I just came back from a wonderful and eventful trip of Neelum valley. I initially thought of opening a separate thread to share my experience with folks out here but then decided to write on makpak's thread as he was instrumental in getting me to Neelum valley at the first place and was kind enough to go to the extent of discussing minor details with me as well. I was, I am and I will always be indebted to him for the kind favors, encouragement and guidance bestowed upon me.
I am from Lahore and this was my first trip outside Galiat. The furthest I had traveled in Pakistan was to Neelum point which is 1 to 1.5 hrs drive from Muree.
While I was in Neelum valley I was helped alot by a local guy called Saqib, a person whom i never knew before, whom i met for 3 minutes on nauluchi bridge and who works at a tourist firm. Saqib is the kind of guy we are missing in Pakistan. He knows the area, the hotel owners/ receptionists, the roads like the palm of his hand and who literally allowed me the freedom of movement by helping me change my itinerary twice. He helped me to find decent places to stay and was always open to change, suggestions and ideas. For me he was like another makpak.
I will share my experience under headings which i believe will help fellow pakwheelers prepare and execute a trip to the majestic Neelum valley. These headings are in no particular order and i will write them as the topics come in my mind.
My Itinerary:
Day 1: Lahore to Islamabad
Day 2: Islamabad to Kutton
Day 3: Kutton to Kale
Day 4: Kale to Tao butt
Day 5: Original plan was Shounter valley but i ended up making a visit Arang Kel and travelled a day earlier to Keran
Day 6: Visit Uper Neelum Road and walk along Neelum river
Day 7: Keran to Muzafarrabad (due to the visit by Prime minister this was skipped as muzafarrabad was sealed)
Day 8: Muzafarrabad to Islamabad
day 9: Back to Lahore
My Companions:
Family of 4. I have 5.5 yrs and 15 months old sons - Mentioning this as having toddlers or infants is considered a taboo in case you want to visit Neelum valley
My Ride:
Corolla Gli - Auto. 2016
Preparation:
Before you embark on the journey make sure you have checked the availability of following with you
Bare minimum:
1) ORIGINAL ID Card. You MUST carry original ID card and original car papers. Do not even think of going otherwise. The Road passes along Line of control at many places. Till Kale you will be asked to show your ID card at 5 to 6 different places. on your way to Tao Butt you will be asked to deposit your ID card at Helmant. In order to take the Arang Kale chair lift you need to submit a proof of identity.
2) Good quality tires- i don't mean good brand of tires but a tire with good thread
3) Car tire inflator OR a good extra tire in the boot
4) A good supply of Mineral water - unless you are one of the folks which are blessed with a stomach of pathar hazam , lakar hazam
5) A good supply of chips, biscuits, chewing gum. I carried a big shopper of them from Lahore but these could be bought from Atthmuqam (between kutton and Keran) or from Sharda (less variety) as well. I visited 8 or 9 shops in kale before i was able to find a Rs 50 pack of lays.
6) If your kids will only eat bread for breakfast then buy it from Athmuqam - its a rare commodity afterwards
7) Following medicine should be taken along: Gravinate (vomiting / travel sickness), Polyfax (cuts / bruises), Panadol or Panadol extra or Brufen (for fever, bodyaches), Telfast D or Fexet D or Rigix (for Sore throat, flue), Novidat or Ciproxen (Diarrhea) and Entemazole-DS or Flagyl (Diarrhea).
Amongst these all except Ciproxen / Novidat and Enetemazole / Flagyl were required during my trip.
8) A pair of duster or cleaning cloth. As per norm it will rain in Kale once every 24 hrs. Even if it does not, even then the dew factor is there.
9) Handwash - I carried liquid life boy gold handwash
10) A bottle of tap water - For hand wash etc
11) An extra box of tissue
12) 2 towels - one for use during morning and leaving it to dry and the second one for using throughout the day and drying it overnight.
13) Umbrella
14) Insect repellent
15) An electric heating rod - This might look unnecessary but try taking a bath in that freezing water and then thank me for suggesting this
What else i took along:
1 Bed sheet (for hotels, using it as a cloth for sitting on grass/dirt etc), hand sanitizer (a small 100ml bottle that was in the car dashboard), a cold box (my sons love chocolates and i love cold rather chilled drinks. I used frozen gel packs inside it as well and they worked their magic for 5/6 days straight), a good supply of pencils/rubber/sharpners (u would need them for the kids running after your cars).
Road / Driving condition, car occupancy etc:
You can travel to Kale on your car. no need of a 4X4 till kale. I even saw a few JDMs (Move, Esse and Alto) till sharda. I saw a few Civics in Kale as well.
Luggage:
The thing is if you have 4 grown ups in the back seat, a loaded boot and you are heavy on the pedal then this combination itself is detrimental for your car provided its 1300 cc or less. With the above combination you are bound to hit quite a few bumps unless you are not careful. I would like to emphasize here that you you should drive carefully on these roads but especially between Sharda and Kale. You load 4 people and tons of stuff in your boot, you will effectively decrease the road clearance of your car by an inch at least. couple that with a heavy or an inconsiderate (if i may say so) foot and you will hit a few stones, bumps and car brakers. I say car brakers as the bumps on the roads are like tips of the ice berg made up of pure rock the size of a lorry or a truck.
Driving style / condition:
Once you cross Muzaffarabad you can not drive like cities. You must stop and wait at a reasonably wider part of the road and let the other car coming from the front cross you. The locals are used to taking risks and driving at the very edge of the road but you would skip a heart beat or a few if you end up in a situation with a 1000 ft fall on your side. I saw a few instances where the car occupants including the driver were standing outside on the road with a local person driving their car and a line of cars blowing their horns to protest on their stupidity and shear disregard to the environment or road condition.
Hence to summarize
- you can not fly, remember that while driving.
- wait and be patient to let the other car pass you, he might be the local who is on the road to scare the sh** out of you.
- on every blind turn or corner use your horn.. for 2 seconds. you never know when you a truck, lorry or a Shepherd with a few goats and cows on the other side of that blind turn.
- use smaller gears. the max I used was the bottom 3 gears. Once I crossed sharda for kale it was bottom 2 gears for me.
Communication:
Local mobile network works 30-40 kms beyond muzaffarabad. You need a SCO sim for neelum valley. I know that these sims are available at Muzaffarabad, Kundal shahi. Athmuqam and Sharda. Whether they are available at other places or not that is something i am not awre off.
I bought these from their office on the right side of the road, a few hundred meters before nauluchi bridge at muzafarrabad. It was opposite Minnie minors and HBL, UBL and ABL banks outlet.
These sims will also work in major cities provided they are not right at the line of control. By my experience i know that these sim work in kutton, kundal shahi, athmuqam, Sharda and Kale. Having said that the moment you leave these cities you are again out of service areas. These sim do not work in keran.
Hotels:
if you are expecting a comfortable night stay with hot water available in the attached washroom then you have your options limited to half a dozen locations in the whole of neelum valley. As per my information and experience Hot water in taps is only found in Kutton (Kutton guest houses by hydroboard department and state guest house), Keran (Valley trackers, AJK tourism guest house and nearby Green valley resort at upper neelum), Kale (Ajk Tourism guest house). I was told that sharda has a few hotels which offer this (state guest house etc) but i did not stay at sharda.
When you book a hotel ask for
- Attached bath: answer would be yes. Ask again attached bath with your room and around 1/3 would now say no.
- Hot water: About 70% places do not have solar or gas geasers. About 15-20% will use a geaser which is operational for 2 to 3 hrs during the morning by burning wood or LPG and only a few will have round the clock hot water.
some places will give you a half a bucket of hot water which can be used to take a bath the old fashioned way.
- Extra mattress: If you ask at the time of booking they will provide you a complimentary mattress with a blanket
- Car parking
Food:
The food options that you will get in Neelum valley are limited unless you are staying at army mess, Valley trackers, Kutton lodges and Green valley resort at upper Neelum. Green valley is the only place where you can eat decent chinese, a pizza or a decent sandwitch. Majority dont even offer it.
Options for breakfast are omelette, fry egg and paratha. You can also get nestle yougart.
For lunch or dinner you are down to Chicken Karahi, Chicken Quorma, Chicken Pullao or Biryani and Mash ki daal. Have fun eating these twice daily for 8 days.
While at Keran I asked for what the local dishes were and I was told safaid Lobia (beans), Mulli (reddish) ka salan, Mulli kay patoun ka salan and Kar-roum. Now Kar-roum is a different and a catchy word and a dish I have never even heard of hence I inquired further. Its a dish made from the leaves of a plant and is made with milk, cream, onions, garlic and tomatoes. I opted for Kar-roum and needless to say I ate it religiously as it was a new dish with a different taste after 6 days.
Availability of Petrol:
This proved irrelevant for me as i got my car tank filled up at Muzaffarabad and then had it refilled again on my way back at muzafarrabad. By that time I still had used 4/5 of my tank which is roughly 32 to 33 litres.
For cars with smaller fuel tanks please note that I saw petrol stations in Atthmuqam (Admore and PSO) and sharda. I was told by the locals in Kale that petrol is available there as well. But beyond Athmuqam I did not see any petrol pumps or I did not notice. If you have the car filled at Athmuqam or Sharda then there is no way you will run out of fuel unless you drive around aimlessly which itself is not possible as there are not much roads and places to drive around to.
Areas that Require 4 x 4:
You would need a 4 x 4 for going to the following areas
1) Kale to Tao Butt (3 to 3.5 hrs)
2) Kale to Shounter (3.5 to 4 hrs)
3) Doarian to Rati Gali lake (2 hrs if the road is open)
4) Athmuqam to Noori Top to Jharkhund (5 to 6 hrs)
5) Kutton to Jagran (1.5 - 2 hrs)
Lakes:
The lakes that I am aware of or was told about are
1) Chitta Katha Lake Beyond Shounter. Its a 2 hrs trek from Shounter valley
2) Rati Gali Lake: Its 18 kms from Doarian. 10 kms is carpeted road and the rest is under construction but is now drivable provided there is no land sliding. I was interested in going there by had to cancel it due a landsliding a day earlier.
Mind you if you really want to enjoy Rati Gali lake then you should stay in one of the tents there. This is because there are 10 different small lakes within the vicinity of Main Rati Gali lake. All within 4 to 5 hrs trekking in different directions but all are mainly untouched and thus unspoiled.
"I am told" that Ansoo lake is about at a days trekk from Ratti Gali lake. occasionally people do embark on this journey. This claim is verifiable from Google maps.
Unfinished business:
These are the areas that I would like to visit in neelum valley.
- Ratti gali lake
- shounter valley
- shounter lake
- Shamshal (3 hrs trekk from Tao butt)
Conclusion:
In spite of all the hassle, fear and the hardships you face, the trip is totally worth it.
Would I recommend it to my family members... absolutely.
Would I go back again..... well...you should expect my second post of the area in about 12 months time.