Assalam u Alaikum All Pakwheel Members,
As there are already many threads on Pakwheels. But this is my first attempt to post the thread sorry for any spelling mistakes. The main point to have this thread is to provide latest information as most of the previous threads are bit old & have not ample of information that might be useful for future visitors. We had a family trip from Lahore all the way upto Babusar Pass from 15th to 21st June 2014.
Our Rides/Members:
Honda City Aspire 1.5 2013
Myself, Wife 3 Kids (Aged 3-9 yrs)
Toyota Corolla 1.6 LE 2014
Younger Bro Arsalan, Cousions
Suzuki Cultus Non EFI 2004
Elder Bro Dr. Faheem, Wife & 3 Kids (Aged 5-14 yrs)
Balakot Queen 4 x 4 (Jeeps)
Ponies
Total Distance covered on Personal Vehicles:
1400 KM Approx.
Petrol Consumed:
150 liters approx with AC and half the tank left with at rest.
Itinerary:
Day1 (Sunday)
Left Lahore at about 12:00 AM. Our route was via Motorway (M2) to Islamabad Interchange. Then on Murree Express Way to Nathiagali, Abbotabad & Mansehra, from Mansehra bypass turn left onto KKH and turned towards Naran Chilas road and head towards Shawal, Balakot, Kiwai & Shogran. Reached Shogran at about 6:00 PM. Night stayed at Lalazar cottages (newly constructed) Shogran.
Day2 (Monday)
Left early morning for Siri-Paya on rented Balakot 4 x 4 jeeps. Hired ponies till Makra Peek & glacier. Return back at Lalazar hotel Shogran and waited for rain to stop as we have to leave for Naran from Shogran. Finally we are off for Naran and had lunch at Khyber Pass resturent at Paras (lovely lunch). Reached Naran by 5:00 PM. Booking was already been made at Palace Hotel in Naran.
Day3 (Tuesday)
Left for Lalazar and Lake Saif-ul-Malook. Reached Lalazar at about 12 noon. Hired ponies for a ride till the highest point of Lalazar meadows and went back after 30 mins and rested there for a cup of rejoicing tea. After an hour and half we went on to head towards Lake Saif ul Malook in the same jeep. Reached lake Saif ul Malooka after 3 hour long hip hop journey. Really disappointed to see the road conditions towards lake its even much pathetic then previous year. This year good to see that all the surrounding mengies hotels and most of the kohkhas and pakoras shops around the lakes were washed away by the KPK Govt. to preserve the beauty of lake. Enjoyed awesome weather at lake, no boating were allowed by the FC as all the boats were burned out. Only ponies were there which were also not allowed to go around the lake.
Day4 (Wednesday)
Hired jeeps for Lake Lulusar and Babu Sir top covering Jhalkand, Batakundi & Pyala Lake on the way. Went back late night and had dinner enjoyed all the beatiful and stunning natural beauty all the way up to the highest point of Kaghan Vally i.e Babusar Top.
Day5 (Thursday)
Left Naran at about 11:00AM and visited helipad beside the bank of river kunhar and visited couple of big ice glaciers on the way back & reaching at Kaghan. There we witness that my little brother forgotten to collect his ID from Naran hotel while checking out. So we had decided to take the U turn and rest of the caraven will continue and wait for us at Abshar Hotel (Kiwai). We picked the ID and then had lunch at 3:00PM at Abshar Hotel (Kawai). Reached Pizza Hut Abbotabad at 7:00PM and had dinner went to Murree but at the 11th hour dropped the idea for overnight stay and hooked up to return Lahore. Reached Lahore at 10:00 AM after taking a quick nap at M2 rest area.
Distances and Road Conditions:
Lahore to Islamabad:
Approximate Time: 3 hour & 30 mins approx.
Possible Routes.
1. The preferred one is via Motorway M2 and exit on the Burhan Interchange. Then move a few KM's back towards Hassanabdal
and turn on KKH. Excellent road condition but a few KM's more.
2. Second option is to take the G.T Road and reach Taxila from there turn towards Hattar-Haripur road. Good road condition.
3. Third option is to turn towards the Khanpur-Haripur road before reaching Taxila. The most shortest route but road condition is not
as good as the above two.
Haripur-Havelian-Abbotabad-Mansehra:
The road is in good condition but its not meant to bear the heavy traffic load among lots and lots of trucks, buses and cars. In the day time crossing Abbotabad might took more than 30mins.
Approximate Time: 2 hours.
Total Distance from Islamabad-Abbotabad 122KM
Mansehra-Balakot-Kiwai:
Once you leave KKH and turn towards Balakot there is excellent road and lot less traffic. Very enjoyable road.
Mansehra-Balakot 48KM
Balakot-Kiwai 24KM
Approximate Time: 1 hour 45 min.
Kiwai-Shugran:
Steep ascend but any car can go there. Metaled road was almost demolished due to lots of land sliding.
Approximate Time: 30min.
Distance: 7KM
Shugran-Siri Paye:
Hardcore 4WD track for Balakot Queens.
Kiwai-Paras-Khaniya-Mahandri-Kaghan-Naran:
Metaled road with a few bad patches due to land sliding. The main land sliding area is after crossing Paras where the complete road is washed away. The make shift track goes down to the river and is one way only.
Approximate Time: 2 hours.
Kiwai-Paras: 5KM
Paras-Mahandri: 18KM
Mahandri-Kaghan:15KM
Kaghan-Naran: 24KM
Naran-Batakundi-Jalkhad:
Metaled road suitable for all type of vehicles. There was just one glacier which was blocking the road where you need to be extra careful. Otherwise it is the best road of the whole Kaghan valley.
Approximate Time: 1 hour 30 min.
Naran-Batakundi: 16KM
Batakundi-Jalkhad: 20KM
Jalkhad-Lulusar Lake:
Unpaved under construction road. Only suitable for high clearance vehicles. There was one particular water crossing near Besal where low ground clearance vehicles might get hit quite badly. Though we saw many Toyota Corolla's (2.0D and GLI) of 2011 and older models parked at the lake. Also we saw Suzuki Bolan's and Hiaces etc. there. But still my recommendation is to take a jeep from Jalkhad.
Approximate Time: 50min.
Distance: 26KM
Lulusar Lake-Gitidas-Babusar Top:
Under construction road only suitable for Balakot Queens. My recommendation is to get a jeep from Jalkhad or Naran. We should wait for yet another couple of years for the road to be completed before taking our vehicles all the way upto Babusar Top.
Approximate Time: 1 hour
Distance: 18KM
Jeep Fares:
This was the peak season and the rates of jeeps were quite high.
Shogran to Siri-paye Rs. 1800 each.
Naran-Lalazar-Lake Saif ul Malook Rs. 4000 each.
Naran-Jalkhad-Lulusar Lake-Payala Lake-Babusar-Noori Top Rs.8000 each.
Overview:
The area has changed quite a bit from my last couple of visited. Naran is just turning like Murree Mall. Saif ul Malook is getting bit better as previously visited. On the way to the lake there were long ques of jeeps going up and down but the road is even more worst then one can thought. On the positive side was the road from Naran to Jalkhad. Excellent scenery as well as big water streams and waterfalls. Really enjoyed this. But the best part was visiting the Babusar top as well as the path going towards it. Really beautiful scenery all around and very cold weather as well as white and soft snow for snow fighting.
Note: Soon will going to post some of the Glimpses captured mainly by me with my buddy Nikon D3200.