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**SunS98600** · 07-17-2012, 12:58 AM

Originally posted by SDS17 View Post

wow....really?? Where in basohli? I'm from Karanwara actually near Sawar.
World is indeed a small place!

yeh indeed .... i am from Rehan(upparli

) ... but staying in hyderabad nw ...

Liked ur pics bro ... feeling nostalgic...

**ridermax** · 07-17-2012, 11:14 AM

Nice ride and some real lovely pics guys ! The places look amazing and I'm sure you had a great time

Ride On & Ride Safe

**SDS17** · 07-17-2012, 01:06 PM

Originally posted by ridermax View Post

Nice ride and some real lovely pics guys ! The places look amazing and I'm sure you had a great time

Ride On & Ride Safe

Yes it was really a memorable trip..

!

Day 2

Plans for the second day were to reach Bhaderwah which is around 80 or so kms from Bani, with a nice stop at Sarthal

.
Woke up at around 6:30 and it was raining outside! But it was fine we were in no hurry.

Rain!!

Outside the guesthouse.

Market in Bani.

Had some light breakfast and the weather cleared up too

. So at about 10 we were ready to move.

Getting my bike ready.

Bani.

Small waterfall, on the way to Sarthal. There are hundreds of them!!

Now this is where the really beautiful areas start. The views from Bani to Bhaderwah are really breathtaking!!

Corn fields all along

Loang, about 10-12 kms from Bani

This region has seen its share of terrorism, big time. The areas are quiet stable now, no major incidents in the past five years or so. I remember the last time we had come here around 10 years back with an uncle who is in the armed forces, we had an LMG fitted Gypsy in front and one in the back

!
It was scary

!

Beyond Loang

This area has snow in the winters.

nice roads.

**shahbaz63** · 07-17-2012, 01:29 PM

Dil khush kardete ho tum log.... maze yaar..

very Good

**SunS98600** · 07-17-2012, 01:54 PM

awsome pics yaar ....

**SDS17** · 07-17-2012, 01:57 PM

Because of the rain, every thing was so clear and bright!!

Sun burned Shaolin Master!

The Seven Falls

The water of the river Sewa falls seven times to reach to bottom.....

Huge Tree

The path ahead.

Reached Sarthal at around 11:30 or so.

Sarthal is a Meadow valley with nomadic population of gujjars and bakarwals.
Really amazingly beautiful!!

Sarthal

Small bridge on Sewa

Sewa

Sarthal!!

**SDS17** · 07-17-2012, 01:58 PM

Originally posted by SunS98600 View Post

awsome pics yaar ....

Thanks..

!!

**itsmevini123** · 07-17-2012, 02:23 PM

wow....

You live in such a nice place of earth man....

, those pictures are awesome, I am really jealous, why I don't live around to such a nice place...

**SDS17** · 07-17-2012, 05:10 PM

Originally posted by itsmevini123 View Post

wow....

You live in such a nice place of earth man....

, those pictures are awesome, I am really jealous, why I don't live around to such a nice place...

The place is beautiful indeed

!! Can you believe people in my town Kathua, go to Dalhousie, Mc Leodganj, Shimla for vacations and all, where as we have such beautiful places within our district itself.
I don't know if I should say that its good or bad

, but there is no tourist inflow in these areas. Infact I've been to this region only twice in my life

. The area lacks basic infrastructure, no roads, no accommodation, no electricity in many parts etc etc......and most importantly terrorism has kept people out of here. But conditions are improving fast and there is no such threat now whatsoever.

Sarthal

He made some very tasty "makki ki roti" and some strange sabzi for us!!

Yummy it was!!

Five Star Breakfast!

Neeraj enjoying a game with some locals

Pensive!!

Sartal, JKTDC Rest houses below.

After a lovely meal and some rest we decided to move, Bhaderwah being some 40 odd kms ahead....don't remember exactly..

Nomadic huts below, called "kothi" here

This guy i'm sure was atleast 7 feet tall, the stick he's holding was just a little shorter than me. I'm 5'8. Should've taken a pic with him

**SDS17** · 07-17-2012, 06:25 PM

Another water crossing.

Another one.

And finally this one.

Ok, after crossing quiet a few water hazards

we finally reached the one above(looks quiet tamable in the pics). It wasn't too deep nor too long, but it had round boulders in it......some nice big round boulders

........we could've crossed it if we tried

, but we weighed our options. The only reason why we would have crossed it was to reach Bhaderwah and trek till Kaplas Kund. But after having a look at the Kaplas kund mountain our jaws had already dropped

!! Man it was huge.......4300 mtrs to the top and the lake at around 4000 mtrs........we had known that already but seeing it is something else.....lol

........the Kaplas kund mountain is situated a little before Bhaderwah and was right in front of us between the clouds......with the climb starting at around 2700 mtrs and up till 4300 mtrs seemed too much for us

.........so we decided to head back and work on some easier treks in Bani(though it turned out to be rather beautiful in the end!!

)

A video of the water crossing we failed to cross, looks good in the video.

DSCN7779.mp4 video by sharang_17 - Photobucket

We parked our bikes and decided to walk a little further.

Kaplas Kund in the clouds.....not visible here though

Some locals going for the "Machail mata yatra"

No, he's not camera shy, , that's the way they sit!!

Bhaderwah is around 20 kms from this point

I wish to join these guys for a trek someday.

Our bikes below, with some two other bike. I guess the owners of these bikes too had decided not to cross. That's another reason why we decided not to cross.

**SDS17** · 07-17-2012, 07:19 PM

Visited this temple on our way back

Started moving

Huge tree again

The one with the camera is always at loss......no one clicks him

Kids at Loang

Corn Fields

Reached back Bani!

Reached back Bani at around 6 or so.......we decided not to stay at the forest rest house that night but at a local's place who had moved to some other place and his house was vacant.......Neeraj knew him and managed to get the keys from someone.

Cutting some onions, this was another great experience, cooking food at someone else's house at some other place. "Gaaon ki Rasoi"

lol, nice

The rice pulao tasted too good with the local curd!! All in the day's work for Neeraj.

Having some fun after the tasty food!!

Don't go away guys will come up with the rest of the pics tomorrow. Amazing day ahead. Trek to Chounki Mata.

**SDS17** · 07-18-2012, 05:14 PM

Originally posted by shahbaz63 View Post

Dil khush kardete ho tum log.... maze yaar..

very Good

.....Thanks!!

**SDS17** · 07-21-2012, 03:49 PM

Day 3

Woke up at around 6, we had planned for a small one day trek to Panyalag and Chounki mata as our other plan didn't materialize. We were a bit disappointed, but this trek turned out to be rather good!!

We had a light breakfast and left at around 7.

Bikes parked outside

The range in the background is the one we had to climb till the top.

Reached Panyalag at around 9:30 or so.

Panyalag

Panyalag

Apple trees by the track

A local gave us a few apples for free

**SDS17** · 07-21-2012, 07:47 PM

We really started feeling the heat after this point........there was no shade no trees. It was really strange, on one hand the air was cool, on the other the sun was really burning our skin. I ended up with light blisters on my face ang neck.

At some distance from Panyalag the track diverged into two......one was short and difficult and the other was long but easy. Ofcourse we took the short one

.......but it turned out to be rather steep

!!

Neeraj pointing towards the climb ahead.

At this very spot a local told us to be careful as a woman had died at this very climb a few days back after taking a fall. What a start.

Looking down.......doesn't seem much in the pics.....but trust me, it was steep.

This "steep portion" of about 150 mtrs didn't seem to end for a long time. Look at the disbelief on my face.

No shade ahead.

Much needed rest.

Into the Wild

Many small ponds like this one.

Weather became much better now.

Bani down below on the left hand side. That's where we started.......still more to go.

Best apples I've ever tasted!!

worried it might rain

Chounki mata Temple.

Further ahead

Lucky goat!!

This is Sparta!! lol

Another temple.

Had some chocolates we had brought with us, had some really amazing time but we had to head back now, as it was already around 3 pm and we had to reach back before dark.

Doesn't look half as good in pics as it looked in real

On the way back.

Pears, lying just like that........all fresh and yummy!!

Didn't click any pics after that as it got dark and we reached back after a really wonderful day. I wonder when will I be able to revisit these places.

Last day clicks, will post tomorrow maybe, nothing much.
Thanks!!

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Bani, Sarthal, 2010!!

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