We booked seats on Skyways service from Lahore to Mansehra. Niazi was totally booked already.
Each ticket cost Rs.750
By the way, Niazi Express has built a fully operational brand new bus stand in Mansehra which is quite near to the location where N-15 meets Mansehra bypass.
We reached Mansehra around 6:30 a.m. The views were amazing in Abbottabad with low clouds. Same was the case around Mansehra but the best views were in Balakot area.
Nazir Shah had to join us from Islamabad and he was still in pindi when we reached Mansehra so we decided to continue to Balakot and do breakfast there.
We hired 2 taxis (Mehran) for Rs. 600 each for Mansehra - Balakot journey.
Since last night, news was all over the tv channels that Neelum valley road is closed which i confirmed twice till we reached Balakot and situation was still same and landslides were not cleared yet on Neelum Valley road.
Qari sahib was waiting for us in Balakot so we did breakfast, put the luggage in the jeep and started waiting for Shah ji.
He kept us waiting for 4 hours and finally we departed from Balakot around 11:40 a.m.
Reached Naran around 3 p.m. mainly due to one way traffic between Kaghan and Naran which was causing traffic jams.
There was no sign of fear due to recent killings and Naran was overloaded and overcrowded as usual.
We spent around 3 hours in Naran in order to find another jeep for a group of friends who were also on a separate tour but wanted to join us for Chitta Katha Lake trek only. They had reached Naran on their Cultus.
However, we were getting mixed news now about Nuri Top to Sharda patch. Some were saying that road is open, some said road is open but in bad shape and some said that road is now closed since last night.
The best way was to check ourselves but we were already tired enough so decided to reach Jalkhad today and then start the journey for Sharda tomorrow.
We advised the other group to do Dudipat Sar Lake instead as there was no guarantee that even if they crossed to Sharda somehow then may be they wont be able to come back to Naran to pick their car.
So, they took my advice and did Dudipat Sar Lake trek successfully 
While we left for Jalkhad and reached there around 7:30 p.m.
Night stay at Jalkhad Hotel where we got one room for Rs.1000
