Preparations/Naran/Muzaffarabad/Rawlakot/Banjusa lake on LC (Spitfire)

[spitfire]

First glacier on the way to Naran......

It was quite late and light was bad ....so ,excuse me for the quality of pic....

[spitfire]

Another attempt to capture the "Ice Tunnel"......

Not very successful.....

[spitfire]

Another "SURPRISE" was waiting for us ,when we reached Naran.......

I never saw such over crowded Naran In my life....Unexplainable amount of people and vehicles were there.It was not possible even to walk in Naran Bazar....

Just like "Shah Almi Bazar" Of Lahore..:D....
Another surprise.....there was not a single room available in any hotel of Naran........Literally ,not a single room....

Tried every hotel...starting from the beginning of Bazar till end ......Jheel Road.....but believe me,not a single room in any hotel was available.....
second choice was tents...Few tents were available......in starting of Naran,but I did not find them suitable to stay with family....
washs rooms (tents) were pathetic.....
so like this,spent good amount of time almost two hours in search of a place to stay...No success...

[spitfire]

Now what to do????Where to stay for night...:(...
After considering all four corners,we decided to stay "IN OUR JEEP" for the night...:D....Only decent option available....:$...

Now I looked for a proper/safe place to park our vehicle for the night,and found PSO pump the only petrol pump in Naran I suppose.....The most suitable Location....
Had a little Chat with pump Guy explaining the situation,and he allowed /welcomed us to park our vehicle in the pump.....also offered the "Wash room" and gave us the keys....also accommodated Abdul in their "Driver's room".....
So we decided to have dinner first......before going to bed........
More precisely....."GOING TO JEEP".......
So our Dinner for tonight....

[spitfire]

Started converting Jeep Into the Room......

Four Occupants.....ME:$,My wife,My daughter and my son......

Started with putting Sun shade behind the wind screen....and transferring all the luggage to front seats /front foot space,and space behind the front seats and folded rear seats......

Something like this.....

[askhokhar]

It is not only your bread and butter ... it is our bread too ... so please grow more so we don't have to import wheat ...

BMW cars are high maintenance, and the newer models have issues with too much electronics ... someone has coined the phrase "garizmoronics" for it ... and it is so true. These vehicles cannot be handled properly by "any mechanic", and the only option left is to replace the troublemaker parts ... which is a grossly expensive and cumbersome process. I have seen BMWs crippled by their inherent complexity of electronics

@askhokhar......

Salamz Sattar Bhai.....
I am really sorry for absence....missed you brothers a lot.....
You may know that we have another village named "MOKAL" other than Sahiwal....
We cultivated wheat In Mokal as well on quite a large area......Its an interesting place right on the border of INDIA.....
I had to start wheat harvesting there as well.....So I was in "MOKAL" for few days,I was absent from here....
You know its our "Cash Crop"........and bread n butter for the whole year.....:)....

As you said that old restored cars always contain rust.....I agree with you,but it all depends upon the restorer.....The amount of money and time he can spend on the project.Unrestored/unmolested original cars fetch better results than Badly restored or "Chaloo Kaam" which people mostly do to sell the car....
A bad attempt to restore a car is Like "Kiss of death" and is impossible to undo sometimes as original shapes are destroyed....:(....
These Alcoholic drivers really ruin the cars.....Story is just the same with this BMW Z3 as you said about your celica....
On my return from village.....had a visit to the showroom today to finalize the deal...but came to know that car is in the work shop.......
went to workshop to have a look at it and inquire about the "condition of the patient"...lolzzz:D...
And came to know that its ABS and ASC Unit is not working ...giving lights in the dash....
Costs 100000 (one hundred thousand) and will have to order...(A)...lets see..."AB KIA HOTA HAI".....
As you said that sourcing parts from abroad is not simple and easy....

[askhokhar]

This comparison is between "apples and oranges" or to be more precisely "Sumo wrestler against a feather weight pehalwan"

There is a reason we see the CJ-5s on these narrow and winding mountain tracks (called "roads") ... We have seen heavyweights cross difficult terrain like the Darien area in Central America, but they had to use all kind of equipment to cross the very rough terrain.

We cannot travel with families in open adventure jeeps ... they need to be comfortable during traveling ... the adventure jeeps are truly enjoyed in the company of male friends.

Looking at the ongoing thread on FJ40 restoration, I am trying to control the "khujli" of getting a jeep like that and swapping in a monster engine ....

Hazaron khawahishain aisi kay har khawahish pay dam niklay..!!!

@askhokhar.....

Light and short wheel base SUVs are "FAR MORE" user friendly as compared to these heavy weight LCs....
I traveled upto Lulusir lake on Mini Pajero and did the same route with LC.....
Both Having Pros and cons....
Mini was light/small easy to maneuver....not requiring much space to turn...etc etc...But at the same time Lacking space and power...requiring a very "watchful" foot to avoid any damage to the engine or mechanicals.....
LC is a monster with plenty of Power under your foot and a lot of weight carrying capacity......but tricky to drive on narrow mountain roads and very sharp turns......as I could go to almost half way through "Sharan"in this trip....
The suzuki you used for your trip is very capable Machine.....
An interesting experience I had with Suzuki Gimny 660CC which was swapped with 1300CC DOHC...
I used the jeep for a "QUICK VISIT" to snow covered Nathia gali and it performed very well....Captured a lot of pics to share....
But I don't Know when....:(...
And I was all alone in this trip....another interesting experience........:)....
Listening to the music of my choice ,without having any fight with kids....

[askhokhar]

Using a handheld video camera would be too cumbersome and distracting to handle while driving.

I suggested something like this

For sharing, you need to first convert your analogue videos to digital format. If you are good with IT skills, you can install an AV card in your PC and then connect your analogue camera with the PC through RCA cables.

Conversion software comes with these cards, otherwise, you can use AnyVideo Convertor etc. to convert your video to digital format.

You can then upload them on YouTube and then share the 10 minutes clips here. After some time, YouTube will do away with the 10 minute duration and then you can upload longer videos

This idea seems interesting....Hanif Bhai...@Libra tried the same with a cam....performed well on smooth roads,but was stuck on bumpy and rough roads....
I have and old sanyo Video camera using small tapes.....made videos of the way while driving ....specially on the road from Naran To Jalkhad....
don't know ...how to share them here....
What?????......hain.....
I can hear you "LAUGHING" at my camera.....:(......:'(...

[spitfire]

[QUOTE=askhokhar;2767758]It is not only your bread and butter ... it is our bread too ... so please grow more so we don't have to import wheat ...

BMW cars are high maintenance, and the newer models have issues with too much electronics ... someone has coined the phrase "garizmoronics" for it ... and it is so true. These vehicles cannot be handled properly by "any mechanic", and the only option left is to replace the troublemaker parts ... which is a grossly expensive and cumbersome process. I have seen BMWs crippled by their inherent complexity of electronics

very true Sattar Bhai.....These BMWs are complex machines and simple is always better....A lot of computer programming is involved so out of scope for "any mechanic"....only specialized persons can handle them....
The one I am talking about (Z3) needs replacement of abs unit which needs to be programmed on VIN number of the car prior to fitting....

[spitfire]

@askhokhar......

Looking at the ongoing thread on FJ40 restoration, I am trying to control the "khujli" of getting a jeep like that and swapping in a monster engine ....

Hazaron khawahishain aisi kay har khawahish pay dam niklay..!!!

Sattar Bhai .....waisay not a bad idea.....But evaluate first the chances of using such CJ 7 or FJ40.....before attempting this project....

I really need to get myself familiar with latest technology specially like these cameras etc....so it may be easy to use them as per requirements .....
no conversions may be required......

[spitfire]

Salamz Brothers......

My son was very excited with the idea of spending night in the jeep....
Abdul Assembling the "Bed" of the jeep....
We used our bed sheets as curtains as you can see...

[spitfire]

Hair clips were used to hold these bed sheets in place....

[spitfire]

Another vies of this situation.....

[travelinghell]

Salamz Brothers......

My son was very excited with the idea of spending night in the jeep....
Abdul Assembling the "Bed" of the jeep....
We used our bed sheets as curtains as you can see...

@rahman bhai season main hamasha advance booking hone chahiya hotel kee. takay preshani na ho ...
Last season i reserved Hut in PTDC and seen pple requesting the staff for making space for them but they denying them .

[spitfire]

My son was very excited ........an experience for him....

[spitfire]

@rahman bhai season main hamasha advance booking hone chahiya hotel kee. takay preshani na ho ...
Last season i reserved Hut in PTDC and seen pple requesting the staff for

making space for them but they denying them .

You are right....it was very bad experience......enjoyable although....:D...
Actually I was not expecting the amount of people over there....

Waisay BTW....what is your programme for July trip...?

[spitfire]

Abdul Sorting out something....can't Recall exactly.....

The jeep was parked next to the pump building as you can see on the right side......

[travelinghell]

You are right....it was very bad experience......enjoyable although....:D...
Actually I was not expecting the amount of people over there....

Waisay BTW....what is your programme for July trip...?

Rehman bhai this season am thinking of going with the bikers club. don't know the exact situation if my better half let me go;) . i recently had a panga of buying a bike:P .

[spitfire]

Rehman bhai this season am thinking of going with the bikers club. don't know the exact situation if my better half let me go;) . i recently had a panga of buying a bike:P .

I am talking about the same dear....Biker's club trip......
Being an honorary member of bikers club and allowed to use car/jeep in their trips.....also planning about going to Chitral/kailash/Kafaristen/shandur./Atabad lake/Deosai....etc.....
Lets see.....

[spitfire]

Lets continue......

another view of our vehicle /bed room for the night.....