Umar bhai, Jeetay raho,
So nice to hear about your expeditions. I really admire the way you manage to move around. May Lord keep you and your family safe and blessed.
Yes, you are right, moving around with medium-condition tires in Ghizer or Yasin valley should not be troublesome.
No, I didn't share my trip to Europe at Pakwheels. Only shared a few pix at Facebook. You are right, sharing that trip with Pakweelers will be interesting. I shall try to sum up the details and the pix, some time in future.
In short, it all started from a 3-day official trip to Austria. I took 8 days ex-Pakistan leave (the maximum I could take at that time) and made it a 11 days trip. I chose Turkish Air that operates to Europe through Istanbul. Even, they offer one-day free stay-over at Istanbul for long-range travelers. I wanted to stay 4-5 days at Istanbul, so, that offer didn't work for me. Turkey, Austria and Czech Republic, all three are 90-days visa free countries for official passport holders from Pakistan. So I planned for these three countries. On the way out, I traveled directly from Islamabad to Vienna with plane changeover and 2 hours stay at Istanbul. After 3 days at Vienna, the next destination was Prague, traveling round trip by bus, cheap, comfortable and takes only 4 hours on one side. After reaching Vienna, again took 2 hour Turkish Air flight from Vienna to Istanbul. about 5 days stay at Istanbul. In that time, dedicated one day for flight from Istanbul to Konya and back. It was meant to recite "Fateha" at the shrines of Maulana Jalal-ud-Din Rumi and Dervesh Shams Tebrez. In Konya, also visited a 2000 old Greek town, now inhabited by Turks. The round-trip air ticket from Islamabad to Vienna and back costed Rs.108,000. Bus between Vienna and Prague costed 35 Euro for round trip. Reasonable hotels at Vienna and Prague cost about 60-70 Euro per night. In Istanbul, you can get the same quality hotel at about 45-50 Euro. These rates are with break-fast. I booked everything online and well in advance so I had plenty of choice. In Turkish Air, you can even choose the seat of your choice. Normal meals in Vienna and Prague range from 10 to 15 Euro. McDonald and Turkish restaurants are good choices. Normal meals in Istanbul were 5-8 Euro. Then on my way in, had flight from Istanbul to Islamabad directly.
I planned Quetta trip via Mianwali-DI Khan-Zhob-Qila Saif Ulla-Kachlak. This is safe route for family and for Punjabis, road is good and if traveling at good speed, can be covered in 12 hours. That's what I planned. Otherwise one can have mid-way night stay at DI Khan. At Quetta, there are two precautions: 1. Always wear shalwar-qameez 2. Never speak Punjabi at a public place or in front of others. I went to Quetta in 2006, by air, stayed for 3 nights at a hotel in Suraj-Ganj area and followed the same instructions.
Its good that you visited several nice places in last 3-4 months. Three years back I visited Astore and Deosai (up to Susar lake only) with family (as I already covered Deosai from Skardu side several years back). Wanted to visit Minimarg also but my family just raised their hands at Chillam Chowky on our way back from Deosai, so, I had to abandon the program and came back to Rama where we were staying at PWD rest house. I wanted to go to Tarashing side but didn't go. People in Astore are wonderful like Hunza and Ghizer valley. I really envy their peaceful, calm, clean and caring lifestyle.
Did you share detail of Lasdana/Haji Pir and Kumrat trips? If yes, let me know please.
Plan a winter trip for Cholistan, Interior Sindh and Karachi, if possible.
In February 2016, me and wife (my ow wife) had a week-long road trip. Islamabad- Khushab-Athara Hazari-Malu More- Multan- Bahawalpur -Fort Derawar-Uch-Sakkar-Kairpur- Hyderabad -Thatha-Makli-Kinchar lake-Karachi. On the way we saw a number of places. Night stay was at Bahawalpur and Sakkar. Then 4 nights at Karachi. On return we took a different route. Karachi-Hyderabad - Dadu -Manchar lake-Sehwan (Lal-Shahbaz)- Moenjodaro- Khairpur- Sadiqabad-Islamabad. This time only one night stay at Sadiqabad.
Best regards,
Dr Irshad Baloch