Malam Jabba Trip for family 2+2kids (under 4)

[kahmr78]

hi guys, can fellow PW members guide me about PROS and CONS of Malam Jabba trip

1) in Winter
2) in Summer

for a family of four incl 2 kids under 4 yr age on a JDM 1.5 Fielder

what are the Do'es and Dont's

[asifcae]

u can go easily in summers. no issues there

in winters u mite not be able to go all way in ur car coz of snow so u will need jeep etc.....

[talhawaleed]

Just came back from Malam Jabba on Sunday 3[SUP]rd[/SUP]-Feb-13 on Corolla and accompanied by a jeep. No problems, its recommended, no safety issues as place is very heavily guarded by Army, Roads are cleared by Army Bulldozers after every snow fall. Its basically a skiing resort so Army makes sure that people able to make it even in coldest of the reason. Cars can easily go there and if there is snowfall then locals offers snow chain for as low as Rs 500 which makes it very easy to take you car up. As precaution, just buy a heater which can run on kerosene oil and extra electric water boiling equipment. As heaters and geezers available at the resort may prove ineffective because of swear cold and with children, you have to be careful and guarantee the comfort level.

[kahmr78]

Just came back from Malam Jabba on Sunday 3[SUP]rd[/SUP]-Feb-13 on Corolla and accompanied by a jeep. No problems, its recommended, no safety issues as place is very heavily guarded by Army, Roads are cleared by Army Bulldozers after every snow fall. Its basically a skiing resort so Army makes sure that people able to make it even in coldest of the reason. Cars can easily go there and if there is snowfall then locals offers snow chain for as low as Rs 500 which makes it very easy to take you car up. As precaution, just buy a heater which can run on kerosene oil and extra electric water boiling equipment. As heaters and geezers available at the resort may prove ineffective because of swear cold and with children, you have to be careful and guarantee the comfort level.

oh thats so relieving to know that Malam Jabba is accessible even in worst and harsh of the weathers e.g. SNOW and extreme winter

could u pls share more details of ur trip and who accompained you. and how much was the cost of fuel and what ROUTE did u take from pindi / isb onwards? will it help if i put SNOW TIRES on my fielder (the ones that come from Japan with it). pls do guide in detail about what roads to take and follow on and off KKH and motorways or GT roads as i have no idea about Malam JAbba access thru roads. do u get SNOW BLOCKED if it snows for days? as last spell of snow might b comming in a few days. how much do the hotels cost and skii'ing facilities fair? how much TIME does it take to Travel from pindi / isb? what sort of FOOD items do u have to take as precaution? and thnx for the tip about K2 heater and electric kettle and nice to know that LOCALS are so freindly. any other useful tips would defo help..

pls any1 else who has done this trip b4 in FEB/ MAR ... pls share ur pics and personal experiences .. much appriciated

[talhawaleed]

oh thats so relieving to know that Malam Jabba is accessible even in worst and harsh of the weathers e.g. SNOW and extreme winter

could u pls share more details of ur trip and who accompained you. and how much was the cost of fuel and what ROUTE did u take from pindi / isb onwards? will it help if i put SNOW TIRES on my fielder (the ones that come from Japan with it). pls do guide in detail about what roads to take and follow on and off KKH and motorways or GT roads as i have no idea about Malam JAbba access thru roads. do u get SNOW BLOCKED if it snows for days? as last spell of snow might b comming in a few days. how much do the hotels cost and skii'ing facilities fair? how much TIME does it take to Travel from pindi / isb? what sort of FOOD items do u have to take as precaution? and thnx for the tip about K2 heater and electric kettle and nice to know that LOCALS are so freindly. any other useful tips would defo help..

pls any1 else who has done this trip b4 in FEB/ MAR ... pls share ur pics and personal experiences .. much appriciated

Yes, off-course it will help if you will put snow tires. Point is if it is snowing and forecast of snowfall then this will help you otherwise the route is immediately cleared for traffic by Army. There will be snow on roadside but otherwise you will find a clear road. In worst case scenario, if there is snow fall the locals are available with snow chains so you can offer them something around 500 and they will accompany you till up with snow chains. CNG is available in this province so you can easily travel maximum of your route using this fuel. Our cost was Rs 1600 on CNG and Rs 1500 on Petrol starting from Islamabad to Mallam Jabba and then back. Around 300 km away from Islamabad and round trip of 600km. Roads are in excellent condition, I remember, I travelled to the region around 2003 when entire road structure was in horrible condition and this time it was simply amazing. Best route is Islamabad, Motorway, Mardan Interchange, Batkhela, Mangora and then Mallam Jabba. I was accompanied by few friends in Corolla and Pejaro Junior. Take heating equipments such as I already guided you Kerosene heater and extra water boiling Rod as once we were their then we stayed at Army Rest houses and it was Dam cold outside. Electric Oil heaters and electric geezers were simply failing to do its job properly because of the cold weather. These two missing equipments which I have already mentioned, as I have them in my home could have made life more comfortable.

[adeel976]

I just came back from Mallam jabba family trip. We started our journey from Lahore to Islamabad from Bilal daewoo then we came to know that a direct Lahore to Swat bus service availble in SAMMI daewoo so we travelled to swat on Daewoo. Total time from Lahore to Swat(Mangora) is 9.15 hours. Next day we hire a car from Mangora to Mallam jabba for 2500 rupees for both sides. When we were almost 4, 5 kilometer behind mallam jabba, It started snow fall, we hire services of chain for wheel and that man also sit with us to manage chain in case of disturbance. After 2.5 kilometer car driver refuse to drive due to heavy snow. We reached on top by trekking. We did some sking there for 10 minutes because we asked driver to came back as soon as possible. It was snow falling all time. We reached back to our car and started travel back to Swat (Mangora). Our driver was not much expert in snow, one small accident happend when he push break on a slop and our car hit a hiace after rolling on road. Thanks Allah we survivied from that slip. Then we travelled so carefully until snowy area finished.
According to my observation if weather is clear then mallam jabba is point you can go any month even in December January. Check weather update from any well reputed weather forcast web then plan your trip. For sking lovers March is last month for sking. and there is nothing special except sking.
They charged us 200rs for one sking kit for one person after bargaining.

http://www.facebook.com/ParamountAdventureClub

[asifcae]

great photos yar,,,

lovely snow

[kahmr78]

what about the other route from N35 (mansehra) to N90 to Malamjabba? i.e. get off from KKH and head towards MalamJabba? isnt that short route? .. thnx for guiding about Mangora via Motorway route aswell, it sounds much easier on the cars and driver?

yes GREAT pics .. such heavy snow MA! .. how much is the cost of Army guest houses per night? and Malamjabba RESORT? is it still intact or rebuilt after destruction? what is the cost of per night there? is there any other place in Malamjabba for night stay for family n kids?

[talhawaleed]

what about the other route from N35 (mansehra) to N90 to Malamjabba? i.e. take KKH uptill besham then get off from KKH and head towards MalamJabba? isnt that short route? .. thnx for guiding about Mangora via Motorway route aswell, it sounds much easier on the cars and driver?

yes GREAT pics .. such heavy snow MA! .. how much is the cost of Army guest houses per night? and Malamjabba RESORT? is it still intact after Terrorist's destruction? what is the cost of per night there? is there any other place in Malamjabba for night stay for family n kids?

yes these two are BEST tips man .. 1) Electric rod 2) gas / kerosene heaters

do u recommend planning a trip with ANOTHER FAMILY i.e. another car to accompany you? is the road safe? what about any UNREST inthe mingora area or in general enROUTE Malamjabba?

can u pls recomend the TIME to chose for travelling? i.e. day? night? evening? i'm guessing it will take around 6 hrs with two three stops enroute mardan motorway?

Booking at Army rest house is not possible without a reference; we were accompanied by few friends serving in Army as Majors that?s why we got the booking. Usually, whenever we leave for a trip then we prefer to be on road at 4:00 a.m Maximum so basically we followed the same schedule on this trip and were able to avoid traffic and were on Malam Jabba road within 5 hours with a small break for breakfast. We were there by 11:00 a.m and were able to enjoy rest of the day skiing. So, I would also recommend the same schedule. The route which I have mentioned you is 40 km shorter then what you are recommending. Rest, I have not tried the route through Mansehra as once I was back then I realized that we could have tried this route on our way back. Well a member from Pakwheels can comment on this further. Room charges were 1500 each so we booked three so total bill was 11500 including breakfasts, dinner, Tea?s, coffee etc. Rest, other members can suggest hotels availability as we did not get the chance to check them and find their rates. You are interested in skiing then Feb is the best time.

Attached are few more pictures, I hope you will like them