Assalam o Alaikum and Hello to all travel guru's
Being a novice traveller, I am a big fan of all the great travel gurus at PW. I am a regular visitor of this forum and i have learnt a lot about travelling and my beautiful Pakistan from here. I always wanted to be a regular traveller but couldn't embrace this passion, i dont know why. Now, after reading lots of stories from here, i want to pull that passion back and give it a kick.
I am starting with a short tour to Neelum valley which would be my first one (Although i have travelled a lot till Naran/ Babusar pass). We are planning a 3 days trip (8th to 11th November) as we could not manage more leaves from office. We are planning to travel till keran. One night at keran and one at kutton. would be travelling on two cars, cultus 2011 and vitz 2006.
Need your special guidance regarding the trip as it would be off season. I would consider myself lucky to get your answers on below queries:
1) Weather in this time of the year. Any chances of snowfall till Keran? Any idea of temperatures?
2) Greenery in this time of the year.
3) Road conditions till Keran and Kutton
4) Possibility for Vitz to be driven till Keran, Kutton and Kel as it has low ground clearance
5) Which route to use from Murree to Muzaffarabad. Kohala road from lower topa or Bhurban road from Jhika Gali?
6) Shall we stay at AJK Tourism Rest Houses or Private Hotels. Any idea of current hotel rates in Keran / Kutton?
7) Is Kutton worth watching or shall we switch it with Kel or some other place. Our priority is to keep the travelling as less as possible and do some hiking/wandering. Will target the complete valley next time when we have more time.
8) I have heard that there is a tourist lodge at upper Keran (Upper Neelum) which is a place worth watching. Is it correct, can we stay at that lodge, I mean is that lodge good enough?
Thanks a lot for your feedback.
Rgds
Abdullah
12-November 2012 (After the trip)
Assalam o Alaikum and Hello to everyone
I have completed my first trip to Neelum. It was a very good experience to travel to this beautiful valley. Although I could not see the real beauty of Neelum as my trip was in Autumn, still it was great to see the lovely autumn effect, various shades of yellow and orange, deep green Neelum river etc. At the same time, we felt sad whenever we saw the Indian Occupied Kashmir.
Below are the details of the tour:
7 guys travelled on two cars, 2011 Cultus and 2006 Vitz. Total expense was around 5500 per head which included everything from departure to arrival.
8[SUP]th[/SUP] Nov 10;00pm, Left Lahore for Rawalpindi via Motorway and reached Rawalpindi at 1:15am, night stay at Kohinoor Textile Mills Rest House.
9[SUP]Th[/SUP] Nov 8:30 am, left Rawalpindi for Jheeka gali via Expressway, reached around 10;00am
9[SUP]TH[/SUP] Nov 10;00am, Continued from Jheeka Gali to Kohala via Bhurban Road, reached around 11:30am. Road is fine but very congested, steep and slippery and you have to drive very carefully. Our cultus got smashed into a parked car as it slipped at a steep turn while applying brakes. Courtesy, General Tyres.
9[SUP]th[/SUP] Nov 11:30am, Continued from Kohala to Muzaffarabad via Kohala-Muzaffarabad road, reached around 12:15pm, had some snacks and our car repaired for further travelling. Road conditions are not good with a lot of bad patches specially before entering in Muzaffarbad. Roads in Muzaffarabad are also in poor condition and it took quite some time to cross Muzaffarabad.
9[SUP]th[/SUP] Nov 12:30pm, Left Muzaffarabad for Pattika via Neelum Road, reached Pattika around 1:15pm. Road is not bad but some bad patches due to land slidings.
9[SUP]th[/SUP] Nov 1:15pm, continued from Pattika to Keran via Neelum Road, reached around 3:30pm. Stopped for Jumma prayers at nauseri for around 20 mins. Road is perfect with only 3-4 small bad patches. Loved driving there. Stayed at AJK Tourist Lodge, paid Rs. 3200 for two rooms. Took 3 additional matresses for Rs. 450. Did barbecue in the lawn. Wanted to do bonefire but they didn’t allow us due to proximity with occupied Kashmir. The place is ok to stay but being govt controlled, there is no proper arrangement for anything. We had to go back to Athmuqam to get Naan and other items for our dinner. Also, there are no fixed/announced rates for anything and they charge whatever they like.
10[SUP]th[/SUP] Nov 9;00am, left for upper Neelum to have a glance and check the location of the huts, reached at 9:15am. The road is fine but very steep, also the road stops around 50mtrs before the huts and you have to park your cars there. The place is good, the huts are fine but again, no proper arrangements for anything. May be due to off season as they told us.
10[SUP]th[/SUP] Nov 10:30am, left Upper Neelum for Kutton, reached at 12;00 noon with some stops on the way. The road is not very good but any car can make it easily all the way to Kutton. The Jagran Resort is awesome and a place worth visiting. The location is great, the rooms/houses are awesome. The club is equipped with a TV room, a dining room, a Jacuzzi, a steam room and a barbecue place as well. Overall it is good enough to spoil anyone. We took one family house for only Rs. 3000. The house included 3 bed rooms, 1 washroom, 1 store, 1 kitchen and off course a big common room with TV and dining table. The house was centrally heated but we could not avail this facility as there was no electricity due to some problem in the power house. This rest house is controlled by AJK Power and Electricity Board. It was built initially as the residential society for the foreign engineers who were contracted for the Jagran Power House. When they left, it was converted into a resort for tourists. The rates are same throughout the year and you have to get advance booking specially in peak season. At around 2:30pm we hired a Jeep at Rs. 2300 to travel all the way to the power house and the water in-take point. The drive is a real adventure ride with some very wonderful scenes all the way. Was a good experience. We returned in the evening at around 5;00pm. Had dinner in the dining room of the club which was just ok.
11[SUP]th[/SUP] Nov 9;00am, left Kutton for Lahore non-stop via Neelum Road, Kohala Road, Murree Express way and then Motorway. Reached Lahore around 7:30pm.
It was good to travel in off season as there was no traffic on the roads ahead of MZD. The hotels/rest houses/resorts were easily available. The temperature wasn’t as low as we expected. Was touching zero I guess. The pics will follow as soon as get time.
Again, thanks to all the gurus who helped in planning this trip. Our next destination is Fairy Meadows which we are planning in June / July next year, INSHALLAH.
Rgds
Abdullah
