RoadTrip to the Beautiful Naran Valley

[ajab9007]

nice pics .....any offroad pics of the 100 series.....i think it is the right time to have a club visit there for some offroading:P

[asadsethi]

great pics yasir

[amirbashirlhr]

Beautiful photograps...keep it up...

[BILAL3538]

Very Nice Dear:)
Keep it up

[pkazmat]

nice pics

[imransavul]

Very nice pix & really informative thread
Hatts off khanrocks

[v8]

Nice trip n superb clicks

[ansarghani]

Very nice Yasir Bhai!

[pakistanibandah786]

After a long Due wait and much needed relaxing trip i recently visited Naran Valley along some of my friends ...

We Spent 2 nights in Naran and Tried to Hike till Saif -al-Malook Lake but the weather and hiking conditions were not on our side tht day ...

The Best part for me was to Drive my LC on the Beautiful Roads All the way .... really enjoyed every single moment

Rest Enjoy the Pics ... If any Questions and queries about the trip and Area i would be really Glad to Help ....

Khan Saheb: I am (inshaAllah) visiting Kaghan/Naran with family mid June...Also driving my own Prado and will have family with me...Keeping in mind the road conditions as you saw and drove on them, Do you advise that I take my own jeep to Babusar Top/Lalusar Lake OR should I just go with the Rented Jeeps??? Pls advise as this is more important for my family...I would not hesitate for a second to go anywhere if I was alone...Thank you in advance...

[irfansattar]

@ pakistanibandah786

IMHO it is far better/safer to travel in your own vehicle, Prado's are built for these kind of terrain... yes you can not avoid the tire damage but thats the cost you have to pay for these kinds of adventures..... It is a little miracle that nothing serious happens with rented jeeps and I pray it remains that way but the standard of maintenance is very poor.... if you are uncomfortable with your driving skills or want to hire the jeep just for the sake of local knowledge then I suggest u hire a driver (with good reference)

@ khanrocks
nice trip and coverage ..thanks for the update

[pakistanibandah786]

@ pakistanibandah786

IMHO it is far better/safer to travel in your own vehicle, Prado's are built for these kind of terrain... yes you can not avoid the tire damage but thats the cost you have to pay for these kinds of adventures..... It is a little miracle that nothing serious happens with rented jeeps and I pray it remains that way but the standard of maintenance is very poor.... if you are uncomfortable with your driving skills or want to hire the jeep just for the sake of local knowledge then I suggest u hire a driver (with good reference)

@ khanrocks
nice trip and coverage ..thanks for the update

Sir @irfansattar: Many Thanks for your response. I agree that one's own vehicle is better/safer etc but I had read on this forum that longer 4x4 vehicles such as hilux, prado's etc may have to negotiate some sharp bends...Now I consider myself a good driver - alhamdulillah - but feel that I cannot try to be a 'hero' if my family is sitting with me...so I have two options...tell them to get down while I try to negotiate the bend...or hire a local jeep...I prefer the first option...As @Khanrocks has been recently to these places, I wanted to get his opinion as well...Regards Pakistan Paendabad!!

[tariqzaidi]

Sir @irfansattar: Many Thanks for your response. I agree that one's own vehicle is better/safer etc but I had read on this forum that longer 4x4 vehicles such as hilux, prado's etc may have to negotiate some sharp bends...Now I consider myself a good driver - alhamdulillah - but feel that I cannot try to be a 'hero' if my family is sitting with me...so I have two options...tell them to get down while I try to negotiate the bend...or hire a local jeep...I prefer the first option...As @Khanrocks has been recently to these places, I wanted to get his opinion as well...Regards Pakistan Paendabad!!

@ pakistanibandah786;
I also have Prado and went there in NARAN trip last year in 2011. It is not advisable to take Prado to Jheel Saif ul Malook and Lalazaar. However you can travel to Jhalkad, lulusar on your own vehicle as I did myself. Same is with Sari Paya(Shogran), don't attempt to take ur precious Prado to these roads..u will surely regret. For first timers, use rented jeeps and for next time if you think this is approprite for you you can attempt the adventure.

[pakistanibandah786]

@ pakistanibandah786;
I also have Prado and went there in NARAN trip last year in 2011. It is not advisable to take Prado to Jheel Saif ul Malook and Lalazaar. However you can travel to Jhalkad, lulusar on your own vehicle as I did myself. Same is with Sari Paya(Shogran), don't attempt to take ur precious Prado to these roads..u will surely regret. For first timers, use rented jeeps and for next time if you think this is approprite for you you can attempt the adventure.

Dear Sir @tariqzaidi. Many Thanks for your response. OK, I think I will choose caution over bravado and will follow your advice. Regards sir

[imtishal]

Sir zabardast trip..
At last someone among us reached naran and shared an update of current situation (road/residence etc).
Khan sb, apki eik pic mai eik addadh trout pani mai mouh khol kar laiti hovi hai.uss par zara roshni dalna pasand karein gaye kah us haseen-pari say kahan or keyessay mulaqat hovi??

[moonraider]

many congrats bro..
ur trip seems great mashAllah also with an LC with u..

u didnt share any pics of that last big glacier you were talking about..
good to see naran with out any rush.. natural looking!!

thanks..

[pakistanibandah786]

The last time I enjoyed fishing was a deep sea fishing expedition off of the Atlantic/NJ Coast and it was a great experience..This time I am hoping to catch some trout in a place where the Kunhar is 'not rushing/flwoing' but a little bit still...so will have to scout out a spot beforehand..

[pakistanibandah786]

I have a question: My final aim is to reach Shogran from Islamabad. Would it be adviseable to take the ISB-Muzzafarabad-Garhi Habibullah-Balakot-Kewai-Shogran instead of the ISB-Mansehra route?? Wanted to avoid the bad traffic patch from Hassanabdal to Mansehra....Kindly advise...Many Thanks

[habibalam]

2 people only?

[asadsethi]

@ pakistanibandah786;
I also have Prado and went there in NARAN trip last year in 2011. It is not advisable to take Prado to Jheel Saif ul Malook and Lalazaar. However you can travel to Jhalkad, lulusar on your own vehicle as I did myself. Same is with Sari Paya(Shogran), don't attempt to take ur precious Prado to these roads..u will surely regret. For first timers, use rented jeeps and for next time if you think this is approprite for you you can attempt the adventure.

I don't agree with u sir. Last year I went on my Prado to all these areas Naran, Lake Saif URL Malook 2 times, lulusar, Babusar, Hunza, Shandur, Kalash, etc and Alhamdolillah returned back without a single scratch, and this was my first driving experience on such areas.
Yar bro these vehicles r made for us to enjoy their ride and travel on hard rough areas, these Jeeps , Prados, Land Cruisers r not motorway vehicles. So man enjoy ur driving and rides, if u r not confident on ur driving skills , then that is a different issue.

[khanrocks]

Khan Saheb: I am (inshaAllah) visiting Kaghan/Naran with family mid June...Also driving my own Prado and will have family with me...Keeping in mind the road conditions as you saw and drove on them, Do you advise that I take my own jeep to Babusar Top/Lalusar Lake OR should I just go with the Rented Jeeps??? Pls advise as this is more important for my family...I would not hesitate for a second to go anywhere if I was alone...Thank you in advance...

Sorry for the late reply ... been out of touch ..

Anyways i would recommend that you should take you own Prado, the roads would be fine in one months time as told by the local people ... what I understood over there was that the local people create a environment that its very hard to take visitors own jeeps cuz they want to rent out there own jeeps at HIGH rates .. what i believe is that if you have good head on your shoulders you can certainly drive your own 4x4 to these places ... until and unless you do some thing exciting

Sir @irfansattar: Many Thanks for your response. I agree that one's own vehicle is better/safer etc but I had read on this forum that longer 4x4 vehicles such as hilux, prado's etc may have to negotiate some sharp bends...Now I consider myself a good driver - alhamdulillah - but feel that I cannot try to be a 'hero' if my family is sitting with me...so I have two options...tell them to get down while I try to negotiate the bend...or hire a local jeep...I prefer the first option...As @Khanrocks has been recently to these places, I wanted to get his opinion as well...Regards Pakistan Paendabad!!

Well as I said earlier .. take your Own jeep ... If 30-40 years old jeeps can drive there then certainly your prado can ... when i was entering Naran there is a Large glacier and when we approached it there was a long line of cars on one side and on the other side there were 5-6 local jeeps parked and they were telling the vistors that its impossible to cross the glacier in ones own ride even if its a 4x4 ... and even stopped me that you cant cross and its better to park the LC here ( parking available instantly for 500 night) and then jeep would charge 150 per pessenger to take u across ... so u can get the idea why it was being done ....

What i did was simply put it in low gear and crossed the glacier with Ease and the looking at me the rest followed ....

So my Dear Friend .. take ur own ride

@ pakistanibandah786;
I also have Prado and went there in NARAN trip last year in 2011. It is not advisable to take Prado to Jheel Saif ul Malook and Lalazaar. However you can travel to Jhalkad, lulusar on your own vehicle as I did myself. Same is with Sari Paya(Shogran), don't attempt to take ur precious Prado to these roads..u will surely regret. For first timers, use rented jeeps and for next time if you think this is approprite for you you can attempt the adventure.

Hmmm .. well as i was there the roads were being worked on and very soon they would be ready to be used ... so i would differ and recommend to take his own prado ... Prado are meant for these roads and trust me nothing happens to it ..

Sir zabardast trip..
At last someone among us reached naran and shared an update of current situation (road/residence etc).
Khan sb, apki eik pic mai eik addadh trout pani mai mouh khol kar laiti hovi hai.uss par zara roshni dalna pasand karein gaye kah us haseen-pari say kahan or keyessay mulaqat hovi??

Thanks Sir jee ... Well we found the tasty trout at he stop over in between naran and kahghan ... he had both local and farm ones ... local Rs 1600/kg and farm one Rs 1100/kg ... and you can easily see the difference .. tastes Amazing ...

many congrats bro..
ur trip seems great mashAllah also with an LC with u..

u didnt share any pics of that last big glacier you were talking about..
good to see naran with out any rush.. natural looking!!

thanks..

Thanks Bud ... i was soo excited to drive on it that did not take pics

The last time I enjoyed fishing was a deep sea fishing expedition off of the Atlantic/NJ Coast and it was a great experience..This time I am hoping to catch some trout in a place where the Kunhar is 'not rushing/flwoing' but a little bit still...so will have to scout out a spot beforehand..

I have a question: My final aim is to reach Shogran from Islamabad. Would it be adviseable to take the ISB-Muzzafarabad-Garhi Habibullah-Balakot-Kewai-Shogran instead of the ISB-Mansehra route?? Wanted to avoid the bad traffic patch from Hassanabdal to Mansehra....Kindly advise...Many Thanks

Well we took a route form Manshera And hasanabdal while going and on return we took -Garhi Habibullah - Muzzafarabad - Muree - Isd - Pesh ...

If you want to avoid traffic while taking the Hasanabdal route .. the trick leave early and cross mansehra till 11-12 ... then u are just Fine

I don't agree with u sir. Last year I went on my Prado to all these areas Naran, Lake Saif URL Malook 2 times, lulusar, Babusar, Hunza, Shandur, Kalash, etc and Alhamdolillah returned back without a single scratch, and this was my first driving experience on such areas.
Yar bro these vehicles r made for us to enjoy their ride and travel on hard rough areas, these Jeeps , Prados, Land Cruisers r not motorway vehicles. So man enjoy ur driving and rides, if u r not confident on ur driving skills , then that is a different issue.

I AGreee !!!