Guest House to Guest House

asifcae (asifcae) 2017-10-21 11:45:46 +0500 #1

sallam Pakwheelers:

well the topic might remind u of the fabulus TV show by Rauf Khalid (May he rest in Peace) but its a different story here altogether.... I had been to Ban Karor 8-9 years ago and fell in love with that place. since then i had alwayz wanted to revisit but koi bahan nai ban ra tha,..... untill my friend and travel companion Arslan Mirza shared info about the existence of Several British Era Forest guest houses in the region.... this really caught my attention as some of these buildings were really rewatding as far as photography and location was concerned and the fact that being so close to main roads how they eluded travellers.... so we chalked out a day trip plan to cover 7 such guest houses in Murree region. the following were the guest houses visited in order with some details:

1- Lehtrar Forest Guest House:
located in lehtrar town just a few meters from main road, this rest house was built in the late 1800s and still is in good shape.... its probably operational as well with a guard (who was asleep when we reached there early morning). it has one main building with two rooms and a few side rooms. on our way to this place we stopped over at Neela Sand as well which was to my expectation dispaointing coz of all the trash spread all over... i did manage one odd pic there.......

2- Chawan Forest Guest House:
it is loacted in Karor and was build in 1888 at a cost of Rs.5800 and it was reconstruted in 1968 so its in a good condition and is also operational.... its pronounciation is the punjabi word chaoon (shade) its actually the plural of that.... so its like Shades Forest Guest House....

3- Surba Forest Guest House:
This was the most offraod and exiting place to c in the whole trip... a 8 km track down from karor to surba village through lush pine forest followed by a 10 mins walk takes one to this forgotten Forest Guest House. there are no ppl around and its a totaly unoerational place... but it provides excellent views and a stream near by maes it a good camong spot... this guest house was built in 1926-27. approach is from Retahigali bazar on ban karor road. on way one can also c the simli dam lake.

Karor Forest Watch Tower:

after surba we joined the main ban karor road towards Ban where we stopped to visit the famous forest watch tower of Ban Karor. it was a rewarding site with butiful views of forested surroundingsd and a peaceful breeze. the tower is in good shape and safe for visit... but its not a place for kids as one mite fall off so caution is advised....

4- Ban Forest Guest House:

Ban forest rest house was constructed in 1905-1906. and is still in good shape... its has a bigger complex but did not seem an operational and open to visitors place anymore....its initial cost of construction was Rs.1875. one has to travel abt 0.5 kms on narrow road from main Ban Karor road to reach there.....

5- Patriata Forest Guest House:
located at patriata top this guest hiuse was constructed in 1913-14 at a cost of Rs3600. its has been renovated and is in operation because of the many visitors that visit this place... its booked from forest dept Lahore and charges are 2000 per night per room.... its a good place to stay rather than stay in patriata lower and gilyat..... it was well maintained overall. but does not have the touch of an old building anymore.....

6- Charehan Forest Guest House:

built in 1911-13 this guest house is no more there... its building was destroyed (reason unknown) and a hotel is being constructed there.. its loacted on muree dual carrigeway in pristine forest.. location is good but the new hotel under PTDC will not bring back the grace and buti of the original building...

7- Sambli Forest Guest House:

located on Murree Expressway in Sambli Town this guest house was built in 1920. at a cost of Rs4075. since then it was in bad shape but then taken over by KRL and made office.. so its not allowed to be visited although a good buiding exists there....