travel sites in Neelum Valley Kashmir
Neelum Valley Azad Kashmir Pakistan is right at the border with India.
How long is Neelum Valley?
This Valley is a total of 144 kms long and ranges between 4000 to 7000 ft. The mountains on either side are upwards of 5000 meters.
Where is Neelum Valley Located?
Most of the left bank of Neelum River is with Pakistan in Azad Kashmir, while the right bank is with India.
It starts from North of Muzaffarabad City.
Best time to Visit Neelum Valley
The Valley is pure heaven in the summer season between June to September, when the weather is pleasant on the valley floor, near the river.
Neelum Valley Weather
Weather of Neelum Valley gets hot during May-July but Sharda and beyond, Kel , Taobut never get hotter beyond 32 Degree Celsius
In fact, it rains daily in these towns.
You have to use blankets at Sharda in Peak Summer season
Activities in Neelum Kashmir
You can do
- Mountain climbing
- Hiking
- camping,
- fishing,
- boating and
- even horse riding there.
Neelum distance and time from Islamabad
The total distance of Neelum Valley from Islamabad is about 250 kilometer or 6 hours, one-way, up to Keran.
It takes a further 2 hours to reach Sharda
Road Condition in Neelum Kashmir
The road up to Dowarian town after Keran is freshly made and the rest up to Sharda is still under construction.
PRO TIP
If you want to reach Sharda in 8 hours from Islamabad, then leave just after Sunrise, to avoid the pedestrians in the bazars that slow your transport
Neelum Valley Kashmir Tourist Points
These are the Top 10 places to see and things to do in Neelum Valley Azad Kashmir Pakistan:-
- Taobut
- Kel
- Arang Kel
- Shonter Valley
- Sharda
- Noori Top road connecting Neelum with Kaghan Valley
- Keran
- Teetwal
- Jagran Power house
- Neelum Jhelum Hydro Project Lake
Taobut
If you intend to explore the best parts of the Valley, then first up drive straight to Taobut
It is a 9 hours drive to Taobut from Islamabad if you get up late and stop for lunch too.
Islamabad to Taobut distance and time
Drive time from Islamabad too Muzaffarabad is 4 hours over lower topa
Things to see in Taobut
If you decide to see Taobut first, then stay there at a local guest house and explore
- the Line of Control
- There is a beautiful trout fish farm as well there.
- Wooden Double story guest houses
- Road ends here, so it’s very peaceful
Route Islamabad to Taobut
Drive time from Muzaffarabad to Teetwal- Kundal Shahi- Keran – Kel – Sharda -Taobut is five hours more
You’d have to go up to Murree through Lower topa and turn towards PC Bhurban and climb down to Kohala Bridge through Birote.
This is the Google Maps route up to
Are tourists allowed in Azad Kashmir?
Foreign tourists are allowed in to Azad Kashmir, if they have an No Objection Certificate (NOC)
Pakistani citizens with their valid CNIC are also allowed through Check posts at :-
- Kohala Bridge, and
- Neelum Jhelum Dam
Muzaffarabad Azad Kashmir
Drive straight through Muzaffarabad and ask anyone from the city center which is the road to Neelum Valley.
Try to have your lunch at Muzaffarabad because you’d find good, clean food and bottled water there. In Neelum valley things get expensive.
You can leave visit to
- Pir Chinasi Muzaffarabad and
- The local Forts for some other day.
Muzaffarabad also has the only major hospital, CMH, in Neelum Valley, but don’t be worried, hardly anyone gets major sickness.
Neelum Jhelum Hydro Project Lake
On the way to the tip of the bow-shaped Neelum valley, you’d drive across the newly commissioned Neelum Jhelum hydro project, which the Indians shelled with their artillery.
At the mouth of Neelum valley is the last check post, after that, there is not much checking during day time.
Nowadays, there is no artillery duel going on between Pakistan and India, so going there is safe and enjoyable especially the blue Dam lake
Kundal Shahi
While driving along the Neelum Valley, the first stop would be
- Dhani and
- Kutton waterfall in Jagran
Jagran has nice clean hotels as well. Mostly people just stay here and donot go further ahead.
PRO TIP 2
It is a better idea to explore one town of Neelum Valley in each visit, instead of driving through.
Keran
Keran has Indian Administered Kashmir across from Neelum River.
The town of Keran has the cleanest Hotels
Sometimes you can wave at the kids in the schools and they wave back.
be careful not to point at the India Bunkers or their snipers will take a pot shot at you.
Best hotel at Keran
Green Village Resorts is the best hotel here (058214) 52478
Kel town to see Shonter Valley
Pronounced “Kail”, it is right behind Taobut and Shonter valley is one of the legs leading out of Kel.
Shonter Valley was one of the religious pilgrimage sites for Kashmiri Pundits of India, pre partition.
Things to see in Kel
Shonter Valley has a beautiful
- Shonter lake and
- Chitta Katha Lake too.
- You can get a Rupal face view of Nanga Parbat there and also
- Toshe Ri 1 Mountains.
- There is the picturesque village of Arangkel to see too, after a ride in a cable car.
There are plenty of hotels with clean beds and warm food at Kel.
Sharda Hindu Heritage and Religious Sites
Before Kel is the Hindu religious site of Sharda.
History of Sharda
Sharda was in fact the name of a Hindu princess. Sharda is very dear to Kashmiri Hindu Pundits.
Things to see in Sharda
- the Sharda Peeth temple which is said to be at least 1200 years old,
- the Kishan Ghati cave with the scratched image of Lord Kishan on a mountain face,
- 9 hours hike to sacred lake Mai-narda that has steps that take you down to the water’s edge for Ashnan.
- 9 hours slightly dangerous Hike to Chitta Katha lake
- There is Kashi Dev’s Tandoor, an ancient Bakery that had religious significance too.
- Sharda to Batakundi drive over Noori Top
- Boating at Neelum Valley River
Best hotel in Sharda
Sharda Highland Hotel is the best and cleanest in the area (058214) 52008
Stay at Teetwal to see Indian Troops
Sliding back on the Neelum road, the next stop is Teetwal.
Here the main attraction is Indian troops on the other side hiding behind huge trees.
Ask any local and they would give you a complete rundown of the history of armed struggle for Kashmir and where each Indian post and gun position is.
They would even give you their expert opinion on the geopolitics of the region, which, quite frankly is better than what our Lafafa journalists tell us.
The Pakistani side hardly has any trees, we’ve cut them all.
The 72 lakes of Neelum Valley
My guide told me he has recorded just 56 such glacial lakes and there are known to be 72.
The reason because none of them get discovered is that the Pakistani part of Kashmir has higher mountains and remains covered in the snow till late August
This gives only a 15 days window every year to complete this wilderness hike to Kaghan, with several stopovers and no facilities at all enroute.
You’d have to take all your tenting and food with you from Kel or Sharda.
Stay at Keran to see the best places
The best place to go into the Gullies around Neelum Valley is Dowarian village.
From Dowarian Village, you can reach
- Ratti Gali Lake at 12130 feet
- Hans Raj Lake,
- Kala Sar 1 and
- Kala Sar 2 lakes
- Saral Lake
- Patlian Lake
- cross over into Kaghan valley after a five days hike.
The place you end up can either be Batakundi or Jal Khand, depending on how many lakes you’d like to see.
Secondly, you can turn right from Ratti Gali Lake, climb to the back of the lake, cross the ridge behind the lake walking on razor sharp ledges and reach Sharda in 9 hours.
Ratti Gali to Saral Lake
Thirdly, you can turn left from Ratti Gali Lake and cross over into another Gali called the Rahi Gali or Retli Gali that leads you to another Lake . You’d have to climb over 4000 m high mountain ledges to get there and the tracks are so dangerous, it would put Tom Cruise and his Mission Impossible to shame.
I was hanging on one ledge with my hands only, with no foot rest at all and the valley floor below a few thousand feet down.
Ratti Gali to Lal Butti Mountain
Fourthly, you can climb to the top of lal Butti Mountain that is adjacent to Ratti Galli Lake. I was told it is 13000 feet and colonial British officers climbed it pre 1947 while they were conducting land survey here.
They even have their graves on the glacier floor with remnants of their guest house. The red mountain was christened Lal Butti because of the land marking post the British land surveyor placed on top of the hill there.
Conclusion
So, the next time you want to see lakes, mountains, clear rivers, pine forests, Glaciers, snow in the summers, go to Neelum Valley and do each of these sites, one at a time, so that you can enjoy it.
If you want me to arrange for your visit to any of these places, do inbox me
Goat Butter Milk
In case I forget, the Bakarwal of Neelum Valley, or the goat herders are very accommodating to wayward hikers and travellers.
They not only offer accommodation but give free food and Goat milk.
It was after I’d had goat milk and intoxicating Lassi that I realized how Mongols got their liquid courage to bulldoze through the world.
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