visit to naran kaghan on 15th june

Society Travel & Tourism
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i am planning to visit naran kaghan on 15th june 2010, with my wife.
plz someone inform me abt the weather there now a days. and i hav`nt personal convaince so i hav to go by public transport, what is the best route and transport for me?? plz suggest me
thanks

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Re: visit to naran kaghan on 15th june

Hello.. Nice to know about your tour..

I'm myself going to Naran/Kaghan on June 13th and will be there for like a week exploring different places :)

From which city you will be going? The best option would be to take a Daewoo Bus from Lahore or Rawalpindi. It will take you to Abbottabad. The journey from Daewoo bus is very comfortable. From Abbottabad, you can take a taxi to reach Balakot. At Balakot you can stay overnight and arrange a Jeep for next morning. Make dealing with Jeep owner to take you to all the places further and decide on a lump sump amount. I've personally asked a jeep driver on phone about the following route and he has agreed on 13,000 Rupees (might get even lower prices when you hire a jeep at the place). It totals to about 5 days which is not bad at all. Now here is the route/plan.

Next morning, you can leave Balakot for Shoogran early.. You will reach Shoogran in like 3-4 hours.. You can spend the day at Shoogran or you can advance to Siri/Paye and come back to Shoogran before evening. And then stay overnight at Shoogran.

Next morning, leave early for Naran valley.. You can make stops at Mahandri, Paras and Kaghan (These are small towns on the way to Naran). You'll reach Naran in afternoon/evening (depending on stops you make). You can then find a good hotel and stay for the night.

Next morning, Take a jeep to Lake Saif ul Maluk.. have some fun there with the melting glaciers.. Don't forget to take slide on the snow.. its too much fun. If adventurous type of person, you can also visit Aansoo Lake (Only accessible by trekking) but it is not advised if with family. By evening return to Naran and stay overnight.

Next morning, leave early for Lalazar.. spend few hours there and then advance to Jalkhad, Besar and Lulupatsar Lake.. spend sometime there and return to Naran by evening.

Next morning, leave back for Balakot. Then take a taxi/van to reach Abbottabad and then you can catch the Daewoo (Take their timings from the website and make advance booking on phone).

Thats the best plan I could write for you :) Hope you have fun..

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thanks alot sufi bhai... i am from multan and i will surely choose daewoo till abbotabad..
i hav planned 4 days tour and u hav ggiven me a great plan.
can u plz tell me abt the total budget and what type of clothing i hav to pack
and can i meet u there in naran if u r with family too if u dont mind???

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and i dont want to stay overnight at balakot ,, bcoz i hav come to know that there r not many hotels left after earthquake..... so i think i will spend 1st night at shogran.... and how`s weather there in these areas now a days?? suitable for visit with family??
and how much distance between abbotabad and balakot??
i am very thanksful to u if u answer these questions plz!!
and anyother necessary information abt this visit u hav for me plz ???

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You are welcome Omer sahab. Nice to know that you are from Multan. I have many relatives living in Multan, spent quite a time at Gulgasht colony & Suraj Miani :smiley:

The budget for transport would be around 20,000 (13,000 for Jeep approx, 5000 for Daewoo approx, rest 2000 you can use for taxi from Abbottabad to Balakot or any other misc expenses like horse ride at lake etc). Accommodation budget would also depend on what type of hotel you choose. But in June, hopefully you will get a nice hotel for less price (because its not the main tourist season yet). Let’s say you allocate 5000-7000 Rupees for the hotel budget (might be less or more). Food is usually expensive there (Add 60-70% to the regular prices). So in the end budget would be around 30k… even if you take a safe bet then 35k would be very enough IMO.

For clothing, the weather is kind of unpredictable, it gets very cold in nights and usually hot in day time but if there is cloud cover, it will be cold in day time too.. So its better option to take a jacket with you. Jogging shoes would be preferred in case you have to trek a little, they are very easy and comfortable in those areas.

This time, I’m going there with my friends (3 of us). If you want, you can meet me at Naran.

There are several hotels at Balakot, I went there in 2008 and there were quite few but its alright if you don’t want to stay overnight. Then the best bet would be to reach Abbottabad early in morning. I checked Daewoo website (http://www.sammi.com.pk) and there’s one bus that leaves Multan at 10 PM in night and reach Abbottabad at 8:30 AM in morning. This might be the best option for u.

Then you can reach Shoogran the same day and stay there overnight.. In this case, you can spend the whole next day visiting siri/paye and stay shoogran another night. And then advance to Naran next day..

The distance between Abbottabad & Balakot isn’t much.. (72 km to be exact).. Whole road is paved so will take only couple of hours or a little more.

Weather would be quite good, the glaciers have started to melt resulting in many streams during the way. You would enjoy a lot :slight_smile: Perfect to visit with your family.

If you have anymore questions you are welcome to ask :slight_smile:

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Re: visit to naran kaghan on 15th june

Nice n detailed post by Sufi bhai .... (Although his budgets are on higher side :P)

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Hehe.. thank u cadet.. I budgeted a little high because he's going there with family and would definitely prefer a better & comfortable hotel & journey. On the other side, if you are going with friends, you can stay at camps, use public transport (buses/vans or simply trekking), eat mash ki daal :) which would greatly reduce the budget.. But when with family, one prefers everything better.. isn't it :)

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Re: visit to naran kaghan on 15th june

thanks alot sufi bhai....... i am also living in gulgasht colony multan ,, nice to hear that ur relative`s are here in multan........
i hav also decided to go with daewoo till abbotabad on that 2200 hrs time.
and thanks alot for ur nice sugestions ....... i will surely contact u when i will be there...
can i get ur contact number if u dont feel any hesitation???

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Sure Omer sahab, I have sent you a PM with my contact number. You can contact my anytime regarding the tour. Hope you have a great one.

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thanks sufi bhai!!

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Awesome information

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Re: visit to naran kaghan on 15th june

Sufi sahab, nice post. you summed it up all pretty well... INSHA ALLAH we are going that way in September this year

here is my version : p

i do not like myself, and don't recommend anyone else, to stay anywhere between islamabad and naran whenever going to kaghan valley.

if you book a vehicle from rawalpindi, you will have a vast choice to choose from, abbottabad is good too, but you will be left with comparatively little options.

if you have good budget, you can hire a 4x4 right from pindi, and make naran your first stop, if you leave early in the morning, say around 6am, you can easily reach naran before maghrib (considering 2-3 hours wasted due to expected landslides on the way). go via texila/ hattar instead of hasan abdal... its shorter and offers better scenery

stay overnight in naran, you can also advance directly to saif-al-malook and stay overnight there too, they have huts and also have a nice place for camping.

go to saif-al-malook next morning, if you have not already... attempt aansoo lake if you think you can walk, straight for 7-8 hours because you will need to go and then come back before sunset. if you cant walk, horses are easily available, they will take you to the lake and bring back in 4 hours, but still you will need to cover the final part on foot

next morning, come back to naran, have bf there, go to lalazar, stay overnight in camp/ hut. jeep will take you to only base of lalazar, you will need to walk if you want to see lalazar top, which is real lalazar and a place worth seeing

next day visit besal then go to lulupat sar, from there you can decide either to go back the same rout you came, or cross babusar and reach chillas, babusar pas is wonderful place to see... chillas-bisham-mansehra section of KKH is open and not affected (yet)

if you decide to go back the same route, you again have two options, from naran go to the other side of the river kanhar, and stay a night at sharan forest rest house, or go straight to shugran and visit siri/paye as sufi bhai said.

then come back direct to pindi and take daewoo back to multan...

a very very very rough estimate of the above, from pindi to pindi, assuming you hire a good 4x4 (prado/ land cruiser) from pindi, would be arround 5-7K per day + fuel + 1500 per day for hotel/ food. the hotel/food cost is for 2 persons. but again, its a very rough estimate

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Sufi sahab, what happened to your plan of dudipat?!?!? INSHA ALLAH we are going there this September, if your friends are lazy, come with us : p

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AsSalamulaikum janab :) How r u.. You have posted a nice plan :) There's one place which you've mentioned and I would want to visit it is Sharan forest.. I have read about it in the booklet I've purchased from Naran town. Seems like off the beaten path place. Will see if it can be visited this time..

Dudipat this time.. we will see.. The friends, this time going with me are not lazy so we'll see... If Dudipat is accessible then we will definitely give it a try..

If not then I'll definitely consider joining with you guys in September :) Thanks a lot for the invitation.

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Re: visit to naran kaghan on 15th june

very informative thread . . . :k:

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Re: visit to naran kaghan on 15th june

Ace and Sufi Bhai ... I am planning a day visit outside abbottabad with family ... how is Balakot for a day visit ?

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Malik Zulfi sahab.. Balakot doesn't have much to offer for scenery. It is a small town with few hotels and a big bazaar and a very wide river kunhar. Most people use Balakot to stay overnight so that they can start their journey for Shoogran/ Naran valley early in the morning.

A better decision would be to visit Shoogran instead of Balakot. It offers much more scenery.

Another option is to go NathiaGali from Abbottabad (on Abbottabad - Murree Road). It also provides awesome scenery and weather is usually much better because of higher altitude.

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Re: visit to naran kaghan on 15th june

I have already been to nathia gali ayubia and murree . . .

Whats the distance between Abbottabad and Shoogran and whats the travel time ?

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Re: visit to naran kaghan on 15th june

Balakot is about 62 km from Abbottabad.. And shoogran is about 34 km from Balakot (Out of 34, last 10 km (Kiwai to Shoogran) is narrow steep road but paved so it takes a little more time.

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Re: visit to naran kaghan on 15th june

so we can visit shoogran in day time and come back before night :hmmm: