it was somewhere in the month of March 2007, my sister Fauzia called and said “lets go somewhere, the weather is so fantastic” and the next day, we were off in her BMW, driver at the wheel, the Handbook of Pakistan under her arm, our cousin Aanwaar as chaperon and my nephew Arsalan. Fauzia drags him (while he is still in the ‘draggable’ age) to as many places she can with the hope that he will one day develop the spirit of “adventure” like his mother and khalla.
Our trip into the unknown conservative territory of Mianwalli District was organized by our friend, Zeenat Rokahree. she assured us that we could venture there without the “choodar” and that the road was very good except for a few patches. She made arrangements for us to spend the night at her family home in Mianwalli, and next day we would proceed to Kalabagh. It sounded very adventurous and exciting and too good to pass up despite of my husband having serious concerns for our safety and security.
But off we went, leaving Lahore early morning 7th of March 2007, via the Motorway (God bless Nawaz Shareef and his love for fast flashy cars and passion for speed, that we got the motorway) to Sargodha, Kushab and on to Mianwalli, As we got off the Motorway, out came the “handbook” to see if there were any interesting historical sites on the Kushab-Mianwalli stretch…. we found one, ruined Hindu town of Amb with its Temples, built between the 8th and 10th centuary, tucked away somewhere between the valleys of the western salt ranges. We made that right turn off the Khushab-Mianwalli Road, on to a beautiful narrow tree lined road till the foot of the salt ranges and as we went over a small bridge we were confronted with a sign “No through road, access only for authorized personnel”. So where to now ? how do we get to the elusive Amb Temples ?
Just then, when we saw an overloaded suzuki van grind almost to a halt at the base of the bridge. We asked for directions, we were told to follow the van, he told us its a short drive on the dry river bed for a “short distance” after which we were to come to a road which would take us up the side of the mountain to the ruined city of Amb and its temples. Up the river bed in a BMW ! Cant be done…but we could not let this opportunity go either.. Since the car was too low for this terrain, it was decided that the driver would drive the car on the river bed very carefully, while everyone walked the ‘short distance’ along side, which turned out to be almost 2 kilometers of the most beautiful trek on the river bed surrounded by pink, red, white rock salt mountain range. The side of the mountains were salty, the river had salty water, the rock bounders were salty, there was salt everywhere with almost no vegetation. Before we knew it, the suzuki van had disappeared into the horizon which left us feeling insecure…were we on the right path? cant afford to get stuck in the middle of the wilderness, many a times we thought of turning around, but decided against it…..after, what seemed like a life time of walking, we saw the beginning of the road to Amb. 5 kilometers later of winding narrow road, we were in the little sleepy village of present day Amb. As we stopped to ask for directions from an elderly man, he first wanted us to first visit the site of the local saint and led us down a narrow lane to a green gate, to the grave where we offered ‘fatiah’ after which we were pointed towards the direction of the Hindu Temples.
Another 1 km to the top of the mountain. As we turned the corner, we were able to just about spotted the two temples on the left side. Finally there, we were filled with a great sense of achievement but were disappointed at the sorry state of these once majestic and beautiful structures still standing over a thousand years, despite the neglect .
Our journey back took us through the same village again, where we hired a taxi for Arsalan, Anwaar and the driver, while my sister and i drove the car back through the river bed to the bridge and onwards towards Mianwalli.
MIANWALLI
A non-descript city, which is the District headquarters with one of the important irrigation works in the area nearby, the two big barrages on the Indus River, the Jinnah Barrage and the better known Chashma barrage. We reached the Rokhree house just before sunset where we spent the night. Next morning, after a delicious breakfast of local version of omelets and layered parathas made with purified butter (ghee) we left for Kalabagh.
KALABAGH
About 50 Km north of Mianwalli, at the southern end of Attock gorge, on the Indus river is the interesting old town of Kalabagh. It is at this point that the river Indus emerges from the gorge and spreads over the plains. Kalabagh town is stacked up the steep hillside on the other side of the river. We walk cross over on the old bridge with a narrow train track, built by the Nawab for his own personal use. Across the bridge we turn left towards the Nawab Sahibs Guest house where we are greeted by the Manager, given tour of this historical house and then served tea on the back terrace over looking the mighty Indus River. After tea we take a boat ride up till the mouth of the gorge. The left bank of the river is lined with beautiful houses, Pakistani Venice ! We say good bye and head back via the old town of Kalabagh and cross over to the other side via the Chashma Barrage. The Mianwali and Kalabagh road is perhaps the most beautiful in this entire journey with two of the most unusual and ornate mosques we had seen so far.
The return journey was non-stop to Lahore via Mianwalli, Khushab (where we stopped to pick up some of its famous ‘methai’) Sargodha on to the Motorway….almost 9 hours ! tiring but worth it. Lessons learnt….wrong car, too short a visit.
