Kaghan Valley: Latest Updates for 2012 season

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rajafawadashraf (rajafawadashraf) 2012-06-10 05:53:55 +0500 #301

ansoo lake is still not accessible. The jeep and hotel rates are rising as more and more people are reaching there. There are a few water supply problems. So families may face some difficulties.

ifoo_786 (ifoo_786) 2012-06-11 02:09:56 +0500 #302

Me with my Friends Planing to go There next week Inshallah

moonraider (moonraider) 2012-06-11 03:46:21 +0500 #303

Too much RUSH in Naran like Murree is really a big TURN OFF though!!!!!!!

@Moj
good going brother..plz do share hotel rates and jeep rates for Information of fellows

@gowani
Good to see ur enthusiasm..U should enjoy at ur fullest but InshaAllah u will get other opportunities also..chill..

aesiege (aesiege) 2012-06-11 04:03:01 +0500 #304

Best of Luck for the trip bro

I just came back after a short trip to AJK and road is open and vehicles are moving on Kohala-MZF-Garhi Habibullah-Balakot road.

aesiege (aesiege) 2012-06-11 04:14:45 +0500 #305

gowani;3402070:

Brothers,
I will be on Naran on 16th of June with 2 of my friends. Our tour is 6 FULL days for the Naran/Kaghan. I have few targets for this trip like site seeing and a bit of Treking. I havent trek (and visited Naran) before. Can someone provide some suggestion for treking to dudipatsar. can I find a group of other friends who can help us out? Also, since we are on limited budget (and also the first visit), would it be more helpful if we can target some sort of tour travel guide....

Please help me out b/c I have already bought the tickets. and Pls once again (WE HAVE LIMITED BUDGET)

The reason I am targetting treking is b/c we dont know whether we can come again or not.........Remember (IN 6 DINO MAIN APNI PURI ZINDAGI JEENA CHAHTA HOON )

Any other suggestion would also help

thanks very much in advance...

For a start of your trekking career, trek to Malika Parbat base camp from Saif-ul-Muluk. It is a 2.5 hrs trek (one side) till base camp and will definitely be on snow.

2nd trek you can do from Paye jeep point to Paye Lake and further on the hills on the foot on Makra peak. Or u can trek to Manna Meadows from Paye which is also good for a start.

Some people also go to Saif-ul-Muluk from Naran on foot but that will be tough climb for a start.

Dudipat Sar trek will be over glaciers and lake will be frozen. Its a 2 day trek and u need camping and trekking gear which will increase the cost of the trip so drop it.

This thread will give you the idea of trek in these days:

https://www.pakwheels.com/forums/road-trips-vacations/141046-june-19-24-2010-sri-paye-naran-saif-ul-muluk-ansoo-lake-dudipat-sar-lake-trip

Since u have 6 days so u can easily visit all the locations in Kaghan Valley:

Kiwai
Shogran
Sri Paye
Manna Meadows
Kaghan
Naran
Saif-ul-Muluk
Lalazar
Jalkhad
Lulusar
Babusar (if open)
If crop is ready then Batakundi view is also amazing.

aesiege (aesiege) 2012-06-11 04:23:47 +0500 #306

m_azhar;3402386:

I was in Kaghan valley from 2nd June to 4th June with a night stay at lake saifulmalook on monday night (sunday evening). The jeep track to saifulmalook was cleared on said night. At that time , Aanso lake was not accessible.
I am going again on 15th June and still waiting for updates about access to Aanso lake.
Our group is of 5 persons and probable plan is:

- Leave Lahore at about 1 AM, 15th June by Bus.
- Departure to Abbotabad, Mansehra from Rawalpindi at 6:15 AM bus and reach Balakot by 10:45 AM.
- Departure from Balakot towards Naran at about 11:30 AM. (means to be finalized yet) and Reach Naran by 3:10 PM.
- Leave for saifulmalook by 4:30 PM by Jeep.
- Camping at lake saifulmalook.
- Leave for aanso lake by 6:15 AM, 16th June.
- Return to Naran, night stay at hotel.
- Departure from Naran for Lalazar, Lulusar lake.............. at 5:30 AM, 17 th June,inshallah on Jeep.
- Reach Lalazar at about 7 AM and departure a t about 8 AM.
- Reach Jalkhad at about 10:15 AM. (sight seeing margin added)
- Reach Babusar pass at about 1:45 PM.
- Reach Babusar village at about 3 PM.
- Return to Lulusar lake for camping. Inshallah reach Lulusar lake at about 6 PM. Night stay in camp.
- Leave for Besal at 5:30 AM insahallah on 18th June.
- Reach Besal and leave for Dudipatsar lake via mulla di basti at about 7 AM.
- Reach Dudipatsar lake at about 3 PM inshallah. Camping and night stay.
- Leave for Saral lake at about 5:30 AM inshallah on 19th June.
- Night stay at saral lake.
- Leave for noori top at about 5:30 AM inshallah on 20th June.
From noori top the option of returning to Jalkhad or going to Shardah is depnding on the status of track availability for jeeps. Otherwise camp at noori top
- Leave from Noori Top to Kala Sar via Noori Lake at about 5:30 AM on 21st June. Camp at Kala sar.
- Leave from Kala Sar to Ratti gali Lake on 22nd June. Camp at ratti gali lake.
- Ratti Gali to Dawarian. and back towards Rawalpindi-Lahore on public transport on 23rd June.

Any recommendations on routes or on plan changes are welcome.

First of all, i wish Luck for your trip

Go through this thread in detail including the information provided. It coincides with your dates and trip plan.

https://www.pakwheels.com/forums/road-trips-vacations/141046-june-19-24-2010-sri-paye-naran-saif-ul-muluk-ansoo-lake-dudipat-sar-lake-trip

Nuri Top will not be accessible by jeeps and u will have to do considerable trekking on snow to reach the top.

Dudipat to Saral may not be possible due to snow on Saral pass. Again check my thread as i had same plans in that trip.

Nuri Top to Ratti Gali will not be possible due to same reason.

conflicted (conflicted) 2012-06-11 04:26:22 +0500 #307

when seral gali will be crossable????

aesiege (aesiege) 2012-06-11 04:32:31 +0500 #308

Yaar i visited Dudipat on 23rd June 2010 and this guy crossed Saral pass on 7th July same year with lots of snow.

Check this out.

https://www.pakwheels.com/forums/road-trips-vacations/143668-bhesal-dudipat-saral-surgan-ajk

Since, u r experienced enough so crossing Saral pass with snow shouldn't be a problem but better to attempt somewhere in July.

pakistanibandah786 (pakistanibandah786) 2012-06-11 07:00:13 +0500 #309

Sir @aesiege...Many Thanks brother for the useful tip...I have been delayed due to arrival of some family from abroad...so inshaAllah the plan is around 22nd/23rd June...hopefully by then BabuSar Top etc will be accessible by jeeps also..but you have given me a good option again...:))) I am never the one for sticking to one option...always good to have more than one :))..

pakistanibandah786 (pakistanibandah786) 2012-06-11 07:05:01 +0500 #310

aesiege;3354420:

A.A. PWers

Update 6 - 31 May 2012: by fellow PWers

Update 8 - 5 June 2012:

- Cars are easily reaching Naran now as road is completely clear between the glaciers.
- Saif-ul-Muluk road is now open for jeeps. Yesterday, first jeep reached at the lake for this season.
- Lalazaar is accessible by jeeps now
- Besal and Lulusar Lake is accessible by jeeps now.
- Babusar Top pass is still closed and work is in progress.
- Nuri Top pass is still closed.

Update 9 - 6 June 2012: by fellow PWer "MultaniTraveler"

- Completed Shogran to Makra Peak Track on last Sunday. Road from Kiwai to shogran is under maintenance. However, all types of vehicles can go to Shogran.

Update 10 - 9 June 2012: by fellow PWer "Moj"

- I am in Naran right now, weather seems to be perfect ! Visited saif ul malook and lulusar lake. Road to Babusar top is still not clear. Same is the noori top condition. As per the locals road to Babusar top will open in 4-5 days. Boating at Saif ul malook is closed by local govt, not sure about the reason. The crowd is building up and I am sure in a week or two this place will be like murree. Hotel + jeep rates also inflating. Do bring along a lot of warm clothes as when it rains the weather gets really freezing. Good luck everyone !

Mobeen

Bhai saheb....excellent tip and Thanks a bunch to ALL contributors...just a suggestion that perhaps we can just dump the May updates and shorten the message to include June only...but this is just a suggestion to save space and 'scroll time'...Regards

aesiege (aesiege) 2012-06-11 14:28:41 +0500 #311

Thx for the suggestion dost

I think its necessary to keep this timeline so that people should know when different events usually occur. This can help for future plans as well.

pakistanibandah786 (pakistanibandah786) 2012-06-11 15:05:30 +0500 #312

You are right actually ....never looked at it that way...

Sir, any report/update on road conditions to Sharan??

engineermali (engineermali) 2012-06-11 17:26:50 +0500 #313

great updates ....... keep them coming

deadman78 (deadman78) 2012-06-12 02:24:11 +0500 #314

How safe is to carry a notebook with you on Kaghan Naran tour specially when a person in a daytime visiting the scenic places and he put his notebook in the Hotel Room how safe it is in this scenario, does Hotel takes full responsibility in taking and making sure that all the stuff of the visiting persons remains safe and sound during his absense like notebook and clothes but specially notebook etc, as I just get my New HP Pavilion DV6 Notebook yesterday and I want to keep that with me during Naraan Tour so what you guys suggest should I keep that notebook with me for pics transferring and stuff should it be taken care of by the hotel management please suggest all the experienced persons who had that experience of taking their notebooks with them.

Moj (Moj) 2012-06-12 03:07:26 +0500 #315

I stayed at Sarhad Tourism Corporation Motel. Rooms were in good condition and washrooms were very clean. i paid 2200/day for a double room but i guess the rates are increasing everyday. Secondly try reaching naran on thursday as over the weekend the hotel owners start charging more. Jeeps are charging 2000 for Shogran to sri paye, 2000 for Naran to saif ul malook, 2000 for naran to lalazar and 4000-5000 for lulusar lake.

Moj (Moj) 2012-06-12 03:11:27 +0500 #316

these days there is a petrol strike going on in punjab and KPK. I would recommend everyone to ensure that you carry petrol supply along with you in some jerrycan. I came back from Naran on 10th June and i could not find any petrol supply from Naran till Abbotabad. Even in Abbotabad there was a extremely long queue ( must be over 2 kms) and you have to wait like 2-3 hours and the maximum you can get is 1000 petrol. So please make sure you take care of this issue !!!

Moj (Moj) 2012-06-12 03:12:51 +0500 #317

Stay at a good place or if possible carry a backpack and carry your laptop in it. Though i dont see any problem in leaving your stuff back in your hotel room subject to you are staying at a good place.

Addy346 (Addy346) 2012-06-12 03:19:20 +0500 #318

@All, Can you recommend some good and economical hotels for family in Shogran other than Pine Hotel

deadman78 (deadman78) 2012-06-12 03:36:47 +0500 #319

So it means that there is still a possibility of missing stuff in any hotel in Naran or it's not that same also did you carry notebook with you on naran tour yet, and other members having the exp of carrying notebook please share your suggestions also I am looking after those also with pleasure.

And dude thanks for your suggestion highly appreciated

gowani (gowani) 2012-06-12 05:00:02 +0500 #320

Thanks @moonraider and @aesiege

aesiege;3404187:

For a start of your trekking career, trek to Malika Parbat base camp from Saif-ul-Muluk. It is a 2.5 hrs trek (one side) till base camp and will definitely be on snow.

2nd trek you can do from Paye jeep point to Paye Lake and further on the hills on the foot on Makra peak. Or u can trek to Manna Meadows from Paye which is also good for a start.

Some people also go to Saif-ul-Muluk from Naran on foot but that will be tough climb for a start.

Dudipat Sar trek will be over glaciers and lake will be frozen. Its a 2 day trek and u need camping and trekking gear which will increase the cost of the trip so drop it.

This thread will give you the idea of trek in these days:

https://www.pakwheels.com/forums/road-trips-vacations/141046-june-19-24-2010-sri-paye-naran-saif-ul-muluk-ansoo-lake-dudipat-sar-lake-trip

Since u have 6 days so u can easily visit all the locations in Kaghan Valley:

- Kiwai
- Shogran
- Sri Paye
- Manna Meadows
- Kaghan
- Naran
- Saif-ul-Muluk
- Lalazar
- Jalkhad
- Lulusar
- Babusar (if open)
- If crop is ready then Batakundi view is also amazing.

I know its a silly question but still I want to ask this...

I have never been to sawat, Kashmir (Neelam Valley), Hunza-Gilgit-Chitral and Naran Kaghan.....

Now considering this is my first visit to the Norther Areas,what should I target (by considering the following things)

a. I want to see lush site seeing (mountains with lakes and greenries).

b. Since my budget is limited and some of the areas (like Naran/Kaghan) are (or will be) full of crowds...you know rates would be high for everything (jeeps, food, hotels). Also, the Enjoyment could be a bit low as well due to rush.

c. some of the lush green areas are still blocked (babusar pass to fairymeadows....yes there is alternate but long route)

d. I have only 6-7 days

Now consiering the above things, If I can only manage to increase my budget from 3K (ISL to Naran) to 12K (ISL-gilgit fokker return tickets), would it be a good idea to visit those lush green fields...I might still be saving from other things you know (less tourist ==> less jeep fares, less hotel fares, cheap foods etc etc etc)...
Any other ideas (like Neelam valley or FairyMeadows) are also welcomed.

(Please share your thoughts as I am coming to lahore on 16th june (from karachi) at 10am to start my journey onwards).

Thanks very much to all for your time.