Pakistan 2013

PA-13 - PAKISTAN Time of travel: Oct 4 - Oct 17, 2013 ITINERARY: After spending 2 weeks in Afghanistan I left Kabul on a plane for Dubai, UAE, on Oct 4, 2013. By another plane I flew from Dubai to Karachi, PAKISTAN. It lands in Karachi in the evening. Amir, my Pakistani guide, takes me to my hotel. While waiting for a fellow passenger, I am taking time off until Oct 6 afternoon to recuperate from recent traveling. On Oct 6 in the afternoon the new traveler, Bob from Colorado, our guide Amir and I leave in a car with a driver for sightseeing of 14 million people Karachi. Amir points to various building from British times. We stop at modern “Defense Mosque.” Then at “Quaid-i-Azam Mausoleum,” where Jinnah called “Founder of Pakistan” is buried. A Catholic Cathedral follows. Our car drives through “Saddar Bazaar” and then we visit the “Empress Market.” Before dinner we watch sunset above the Arabian Sea. The following morning, we visit “Quad-i-Azam” house in which lived Jinnah. Then we go to “National Museum of Pakistan.” After that we make a trip to Thatta east of Karachi. Here we visit the “Shah Jahan Mosque.” On the way back we stop at “Makli Hill Necropolis” reputedly with million graves. We also take pictures of a snake charmer. On Oct 8 morning we take a plane from Karachi to “Mohenjo Daro” and visit the excavations of this Indus River Valley civilization dating between 2,500-1,700 BC. In the afternoon we drive to 200 km distant city of Sukkur where after some sightseeing overnight in a hotel. The following day after a ride in a rickshaw pulled by a horse, we leave Sukkur in a van for Bahawalpur. Along the way we visit the impressive “Derawar Fort” built in 1733. We come to Bahawalpur at night. Local police put its people in our hotel for our security (we are only 2 tourists). Next day our visit to bazaar in Bahawalpur is accompanied by local police with machine guns. Then we continue north to 6 mil. people Multan where before noon at our hotel. It is so called Sufi city because famous Sufis lived here. There is a sightseeing tour of the city with our police escort. We enter the “Qassim Bagh Fort” and visit 2 mausoleums from year 1320. Then we go to a bazaar. After it a tomb of Yusuf Gardezi and that is followed by an imposing “Eidgah Mosque.” On Oct 11 we leave Multan with a police car. It enables us to go through toll booths without paying. In mid-morning we reach “Harappa.” It is another ancient Indus River Civilization. We see the excavations. At noon we leave for 200 km distant Lahore. Police escort continues. In the afternoon we come to 10 mil. people Lahore. However, we want to see the “Closing-of-the- border” (also “flag-lowering”) on the Pakistani-Indian border. Mostly in rain we see the border ceremony around 5 PM. It is impressive. Then to our hotel in Lahore. The following morning there is a sightseeing tour of Lahore. A police car goes along. A stop at the attractive “Badshahi Mosque”, then we explore the extensive “Lahore Fort” close by. Next stop is at the tomb of Mughal Emperor Jehangir in a park. Not far is the tomb of his wife Nur Jahan. At noon we leave our van at “Delhi Gate” and walk through the old town. After that there is a visit to the great “Lahore Museum.” Later in the afternoon there is a walk through “Shalimar Gardens” founded in 17 cent. On Oct 13 we leave Lahore for Rawalpindi with the police escort. At noon we stop at “Rohtas Fort” for a visit. After an hour driving there is another stop to see a Buddhist stupa from the 2 cent. Later in the afternoon we come to Rawalpindi and our hotel. Next day we visit excavations of Taxila 40 km from Rawalpindi. It has roots deep in BC and was destroyed by White Huns in 5 cent. AD. At noon we come the capital of Pakistan, Islamabad. The eye-popping “Shah Faisal Mosque” is our first stop. With the courtyard it can hold some 100,000 believers. Islamabad was started to be built on a modern grid scale in 1961. From a distance we see the “Presidential Palace” and other government buildings. Then we drive to Margalla Hills. From them there is a great view of the city spread in the plain bellow. On Oct 15 Bob and I part ways. He takes a trip on the Karakoram Highway, while I drive with our guide to Peshawar. Due to frequent terrorist attacks everybody warned me against visiting that city. Along the way to Peshawar we make a stop in a town Takht-i-Bahi. This is a Pashtuns area. There are many men on the main street, but I see only 2 women. One is in a burka and other covers her face with wail. This is the prime area for recruiting men for Taliban. I hide inside the van. I am most likely the only white person here. On a mountain near the town there are ruins of a Buddhist monastic complex from 1st cent. AD. We reach Peshawar in the afternoon. There is a problem, everything is closed in the city (incl. museums) due to the 4-day of “Festival of Giving.” People bought sheep, goats or calves to cook and eat them while giving part to the poor. Later a drive to the highway which leaves for Khyber Pass, the old town and its bazaars and a carpet store, where I buy a silk carpet. While doing this an imposing “Bala Hisar Fort” is looming above the city. It is occupied by military. We are passing by a place fenced by razor wire, where 2 weeks ago a bomb detonated killing 30 people. Then to my hotel. Following morning we drive back to Rawalpindi. After lunch another sightseeing tour. I make few pictures at the place in Rawalpindi where Benazir Bhutto (2x prime minister) was assassinated in Dec 2007. Then we drive to Islamabad. I take photographs of “Monument of Pakistan.” Then we come to a picturesque “Said-Pur-Village” local people visit on weekends. On Oct 17, 2013 at 3:20 o’clock I am taken to the airport. I board a plane for Istanbul, Turkey. After long waiting there I get on another plane which lands in Prague, Czech Republic, at 6PM. Travel office: Bestway Tours & Safaris – a Canadian travel company with a Pakistani owner Who took part: There were only 2 American travelers (Bob and I), Pakistani tour guide Amir, drivers in various places and often the police escort.