Hello Everyone,
As @vickytulla had to come back so the continuation of the thread is now my responsibility . I am not a frequent and swift writer like him but for the sake of the story i'll try do the justice with it.
When @vickytulla and @omar left forLahore, Five riders were remain to complete the journey. Even we didn't want to continue because 2 of good fellas were going back. But phr socha ke moqa roz roz nai milta.
So we wished them best of luck and started our journey towards Astore. For those who haven't visited the area i'll place google map of with each post. Our first destination was Astore city that is around 50 KM from KKH...
When we started our journey towards Astore everyone was moving with a heavy heart. Scary road, naked rocks and sharp turns of Astore road were adding more negativity to it. We nominated @rocketscience as our captain as he has visited all these areas in 2015 trip. Weather was bit hot and Sun was shining bright. I was wondering how come a beautiful and cold place like rama could exists in just 20 KM where we are. The Snow must have been melted and we might face hot breeze there as well. Only time could tell that i was right or wrong.
After riding for an hour, we reached Harcho.
That is entry point of Astor District. After getting our details entered at check post. Drank water from a pipe that was coming directly from a stream. We soaked to cotton mufflers and wrapped around our necks that helped a lot to cool down during riding. After resting for a while we resumed our journey
Excitment on @NOmi1 face tells the whole story
Around 12 Noon we reached Astore. I found it a very different city. Its spanned over 2 mountains joining by a bridge. Its a district head quarter, so you can find all kinds of shop there. Bank ATM whatever needed.
Its a beautiful city but could become better if roads are repaired and paved. Gilgilt Traffic Police was performing their duty very well. After refueling from a Total Pump we called our homes as we got Mobile Signals.
After refueling we start moving towards the road that leads to Rama Lake. Road is steep and narrow. It takes your and your ride's test.After riding like 3 4 KM suddenly the scenary changed and we got this spectacular view in front of us and for the first time everyone got smile on their faces
We stopped their to admired the beauty of meadows and cool breeze coming from the ice covered mountains in front of us. This was the first time we were happy and start admiring our decision of not going back .We start cutting jokes and start posing for the pics.
After riding for 10 more minute we reached in the jungle having twisty road. The whole scene was looking like a dream. Long trees, Grean fields and twisty road. It was something out of this world. There was a small wooden hotel there with camps we asked about Prices he said aap ajayen lake daikh ker ker lete hain.
We tried to book P&D rest house but it was already booked then try to find our last year host Haji Salman but there was no sign of him. We came back to Rama Inn Hotel negotiated rate with him, Put our laguage in one of the camp and start moving towards the Lake.
After crossing small jungle the road start going steep towards the Lake. It was very difficult, steep, track full of stones. Something more than noori top but very short in lenght. Then suddenly after a turn we saw a small glaciar that was blocking the way. Jeeps were parked there. This is the point where jeep could take you. Rest you have to go on foot.
@Taha was willing to cross the glaciar as he could see motorcycle wheel marks by some locals. But none of us agreed to take the risk because if the bike slips we would definitly drop in the pond next to it.
So we start moving by foot. After crossing another glacier and around trekking of 30 min we were at Rama Lake. Beauty is mesmerizing. Surrounding mountains were full of snow. One sadhuman interfarance has started to spoil it too. There was a dhaba hotel that wasn't there last year. We sat there and enjoyed the cool breeze. After all hasle it was great pay back. We were discussing that it would be more fun if 2 of our DEPARTED fellows would have been here.
One of the wonderful thing about Rama lake that it is close from all sides. Water find its way down while coming from inside rocks. That makes it quite special.
After spending nearly an hour their we start moving back to our bikes because it was getting cold. We got our bikes and start descending to the camps where some surprises were waiting for us......
Stay Tuned....