in the name of his love. The rest of the story chronicles the challenges he faced during his journey and the spiritual lessons he learned on the way.

Makra Peak

Makra Peak is a 3586 meters (11765.feet) high Himalayan mountain located in Tehsil Balakot of Mansehra District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Makra is a word of Urdu which means spider. According to local people they named it Makra Peak because snow formation over the peak resembles the shape of a spider. The iconic Makra Peak of Shogran Valley is located in south-east of Kiwai and south of Paye Meadow. A moderate 4-6 hours trek (depending on trekker fitness) from Paye leads to Makra Top. From Makra Top the visitors can enjoy the picturesque views of the Kaghan Valley on one side and mesmerizing Kashmir on another. Many other famous mountains like Malika Parbat, Chambra, Musa Ka Musalla and Shingri are also visible from top.

Makra is a simple peak to climb with a moderate level of trekking difficulty and doesn’t require any technical climbing skills or knowledge to climb it. Still deaths are reported by the local people, which I think must be due to carelessness of trekkers or severe weather.

How to reach:

About 62 km (38 miles) from the city of Mansehra on Kaghan Road comes Kiwai. From Kiwai, a single road (about 7 km) leads upward to Shogran. It is a famous tourist resort and has some motels for tourists to stay. Now comes trekking part of the trip. From Shogran you can hire jeeps, horses or ponies for the trek if you don’t prefer backpacking. A jeep can take you up to Siri. Onward from Siri foot trek starts. You can also hire ponies or horses for the rest of trek up to Makra Peak base camp if you wish. It is about 4 hours trek depending on the fitness of a trekker.

Tourist Guide & Safety Precautions:

Although Makra is a simple peak to climb but it is highly suggested to avoid climbing if weather conditions are unfavorable. Especially in stormy or foggy weather, it is very dangerous to climb the mountain.

People with with respiratory problems should avoid the trek and ascent.

K2

K2 Mountain is the second highest mountain peak in the world and the highest peak in Pakistan. The sky-scraping mountain is also known as “Savage Mountain”, “Mount Godwin-Austen”, “Choogri” and “Mount Qogir”. It is located on the border between Baltistan in Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan and Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous Country of Xinjiang, China. Elevation of K2 is 8,611 meters( 28,251 ft).

K2 is called “Choogri” in local language. “Choogri” is a Balti word, which means “King of Mountains”. Mostly K2 is scaled from the trust worthy path that comes from Skardu. It is conventional path to scale the mountain and is used by most of mountaineers. The other path that comes from Chinese side is extremely difficult and hazardous.

The mountain was named “Savage Mountain” due to extreme difficulty of ascent and second highest fatality rate among “Eight Thousanders”. For every four people who reached the summit, one has died trying. In early days K2 witnessed many ascents and today the peak has been climbed from all sides.

In spite of extreme difficulty and hazards K2 presents; the adventure lovers from all over the world try to take new and diverse routes to conquer the mountain. K2 can be reached from the hilly town of Skardu which is well linked with Islamabad (the capital of Pakistan); both by road and air.