1 Week short tour to Swat and Naran with my beloved Parents (6th July-14th July)

[pwuser151552279489]

Members: 3 (Me, my father and my mother)
Duration: 1 week
Places we visited: Mingora, Kalam, Ushu, Mahodand Lake, Naran, Lulusar Lake and Babusar Top
Total Expense: Around 1 Lac including shopping as well (As it was a family tour so we didn't calculated the exact figure)'

Itinerary:

Day 0:

10 a.m. Left Karachi Via Faisal Movers Executive Class Plus Bus (Comfortable sofa seats)

Day 1:

10 a.m. Reached Pindi and went to Pir Wadhai Swat coaster Stand. Booked seats of AC coaster for Mingora
6 p.m. Reached Mingora and left for Kalam Via local hiace.
11 p.m. Reach Kalam. (Road condition from Bahrain to Kalam is worst. And travelling Via local hiace was the worst decicion)

Day 2:

9 a.m. Left for Mahodand Lake
10 a.m. Reached Ushu Valley and stayed their for some time
1 p.m. Reach Mahodand Lake (Took short stay at 3 to 4 times)
Stayed at Mahodand lake for almost 2 to 3 hours. Boating at Mahodand lake was the best ever experience.
7 p.m. Came back to kalam
Night stay at Kalam

Day 3:

10 a.m. Left for Mingora. As the local hiace experience was worst so we booked a car from Mingora to Kalam and this was a very good decision.
3 p.m. Reached Mingora (Lunch and short stay at Bahrain)
Took rest in a hotel for few hours.
7 p.m. Left for Pindi Via Faisal Movers
12:30 a.m. Reach Pindi
1 a.m. Left for Naran Via Faisal Movers
7:30 a.m. Reached Naran

Day 4:
Whole day stay and night stay at Naran.
As we were too tired to we just spent the whole day in Naran. Did some shopping from Naran Bazaar.
Night stay at Naran

Day 5:
We decided to go the Saif Ul Mulook but as we went their for 2 times in the past so we decided not to go. And our guest were coming to Naran so we stayed in Naran for the whole day and accompanied our guest.
Night Stay at Naran

Day 6:
7 a.m. Left for Babusar Top
12 p.m. Reached Babusar Top (Short stay at Lululsar Lake and Glaciers)
3 p.m. Left for Naran (Did river Rafting at Kunhar River)
6 p.m. Reached Naran
Night stay at Naran

Day 7:

9 a.m. Left for Pindi via PTDC Coaster
5 p,m. Reached Pindi
8 p.m. Left for Karachi Via Faisal Movers Executive Class Plus Bus

Day 8:
7 p.m. Reached Karachi

[farooq05]

i hope you enjoyed.. but it looks it was really a tough schedule..

[pwuser151552279489]

Yes it was. But I had one week holidays from office so that's why we had to manage it in one week.

[tourist]

Excellent trip,

I had done similar trip in the past, it was very tough. from Kalam to Naran, we had to say at Balakot as we reached there too late at 11pm, due to landsliding in kalam. then next day we reached to Naran.

what about your photos ?

[pwuser151552279489]

Expenses:

Karachi to Pindi Via Faisal Movers Executive Class Plus Bus
4750rs/head

Pindi to Karachi Via Faisal Movers Executive Class Plus Bus
4750rs/head

Pindi to Mingora Via Local AC coaster
500rs/head

Mingora to Kalam Via local hiace
300rs/head

Hotel in Kalam
The Empire Hotel
3000rs/Night

Kalam to Mahodand Lake
Booked a Fielder
4000rs Round Trip

Boating at Mahodand
150rs/head

Kalam to Mingora
Booked a fielder
3000rs

Mingora to Pindi Via Faisal Movers AC hiace
750rs/head

Pindi to Naran Via Faisal Movers
1750rs/head

Hotel in Naran
Diamond Hills Hotel
4000rs/Night

Naran to Babusar Top
Booked a jeep as were two families
7000rs for round trip. 3500rs/family

River Rafting in Kunhar River Naran
400rs/head

Naran to Pindi Via PTDC coaster
1750rs/head

[pwuser151552279489]

The only thing we found tough was Bahrain to Kalam road. The road condition is worst. And we made a mistake by going Via local hiace which was awful experience. But in return we booked a car which was far better experience.

Will upload the pictures soon.

[tourist]

so you recommend Faisal Movers,
what was the time duration they have taken to reach Pindi (from Karachi), and how many stopover.

You'v paid little more for Naran to Babusar top as it should have considered 1 family instead of 2.

Thank you for sharing the details.

[pwuser151552279489]

Yes I do recommend Faisal Movers for sure.
Karachi to Pindi. 24 hours.
Pindi to Karachi. 22 hours. Maybe because of less traffic.

5 stopovers. Hyderabad, Moro, Sukkur, Sadiqabad and Motorway.

High roof was taking 4000rs to 5000rs. Whereas jeep tooked 7000rs and we were two families so it coasted us 3500rs. I think its quite reasonable during the peak days.

[pwuser151552279489]

About Faisal Movers

Well, going from Karachi to Pindi is quite a thinkable task to do.
You do have 3 options. Airplane (Which is quite costly), Train and Bus.

Train is quite a good option. But as we were 3 family members and each cabin has a capacity of 6 persons so that's why we don't prefer train as 3 unknown persons in a cabin would be quite uncomfortable for us.

Bus is also a very good option. We used Daewoo Express in the past when it was the best bus service but as everyone knows that now they are the worst bus service.

So we decided so use Faisal Movers. They have 3 categories. Simple small daewoo bus, Executive class Yutong bus and Executive Plus Class Yutong Bus.

We booked Executive Plus Class Yutong Bus which has sofa seats. 3 seats in a row. 2 on one side and 1 on the other side. I have shared the bus pictures already.

They took exact 24 hours from Karachi to Pindi and in return it took 23 hours.

They stopped 5 times. Hyderabad, Moro, Sukkur, Sadiqabad and Motorway.

They served refreshment for 2 times. Which was not that bad. Sharing the picture of one refreshment as well.
In other refreshments, they served one broast piece. And when coming from Pindi to Karachi they served Zinger Burger.

Moreover, each seat has a TV screen as well. They had Indian movies, English Movies, Cartoons, songs and Islamic content as well.

And the Pindi to Naran bus was quite good. It was Yutong Executive Bus. They served sadnwich and cake. And it had the TV Screen as well for every Seat.

[tourist]

Thank you for the details,
now we are waiting for the rest of the travelogue & photos.

[pwuser151552279489]

The beautiful Kalam <3

Kalam is one of the most beautiful Valleys of Pakistan. It is located in Swat and its 90 kilometer from Mingora.
The road from Mingora to Bahrain is too good and comfortable. But after that the from Bahrain to Kalam is in the worst condition now a days because of the construction. But as Kalam is worthy place to visit so these road conditions cannot stop us to visit. Whereas, by next year the road from Bahrain to Kalam will be constructed INSHALLAH and then it would be quite comfy and easy to travel Kalam.

Kalam has a Bazaar as well which is also known as Mall Road Kalam. The food is quite good their specially the Sajji and the Chapli Kababs. And you can do other shopping as well like their Shawls, handicrafts and so many other things as well. The good thing is that the food and other shopping items are quite reasonable as compare to Naran and Murree.

The people of Kalam are too nice. They do respect every guest and treat them with love. Each and every one of them will offer you the tea for free and will be quite happy to guide you for other areas.

There are lot and lot of hotels in Kalam now. You will get hotel in 1000rs to 10,000rs. Every category of hotel is available their. You just need to search little bit to get the hotel in your desired budget.

I will share the contact number of hotels and rent cars. I took the number from those who were too nice and were quite reasonable as well so that it will help other people who wish to go Swat.

[kn_khipk]

@pwuser151552279489 What a whirlwind trip! Wonderful! Anxiously waiting for more!

[sajid65]

Excellent Trip. MashaAllh. awaiting for more details....

[pwuser151552279489]

So after getting sleep and rest in Kalam, the next day we decided to go Mahodand Lake.
At 8 a.m I woke up and searched for the rent cars. Everyone was giving different rates. I found a guy names Khurshid and he asked 3500rs for the round trip for Mahodand lake. I booked him and then we left for Mahodand Lake.

While going towards Mahodand lake, their is a small forest known as Ushu Forest. Here is the view of that beautiful forest

There are small beautiful valleys as well while going towards the Mahodand Lake.
Here are the pictures of those as well.

[tourist]

beautiful photos,
keep going please...

[sirajturk]

Faisal Movers are charging a bit expensive
Kainat Travels Yutong Executive Class charging Rs. .3500/- in their 2 X 1 class and they offer 3 times meal as well as refreshment + tea in evening.

[pwuser151552279489]

The beautiful Ushu Valley

=======================================

While going towards the Mahodand lake, you will so many beautiful glaciers and waterfalls. And the amazing thing is that the locals are making Gola Gandas from those glaciers

There are a log of scenery while going towards Mahodand valley. And each and every place is a must stop place. The driver was too kind and good, he stopped at every place we asked him to stop. Here is the view of river where we stopped

Just look at this crystal clear water. This place is known as Chasma E Shifa. Its 20 minutes before the Mahodand lake. The people say that this water is the cleanest water which comes from the mountains and then cross the trees. Believe me, I haven't tasted that much clear and sweet water ever in my life.

[pwuser151552279489]

I checked Kainat travels. They don't have any 2x1 bus service. Its normal 2x2 yutong service.

[sirajturk]

Yes you are right ... My mistake

[pwuser151552279489]

So after we had great time at Kalam and Mahodand lake. We headed back to Mingora, then pindi and then Naran.

Kalam to Mingora. Fielder.
Mingora to Pindi. Faisal Movers
Pindi to Naran Faisal Movers.

We left at 9 a.m from Kalam. Did a short stop and did lunch at Bahrain. Reached Mingora at 3 p.m.
As our bus was at 7 p.m so we decided to take a short stop in a hotel. There are so many good hotels in Fizaghat. We stayed in Hotel Park Way Mingora. The manager Junaid is too good and he just took 500rs from us for 4 hours.

We left at 7 p.m for Pindi and reached Pindi at 12:30 a.m where our bus for Naran was waiting. We left Pindi at 1 a.m and reached Naran at 7:30 a.m.

As it was early morning so every hotel was full and they were not in a mood to rent out rooms before checkout time i.e. 12 p.m. So we waited in Pine Top hotel which has a really good sitting area. We did breakfast and then searched for the rooms. We booked a room in Diamond Hills Hotel in 4000rs. One double bed and 1 mattress which was enough for us.
Here is the view from our room.