Hello All, I recently visited Keran, Neelum Valley Azad Kashmir from 5th-9th April, 2016.
Starting Point: Islamabad
No. of persons: 2 (Me and my wife)
Transport: Rented car for 4 days from Islamabad to Keran, and back to Islamabad (2008 Corolla 2.0D, with a Kashmiri Local Driver).
Road Condition: Kohala-Muzaffarabad Road has very bad patches, due to landsliding, road is destroyed at various spots. Muzaffarabad to Keran road was also in very bad condition, and at few spots, the road was totally vanished due to landsliding. New drivers and low clearance cars cannot go on that road, and it will be a great risk.
Camera Used: Iphone 5 and Sony Xperia Z phone camera
Total Expense:
Car + driver+fuel = 21,000 (for 4 days, pick and drop from Islamabad)
1 night Hotel Accommodation at Muzaffarabad = 3,000 / night (Royal Continental Hotel) + Food = 1200 Total = 4200 Rs (for 1 night stay)
2 nights Hotel Accommodation at Keran = 2,200 / night (Valley Trackers Resort) + Food 2500 Total = 6900 Rs (for 2 nights stay)
Miscellaneous expenses (Water, Snacks, Mobile Card, Internet Card etc) = 4000
So total cost was 21000+4200+6900+4000 = 36100 Rs
I have easily saved 7 to 8k if compare it to the packages offered by various trip organizers, so I don't recommend to go for such packages. You can easily book hotels and vehicles without hassle.
Details of my trip are as follows
Day-1: Started from Islamabad to Muzaffarabad at 8am in a rented car (2.0D Corolla). Reached Muzaffarabad at 12pm. I had no program for night stay at Muzaffarabad, but due to the heavy rain on 3rd April, road to Keran was destructed at Jumra (few km before Athmuqam). So my driver said we should stay for a day here, because he heard that recovery operation is underway at Landsliding place, and road will be opened in the morning. We stayed at Royal Continental Hotel Muzaffarabad, which is a nice place, with good food, clean rooms and Free Wifi.
Day-2: We started journey to Keran at 10am, and reached Jumra, few km before Athmuqam (the landsliding place) at around 1.30pm. The road was blocked and the recovery process was still carried out. We had to wait for an hour, and the road was cleared, after which stuck traffic moved. We thankfully reached Keran at around 3.30pm, where we stayed at Valley Trackers Resort, which has its lawn just besides the Neelum River. Very refreshing atmosphere there
Day-3: We went to upper neelum in the morning, by walking 4km upward. We took along eatables and juices, so it was a nice trek. We spent most part of our day in the upper neelum. Came back in evening to the resort. My program was to move to Kutton and stay there for a night. But the road to Kutton was blocked and there was no recovery of it till now, so had to stay at Keran resort again.
Day-4, we started off our journey to Islamabad at 8am, with a program that we will go to Kutton on they way back, if the road is opened, but when we reached at the point that leads to Kutton, the road was not open and there ws no chance, so we moved back to Muzaffarabad, and had breakfast at a restaurant, and continued to Islamabad, where we reached at around 4.30pm.
Day-5: Stayed at Islamabad, and went to Monal for Lunch in my personal car (Honda City 1.3). The drive to Monal is amazing, and it was my first experience to drive on such steep road. We had our lunch there and came back to Islamabad in the evening.
Waterfall on the way to Muzaffarabad. Had to cross the river on Doli to reach there
Crossing the river, picture taken on halfway
Reached Muzaffarabad at 12:00pm
Having dinner at Royal Continental Hotel's restarant. Decent place to stay
Started journey to Keran, the next morning
Indian Occupied Kashmir, just across the river
Waterfall on the way to Neelum Valley
Nallah on the road, adding to the beauty of journey
reached Valley Trackers resort. The rain welcomed us and what a beautiful place it is to stay.
Surroundings were very beautiful. A textured arrangement of stones
Road side view at Keran. A heart touching place, especially in rain
On the way to upper neelum, we took this picture. On right side of river, awesome view of Keran resort from upper neelum
Upper Neelum Resort (It was closed though, otherwise a night stay would be good)