A Motorcycle Road trip to the "Heaven on Earth" | Azad Kashmir Pakistan

Hello to all the Hive users and my followers, hope you're all doing fine. Today I'm back with one of those blogs which are very close to my heart.

This trip of mine is comparatively old, considering the fact that I like to travel every now and then. But this trip will always remain my favorite as I was able to wander arouns the country on a bike. A bike that we use to commute for our daily chores in a city. I traveled on this bike to the peaks of the mountains of the Heaven of the Earth, ie, Kashmir.

The story has many twists and turns and it was one of the most unexpected trips of my life. I had no idea that I'd be going on this trip only a few hours before it actually took place. I was sitting in my university in Karachi, that is the southern moat city pf Pakistan, completely opposite to Kashmir, ie, the northern most city of Pakistan.

It so happened that one of my friends who lives in the capital territory of Pakistan, ie, Islamabad, was leaving for his hometown from Karachi. I accompanied him to Islamabad out of nowhere. There were no preemptive plans, yet in the heat of this moment I took this decision and it was the best decision of my life.

As soon as we reached Islamabad, I asked him to take me to the Hiking trails as there are a lot of hiking trails in Islamabad and literally zero in Karachi. Being a mountain lover I couldn't wait any longer.

HIKING TRAIL

One of the few capital cities in the world with such a close connection to environment is Islamabad.

The Margalla Hills are a continuation of the Himalayan mountain range. The hill's top is covered entirely in lush vegetation, including trees, plants, and rocks, and it is nutrient-rich. The forest on the hills is home to a wide diversity of creatures and birds. Iguanas, wild boars, monkeys, snakes, and a few snow leopards can all be found in this region. The forestry department and authorities in Pakistan have worked tirelessly to boost tourism in this region. Every year, a hiking tour is organised by a variety of private clubs and government organisations to educate people of all ages about the Margalla Hills.

The Margalla Road, at the F-5 area, is where the Trail #5 begins. A forest committee advice board is located at the beginning site, and members have forewarned visitors about potential animal assaults. The hike is 8 kilometres in overall, with the first 2 kilometres being a straightforward path.

The trail isn't as easy as it seems. Theres a bit of land sliding with numerous water falls and it is highly not recommended to hike without taking a support of a strong stick. As you can see in the picture above, I had a support of a stick throughout the hike. Even though I have good stamina but this trail really tested my limits hahaha.

I was also intrigued by the wildlife found in this trail. I encountered multiple monkeys of all breeds and also snakes. It's siad that there are also iguanas cheetahs in this trail as well but thank God, none appeared while I was there.

I couldn't reach the top of the trail as it was getting dark and the journey down would have taken us an extra hour. So we decided to turn back from we were and headed back home. I was so excited as this is where the real adventure would begin. Tomorrow morning we'd be leaving for Kashmir with our 6 friends to Kashmir. We were in total 6 boys on 3 motorbikes.

THE MOTORBIKE JOURNEY BEGINS

We departed at the break of the dawn as we didn't want to travel through the dangerous rough mountainous terrains of Islamabad at night at any cost. Since we were on bikes, each one of us had only 1 backpack laden on our backs. We exited Islamabad through the main Highway and rode for 3 hours continuously. It was at this moment when we realised we needed a break.

Also, the area that we were passing through at that time was so beautiful that it forced us to stop there for some time and take a couple of pictures as well

ROAD TO KASHMIR

We had 6 hours ahead of us to reach Kashmir and we wanted to do it before the night fell at any cost, so without any further ado, we refreshed ourselves, took a couple of cigarettes packets and start d our journey to Kashmir.

The road ahead was well built and was friendly for bike riders as well. The greenery all around us was enchanting. We rode at a smooth speed of around 70-80 km/h and in no time we were almost at the Border of Punjab and Kashmir. As soon as we entered the region of Kashmir, believe me the weather changed. Also, one more fascinating thing that you'd like to know about this border is that there's a bridge there which swings. Yesss it swings when you move through it. I got shit scared. The bridge is well built of concrete and steel and even heavy trucks pass through it. Under the bridge is the Neelum River.

NEELUM RIVER

Neelum River is also known as the Khooni Dariya in our local language. Khooni Dariya literally translates to The River of Death.

Why? It's quite depressing to know. This name is given to this place as not a single person has survived after falling in this river and quite honestly how can one survive in this river? This is the fastest flowing river of Pakistan and also the coldest. The water gushes in such force that even listening to the sound of it flowing is terrifying and what we did at this river is what I have never told my mom. Let's check out.

KOHALA BRIDGE

My heart's pumping even while writing this post and reminiscing about the experience I had on this bridge. This was a broken bridge that too OVER THE NEELUM RIVER. How insane is that and my friends forced me to run on this bridger, while they were swinging it. Oh mannn I really hope my mom doesn't find out.

But the experience that I had on this bridge will always be engraved right here in my mind and heart.

We stayed on this bridge for a good 15-20 minutes during which we had the time of our lives. Took a couple of pictures, ran across the bridge, swung the bridge with full might, hung our leg down through the broken plank area and ofcourse prayed at every step to God xD

KASHMIR WATERFALL

Kashmir Waterfall or commonly known as the Kashmir Aabshaar is one of the most famous waterfalls in this area. It is located at a distance of 45 Kilometers from the KOHALA BRIDGE. It is one of the most visited waterfalls in this area. To reach this waterfall you have to sit in a cable chair and travel over the Neelum River. The cable chair takes about 1 minute to carry you there and charg a you 100 rupees that is less than $0.5

The waterfall flows with uts full might and the aura there is amazing. As a cherry on the top, it even started raining.

This is my first post about this amazing trip to Kashmir. I promise to continue the experience that I had and post the next part very soon. Apart from that I visited another place in Kashmir, known as Arang Kel,which is LITERALLY the heaven on earth. Since I want my travel blogs to be in sequence, I decided to post this one first. But don't worry, I'll be posting all of them very soon. Till then, take care byeee.

WHO IS HUZAIFANAVEED?

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_{huzaifanaveed hails from Pakistan, who is an aspiring dentist, studying in one of the top notch universities of Pakistan, Jinnah Sindh Medical University.}

_{he loves interacting with new people, making new friends and traveling the world, but most importantly he loves to make a change in this world through his actions and his words. He's an entrepreneur and a philanthropist who's been actively working with different Charitable Organizations in Pakistan.}

_{His goal on Hive is similar, ie, to make a difference. He's here to mark his presence and he'll do it through his words. So lets be a part of his journey and show him support through comments, upvotes and reblogs.}

All pictures used in this article are my own, unless stated otherwise.

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