Pakistan Things to Do Tips by Faiza-Ifrah Top 5 Page for this destination

Mazar-e-Quaid in Karachi Karachi Review

The best time to visit Mazar-e-Quaid, the final resting place of the Founder of the Nation, is before dusk. This allows visitors to enjoy gardens and flowers, reflecting pools, the sunset, and finally the Mausoleum lit by lights from 4 different directions. Another impressive ceremony not to be missed is changing of the guards.

At a lower level at the side of the Mazar, there are 4 other graves, including those of the 1st murdered prime minister of the country - Liaqat Ali Khan and Quaid's sister - Fatima Jinnah.

Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of the Mazar-e-Quaid. Therefore, I am borrowing one from member Asalaam Aleikum at travelpod.

Pakistan is a democratic and an Islamic Republic. It was a part of British India until 1947, when the Pakistan Movement for a state for Muslims of the northwestern provinces of British India, led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah, more commomly known as Quaid-e-Azam or the Great Leader, and the Muslim League resulted in the independence and creation of the state of Pakistan.

The idea of a separate state was first introduced by the poet philosopher Allama Iqbal in 1930. Subsequently, the name Pakistan (meaning land of pure, but actually made up of letters ‘P’ from Punjab, ‘A’ from Afghania or the Frontier Province, ‘K’ from Kashmir, ‘S’ from Sindh, and ‘Tan’ from Balochistan) was proposed in 1933.

Pakistan is the sixth most populous country in the world. It is a fairly large country spanning over 810,000 square kilometers.

Address: Quaideen Highway

Website: http://travel.mapsofworld.com/pakistan/karachi-tourist-attractions/mazar-e-quaid.html

Honoring Buddhism in Pakistan Buddhist Sites Review

I have uploaded one photograph of a small statue of the 'Fasting Buddha' below. This statue was discovered in the archaeological sites in the North West frontier province (NWFP).

Buddhist civilization flourished in parts of both Afghanistan and Pakistan. whereas the statues of Buddha have been desecrated in the Taliban's Afghanistan (at Bamyan), Pakistan’s SWAT Valley of NWFP (some 100 miles north of Peshawar) still boasts of several sites, especially at its southern entrance near capital Saidu Shareef. All of the sites are still intact due mainly to the peaceful nature of swat's inhabitants.

There, amongst other archaeological relics, you can still find a giant statue of fasting Buddha engraved on a rock of limestone. The nearby town of Marghazar with a royal palace also wears the same white color.

Address: Swat Valley, NWFP, Pakistan

Observing Indus Valley Civilization

I strongly recommend that travelers should study ancient Indus Valley Civilization and then see Pakistan as its extension in the present age.

The civilization flourished between 3000 B.C. to 1500 B.C along the Indus River and its several tributaries in areas now comprising India, Pakistan and northeastern Afghanistan.

In the words of Sir Mortimer Wheeler, famed British Archaeologist, "No part of the world is richer in vestiges of a varied past than Pakistan." He also writes, "Pakistan boasts of Indus Valley Civilization, which was one of the first three mature civilizations of the world".

Whereas it’s contemporary Egyptian and Mesopotamian / Babylonian civilizations were known for their pyramids and temples / hanging gardens respectively, the Indus valley civilization was known for its city architecture. The city as well as house designs seem to be work of a central authority. All towns were designed according to one specification and individual houses too had a similar 3 rooms, one courtyard design.

While the individual citizens of Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations were poor and lived in thatched huts, the Indus valley civilization was a 100% middle class trading society the inhabitants of which lived in the comfort of houses with an advanced drainage system and without any military, ruling or a priestly class. All its cities were therefore, self-governing in accordance with an unwritten code of law.

Although ruins have been discovered in east Punjab in India and even up in northeastern Afghanistan, it is mainly in Pakistan that the traces of this civilization have been found in the ruins of Moen-jo-Daro, Amri (on the right bank of the Indus in Sind), Kot Diji (on the left bank), up in the plains of the Punjab at Harrapa (near the city of Sahiwal), and in Rehman Dheri near Dera Ismail Khan.

Lack of any army probably brought the demise of this civilization also at the hands of invading marauders.

Directions: In Sind, Moen-jo-Daro, Amri (on the right bank of the Indus in Sind), Kot Diji (on the left bank), up in the plains of the Punjab at Harrapa (near the city of Sahiwal), and in Rehman Dheri near Dera Ismail Khan (NWFP).

How about some open-air museums? Karachi Review

Pakistan has good museums in Karachi, Bhambor, Hyderabad, Mohenjo Daro, Lahore, Taxila, and Peshawar. Of this list, we liked the one in Peshawar depicting the heritage of that province.

Pakistanis love their military. Travelers should visit museums of the Pakistan Airforce, Pakistan Navy and Pakistan Army.

The three museums showcase fighter planes, naval ships and submarines and military arms and ammunition used by Pakistan Armed Forces since 1947 (and even before) in a historic perspective. All the three museums display their repertoire in the open area, where visiting families seem to picnic too, and also under covered structures.

Directions: Pakistan Airforce and Pakistan Navy museums are located in Karachi. Pakistan Army museum is located in Rawalpindi. All the transport modes know the exact locations.