The roads to Naran were open I came to know, so I decided to make this trip and spend some times off the Punjab's heat. I left Islamabad on my Coure at 7:15am, made about three stops till I reached the beautiful Naran valley.
Took lot of pics because on this trip I was armed with a 5MP digital camera. I'll share the pics along with commentary(H)
The weather was somewhat hot upto Kaghan, but after that here was a sudden change in the wind temperature:
Much of the road has been rebuilt, as compared to what I witnessed on my August '08 visit. However, the road still gets blocked at some places and then gets cleared in some time, though you might have to wait for upto 45 minutes.
The steel bridge on way to Naran, the old one was destructed by the earthquake.
The under-construction part of the road:
A natural spring of water some 15km away from Naran:
A view of the mineral mountain just before Naran:
On reaching Naran the weather was just awesome:
Since it is the almost the beginning of the season, there are not many tourists in Naran these days so the roads and hotels are not crowded.
Next day was planned for a visit to the famous Lake Saif ul Muluk. I came to know that Jeep takes you half the way after which you have the option either to hire a horse of enjoy walking up all the way.
I took the horse :)
Pics of the horse track:
Riding a horse on a terrain like this is an experience of its kind, you must experience it at least once, I had great adventurous time.
The Jeep drive is about thirty minutes+thirty minutes of riding the horse back+an additional twenty minutes of walk as the end journey to the lake is not possible on the horse because of lose gravel at some places.
Some pics I took during the twenty minute walk journey:
This looks great, right?
Another beautiful view"
Just five minutes from the lake and you get to see a breathtaking beautiful view:
Tell me its not just me ;)
The Jeep was parked in the area as I have encircled, the Jeep is not visible in the pic, this is how much you travel on the horse, including the walking journey:
Zoomed view of the lake from a distance of five minutes walk:
Thats it, I'm here:
The great thing about visiting the lake in this season is that you get to see totally different colours of and around the lake as compared to the regular season, plus presence of mighty glaciers around the lake covering the mountains further add to the charm.
Notice the reflection of mountains:
I strolled around and took some amazing pics, you be the judge:
Some of the lake water is still frozen:
On return from the lake there was still lot of energy and desire left to make a ride on the Naran-Jalkhad road. I was told that its not possible to reach Jalkhad on car as several huge glaciers make it impossible to reach there when your ride is not a Jeep. But there never is a harm on going out on your own, going as far as you easily can, and take some amazing pics:
The exciting thing about the Naran-Jalkhad track driving is that you get to see lot beautiful landscapes, and the same makes it a time taking journey, you crave to take as many pics as you can:
You come across several glaciers on this road, big and small. I crossed about eight of them, two were real skill testing:
I love this pic:
And what about a poser pic?? ;)
Water flowing down the road:
It was quite an effort for Coure to cross two difficult glaciers and get there for a shot:
Since the road is narrow around here, it can be a problem if a vehicle comes from the opposite side:
Another big one:
Notice the track here:
Riding a Harley on a road like this with this kind of landscape is one of my dreams:
A pic taken on way back to Naran:
Some pics taken in Naran, by the riverside:
The next day was scheduled for the Shugran visit. The road toward Shugran has many twists on steep heights on it, so a vehicle with good engine condition only can make it to the top. So if the engine of your car is not enough powerful, don't dare take this road:
Some Shugran pics:
Because of the Hazara province issue blockage of road in the Pakhtunkwa area is no surprise, I too got trapped in one such blockage on my way back:
