Tour de Pakistan: AJK

Trip Plan for Neelam Valley, AJK

Neelam Valley is located in the Pakistani administrated Kashmir. On the eastern side of this valley is district Kupwara of Indian occupied Kashmir. The west side is bordered with Kaghan Valley, basically these two valleys are sisters that are separated by sky kissing mountains. Kaghan valley is situated in the Khayber Pakhtonkhaw Province and Neelam Valley is in Azad Jammu and Kashmir. I visited the later one in July 2011 and want to share my travelling experience with you.

As we started our road trip from the Bus stand of Muzaffarabad it was already 1 hour past sunset. The bus was an old Bedford that are very prone to accidents but are widely used in the rural areas of Pakistan. As I remember we were the last passengers to board in the bus. We were going to a small town which was located in between Muzaffrabad and Sharda. One thing that we all expect while commuting to such areas is that it would be lush green scenery outside but I was amazed by the poor condition of road throughout my journey. On our right side was roaring Neelam River and across that river, we saw lighting around the Indian army camps. The locals told us that during the year 99-2003 it was hard to travel through that road due to continuous shelling and unprovoked firing from the Indian army. The bus was full of dust that was coming from the doors and the windows.

However, we managed to reach the town around 10 PM and looked for hotels outside. It was a small town but the only hotel opened that time had some vacant rooms. Rooms were made on the back side of the hotel. Early in the morning, the next day we found it pretty scenic as a stream was flowing on the back side of our hotel room and the view from there was enthralling. Let me share with you the view outside my hotel room. So the photograph on the right side is the view from the balcony of our room. It was a beautiful scene to sit and enjoy but our destination was yet far from this place. Around 8 AM in the morning we boarded on a passenger bus and went towards the Headquarter of Neelam valley , Athmukam.

Athumkam being the HQ of Neelam valley is a fairly large city compared to the other town in the valley. There you can find Communication facilities as well as a good hospital. There is a lot of shops that provides a good opportunity for shopping indigenous commodities. Athmukam become famous during the late 90s when Indians targeted it during the high tension times. Apart from all this scenario there are a lot of hotels and a govt. motel too, but it requires prior booking. From Athmukam upwards the valley is known as upper Neelam Valley and it is from here the breathtaking beauty of Kashmir starts in its true sense. After a brief stay at Athmukam we boarded again on a local passenger bus and went for the scenic and historic town Sharda. It took approx 3 hours to reach Sharda. There were three or four military check posts on the way to Sharda. In between was a place where Neelam River was also serving as the border between Azad Kahmir and Occupied Kashmir. We saw indian troops standing on the other side of Neelam River. Beleive me there, the border was barely a round few hundred feet. At around 4 PM we reached Sharda.

An evening at SHARDA

Sharda is a small town located at the bank of River Neelam, and is known for a small military camp. Besides the Pak Army camp it has a historic importance for there had been a Buddhist institute once. The ruins of famous temple Sharda Peeth can be seen there. A small fort known as Sharda Fort is also there besides the temple. For accessing the temple you have to cross the river via a hanging bridge and proceed to the army unit HQ. There you will find way to the temple. Besides this there is also a government owned tourism rest house. We stayed in a small hotel which was a pure village level standard. The nights at Sharda are cold even in the summer as it is located at an altitude of 1981m above sea level. The evening here are mesmerizing, the people here are friendly. They are striehgt forward and honest. Here we found the communication system of SCO (Special Communication Organization) which was powered by the solar PV system. We had a night stay there, for the next day was reserved for KEL.

View of NEELAM river from KEL.

Kel is the most far flung established town of Neelam Valley and also the host of Divisional Headquarters of Pak Army. The journey from Sharda to Kel was the most dangerous and risky. The road condition was poor and the race among the local transport drivers made it even worse. However, couple of cascades and scenic points can be seen in this journey. The glaciers on the other side of river are worth witnessing. From Kel one can find jeeps for visit to Kach Chatta lake and Taobat. From Kel one can do a two hours hike to Arang kel, which is a beautiful plateau. Besides all this Kel is a good base point if you intend to expedite towards Shantoor Lake, Kacha Chitta Lake and Taobut. It has hotels for night stay and jeeps are available with local drivers that can take you to the forward areas of this beautiful valley. The hotel rates are nominal so as their standard. This is the last point of the public transport and beyond this point no public transport is available. From here the buses flee daily to athmukam and Muzaffarabad from early in the morning till sunset.

The whole neelam valley is surrounded by mountain range known as Western Himalayas or Punjab Himalyas. In some places they are called on the famous peaks like Makra Peak range, Ratti Gali Mountains range etc.Due to high tension border areas these mountains are not famous among the Alpine clubs. If you have a plan to visit Neelam valley here are my bits of advice.

Carry your identity card with you while travelling to Neelam valley. The whole valley is alongside the border therefore do not forget to have your CNIC with you.
Proper camping gear if you intend to do camping. once you entered the valley you will not find any shop for camping gear.
Seasonal clothing. Neelam Valley is snow covered from Oct- July.
Some medicines specially for Stomach and headache.

The tour plan can be set according to the following schedule however you can tailor this according to your needs and desires.

Day 1: Arrival at Muzaffarabad and start your journey to KEL and night stay at KEL. If you arrive at evening do not take the risk of going to NEELAM. Approx 12 HRS journey
Day 2: Visit to Arang Kel and site seeing
Day 3: Visit to Shantoor lake and night stay at KEL (lake is at a journey of 4 hrs on Jeep).
Day 4: Visit to Kacha chatta lake and night stay there ( For visiting here you need to have good stamina and camping arrangements).
Day 5: Back to KEL and night stay in SHARDA.(Approx 4 Hrs)
Day 6. Back to Muzaffarabad (approx 8 hrs)

The people of this valley are very friendly and it is considered safer for tourism. The food in Kashmir is mostly rice with lobia and good quality soft drinks are also available. I wish you a safe trip to this heavenly place.

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