To complete my travelogue, after having breakfast of parathas and eggs we packed our luggage and checked out from hotel. I asked the reception clerk about Neelawahan, he just stared at my face and said it is a crazy idea and we should not go. According to him it was 4-5 hours of tough walk and it was not possible to do it with family and he has seen many people cursing when they came back. However was still determined and took the road to Khushab. Thee weather was fabulous. We enjoyed brief drive through exquisite salt range area to reach the village from where tract starts. There are two parking lots run privately. You can park your car here and take the tract.
The tract itself is quite broad at the beginning but after some walking it narrows down and is fairly steep. The problem is that it bifurcates many times and one is not sure which branch to take. You can see the pond and hear the roaring water from quite a distance. At one of the bifurcations I tried to ask young girl of 10-12 who was grazing her cattle which way to take. But she was not sure. Twice I returned from the dead ends and ultimately when reached the ground level after negotiating through thorny bushes, we found ourselves at a dead end again. There was an abandoned place that looked like a old storage tank and to reach the pond we had to pass through thick reed. At this point my wife gave up and we had to turn back. Going uphill is a bit demanding but perfectly doable for anyone who is physically healthy. Though we were unable to reach the pond itself but enjoyed this excursion. Headed back to Kallar Kahar, my daughter had some fun with different rides and we were back to Lahore at about sunset time. Bit tired but brought back sweet memories of a nice trip.
