An attempt to explore the Sharda, Taobat, Shounter and Areng Kel

[emmaar]

these pics doing justice with Taobat...paisay poray ho ga-a

You are very right brother. Na sirf paisay pooray hovey, Balke hum bohat faeday mein hi rahay!

[emmaar]

Last shot of Taobat!

Army check post at a near by top towards Tuc Shop.

[emmaar]

We left Taobat Ar 14:00 and reached about 18:00 to Kel.
Here are some shots which we captured from Halmat to Sardari

We stayed at Neelum Guest house in main bazar of kel adjacent to Lari Adda. Taken lunch at Pak Kashmir Hotel(Jeewan Chacha ka hotel). Finalized our next day's plan for Shounter and then went for sleep.

[imarshad]

Zabardast pictures.... Specially of Upper Taobut... We missed it the last time we went to Taobut.
Also about Mehran going to Taobut/Kel...... I think people underestimate Mehran. It has a good ground clearance and this is all that is required on this track. I have taken my Mehran twice to Kel (Once in July 2010 and then again in June/July 2012 just 2 days after your visit)... I also met a newly wed couple on honeymoon in Kel who went to Taobut on their Alto...

[imarshad]

Yes, its DoMail!

A Closer look of Domail

Neelum is converging into Jhelum and withdrawing its identity to have a separate name after this point. From our point of view, its just starting point of neelum and beyond this point, there is neelum, neelum and only neelum.

I don't think it is converging of river Jehlum and river Neelum. This picture is of river Jehlum meeting river Kunhar. The name of this place is Rahra and it is just a few KM before Muzaffarabad. Neelum and Jehlum rivers meet in the Muzaffarabad city (Near the Quaid-e-Azam bridge....

[emmaar]

I don't think it is converging of river Jehlum and river Neelum. This picture is of river Jehlum meeting river Kunhar. The name of this place is Rahra and it is just a few KM before Muzaffarabad. Neelum and Jehlum rivers meet in the Muzaffarabad city (Near the Quaid-e-Azam bridge....

Yes brother, you seems utmost right. Thanks for correction and I'll also correct this in the actual post.

[emmaar]

Zabardast pictures.... Specially of Upper Taobut... We missed it the last time we went to Taobut.
Also about Mehran going to Taobut/Kel...... I think people underestimate Mehran. It has a good ground clearance and this is all that is required on this track. I have taken my Mehran twice to Kel (Once in July 2010 and then again in June/July 2012 just 2 days after your visit)... I also met a newly wed couple on honeymoon in Kel who went to Taobut on their Alto...

Thanks dear for your liking and many times visiting to this thread.
From many aspects Mehran is better for this track. e.g ground clearance as u mentioned and maintenance cost is also low in case of any repairer etc.

[emmaar]

Early morning after getting our breakfast from Jeean Hotel we started our route to Shounter. For this purposes we have to reach at shounter nalla (about 2km trek). Crossed it by wooden bridge and then look for a jeep to go there.
Kel Bazar

A general store/fruit shop in Kel Bazar

A sign board indicating distances of some places at the end of Kel Bazar. Where is Shounter? not here but we are going to Shounter

[HotEngine]

the more i see it the more interesting it gets, specially the way the houses are made; its amazing no doubt, wonderful. . . good to see more and more of the pictures.

nicely taken

[emmaar]

the more i see it the more interesting it gets, specially the way the houses are made; its amazing no doubt, wonderful. . . good to see more and more of the pictures.

nicely taken

It is a wonderful art to make such houses and a an art gets its perfection when it is widely accepted and admired.
In shounter Valley, you will see some different sorts of houses than in Neelum Valley.

[emmaar]

We reached at Shounter nalla. Crossed the nalla via this wooden bridge.

We have known earlier that only few jeeps were available on the other side of the Nala, so on most of the time you found difficulty to plan for shounter. The only available jeep at that time was already packed. We took a solid decision then to go with the party.
Have a look on our ride

On the way, another passing by jeep to kel

What could we expect from such a ride? It became out of order at Lower Domail and we have to wait for about an hour there.

[aesiege]

^^ Are they following 7 a.m. departures from Kel as mentioned in another thread or u can find jeeps during the day also??

[emmaar]

^^ Are they following 7 a.m. departures from Kel as mentioned in another thread or u can find jeeps during the day also??

There is no fixed time, if jeeps are available then it go early otherwise they wait for more passengers to pack them into the jeep. Normally every jeep driver complete one round trip to shounter. After 14:00 we can hardly get a jeep for either side. We went for Shounter as a passengers(Rs 180/head) like others but after reaching at shounter we convinced the driver for return journey. We have a good bargain of Rs 3000 for back journey only and reached Kel before evening.
It is my advice, if you able to get a free jeep for your own then it will be a better choice to avoid a hectic journey on this route. Other wise go as a passenger and do as we did in return journey.

[imarshad]

We reached at Shounter nalla. Crossed the nalla via this wooden bridge.

Since you have crossed this bridge can a motorbike cross this wooden bridge or is it too dangerous? I am planning a Bike trip to Neelum valley with my office colleagues and if we can cross this on bike we may also include Shonter in our plan.....

[emmaar]

Got some free time during jeep stappage for repair
Flowers of lower Domail

[emmaar]

@ imarshad. yes you can cross this bridge on bike with some care. Also to go Shounter on bike is also a great challenge.

[emmaar]

Some more flowers of Lower Domail

[HanifBhatti]

Excellent coverage (Y)

I stayed 2 nights in this area and that was not enough, one should stay at least 4 to 5 days to see the beauty of Neelum Valley.

[emmaar]

Excellent coverage (Y)

I stayed 2 nights in this area and that was not enough, one should stay at least 4 to 5 days to see the beauty of Neelum Valley.

Sir, Your presence in this thread made my day and your appreciation is more than enough.
Sir, we also felt that you did spend a very less time in the Valley and Neelum Valley requires a much more time to show its beauty. We missed Upper Taobat, Areng Kel and Shounter a lot in your thread.

[HanifBhatti]

Sir, Your presence in this thread made my day and your appreciation is more than enough.
Sir, we also felt that you did spend a very less time in the Valley and Neelum Valley requires a much more time to show its beauty. We missed Upper Taobat, Areng Kel and Shounter a lot in your thread.

Shounter... road was closed, Areng Kel... had no time to take a 2 hour walk uphill, missed Upper Taobutt too.. Next time it will be a weeks trip, InshAllah