Tour had started one day before the actual departure date i.e; 20th july, when two of my cousins reached lahore from sahiwal, Dr. Omer Riaz & Sohaib Sultan. We three stayed a night at 4th member's place.. Our elder brother Uzair Sultan. Night was spent in jokes & tour discussions. I planned the whole tour, places to visit, accomodations, management of the tour itinerary & ofcourse I was the driver & motivator of this journey.
Day 1:
We were about to leave Lahore at 8pm on 21st july, but unfortunately I received a call from Maa G early in the morning that dont go..!! Skardu is flooded, its all over the news. I got hypered I said "Mera Dimiagh bara kharaab hai Me jana hai" (lol) ok then let me see then I'll let you know. The Reason was that It would be 5th time If I had cancelled the plan at that moment, 10 years waiting & dreaming would have got shattered If the plan got cancelled for the 5th time!!
So Uzair bhai stood up & yelled: "Chaliye Nikliye..!!"
We made some calls whom we know in skardu. Major Shahzad (Incharge of Rescue Helicopters Team in Skardu Army Aviation Base) & Duniya news tv reporter of skardu valley. Both helped us alot.
They assured us that there is no flood in skardu.
News reporter guy told us that there is a Small breakdown of some lake's bandd around somewhere in shigar valley, nothing else. So we decided to go to my home to ensure my parents about the situation. Talked with them & convinced them that there is no flood.. everything is fine.. they agreed with blessings. Bas phir chal so chal..! Loaded our SUV.. Toyota Surf My Amigo.. with the stuff i got (My Rucksack, Stove, Camp,Camping Chair, Camping Table, an extra bag with different accessories, Laptop & USB speakers, Kitchen Utensils & many other things, left back to cousin's home. Loaded SUV again with everyone's Rucksacks, Ready-to-Eat Food Packets, Drinks, Water Bottles, 2 empty Fuel Tanks (for future use) etc.
At last fully loaded & ready to go but suddenly received many calls from friends & family members that dont go.. flood is everywhere.. bridges have broken.. blah! blah! blah!
We thought again, summarized again, Made some calls again then thought again n again and again... but still.. plan remained the same.. "Chaliye..!! Nikliye..!!"
So we left at 7:45pm. We chose Nathia Gali route from Islamabad to Abbottabad due to some misguidence from people about the looting incidents on Hassan Abdaal-Haripur Road, later we came to know that it was totally safe, all those people were wrong..
Isb to Abbottabad via Nathia Gali cost us extra 1 hour (and we knew that), but we were on right schedule.
Few Pictures before Naran: