Kaghan Valley



 

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SHARAN

KUND BANGLA 

SHOGRAN    

 

   

SRI and PAYA

NARAN

NOORI TOP 

     

 

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The Beautiful valley of Kaghan starts from Balakot and stretches right up to Babusar Pass, a distance of about 160 kilometers. The valley of green forests, blue lakes, glaciers and water falls is spread out among the lesser Himalayas (i.e. the eastern end of Himalayan mountain range), in Northern NWFP, bordering Kashmir and Northern Areas. Kaghan Valley has many places of tourist interest. Some of them are well known and are rather over crowded due to large tourists inflow, such as Shogran, Naran, Lake Saif ul Maluk etc. But there are many many more places, hidden behind the thick forests in far off valleys, less known and even less visited, and therefore in pristine state. The valley has countless beautiful treks and is a popular destination for trekkers and hikers.

 

The well known places in Kaghan valley are turning into concrete jungles as forests are being cut and every available piece of land is turned into hotels and restaurants, to cater to the ever increasing and un-checked flow of tourists, which increased significantly after the new road from Mansehra to Naran was completed a few years back. But this destruction of natural beauty due to increasing tourist traffic has also brought prosperity for the local population in the shape of increased business opportunities (hotels, shops, transports) and jobs (drivers, tourist guides etc), electricity and communication facilities like telephone and internet.

 

Kaghan Valley is accessible by road from Peshawar and Islamabad, via Abbottabad. Abbottabad (122 kilometers from Islamabad and 217 kilometers from Peshawar) is a beautiful town surrounded by green hills. Mansehra(24 kilometers north of Abbottabad) is another large town on route to Naran, where the Mansehra-Naran-Jalkad Highway branches off from the main Karakoram Highway, and winding through the mountains reaches Balakot (48 kilometers from Mansehra), the gateway to Kaghan Valley.

 

Balakot is quite a large town, with many hotels, restaurants and shops. Transport to all parts of Kaghan Valley can be arranged from here. From Balakot the road continues along River Kunhar passing through Kawai (24 kilometers from Balakot) where a road branches off to Shogran, Paras (33 kilometers from Balakot), where the road to Sharan separates from the main road, Mahandri (48 kilometers from Balakot) and Kaghan (61 kilometers from Balakot). All these towns have a few hotels and restaurants. I have only stayed in these towns for a few minutes for refreshments, therefore, there are no photographs of these places here. The road, after reaching Naran (85 kilometers from Balakot), peters out into a dirt road and continues along River Kunhar to Babusar Pass (161 kilometers from Balakot), the other end of Kaghan Valley.  

 

NWFP Forest Department maintains rest houses at almost every tourist destination in Kaghan Valley (and other forested areas throughout NWFP). In some far off places these rest houses are the only buildings for miles around. Although they are primarily used by officers of NWFP Forest Department on field duty, tourist can also stay their on payment, subject to availability. These rest houses can be booked through the NWFP Forest Department.

 

Follow the links below for (some) information and (lots of) pictures of some of the well known and some not-so-well known places in Kaghan Valley that I have visited. I must stress once again that there are many more tourist attractions in Kaghan Valley, but I have only listed the places that I have visited. You can find information about some of the other places by following the links in the “LINKS” section.

 

Click on the links below to view the Picture Galleries

SHARAN

KUND BANGLA

SHOGRAN    

 

   

SRI and PAYA

NARAN

NOORI TOP 

     

 

Back to Home Page

 

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