Visiting Neelum Valley, Taobutt, Shonter on Bikes August 2012

[Skill]

nice details,i was there on hills since before eid and i can well imagine what were conditions on third and forth day.i myself tried to go mzd but returned back on second day of eid due to rain storm.
waiting for the pics now.

[taimur76]

Yes we crossed it on bikes.... But boy it was a scary crossing.... There were three logs tied together and you have to keep the bike on the centre one. I had intended to take pictures/videos of us crossing the bridge but it was so scary that I forgot to take my camera out to take pictures....
Jeeps are crossing this Nala on the same bridge. They have three logs on one side then there is gap and then 2 logs on the other side. One tyre has to be on three log tied together and other on the 2 logs tied together....
Also note that this bridge is not on the Shonter Nala but another Nala. We never cross the Shonter Nala until we reach Shonter waterfall which is the last jeepable portion of the Shonter. Crossing Shonter on such a bridge is definitely suicidal....

oops. I am leaving on 6th September. offcourse will nto try to cross it on my 4x4. plan is to come back via Noori top. hope it will be open.

[imarshad]

oops. I am leaving on 6th September. offcourse will nto try to cross it on my 4x4. plan is to come back via Noori top. hope it will be open.

Well you can always ask for some local jeep driver to help you cross the bridge.... People there are very friendly and helpful... But if you get your 4x4 in a straight line with the bridge and someone to guide you on the other side of the bridge then it will not be that much difficult.... Just like you get your cars on the deck for service.....

Also the the Noori Top was open when we were there....Better have a look at this video before making your mind about crossing Noori Top....
Climbing from Surgan Village - YouTube

and this one....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ps0QTgWVm38&feature=relmfu

[engrshiraz]

oops. I am leaving on 6th September. offcourse will nto try to cross it on my 4x4. plan is to come back via Noori top. hope it will be open.

I have been visit noori top from jhalkad till sharda at 29 aug 2012. Road is very bad in condition and toooo scary as well at some points. And also there was 6 to 7 land slides on the way which our jeep difficultly managed to cross those slides. Jeep driver ko hmay utarna para different slides points py because there were dangerous, but jeep or bikes are crossing noori top. We saw 2 bikers at noori top

[gemzaib]

@engrshiraz,Congrats on making the cut bro..How much did the jeep driver charge from Jalkhad to Sharda and what was the travelling time with these road conditions..

[imarshad]

I apologize to all for not updating the thread earlier.... The main culprit was/is my DSL connection at home....For the last 3/4 days it is mostly offline and even if it is online I get very slow speed....

[imarshad]

Due to rain we had to delay our departure to 12AM from Islamabad.

Just near the Murree Expressway turn after Bharakahu..... My bike is fully loaded with luggage....

[imarshad]

The rest of Day1 was also very uneventful. We somehow dodged rain all the way to Muzaffarabad. I don't know how but on some places we passed just a few moments before the rain and on some places we arrived when the rain had just stopped. The only place where we actually encountered rain near Alliyot where we were taking Lunch in a restaurant and suddenly it started raining heavily outside. But when we had finished our lunch the rain also stopped and had damp roads all the way to Muzaffarabad.

[imarshad]

Just after crossing Kohala we saw this Doli ride across the Jehlum river which takes to a very beautiful waterfall. I don't know how much water there is in normal days but due to torrential rains there was lots of water and was looking very beautiful.

[imarshad]

We didn't have enough time to cross the river but I made a video of this place. Please watch all videos in 720P as I have shot them using my iPhone in 720P.....

//youtu.be/Wr_DOaMVtyU
....

[engrshiraz]

@engrshiraz,Congrats on making the cut bro..How much did the jeep driver charge from Jalkhad to Sharda and what was the travelling time with these road conditions..

Yr we wee 12 persons so we booked 2 jeeps at 15000 for 2 jeeps that is 7500 for 1 jeep, traveling time is 6 to 7 hours, it depends how much time u spend on noori top, road condition is bad and poor/scary at some points

[imarshad]

I have been visit noori top from jhalkad till sharda at 29 aug 2012. Road is very bad in condition and toooo scary as well at some points. And also there was 6 to 7 land slides on the way which our jeep difficultly managed to cross those slides. Jeep driver ko hmay utarna para different slides points py because there were dangerous, but jeep or bikes are crossing noori top. We saw 2 bikers at noori top

Initially we also had plan to cross Noori top from Sharda side and reach Naran. But after some info supplied by some local people as well as those who had done it on bikes we changed our plans.... All were suggesting that it is too much demanding to cross it from Sharda side on bikes. The main reason being the 31KM ascend from Sharda to Noori top as compared to the 17KM from the Jalkhad side.... Also when we reached Sharda the color of Surgan Nala was muddy brown implying that it had rained quite heavily on the top and there was supposed to be some landslides etc. On my previous visits to Sharda the water of Surgan Nala was bluish and very clear....

[imarshad]

The rest of Day1 was quite uneventful... We reached Muzaffarabad by 6PM and started to look for a low priced hotel. We fond one near the Bus Stand for Rs. 500 per night with 4 beds. We also cooked our own food in our room and slept hoping for a dry day. I also checked with a Bus driver about any blockage on the Neelum valley road. He told that the only problem area is 10KM from Muzaffarabad before Pattika. After this we will most likely encounter dry weather as there has been almost no rain in Neelum valley and all the rain has been in the areas adjacent to Muzaffarabad.

[imarshad]

We left Muzaffarabad very early i.e at about 6AM. Although it was overcast but luckily it was not raining. When we reached the area vulnerable to landslides (which the bus driver had told) we found many vehicles in a que waiting for the machinery to clear the landslide area.... So it was a good spot for us to have a break and prepare our breakfast. We prepared our breakfast and enjoyed the scenery and in the meanwhile the road was cleared.
We crossed the landslide area at about 8AM and then we rushed to our first stop i.e the famous Dhanni waterfall.... I had shown my friends videos of my last visit and they were really excited. But it was a real disappointment as there was almost no water in the waterfall.... A local told that they have put huge pipes at the top and are diverting the water for irrigation of crops.
Then we crossed the Neelum-Jehlum hydel power plant area near Nusehri and then our next stay was a water spring near Jura Bandi. In all previous visits to Neelum valley we had always taken a bath in this spring. Although the water level was low and the water was not as crystal clear as it had been in our previous visits but still we enjoyed taking our bath there....
After reaching Kundalshahi we took a small detour to Kutton. We had plans to go to Jagraan but due to shortage of time as well as the fact that I had been to Jagraan just 45 days ago we skipped Jaagran and came down on the main Neelum valley road. We crossed Athmuqam and Keran and drove our bikes to Upper Neelum region which is a 3KM detour from Keran.
After reaching back to Keran we drove to Dowarian and then to Sharda where we prayed our combined Zuhr and Asar prayers. We left Sharda at about 5PM and reached Kel by 6:30PM. Again my friends opted for a low level economical hotel where we had 4 beds for just Rs. 300 per night....
Other details of the day will be added as I will add pictures of this day....

[imarshad]

There was landsliding just after 10KM from Muzaffarabad. Machinery clearing the landslide area.

Crossing this area in night and specially in rainy season is definitely not advised.....

[imarshad]

A video of the same event of the machine clearing the road. You can see the drop into the river which is some 200 feet below... Definitely advisable to see in HD i.e 720p.....

//youtu.be/NZaEo6InzNw

[imarshad]

So this landslide forced us to take a breakfast break. Just a few meters before the landslide was a beautiful waterfall and we stopped at that spot and prepared our breakfast which was Double Roti with Half fry eggs and tea....

Our bikes parked at the site of breakfast....

My bike looking like a part of the background....

Preparing tea......

[imarshad]

A video of the same area to show the beauty of the area.....

//youtu.be/jvNl88ueK0I

[imarshad]

Actual video of preparing breakfast....

//youtu.be/mmoxMJJSUlc

[imarshad]

Dhanni Waterfall
After having the breakfast and clearance of the road we stated on our journey and our next stop was the famous Dhanni waterfall....
Location:
The location of Dhani waterfall is that it is almost at a travel of 1hour from Muzaffarabad. First comes Pattika at a distance of 40 minutes from Muzaffarabad. After Pattikka one has to further travel about 20-30 minutes to reach this waterfall and it is just a few minutes before the small town of Dhanni.
As described earlier it was a real disappointment to see the waterfall almost completely dried out. A local told that they are taking water in huge pipes for irrigation purposes and so that's why it is almost dried up....