Trip to Chitral, Mastuj, Yasin Valley. Help Required

armughans (armughans) 2010-04-16 06:06:02 +0500 #1

Hi All,
I am planning a trip from Islamabad to the following areas:

Islamabad>Dir>Darosh>Kalash( Rumbur)>Chitral Gol National Park>Mastuj>Shandur Pass>Yasin Valley>Gupis>Gilgit

We plan to go via bus to Darosh, take a jeep from there and visit all the places and fly back from Gilgit. I need advice and all the help i can get from you experienced guys on is this a viable plan. We plan to leave on 21st may and the trip is for 6 days.

the things i specially want to ask are:
1. road condition from islamabad to darosh. Is it better to fly to chitral?
2. Can we camp in Chitral Gol Park?
3. Is Mastuj worth visiting
4. Passage to Yasin Valley will be open in late May?
5. How to goto Gilgit from Yasin Valley

If you need more info please ask me.. any advice will be helpful.

asifcae (asifcae) 2010-04-16 07:15:45 +0500 #2

dost 21 may ko tu lowari top he nai khula ho ga ( general trend) so u should plan on air to gilgit. from there get a jeep and move through ghizar (metaled roads branch off to ishkoman and yasin valleys). then u reach shandoor and all adjoining areas. also visit garam chashma. from there u can fly back.
YAR I HAVE NOT SEEN THESE AREAS MYSELF BUT MY INFO IS GUD AND I HAVE CONSIDERABLE TRAVELLING EXPERIENCE ALSO.
flight to gilgit is difficult to get compared to that of chitral. if u get confirm ticket to gilgit u can plan ur trip accordingly. if u land in chitral first and end u in gilgit u mite have to stay there for many days coz of flight.
THIS I KNOW FROM PERSONEL EXPERIENCE OF GILIGT FLIGHTS.

armughans (armughans) 2010-04-16 08:46:31 +0500 #3

you are right asifcae. I once had to stay two days in skardu due to flight delays even in clear weather
i will get info if lowari top passage is open or not

armughans (armughans) 2010-04-19 07:16:31 +0500 #4

bump!

travelinghell (travelinghell) 2010-04-22 04:32:48 +0500 #5

dear friend .. i have a wast experience in traveling to chitral in month of May because there is a festival on 13th to fifth may of every year in Kalash valleys and it's a big fun to watch .. through my information you can go to dir and get into landcrusers which were all go from hour to hour from dir bazar and last stop is chitral ..
in the month of May all way of lowari pass were open when ever i traveled .. because i allways park my car in abshar hotel in dir who charge me one hundred ruppes for the parking.
And also one of hotel manager in chitral recently told me that we can travel from lowari top in any weather because lowari tunel is operational these days....
if you want any other information about chitral you can call me any query ..
Good Luch , Travel well and Travel safe

Shahzad727 (Shahzad727) 2010-04-22 04:42:01 +0500 #6

is it safe to travel to dir ? security factors are there so i dnt think it will be safe to go there.

taimoorkhan (taimoorkhan) 2010-04-22 17:15:34 +0500 #7

just came back from chitral today by road........... the flights to chtral are really unreliable, had to come back by road as the flight were not operating for the last twp days....

The road is just ok, took around 12 hrs to islamabad (vehicle was 1998 prado).
The lowari top is open but the tunnel is closed for normal traffic(though i traveled through it with special permission from NHA).

Road to Bumborate and rumbore is not in gud condition but quite accessible by a jeep.

Hope this helps.

armughans (armughans) 2010-04-26 06:06:41 +0500 #8

@travelinghell: we don't have our own car so we will be traveling by bus or by air. what do you recommend? also once we reach dir, do you think we can easily get a jeep or other vehicle to take us to kalash or should we arrange for that in advance? if you have any contacts that can help.. it would be appreciated.

also do you have experience of traveling to mastuj or yasin valley??

armughans (armughans) 2010-04-26 06:09:17 +0500 #9

@taimoorkhan thanks for the current info. did you go on vacation or work?? can you recommend some places to visit in chitral for this season?

armughans (armughans) 2010-04-27 08:39:37 +0500 #10

bump

waseem303 (waseem303) 2010-06-26 11:14:11 +0500 #11

can u contact me @ 0333-8616567 or give me your cell no.
waseem

travelinghell;2166759:

dear friend .. i have a wast experience in traveling to chitral in month of May because there is a festival on 13th to fifth may of every year in Kalash valleys and it's a big fun to watch .. through my information you can go to dir and get into landcrusers which were all go from hour to hour from dir bazar and last stop is chitral ..
in the month of May all way of lowari pass were open when ever i traveled .. because i allways park my car in abshar hotel in dir who charge me one hundred ruppes for the parking.
And also one of hotel manager in chitral recently told me that we can travel from lowari top in any weather because lowari tunel is operational these days....
if you want any other information about chitral you can call me any query ..
Good Luch , Travel well and Travel safe

rashidsharif (rashidsharif) 2010-07-02 04:05:46 +0500 #12

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will any one briefly describe the travel time & Distance of Chitral if we travel by CAR from Islamabad. Also please propose the best route which we take to reach chitral easily. Need some urgency because we have a plan to see the festival. <o:p></o:p>

travelinghell (travelinghell) 2010-07-02 06:03:48 +0500 #13

@rashidsharif
from islamabad you go to mardan , takh e bai, and turn left at chakdara which road is going to dir directly .. it will take seven hours to dir because road condition was not good when i went there before tension of swat valley. In dir you can put your car in the train in lowari tunnel if it's operational these days....

or other wise if you have only choice of crossing lowari by car . it's not possible with state or saloon car or you ruin you car with several hits underneath your car .. better to park your car in Abshar hotel who will take responsibility of your car and charge you per day parking charges. from dir is another four to five hour rough jeep able track to chitral .. 
        and about the festival .. i think it's held in month of may ...     may be there's another festival which your going ...

if you have any other query plz let me know

Caio (Caio) 2010-10-04 12:24:19 +0500 #14

how is the road condition now, Peshawar to Chitral?

Mahmood.ul.hassan (Mahmood.ul.hassan) 2013-06-25 17:35:11 +0500 #15

travelinghell;2166759:

dear friend .. i have a wast experience in traveling to chitral in month of May because there is a festival on 13th to fifth may of every year in Kalash valleys and it's a big fun to watch .. through my information you can go to dir and get into landcrusers which were all go from hour to hour from dir bazar and last stop is chitral ..
in the month of May all way of lowari pass were open when ever i traveled .. because i allways park my car in abshar hotel in dir who charge me one hundred ruppes for the parking.
And also one of hotel manager in chitral recently told me that we can travel from lowari top in any weather because lowari tunel is operational these days....
if you want any other information about chitral you can call me any query ..
Good Luch , Travel well and Travel safe

bhai g plz send me ur mobileno i waana talk to u ...............

koolsadee (koolsadee) 2016-04-27 06:09:44 +0500 #16

hi i am plainning to go to chitral , kalash , than swat from lahore please guide me road conditions hotel availability and rates as i will be travling on honda city 2004, i have already good experience of traveling to kashmir, naran kaghan , and khunjrab pass on same car, as far as i have information i can go till chitral want to confirm can i go to kalash on my car as well?

pwuser148289407094 (pwuser148289407094) 2016-12-28 00:02:22 +0500 #17

is lowari top accessible on bolan carry in june july august?????