Pakistan General Tips by Faiza-Ifrah

Favorite Thing: Observe four women friendly touristic resources of this country - archaeological sites, historic sites, nature and cultural diversity.

The picture shows Hiran Minar (meaning Deer Tower) located some 35 kms from Lahore. This was constructed in the 15th century by the Mughal Emperor Jehangir in the memory of his pet deer.

Fondest Memory: Visiting with my sisters' families:

1. Using Peshawar (capital of North West Frontier Province) as center, visited Swat Valley, which is located some 300 kms north-west of capital Islamabad. The narrow valley is over 175 kms long. It has great Buddhist sites at its southern entrance.

2. Using Karachi (capital of Sindh province) as center, traveled on the Highways going from Karachi to Thatta to Hyderabad and then back to Karachi. We explored several archaeological and historic sites, lakes of international importance and the culture of Sind province.

3. Using Islamabad (nation's capital) as center, traveled to the hilly areas called Galliyat, visiting Ayubia National Park, Margallah Hills National Park, and sites of ancient Gandhara civilization in Taxila.

4. Using Lahore (capital of the Punjab province) as center, traveled to Shikupura, Faisalabad, Mianwali, Jhang, Sahiwal and back to Lahore, seeing some Mughal architecture and tombs of the sufi-saints.

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Favorite Thing: One of my favorite things about Pakistan is that its National and Provincial assemblies are very colorful due to large number of women representatives.

The Western media portrays Pakistan as an extremist Islamic country, but this is not true. People of Pakistan have elected Benzair Bhutto as the Prime Minister of Pakistan twice. Even President Musharraf's popularity in Pakistan is attributed to women.

Fondest Memory: Pakistani women parliamentarians are very friendly with foreign tourists. Any body in need of their time will be quickly rewarded :-)

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Favorite Thing: Pakistani female singers can really send packed houses on their feet.

Pakistan's best female pop singer who won international acclaim for the country was Nazia Hassan. However, she died at a fairly young age in her early 30s due to cancer. At present Hadiqa Kiyani is the torch bearer. She performs all over the globe and was in Toronto, Canada in the summer of 2005.

Fondest Memory: Attending a music concert of Hadiqa Kiyani in Toronto reminded me of several concerts that I attended in Karachi and then in the UAE.

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Favorite Thing: I am a Pakistani television dramas diehard fan.

Pakistan has produced many women actors who have performed brilliantly on small and large screens. Hopefully, because of their professionalism and beauty, one of these days one of them will get international exposure. Atiqa Odho in the picture below is one such actress. She is elegant and beautiful.

Fondest Memory: Meeting with Pakistani musicians and artists on anumber of occasions.

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Favorite Thing: One will find so many Pakistani women working as professionals.

Pakistani women have historically worked as medical doctors, bankers and teachers, but now have started joining such unconventional professions as military. Sabah Khan recently graduated from the Pakistan Airforce Academy as a pilot and will soon be flying F-16s and Chinese F-17 Thunderbirds.

Fondest Memory: Lady doctors. They seem to be so much more professional and humane compared to male doctors. I think lady doctors can relate to their patients much more than their male counterparts.

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Favorite Thing: While my husband, daughter and son have picked international and north American sports, I still enjoy Pakistan's own games.

Pakistanis love cricket, field hockey, squash, polo and other games, not necessarily in that order. Pakistan has women teams for almost all sports, including squash. It has been long since I watched squash, but when I saw Carla Khan play on TV, I thought we may have a chance at world women squash championship.

Maria Toor Pakay of Peshawar (NWFP) is currently girls champion while my neice has seen Sumera Haq of Sindh province play energetically.

Fondest Memory: Watching a squash game in Karachi is perhaps my most fondest memories.

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Favorite Thing: Pakistan is a medium sized country spanning over 810,000 square kilometers from the extremes of the marshes Runn of Katch in south-east to the mountain range of Hindukush in the north-west.

The tourists should be able to understand that due to its size, it would never be possible to explore all its touristic resources in a short duration of time.

The size makes it slightly smaller than Germany, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Holland and Belgium put together.

For the USA, Pakistan would cover all the New England and mid-Atlantic States plus Virginia, West Virginia and North Carolina. In a comparison with southern states, it would be slightly smaller than Texas and Louisiana combined. In yet another comparison with Western states, it would be bigger than California, Washington and Oregon put together.


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