“The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page” – Saint Augustine

Kashmir is the most beautiful place of Pakistan, just like a heaven on earth. In today’s busy routine, it seems very difficult to get a chance to take time out and plan some recreational activity, especially with your office colleagues. I believe, I am very fortunate that I got the opportunity to have an official tour arranged by ibex. Management. The trip was organized in the best possible way, the atmosphere, the people, the landscape, everything is truly unforgettable. To view and feel the beauty of the Neelum River, held between the Mountains of Neelum valley, so up-close and personal, was a lifetime experience. Words would simply not be enough to express and justify the feeling that you get while getting to this adventurous land. We were total eighteen participants comprising of Network Recorder (NR), Portal, Computer Telephony Integration, ibex.Force, Admin, Finance, and Management Information System (MIS) team members. We left office late at night on Friday, 2 Feb ‘18 and reached Muzaffarabad at around 8.00 am. We had a wonderful breakfast at Hotel Marco Polo, Muzaffarabad located at a Riverside, after which we were scheduled to leave for remarkable Kuttan Waterfall. Our stay was at Valley Tracker Resort, situated in Keran, Neelum Valley, where we had very adventurous hiking trip. We had many activities during our stay such as hot tea in cold weather, bhangra dance around the fire, and music, ‘Antakshri’, BBQ Dinner & Bonfire at night. After having delicious breakfast at Neelum, we left for Sharda, where we visited Sharda historical University and had lunch at a Riverside. Sharda, which was covered with splendid white snow, building a snowman there, was a total fun and we had some ice ball skirmishes. On our way back, we went to Upper Neelum and again the trekking was breathtaking. At night, we enjoyed delicious BBQ Dinner and Bonfire, accompanied by games, jokes & skits. With all that fun and joy-filled activities, we were almost weary but we had to get up early at around 4.30 am in the morning to leave for Lahore. It was fifth of February i.e. Kashmir Solidarity Day, we went into the congregation and chanted to our brothers in Kashmir. Finally, we reached Lahore at around 8.00 pm, which was well close to our targeted time. This was my first trip to Neelum valley and a very well-organized trip by the Management. We were not sure what to expect from this tour but were pleasantly surprised. The mates made our trip most enjoyable and nothing was unpleasant at all. The meals were rational and the quality was more than we expected. The tracking for Upper Neelum & Bonfire was unforgettable and would be part of my core memories for long. Just want to thank ibex. for putting together such a wonderful trip. My special thanks to Mr. Bilal Shahzad & Mr. Ahmed Raza Joiya for organizing this memorable trip and for managing everything so professionally & making this trip a success for all of us. Contributed by Zeeshan Haseeb Data Support Executive - MIS Reporting & Analysis