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Trip to Hidden Paradise – Hunza Valley via Naran

Pakistan is a naturally rich Country in South Asia, with all types of seasons available, with many Beautiful and Stunning Paradises. This time around I managed to visit this hidden Paradise at Hunza Valley, in Gilgit Baltistan. It’s a Province of Pakistan and along the way I explored mesmerising paradises. Those include Kaghan Valley, Naran Valley, Saiful Malouk Lake, Lulusar Lake, BabuSar Top, Hunza Valley, Gilgit, Passu Cones, Borith Lake, Nagar Valley, Karimabad and Atabad Lake.

We divided our long journey trip into two trips due to long distance from Lahore to Hunza. It is about 943 km or 585 miles and straight 18 hours travel time by road.

First trip was to get to Naran and stay there for two nights. Second trip was to move on towards Hunza Valley from there and return.

I did some planning effort before going to trip which is very essential. However many people will claim to chill and not worry about it. But it’s important to Plan and be prepared for any unforeseen issues. This is to ensure you gain maximum out of this lovely time, especially if you’re traveling with families.

My Travel checklist:

+ Validated all the forecasts from online weather forecast of all destinations.
+ Kept warmer clothes with us due to weather forecast.
+ Checked nearby hotels and their locations to shortlist them.
+ Reserved our nights already at our hotels.
+ Made a list of items, I packed with me to know what I’m bringing and what I missed.
+ Got my car tyres checked which I had to upgrade, so I did.
+ Got done regular maintenance on my car to ensure there aren’t anything that left unchecked.
+ Bought some snacks and drinks already locally with some preserved food items.
+ Brought extra shopping bags with us so I could put trash in them.

Please note that wherever you go, you must keep your trash bags with you. Therefore you could throw trash in them, instead of ruining the beauty of that place. We have seen trash/used wrappers/bags at the banks of lakes, resorts and Mountain treks. They are heart breaking and frustrating, at how people have misused the God gifted paradise.

Our Trip started on the early morning at 01:00 am on 22nd June, 2018. We had clear skies from Lahore, Punjab by road.

Kalar Kahar / Salt Range

We started our journey through lush green M2 Motorway, all the way through beautiful Kalar Kahar and Salt Range mountains. I must share that Khewra Salt mines are second largest Salt Reservoirs in the whole world.

After crossing Kalar Kahar, Islamabad was just 2 hours away. We took our break at M2 – Service Area at Kalar Kahar.

After that, we kept driving straight towards Peshawar via M2 Motorway to M1 Motorway.

E35 Expressway / M15 Motorway

Around Hassan Abdal area, after crossing Burhan interchange, we took left Exit towards E35 Hazara expressway. E35 Expressway is also known as M15 Motorway, or CPEC Motorway. It is 180 km controlled-access between Punjab & KPK.

At Shah Maqsood Interchange, we took turn towards N-35 National Highway at around 7 am in the morning.

This highway led us towards beautiful Abbottabad and Mansehra cities. It’s important to mention that N-35 goes through the Abbottabad city. Therefore, you should try to go through the Main city before 8 am in the morning. Peak hours in city are from 10am to 4pm or 4pm to 7pm.

There’s another and more recommended route recently added on Express Highaway. It takes you straight till Mansehra instead of going through Abbottabad city.

Before entering Mansehra city, there’s Zeeb Town from where you’ll take right turn towards Balakot on N15. After that, there’s another alternate route as well which passes through Mansehra City. But we took this N15 Highway route to avoid City traffic.

When you cross initial patch of the N15 route, there’d be slightly rough patch in start for about 5 minutes. After that, the road is in Good condition towards Balakot.

Mansehra City

On the way to Balakot, you’ll witness Mansehra city on your left spread out all across and mountain on your right. It is the capital of Mansehra District in KPK Province.

Mansehra City by JawadAbid.com

After driving round and round of about 30 minutes’ drive, you’ll reach to Balakot. Please remember you can get motion sickness in those rounds of Mansehra.

Balakot

Once you reach Balakot, you will see the first glimpse of Beautiful Kunhar river. You will absolutely want to stop your car for that breathtaking view with mountains at the back.

Balakot view by JawadAbid.com

We stopped our car for Quick breakfast at the hotel, near bank of Kunhar river, at around 8:15 am. There are several resorts and restaurants you can pick from based on your preferences. Similarly, they will serve you breakfast at the bank of Kunhar River which makes the breakfast experience even better.

Kunhar River by JawadAbid.com

From there onwards, we crossed Balakot which is located at the bank of Kunhar River.

Kaghan and Naran Valley

After crossing Balakot, you’ll reach to another paradise called Kaghan Valley, which is 155 kilometers long valley. It is at an elevation of 2,134 feet to its highest point to the Babusar Pass, at 13,690 feet.
It was perfect timings in the morning with sun behind green mountains and Kunhar River passing by the valley.

After that, we traveled for an hour or so, and reached Kiwai. From this point, you can take tour towards Beautiful Shogran and Siri Payee. There would be Lot of Special Jeeps available to take you for the ride.

We continued to move as our base camp was in Naran, as we moved forward. On the way, we reached Kaghan town. We took the couple of lush green beautiful mountain pictures with a quick stop for ten minutes.

Kaghan Valley by JawadAbid.com

After that, we moved further for an hour, we reached Naran town around 11 am. We were not surprised at how Naran town was built past few years. It has been commercialized a lot, with lots of Hotels and Restaurants on the sideways. We crossed the congested strip of Hotels at Naran and took right on Saiful Malouk Road towards our Hotel.

Saif ul Malook Lake

The next morning, we took a Jeep ride towards Most beautiful and Amazing Saiful Malouk lake.

Saiful Malouk Lake is located at an elevation of 3,224 m (10,578 feet) above sea level, with a last known depth of 50 ft.

You could see highest peak in the area at the back of this lake called Malika Parbat which is 5,290 metres (17,356 ft) high.

My view of Saiful Malouk by JawadAbid.com

After coming back from Saiful Malouk Lake, we took a quick rest and went towards the Rafting point at Kunhar River, located on Karakoram Highway N15 towards Lulusar Lake.

Saif ul Malouk and Malka Parbat View at JawadAbid.com

Kunhar River Rafting

We went back from Saiful Malouk Road towards Naran (Town) and took right towards Babusar Top. The spot for Rafting was only 15-25 minutes’ drive on N15 Highway.

Tip: Before you go for Rafting, make sure you have dry shorts/bathing suit, sandals with straps, and wet suit boots. During Rafting they will get your signature for disclaimer. Give you all precautionary instructions and provide life jackets too.

We loved every bit of Rafting adventure with our cousins. We wanted to do it again, but it was already sunset so we had to mark that for next time.

After that, we had to check out Lulusar Lake and Babusar Top, also known as Babusar Pass. It is located at elevation of 4,173 metres or 13,691 feet. They both are on same N15 Highway going towards BabuSar Pass.

LuluSar Lake

The next morning, we left at 6:00 am sharp towards BabuSar Pass. We planned to reach to Hunza Valley before sunset. We stopped by at Lulusar Lake and Babusar Top on the way, hence started early to have enough time.

Tip: Please note that there are lot of Open Fuel / Gas shops, which are selling at their own rates. In case you get stuck, you still have a chance to buy extra gas or fuel from them. I don’t recommend to buy from them.

As you go on N15 highway towards Babusar Pass, you’ll witness lot of breathtaking sceneries with Kunhar river flowing with you. In addition, you’ll also see herds of mountain goats passing by too.

After an hour and 30 minutes on N15 highway, we reached to magnificent Lulusar Lake. In addition, it is located at 3,410 m (11,190 ft.), is the primary headwaters off the Kunhar River. It flows southwest through the entire length of Kaghan Valley passing Jalkhand, Naran, Kaghan, Jared, Paras and Balakot until its confluence with the Jhelum River. Lulusar lake is located about 48 kilometres (30 mi) away from Naran. It is accessible by any kind of vehicle.

Lulusar Lake by JawadAbid.coml,

We could see reflection of Sky and mountains on the mesmerizing lake. We took a couple of pictures there while we stopped there for fifteen to twenty minutes.

BabuSar Top / BabuSar Pass

From Lulusar Lake, it took us about 45 minutes to 1 hour, to reach at BabuSar Top. It got colder as we passed through BabuSar Top. However, if temperature decreases enough, you could see snow fall there too quite often. As soon as we reached to BabuSar Top, we could see all the peaks top from there.

We stopped at BabuSar Top for few pictures and some snacks. There’re some tuck shops and temporary restaurants to entertain you with food. For instance, you could order tea and pakoras there.

Babusar Top is located at an elevation of 4,173 meters or 13691 feet along the Kaghan Valley. It connects Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with Gilgit Baltistan province of Pakistan. In addition, it’s the highest peak that is accessible through cars and jeeps.

This range of mountains flanks the right bank of the Kunhar, contains a peak Malika Parbat. It is at over 17,000 feet, the highest in the district.

From this point onwards, Chillas is 40 Km and Gilgit is 180 Km away. Khunjrab is 384 km, Kashghar is 802 Km, Tashkent is 1866 Km and Beijing is 5252 Km.

We left immediately as we had to reach to Hunza Valley before sunset and had a planned lunch at Chilas.

Tip: If you run into flat tyre, there’s a small tyre shop. It is next to BabuSar Top towards Chilas 5-10 minutes ahead.
There’s a very steep drive from Babusar Top towards Chilas. Therefore, you must drive your car slow in lower gears. You must Take continuous breaks after every 15 to 20 minutes to cool down breaks and tyres.

If you enjoyed this blog, don’t hesitate to share through Share buttons. on your preferred Social Media platforms. Thank you!

Please read through my next Blog for Later trip from BabuSar Top to Hunza Valley, Gilgit Baltistan.

About Author:

Jawad Abid is multi-talented Business, Technology and Customer Service Professional with two decades of Experience with Large Telecoms, Banks & Outsource Service Providers, Startups and Fortune 500 companies in multiple Roles. He’s passionate about Gaining Knowledge on Technologies, How Technologies enable Businesses & Improve Lives, Traveler and Sharing Knowledge in the attempt of giving back to Community.

Check out his Blogs at Blogs Section

You can follow me on:
LinkedIn  at Jawad Abid
Twitter at Jawad Abid

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Always Be Thankful

Always be Thankful, whenever you feel frustrated with your life!

+ If you have A Job, think about intelligent Jobless people

+ If you have money, think about poor people.

+ If you have Water, think about people in water deprived countries.

+ If you have freedom, think about occupied countries.

+ If you have education, think about people who cannot afford studies.

+ If you have House, think about homeless people.

+ If you have parents, think about who lose their parents.

+ If you have a child, think about who cannot have child at all.

+ If you are healthy, then think about disordered people.

+ If you can walk, think about people who do not have legs.

Therefore, Always be acceptable for whatever you have and are in life.”

Author: Jawad Abid

Thanks for reading through. Please share positivity wherever you can.

To view more Quotes, click Quotes Section.

In addition, read Motivational Quotes at Motivation Quotes

If you are interested in reading Blogs, click Blogs Corner

You can follow me on:
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Always surround yourself with Positivity

Always surround yourself with Positive people and Your mind with Positive Thoughts. It helps achieve Goals and Productivity in both Personal Life and Career. 

Always surround yourself with Positive people and Your mind with Positive Thoughts.
Always surround yourself with Positive people and Your mind with Positive Thoughts.

Thanks for reading through. Please share positivity wherever you can.

To view Quotes, click Quotes Section.

For further Motivational Quotes, Click Motivation Quotes

If you are interested in reading Blogs, click Blogs Corner

You can follow me on:
Linkedin  at Jawad Abid
Twitter at Jawad Abid
Instagram at Jawad.abid

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How Intelligent Routing can Reduce Cost

How intelligent routing can reduce cost Blog from JawadAbid.com
How intelligent routing can reduce cost – Group Discussion

In my previous article Fantastic Four to Improve Customer Satisfaction, I wrote about improving Customer services with blend of Four major ideas.

In this article, I will talk about, How to Reduce Cost through Intelligent allocation of work or intelligent Routing. There’s one big factor that does not given consideration the most yet. That is the Last minute work distribution or Last minute Routing factor. Even in our daily lives, if you get a task out of the blue, or at the eleventh hour, it is considered as not the best way to handle it for both sides.

Scenario in Contact Centers

In enterprises or contact centers, where per resource has to deal with about more than 100 tasks or calls in one shift. You ensure that they are not given calls or tasks when they are about to leave the shift. They may be going to their scheduled breaks. For instance, when you send call or Task to your employee right thirty seconds before scheduled scheduled break. The customer is likely not get great or satisfied customer service as employee is in a hurry. In their state of mind, they would like to wrap it up as soon as possible. Whereas the focus should be for first call resolution, and quick turn-around. It depends on key performance indicator such as up-selling. They will hesitate to go either extra mile to maintain great Customer Experience.

How to Enable intelligence in Routing

To ensure you’re sending calls or interaction or tasks with consideration of employee schedule, you need an intelligent Routing Engine. That Routing to have strong Integration between Automatic call distributor (ACD) and Workforce Management Platform (WFM).

The key here is that your organization or contact center work distribution or Contact Routing solution should optimize best resource available with consideration of resource schedules which are created based on forecast.

How it helps reduce Cost

With such insights, your routing engine will automatically adjust routing calls or interaction to employee. Especially those who just came on shift as opposed to sending it to someone about to leave with customized thresholds. For instance, Based on service level or any other key performance indicator.

Insights into workforce schedules gives routing engine to intelligently distribute workload through customized business objectives to your needs.

This way you have employee leaving on time and can be replaced with next resource efficiently. At the same time it avoids cost of unnecessary adjustments on overtime and employee retention. Further, it improves your first call resolution which is imperative in excellent customer satisfaction, hence reduces cost of multiple calls for the same concern.

Complex schedules and last minute changes impacts Employee engagement. Therefore, this further becomes critical element for seamless customer experience and First call resolution.

Example of Intelligent Routing

As an example, you can set a routing rule that do not send calls with condition. For instance, if the agent is about to leave shift in less than (x) seconds, as your AHT or Average talk time is around in (x) minutes. The same is applied for scheduled breaks or scheduled huddles, coaching or meetings.

This may vary from the nature of line of business you’re currently working on and your Key Performance Indicators. It essentially improves FCR with right resource, which helps achieving Goals.

For more details, write me for any questions or suggestions. I look forward for feedback whether this can be one of unique and contributing factors to Improve Customer experience.

ABOUT AUTHOR:

Jawad Abid is multi-talented Business, Technology and Customer Service Professional with two decades of Experience. He worked with Large Telecoms, Banks & Outsource Service Providers, Startups and Fortune 500 companies in multiple Roles. He’s passionate about Gaining Knowledge on Technologies and How Technologies enable Businesses to Improve Lives. He Share Knowledge in the attempt of giving back to Community.

Check out his Blogs at Blogs Section

You can follow me on:
LinkedIn  at Jawad Abid
Twitter at Jawad Abid

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Top Five Common Mistakes in Capacity Planning

Top five mistakes in Capacity Planning
Top five mistakes in Capacity Planning by JawadAbid.com

Capacity planning is a crucial aspect for any technology’s success in an enterprise. It involves calculating the production of IT infrastructure, software, and communication systems to ensure efficient and smooth operations. Effective capacity planning not only guarantees stability but also ensures successful service delivery to customers. However, there are several common mistakes that organizations make when it comes to capacity planning, leading to poor system performance and a negative customer experience. In this blog, we will discuss the top five mistakes in capacity planning and how to avoid them.

1) Lack of Platform Understanding

The first mistake is the lack of platform understanding. Before calculating the capacity for any software or system, it is important to have a clear understanding of the resources that are being used. This includes inputs, incoming and outgoing requests, and frequencies. Additionally, service levels need to be considered when determining the capacity requirements. Unfortunately, many software or systems are deployed without properly calculating their load, resulting in poor performance for end-users and customers. In a contact center environment, for example, calculating the load on an Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) system requires taking into account the number of calls or contacts received on a daily basis, their duration, and forecasting for the next three to six months. Similarly, on a software level, it is important to analyze the number of requests received from end-users across different layers of the application. This understanding helps determine the optimal capacity level and forecast the number of requests and expected output for a given time period.

2) Inaccurate Forecasting

The second mistake is the inaccurate forecasting of capacity requirements. Accurate forecasting is essential for capacity planning and should be based on various factors, including the current utilization of the software or platform, market trends, and peak volume. These forecasts are helpful in ensuring that the capacity is up to the mark and can support the expected workload. However, organizations often fail to consider the sizing effort required from both system resources and the workforce when planning for system changes or additions. It is important to intelligently calculate the impact of adding new calculations or promotions on service delivery and service levels.

3) In-effective Monitoring Solution

The third mistake is the lack of an effective monitoring platform. Without a proper monitoring system in place, organizations are unable to calculate the load and peak values of their systems or software and analyze them proactively. While some organizations may have a monitoring system, it may not be comprehensive enough to provide valuable insights and support in a timely manner. A better monitoring system can offer proactive handling of problems and generate support tickets automatically, saving time for customers during outages. It is essential to have a monitoring system in place to ensure that you have complete visibility into the performance and health of your systems.

4) Missing Capacity Reviews

The fourth mistake is the failure to conduct timely reviews of capacity. Regularly reviewing trends and capacity requirements is crucial to ensure that systems are up-to-date and able to handle any new load. Whether conducted monthly or quarterly, these reviews help consider forecasts in capacity planning and ensure that systems are ready for production in the next three to six months. For example, applying patches in a timely manner to protect against known viruses is important to minimize damage. Similarly, web applications should be reviewed to analyze the load, response times, downtime, and adherence to service level agreements (SLAs) over a specific period. If there are plans to add a new physical site in the next few months, it is important to assess whether it will impact the resources and capacity of existing systems.

5) Poor Communication

The fifth mistake is the lack of communication between stakeholders. It is essential to have open and effective communication within the organization, especially regarding promotions or changes that may impact capacity requirements. By involving system owners in the planning process, they can forecast the capacity needed, the licenses required, and any additional specifications necessary to support the growth and development of the systems. Sales and customer service teams often fail to seek input from IT or engineering teams, resulting in plans being made without considering the capacity implications. This can lead to poor service levels and a negative customer experience.

Avoiding these common mistakes in capacity planning is crucial for improving customer experience, driving growth, and ensuring employee satisfaction. By avoiding all of above mistakes, organizations can optimize their capacity planning process and deliver efficient and reliable services to their customers.

ABOUT AUTHOR:

Jawad Abid, is a highly skilled professional with extensive experience in the fields of business, technology, and customer service. Throughout his career, he has worked with major telecoms, banks, outsource service providers, startups, and Fortune 500 companies in various capacities. Jawad is deeply passionate about acquiring knowledge on new technologies, understanding how they enhance businesses and improve lives, and sharing his knowledge with the community as a way of giving back.

Be sure to check out his Insightful Blogs at Blogs Section

You can follow him on:
LinkedIn  at Jawad Abid
Twitter at Jawad Abid