AoA
Me and and 3 friends of mine (total 4) are planning to visit the northern areas right after Eid or may be a week after Eid. The two places that we really want to visit are Saif ul Maluk lake and Babusar top. As none of us is well aware of the current situation of those places, we need your valuable feedback on a number of things.
First, let me tell u guys that we have an option of a few cars to select from for this trip. A new swift, new city, new corolla and my rust old City idsi. Since my own car is too old and also a bit under powered, I am inclined towards the new city. corolla may have some advantage due to road clearance but its brakes are not reliable and its not that stable over all, swift is good too but only a little trunk. City is the most probably choice.
First things first.....you need to be very careful with the weather as it is the rainy season. On a rainy day, some jeep drivers will refuse to go to the hill stations and even if they agree, it will be both dangerous and less fun (who likes to get all muddy or not even be able to sit on the grass..or worse, no views because of cloud overcast).
Last time I went to Nanga Parbat base camp and high camp, we wen't to the Meteorological dept. to get an update on weather conditions. They were quite helpful and gave us a nice window of good weather. Or, visit their website http://pmd.gov.pk/ for details.
The plan is: Day 1 Sargodha to Naran, 11 hours drive. Day 2 Visit to saif ul maluk Day 3: Visit to babusar top Day 4: back to Sargodha or may be lahore to drop a friend. Now here are a few questions that i have.
Plan seems OK...if possible find some time to visit Siri Paye...its a side branchout on your way after balakot on your way to Naran at a point known as kiwai. You can go till Shogran on car and then hire jeep to go to siri paye and back. It terms of beauty, its much better than Naran, Saiful Muluk or Babusar (in my opinion, and on a clear day).
1) Is Honda city the right choice for what's waiting for us there?
If you have the choice, go for Corolla...much better choice then City. It will be more comfortable and give better ground clearance. Its no fun if your plan is hindered by your car or if your car gets scrapping from the underbelly. There are some area (very short ones) where you will wish you had a Corolla rather than a City. A city sometimes even scraps some speed breakers in Islamabad/Pindi because of its ground clearance. There are spots where a glacier is crossing the road and other spots where the road has been washed away so a Corolla is definitely a better choice.
Power and brakes are no issue as people come on Mehran too. I have personally driven there on my Cultus and Corolla brakes are definitely better than any suzuki. Not saying a City cannot go, but you might end up touching the bottom side of your car 3-5 times.
2) How bad are the roads? I've been told that up to Naran, roads are good enough for almost any car. after Naran, the only way to Saif ul Maluk would be hired jeeps (is there safe parking available for our cars?) and that's what we ll do. our real concern is the road conditions from Naran to Babusar top, which is around 65 km up north. I have done some research and visited a few threads made by fellow Pakwheelers, there ARE some patches on this road that I am concerned about but they are not too bad. I saw a 9th gen corolla and a 9th gen civic driven through those patches too, so our City should be just fine, am i right?
As mentioned above, a city or Civic can and do go there but always a risk of the underneath of the car touching. A suzuki or a Toyota is preferable. Siri Paye (if you decide to go) and Saif-ul-Muluk is totally jeep track and no car can go there (in sane conditions). Babusar is doable on your car (with high ground clearance) but strictly not advisable as the road condition after (near) Lulusar lake is uncarpeted with bumps and ridges. Better to hire a jeep. Plus, if you plan with the same jeep guy your tours, you'll be able to get a deal for multiple days.
3) Is it safe overall? i mean the security situation? last year there was some trouble in the area.
Its generally safe overall. There have been incidents in the past near lulusar or babusar of robbery, especially when travelling alone and at odd hours. Some policemen might try to convince you (at the checkpoint after Naran), as they did to us on more than one occasion, to accompany you for "your safety". We feel safe if there are no police around and declined the offer. Do not plan to go at odd hours (like late evening) or be careful if you want to spend the night (camp) at lulusar. This information is just to warn you to be careful of your surroundings, not to scare you off. Its still quite safe out there and these unfortunate incidents are still not so frequent.
4) How many hours round trip should it be from Naran to Saif ul Maluk and from Naran to Babusar top and back? do we need one complete day for these two or will we have some spare time? if we do have spare time, please suggest some nearby places worth visiting (we don't want to walk too much though :P)
Naran-Saif-ul-Muluk can be done in half day but there is nothing close by to "merge on this day". The trip to Babusar can be combined with Lulusar lake (actually its on the road) and with Lalazar (another spot after Naran. Its a meadows though not as beautiful as Siri Paye.
If you leave early morning (for babusar) You'll be back by 2.30-3.00 (unless you go to lalazar). Spend some time along the river behind the PTDC hotel and relax. A good tour is about relaxing and site-seeing not squeezing too many locations where you do not spend some quality time.
5) Is petrol easily available? in one post i read that there were long queues on petrol pumps and they were giving only 1000 rs worth of fuel to each car. we can take along some fuel in a large container if that's the situation.
Get your car filled up near Mansehra before branching out for Balakot and you won't need to refill (wont be more than 250 km return from there. Petrol is usually available in Balakot and Naran but why take the chance. After EID there is a lot of rush so no one knows if/when they can run out of petrol. But like I said, you wont even need it if you get filled in Abbottabad or near Mansehra.
6) Since we have to stay there for 2 or 3 nights, what is the avg price of hotel rooms per night? can 4 guys stay in 1 room or we ll have to get two rooms? We want to keep accommodation budget to stay reasonably low. Not that we'd sleep on wet beds in smelly rooms but we don't want to spend too much on it. We can even drive further north or stay somewhere before Naran if its needed. and what about our meals? We don't want bad stomach after having bad food but none of us can cook our own food! Any suggestions?
Overnight stay can be a problem during rush season so it totally depends on the rush there. Same room that are available at Rs 1500/night might be Rs. 3500/night. If possible book with PTDC and avoid the hassle. Most hotels will give you an extra matress (or two in this case) at a little extra cost. When I went 2 yrs ago, room rate at naran (it was high reason during festival and lots of rush) was around Rs. 3000/night for a just OK room (not those attractive looking hotel but clean with warm water and an extra matress included). The good looking hotels will be Rs. 4000/ and above probably. As soon as you reach Naran, get a room for the 2-3 nights you want. I am saying this because the same room rate will continue increasing as you approach Maghrib and people are still arriving.
Maybe some one who recently went there can comment better
7) Any driving tips? I ll be doing most of the driving on the mountains and i plan to reduce the air in tires for better traction. any other way that we have to prepare the car? other then the usual checkups and top ups before any road trips?
8) What travelling gear should we take along, if any needed? we aren't doing trails n stuff but off course, its not like visiting Pir Sohawa in Islamabad. is it too cold even in these days?
Its not "too cold" but do keep a sweater just in case it rains as the mercury can suddenly drop. In sunshine, you can visit perfectly in T-shirt. Chips/cold drinks are bit expensive so get them from Mansehra. Also do not forget your chargers, 3-way plugs, memory cars, extra batteries, etc and other things you may need. Food is OK and a variety of places where you can get it.
Driving is an important part...keep the revs low during climbing to avoid heating up. If needed there are several streams along the way, where you can cool your car. I went on a cultus, drove reasonable and never needed it.
Descending is very important. Keep low gears to control your speed rather than using brakes all the time. Brake discs get heat up easily by inexperienced drivers and you will suddenly encounter your brakes are failing/not working properly. Remedy is to park by the side of the road ( preferably not near a blind turn) and let them cool. However, avoid using brakes all the time and rely on low gears for your speed.
Similarly, some people have the habbit of using the clutch every time they brake and the smell of the clutch plate is not uncommon in different cars. Again, a clutch is used to change gears and not every time you brake. While parking on a slope, use both hand brake and put the car in gear. In extreme slopes (e.g. on your way to Shogran) if you decide to stop and take pictures, you might want to put some rocks behind the tyres, let the car idle so it is stopped by these rocks on then put your handbrake and put it in gear. This way, you prevent the stress on your handbrake/gear.
It goes without saying that you must do any necessary tuning/maintenance of your car before you go there (engine oil, clutch plate, brake fliud, etc) if there is a need.
9) Any other tips of any kind will be much appreciated.
Please for the love of God, respect the land and the place and do not abuse it. Aapka aur hamara barapun is me hai k hum apna litter (plastic bags, cans, etc) aik shopper me rakh ker le aye and dispose them properly rather than through it out of the windows of your car. Only uncivilized, illiterate and uncultured people do that. Please take than as a personal request and also convince your friends on that. Let the youth and educated people take the lead in keeping our country and environment clean, even if it is a small step by 4 friends....Thank you.
If you know anyone who can help or has been there recently, please tag them here. Thank you.
Regards
Ahmad Bilal
