Welcome to Day 2 
Like all previous years, it was raining on 14th August 
We packed the luggage and loaded on the jeeps while breakfast was getting ready. Shangla water stream was getting ferocious in the morning as compared to smooth flow last night. And, my new friends declared that it was flood in the area
We took breakfast and left Besham in light rain around 8 a.m. We were stopped after one hour by police on a checkpost to join a convoy. But then they let us go after 15 min and we continued our journey in rain.
At the time of leaving Besham, we got the news that KKH was blocked before Besham towards Mansehra side due to landslide last night. So, traffic was very low and we were slowly moving through the curves of KKH in continuous rain.
All waterfalls, streams and seasonal water channels were active and KKH had a totally different look with low floating clouds all around.
We only stopped for 15 min at a waterfall between Pattan and Dasu to have some quick shots and then continued our ride on KKH.
Another brief stop was made in Dasu to purchase snacks and then we took third break at Sammar nallah.
By the time, we reached Sammar nallah, the rain had stopped and we saw blue sky again. We resumed the journey around 2 p.m. and only stopped in Chilas for jeep work.
It was 20 min break and we were running out of time. Bad weather and extra slow drive by our jeep drivers had caused us to be lagging behind the schedule by atleast 2 hours.
By the time we reached Astore bridge, it was maghrib time. We observed astonishing sunset before leaving KKH with beautiful golden views of snow-capped peaks of Lower Karakoram.
The rest of the journey was done in dark on badly affected Astore road. There were lots of landslides and way was temporarily made through the landslides. But now main road was being used instead of diversion.
We reached Astore around 9 p.m. and then continued journey to PTDC Rama in dark. It was a bit struggle to find the correct person for asking the way to Rama but finally we found a forest officer who described the way ahead to perfection and we easily reached PTDC Rama by 10 p.m.
We had booking of 2 rooms in PTDC Rama but they had one room short. We ordered dinner and in the meanwhile room issue was resolved. So, we shifted to the rooms after dinner and went to sleep. It was a very tiring day with 14 hours of jeep drive and everyone wanted to fall into beds.
Room rate was Rs.3,200 per room.
By now Mubeen Amjad was not feeling well and he opted to sleep in the morning while group will visit Rama Lake.
Night stay at PTDC Rama in Astore
