Day 1: Shogran - June 19 2014, Thursday - Islamabad - Shogran
Aslamulikum,
Here is our update for our first day from Islamabad to Shogran. We left home at 8 am instead of 6 am due to some additional preparations required. It was quite hectic to get out of Rawalpindi towards Peshawar road, traffic wasted 45 minutes to an hour of our time. I would recommend leaving as early as 6 am, as we had planned initially in order to beat some of the traffic. We headed towards Wahh at a cruising speed as I did not want to put too much pressure on the jeep in such a early stage of our journey.
As we took a right in Wahh towards Abottabad, I made a quick stop to get some much need water and munchies for the 2 hour trip. The drive was normal, it was a bit busy in Haripur. Traffic died down as we got closer to Abottabad but there was a massive traffic jam at the entrance of Abottabad as usual due to over loaded trucks trying to climbing the steep entrance.
We had lunch in Abottabad at Lasania since Usmanic (our favorite) was being renovated. We ordered some snacks (milkshake and sandwiches) which took about 30 minutes but it was worth it. There service was not as good as Usmania but we weren't too concerned since we need to rest a little.
Making our way towards Mansehra, once again we were on a busy road. If you a travelling down this road, make sure you take it easy since there is alot of human traffic as well as vehicles with bad drivers on the road. We took a right towards Balakot (bypass) and headed up in the mountains. On the way, we stopped for a few minutes to get our wipers looked at and than we were on our way to Balakot.
Traffic got lighter and lighter as we headed towards Balakot. We stopped for some tea at one of the river side hotels. We had some tea and water after we got our feet wet in the freezing water right beside our tables. Make sure you stop at this spot a few kilometeres before Balakot, if you make your are going this way.
Once we felt refreshed, we headed straight to Shogran. Traffic was light, drivers were not so bad and the road was amazing with very small dirt patches which any vehicle can handle with little difficulty. Road to shogran is not marked as far as I could see but you will see cars going up this steep road so make sure you as some one along the way.
Road to shogran is half carpeted and half dirt with some serious possibility of most "cars" with hit the ground at a couple of spots but I saw anywhere from a mehran to Honda city going up and down the road. Jeeps will have no issue, ofcourse. Once you get up to Shogran, which is an awesome drive for off-roaders. You will have a choice between a few different hotels in all price ranges.
We are staying at Arcadia, which is about 6500 for a standard room, 10, 000 for a luxury room or 17000 for a hut. We went with a luxury room since the hut was too big for us. Pine Park and other hotels are not so bad but they certainly dont live up to Arcadia. They were asking for 8000 per night so we decided to pay the 10, 000 with Arcadia instead.
Once we put our stuff away, we hired a jeep which cost us 2500 (set rate, no joke) for a trip up to Siri Lake and Paye. It was amazing views from up there which is the whole point of staying at Shogran. People are really good and there are no security concerns whats so ever. You may see some Garbage on the ground which is disgusting but the views will make you forget all about it. we came on a jeep designed for off road paths like Siri / Paye but I am not experienced enough to take the chance with my wife and I certainly did not want to risk breaking anything before reaching Gilgit. Last thing, we hiked from Paye to Siri and asked our Jeep driver to meet us down there. This will give you some time to take some nice shots as you walk down and get some work out as well.
Conclusion:
Best Hotel: Arcadia
Second Best: Pine Park (rooms aren't so great)
Jeep rates up to Siri/Paye: 2500
Time for stay: 60 to 90 minutes (depends on driver)
Best views: Between 4:00 pm till 7 pm.
This is all for day one. I know its long but it may help someone make the right choices along their trip.