Have you heard of Heritage Walk in Lahore? If not, then you must be scratching your head what it was exactly about? Heritage walk are group trips organized for domestic tourists and foreign tourists to experience famous heritage sites of Lahore. I have been a part of a Heritage walk that was organized by my university in 2017. Back then, I had a huge group of friends who would make the most out of even the most ordinary experience. What a beautiful day that was... We went on university buses to Walled city of Lahore also known as Old City, forms the historic core of Lahore, Pakistan. Lahore lives big. It’s the capital of Pakistan’s populous Punjab province, split between India and Pakistan before it was split. An old Punjabi saying goes: ‘Anyone who hasn’t seen Lahore simply hasn’t lived.’ The roots of my family are clumped in Lahore which is my home town and will always be. So, what were we talking about? Oh yes the heritage walk that has given me unforgettable memories and peak into the past of how the Mughal's lived before the fall of Mughal Dynasty. Our trip was planned for one day so we could visit no more than 3 places because of long distance gap between these sites within Lahore. Along with our tour guide and the entire crew, we first stopped at Lahore Fort.
This was definitely a perfect ending to a perfect experience.
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It was 12 a.m and my dad made a sudden plan for a long drive. He booked a cottage and asked my Mom to pack within 2 hours. And that's how it all started. For about 20 years now, we have been visiting Murree every year to spend summer vacations. Recently, my husband and I planned for a short trip to northern areas of Pakistan. Trust me, Pakistan's North is blessed! We had a long list of places we wanted to visit. First we decided Gilgit, Baltistan then we agreed on Islamabad and Naran Kaghan. Finally, we ended up on Murree keeping in view the budget and travel convenience options. Before I take you to interesting experiences to the place famous as "Queen of Mountains", lets look at some facts about it, so when you plan to travel, you have solid information regarding the place. No one likes disappointment, right? Murree is a mountain resort town, located in the Galyat region of the Pir Panjal Range, within the Rawalpindi District of Punjab, Pakistan. It became a popular tourist station for British within the British India, several prominent Englishmen were born here including Bruce Bairnsfather, Francis Younghusband and Reginald Dyer. Since the Independence of Pakistan in 1947, Murree has retained its position as a popular hill station, noted for its pleasant summer. Many tourists visit the town from the Islamabad-Rawalpindi area. The town also serves as a transit point for tourist's visiting Azad Kashmir and Abbottabad. It is also considered to be the final resting place of, Mary, the mother of Jesus. I think this much background is enough! I definitely do not intend to bore you but its always good to have a background story before investing in the tour. Okay so, four reasons that make Murree travel one of the most closest place to my heart are listed below; 1- Climate: Murree is located at high altitude due to which it has cold, snowy winters, relatively cool summers with drastically escalated rain and frequent fog. Pindi point, Kashmir Point, Ayubia and Patriata are some of the places that are most foggy throughout the summers. Upper Topa and lower Topa are places that experience a white blanket after heavy snowfall in winters. 2- Landscape: As I mentioned before, that Murree is known as "Queen of Mountains", because it is a mountainous area. Nathiagali, which is one of the most visited gali, offers astonishing views with a backdrop of snow-capped peaks of Kashmir and Kohistan. In a clear climate, the immense mountains of Nanga Parbat can be seen. Bhurban became the most favorite tourist spot in Murree because of its lush green landscapes along with a pleasant environment that is full of calmness. And if you choose to stay in PC Bhurban then the treat is double. The lavish amenities with enchanting landscapes is always preferable for the visitor. 3- Wildlife: There are a large number of monkeys in the forests around Murree, Nathia-Gali and Ayyubia. Thery follow the tourists in search of food and fun. The visitors give them bread, maize, biscuits,bananas,apples and other fruit. The children greatly enjoy the naughty monkeys in the wild. Murree Wildlife Park is a Zoo located in Bansra Gali, in Murree Pakistan. It is home to Siberian tiger, Red deer, peafowl and many more. 4- Handicrafts & Markets: Mall Road is the most famous and biggest market in Murree. This road is open until 3 am, and people usually like to walk there to enjoy pleasant weather and delicious food. The road is full of life, hotels, restaurants, and handicrafts items and happy faces. Most common handicrafts items that its famous for includes shawls, handbags and Kurtas. Well, I hope this would have given you a slight peek in what Murree is like. I would recommend you to visit TripAdvisor, which is a platform that will help you to plan your trip to Murree. You can use it to find hotels, vacation rentals,flights and restaurants. I hope you enjoyed this quick information about Murree. Happy travelling! Khuda Hafiz (May God protects you!)
With no exaggeration at all, this was surprisingly the best tour I ever had in my lifetime. Pakistan is indeed blessed with some of the most incredible tourist attractions in the world. This was a long awaited trip that my university friends and I planned to Gilgit as we were catching up at Bundu Khan restaurant in Lahore. I met them after being away for one year in United Kingdom for Masters and wanted to pile as much memories as I can with them. Sitting at Bundu Khan at 7:00 PM on a Friday evening, we googled best tour package with Al-Ahad tours & Travels for 10 days. We were a group of six friends with savings of 60,000 PKR to spend. There were 20 fellow travelers in this package including a tourist guide who was committing to guide us through the entire journey. Everyone was wearing sneakers and backpacks that were full of snacks, water bottles, first aid kits and what not! Vroom! The wagon got all geared up and the adventure to northern areas of Pakistan began. After 2h 33 mins the wagon stopped at Bhera for everyone to freshen up and grab meals for rest of the journey. We took selfies and updated our snap-chats and Instagram to share exciting moments with others. After a long journey of 15 hours, we finally reached our destination. We ran to our rooms booked at Serena Hotel, Gilgit. Next day we headed off to Hunza valley which is one of the top tourist attraction in Gilgit, Baltistan. While we were on the bus, our tourist guide breathlessly exclaimed, "you will see that, Hunza is heaven on earth!". Well, it seemed a bit exaggerated. I had seen pictures of the valley but of course everything is Photoshop nowadays. Woah! As we landed on the site, it was indeed a out of the world. The jaw-dropping landscape of Hunza valley and breathtaking calm waters make you believe that Gilgit is certainly a reflection of Jannat(Heaven). Gushing water in the midst of snow wrapped mountain peaks. Incredible! Another personal favorite and one of the most incredible tourist sites that we encountered was Altit fort which is an ancient monument. We hired a wagon and after 2 hours 11 mins we reached this cultural tour site. As magical as it was, it was no surprise to see foreign tourists clicking photos of artifacts lying in the chambers of the fort. However, it was a sheer moment of disappointment when we came across heaps of garbage and plastic bags hanging on trees amidst valley of Hunza. BAM! And the bubble of heaven was popped just like that by the brutal pin of irresponsible tourist behavior. Our tour guide mournfully responded," Ye kachra bhi logon ki taraf sy laanat hai is jannat mai", which means that 'This garbage is the curse of tourists to this heaven on earth'. I was disgruntled with fellow tourists to pollute the innocence of nature. It was my first trip to northern areas of Pakistan and it was extremely hard to digest the sheer audacity of visitors. It was our last day in Gilgit and as I sat back in the wagon, I silently stared out the window wondering the scary future that these places may behold if humans continue to litter around in complete disregard of climate change. It is ruining the natural habitat of wildlife, destroying lush vegetation and snatching away the future of planet earth and creatures that inhabit it, including humans. Aah!!!! I wanted to scream out the window to lighten my heavy heart and posted the last click of my day with the caption, "Alas! Gilgit is melting beauty". After 2 hours of regretful sighing, I managed to wrap up my emotions and started scrolling through hundreds of amazing memories captured in my camera. While scrolling I came across all the places we visited including Hunza valley, Altit fort, Baltit fort, Deosai national park, Karkoram highway and Attabad fort. And I pondered that if anyone had to visit Gilgit on a low budget then Hunza valley and Altit fort are the two best tourist spots that every tourist must experience. Below are the pictures of my favorite spots that I recommend are a must visit for you! |
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