July 2009 Trip to Rawalakot, Banjusa, Toli Pir

[imarshad]

Hi all,

To beat the heat of summer and the "Habas of July" we decided it was time to leave Islamabad and visit some hill station on the weekend. Main problem was to decide where to go for? After thinking for some days I decided that it has to be somewhere in Kashmir as I have never been to Kashmir before. My brother was arguing in favour of Muzzaffarabad and Pir Chinasi while I been inspired by the 2008 Tour of Banjusa by Pakwheels Islamabad team argued in favour of Rawalakot. So finally we decided in favour of Rawalakot ( Banjusa & Toli Pir).

Our journey begain on 11th July and we visited Rawalakot, Banjusa Lake and Toli Pir and returned on 12th July. So I want to share some information of the route and some pics of the beautiful places visted with all of you....

Our Ride:

We had a 2003 Model Honda City and a 2008 Model Mehran.

Route Info:

The route that we took was as follows

Islamabad - Kahuta (roughly 35 KM) and the road condition is just about above average. It took us 50 min. from Faizabad to Kahuta.

Kahuta - Azad Pattan (Roughly 31 KM). This part of road was the best of the tour. The road passes through the jungle and has quite a few bends but it is wide and the traffic load is also very low. So you will really enjoy the scenery as well as the drive. Approximate time is 40 min.

Azad Pattan - Rawalakot (35 KM) This is the worst part of the journey. Government is widening this road and construction is in full flow. For most part of this journey you will be driving without a metallic road. This road is definitely a car breaker. I think within an year this road will be completed and when it will be completed it will be very wide indeed. Approximate time is 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Rawalakot - Banjusa (17 KM) There are a few places where this road is damaged by water (rain etc.) but overall it is a quite good road to drive specially as you move away from Rawalakot. Approximate time is 40 min.

Rawalakot - Toli Pir (30 KM) This road should be divided into two parts. almost 10 KM from Rawalakot to Khaigala and then 20 KM from Khaigala to Toli Pir. The real fun starts from Khaigala onwards. The road is quite similar to the Kewai-Shogran road in Kaghan valley. The road is in excellent condition. It is a narrow road with some bends just as steep as the Pir Sohawa bends. Only 1st and 2nd gear driving. Excellent scenery all around.

[imarshad]

We started our tour at almost 0930 AM on 11th July.Reached Kahuta roughly 1030.

These pictures are from Kahuta to Azad Pattan. Excellent scenery and road condition.

Just outside Kahuta

Somewhere in between Kahuta and Azad Pattan

[parapilot]

Gr8 going. bombard this thread with pictures. Love to see them as I am planning to go to Rawalakot this weekend for flying.

Will try to visit Banjosa.

[accord7362]

very nice A++

[imarshad]

Decided to have a stay at Azad Pattan and enjoy the cold water of river Jehlum to beat the heat.

This is where we put our feet in the cold water and also washed our hands and faces. We stayed here for about an hour.

The river turns quite wild in this spot.

[imarshad]

Thanks parapilot & accord for the nice comments....

anyways here are some more of the river

[imarshad]

This is the picture of the bridge at river Jehlum near Azad Pattan. After this bridge the road is really in bad shape.

Following pics were taken enroute to Rawalakot. The road was so bad that I could not enjoy the scenery as I had to fully concentrate on the road ahead.

[imarshad]

After taking lunch and booking a hotel in Rawalakot we left for Banjusa at round about 4 PM ad reached there before 5 PM. The road was quite good after we left Rawalakot.

Some pictures of the Banjusa lake. It is a man made lake so unlike a natural lake its water is murky and not bluish or crystal clear as is expected of lakes. Furthermore our ros and sisters visiting have thrown ottles and polythene bags to make it look more dirty. But the scenes are astonishing at the lake with high mountains and lush green grass and trees surrouding the lake.

Following is the most common view of the lake. You can find this scenery on many post cards.

Viewing the lake through trees.

[imarshad]

We circumnavigated the lake and there were some stunning sceneries round the lake in the jungle.

[imarshad]

Still completing our trip round the lake.... another activity that can be done in Banjusa is to hike the mountains surrounding the lake. They are perfect for small scale hiking/tracking.

[DeeDee]

nice pics bro

[imarshad]

I will post the remaining pics later tonight or tomorrow Insha' Allah.

[imarshad]

View from our hotel terris in Rawalakot.

I think there is no cable service in Rawalakot so thats why almost every hotel had dish antennas installed on their roofs... You can see the antenna in our terris as well.

Our cars parking at the parking place of the hotel. (Blue Mehran and White Honda City)

[imarshad]

Again view from the terris. The tree in view is an apple tree. We ate quite a few apples from the tree.

Another view from the hotel terris. This time it shows the main road or rawalakot (Mang road).

This is where we took our dinner on saturday, breakfast on sunday and Lunch on sunday as well....

It was a very neat restaurant. Their speciality was Quetta Chicken Karahi. It was really delicious. Didn't tried their Biryani though.....

[imarshad]

Next starts our trip to Toli Pir. We wake up early in the morning and were ready at about 8 AM. We took our breakfast at Food Junction. Well it was a very light breakfast as we knew we will be going to Toli Pir and the way is quite zig zag. We took only Chai and some Bakar Khani/Fruit cake.

Within 25 minutes we reached Khaigala. It is from this point that we turn left for Toli Pir. Right turn will take us to Banjusa lake while going straight takes us to Hajeerah.

This is the point where the fun starts.....

[imarshad]

Started the journey upwards.... You can see Khaigala in the background.

[imarshad]

Following pictures were taken on our way up. This is really a very beautiful and scenic road.

[imarshad]

Still moving up and up and up......but the scenery is getting better and better and so is the temperature....

[imarshad]

Finally we reached the top.....

The actual spot is almost 1.5 KM away from the car parking shown below.... It is an easy 30 min. walk. Just the first few meters are difficult but then it settles into an easy walk..... Just started the walk with the parking area visible in the background.

[imarshad]

Just to show the steepness of the first few meters....