MANSERHA: Jeeps have emerged as the only public transport vehicles available to visitors bound for Saiful Muluk lake, Lulusar lake, Lalazar and other destinations of 10,000 feet altitude in Kaghan valley.
However, many tourists complain owners of this four-wheeler overcharge them.
These jeeps mostly manufactured in the US and Japan between 1966 and 1975 used to ply the country?s urban centres in the past.
According to their owners, only jeep can be used on the highly difficult, narrowed and rocky roads of Kaghan valley.
?I cannot believe how this old automobile runs over big rocks and on dangerous mud roads leading to Saiful Muluk lake. Though have no words to praise their power, I call theses jeeps princess of mountains,? Jabran, a tourist, told Dawn.
He said the jeep could cover distances on glaciers, too.
The Balakot assistant commissioner has fixed Rs2,500 per trip (both ways) for Saiful Muluk lake and Rs5,000 for Lulusar and Rs7,000 for Babusar Top from Naran.
However, visitors complaint jeep drivers fleece them.
Jeep driver Abdul Latif said their employers had installed new engines for hassle-free drive on rocky roads.
?Almost all jeeps plying Kaghan valley have new engines with almost double the original capacity,? he said.
The driver said more than 4,000 jeeps served tourists in Kaghan valley during the peak season of tourism.