Assalam o Alaikum and Hello to everyone
I have completed my first trip to Neelum. It was a very good experience to travel to this beautiful valley. Although I could not see the real beauty of Neelum as my trip was in Autumn, still it was great to see the lovely autumn effect, various shades of yellow and orange, deep green Neelum river etc. At the same time, we felt sad whenever we saw the Indian Occupied Kashmir.
Below are the details of the tour:
7 guys travelled on two cars, 2011 Cultus and 2006 Vitz. Total expense was around 5500 per head which included everything from departure to arrival.
8[SUP]th[/SUP] Nov 10:00pm, Left Lahore for Rawalpindi via Motorway and reached Rawalpindi at 1:15am, night stay at Kohinoor Textile Mills Rest House.
9[SUP]Th[/SUP] Nov 8:30 am, left Rawalpindi for Jheeka gali via Expressway, reached around 10:00am
9[SUP]TH[/SUP] Nov 10:00am, Continued from Jheeka Gali to Kohala via Bhurban Road, reached around 11:30am. Road is fine but very congested, steep and slippery and you have to drive very carefully. Our cultus got smashed into a parked car as it slipped at a steep turn while applying brakes. Courtesy, General Tyres.
9[SUP]th[/SUP] Nov 11:30am, Continued from Kohala to Muzaffarabad via Kohala-Muzaffarabad road, reached around 12:15pm, had some snacks and our car repaired for further travelling. Road conditions are not good with a lot of bad patches specially before entering in Muzaffarbad. Roads in Muzaffarabad are also in poor condition and it took quite some time to cross Muzaffarabad.
9[SUP]th[/SUP] Nov 12:30pm, Left Muzaffarabad for Pattika via Neelum Road, reached Pattika around 1:15pm. Road is not bad but some bad patches due to land slidings.
9[SUP]th[/SUP] Nov 1:15pm, continued from Pattika to Keran via Neelum Road, reached around 3:30pm. Stopped for Jumma prayers at nauseri for around 20 mins. Road is perfect with only 3-4 small bad patches. Loved driving there. Stayed at AJK Tourist Lodge, paid Rs. 3200 for two rooms. Took 3 additional matresses for Rs. 450. Did barbecue in the lawn. Wanted to do bonefire but they didn?t allow us due to proximity with occupied Kashmir. The place is ok to stay but being govt controlled, there is no proper arrangement for anything. We had to go back to Athmuqam to get Naan and other items for our dinner. Also, there are no fixed/announced rates for anything and they charge whatever they like.
10[SUP]th[/SUP] Nov 9:00am, left for upper Neelum to have a glance and check the location of the huts, reached at 9:15am. The road is fine but very steep, also the road stops around 50mtrs before the huts and you have to park your cars there. The place is good, the huts are fine but again, no proper arrangements for anything. May be due to off season as they told us.
10[SUP]th[/SUP] Nov 10:30am, left Upper Neelum for Kutton, reached at 12:00 noon with some stops on the way. The road is not very good but any car can make it easily all the way to Kutton. The Jagran Resort is awesome and a place worth visiting. The location is great, the rooms/houses are awesome. The club is equipped with a TV room, a dining room, a Jacuzzi, a steam room and a barbecue place as well. Overall it is good enough to spoil anyone. We took one family house for only Rs. 3000. The house included 3 bed rooms, 1 washroom, 1 store, 1 kitchen and off course a big common room with TV and dining table. The house was centrally heated but we could not avail this facility as there was no electricity due to some problem in the power house. This rest house is controlled by AJK Power and Electricity Board. It was built initially as the residential society for the foreign engineers who were contracted for the Jagran Power House. When they left, it was converted into a resort for tourists. The rates are same throughout the year and you have to get advance booking specially in peak season. At around 2:30pm we hired a Jeep at Rs. 2300 to travel all the way to the power house and the water in-take point. The drive is a real adventure ride with some very wonderful scenes all the way. Was a good experience. We returned in the evening at around 5:00pm. Had dinner in the dining room of the club which was just ok.
11[SUP]th[/SUP] Nov 9:00am, left Kutton for Lahore non-stop via Neelum Road, Kohala Road, Murree Express way and then Motorway. Reached Lahore around 7:30pm.
It was good to travel in off season as there was no traffic on the roads ahead of MZD. The hotels/rest houses/resorts were easily available. The temperature wasn?t as low as we expected. Was touching zero I guess. The pics will follow as soon as get time.
Again, thanks to all the gurus who helped in planning this trip. Our next destination is Fairy Meadows which we are planning in June / July next year, INSHALLAH.
Rgds
Abdullah