Saidpur, a sleepy village lying in the foothills of the Margallas with a mystic past and breathtaking natural beauty. This dusty village has been transformed into a tourist attraction by a massive facelift thanks to the former CDA chairman, Kamran Lashari.  Before the facelift, the only visitors to the village used to be people out to buy flower pots or sacrificial goats, nature lovers and the curious out to have a whiff of rural life.

So on 23rd of June (2009),  at 12 noon with outside temperature at 47 degrees,i persuaded my husband Zahid to drive me down to the place and i am glad i did, because It was worth it. However, visit in the heat is not recommended for the faint hearted, the best time to visit the place is in the evening. 

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On the 1^st of May, we left Tehran on board Aseman Airlines flight for Shiraz. Taxi was there to collect and take us to our hotel. We checked in, freshened up and took off on a tour with our young guide by the name of Zahra, Our first stop was the beautiful Erum Gardens, next the Afifabad Gardens and Weapons Museum. Then the tombs of Rumi and Saadi and finally back to the hotel via the Quran Gate. The city of Shiraz, is more than 4000 years old and is the central area for Persian civilisation.

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2^nd of May was a free day to look around and discover Shiraz on our own. We took a taxi to the center of the city and with the Lonely Planet guide under our arm, we set about seeing as many historical places as we could. Starting with the Citidal of Arg of Karim Khan, Pars museum, Vakil Bazzar, Sarai-e-musheer, said our Zohur prayers in the mosque Vakil, after which we walked to the Vakil hamam now a carpet museum. At this point it was lunch time and the shops had begun to close. Asking people for directions, we were able to find a restaurant where we had lunch and rested for a while before going on to The Shah Chirag Shrine. By now it was 5.30 and we were exhausted. Took a taxi to the hotel, freshened up and as we stepped outside the gate of the hotel, we saw a sign “Jehan numa gardens” and decided to see it….possibly the best decision….it was the most beautiful and peaceful enclosed garden we had visited so far.

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Shiraz is known not only as the city of poets, wine, flowers and gardens but also as the home of Knowledge because important Iranian poets, mystics and philosophers like Sa’di and Hafez the mystic Roozbehan and the philosopher Mulla Sadra, were all born in Shiraz.

Persepolis

On the morning of 3^rd May, we left with our guide and taxi for Persepolis, massive ruins of the Persian Empire’s grand palace thought to be about 2500 years old. On route we stopped at Naqsh-e Rustam a place which has the graves of Xersus and Darayus the Great and Ka’ba-ye Zartosht, which is thought to be the earliest Zoroastrian fire temple. We then made a brief stop at Naksh-e-Rajab and finally reached Persepolis. This huge complex of 6 palaces and a museum took the better part of the day. We got back by the late afternoon just in time to catch our flight from Shiraz to Mashad

Mashhad

We landed in Mashad and could immediately feel the difference. The city was buzzing with people of all nationalities, big hotels, banks, Iranian fast food places and souvenior shops. This was a city which never sleeps.

Mashad literally the place of martyrdom) is the second largest city in Iran and one of the holiest cities in the Shia world. Mashhad is the resting place of the Imam Reza and is also known as the city of Ferdowsi the great Persian poet.

Our only reason for visiting Mashad was to visit the tomb of Imam Reza and offer fateh and to see the huge complex surrounding the tomb, housing the largest library in Iran, a madrassa, and 6 different museum, we only had time to see the Quran museum, the Khomani museum and the Carpet museum. It took us the better part of the day at the Imam Reza complex, after which we went to see the gardens surrounding the tomb of Nadir Shah and the bazzar-e-bozzugh. Back to the hotel to collect baggage and off to the airport to catch our flight to Tehran.

Esfahan

It is Iran’s third largest city (after Tehran and Mashhad) and was once one of the largest cities in the world. In the 16th century it became the capital of Persia for the second time in its history. It is famous for its Islamic architecture, with many beautiful boulevards, covered bridges, palaces, mosques, and minarets. This led to the Persian proverb Esfahān nesf-e jahān ast: "Esfahan is half of the world”

Naghsh-e Jahan Square officially known as Imam Square situated at the center of Isfahan. It is an important historical site and one of UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites. The square is surrounded by buildings from the Safavid era. The Shah Mosque is situated on the south side of this square, its splendor is mainly due to the beauty of its seven-color mosaic tiles and calligraphic inscriptions . On the west side you can find Ali Qapu Palace. It was here that the great monarch used to entertain noble visitors, and foreign ambassadors. Sheikh Lotf Allah Mosque is situated on the eastern side of this square is one of the architectural masterpieces of Safavid Iranian architecture, standing on the eastern side of Imam Square and the northern side opens into the Isfahan Grand Bazaar, which is one of the oldest and largest bazaars of the Middle East, dating back to the 17th century A.D. The bazaar is a vaulted two kilometer street linking the old city with the new. Today, Namaaz-e Jom’eh (the Muslim Friday prayer) is held in this square in front of the Shah Mosque.

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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

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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.

UNIVERSITY OF GUJRAT

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Sprawled over 100 acres in serene agricultural outskirts of Gujrat city, lies and oasis of knowledge, showing remarkable courage in boldness of design development. The oasis emerges as a fleet of seven titanic ‘ships of knowledge’ firmly anchored in a circular configuration. the focus of this configuration is a huge whirlpool, the nexus of wisdom. The ‘ships of knowledge’ are multistoried academic blocks. The UOG will have an open air amphitheatre, swimming pool, sports stadium, residential enclave, students hostels, community center, administrative blocks, auditorium, cafeteria, central library and many more facilities. At the moment the university has over 6000 students.

On the invitation of the Dr. Nazim-u-Din, Vice Chancellor of The UOG,  members of Business and Professional Women’s Organization (BPWO) and members of Picasso Ladies Club, gathered at the Quaid-e-Azam Library in the Lawrence Gardens, Lahore on a beautiful spring morning to start their two and half hour journey to Gujrat, via the GT Road.

The once famous GT Road, built by Sher Shah Suri almost 300 years ago, is now undergoing major expansion, as a result the ride to Gujrat was like being ‘shaken but not stirred’ ! but fun all the same. The constant chattering and laughter kept us and the driver entertained.

En rout we passed the industrial town of Kala Shah Kaku easily identifiable by the pungent smell of the several chemical plants on the main road, on to  Muridke the largest rice growing area in Pakistan. The next small town was Gakhar Mandi, followed by Wazirabad once famous for its beautifully handcrafted pen-knives. After Wazirabad we cross over river Chinab arriving at Gujrat famous for crockery, furniture, ceiling fans, and small household electrical items manufactured in this city.

We arrived at UOG at 12.30 and were welcomed by the senior faculty members, taken to a conference room, where the Vice Chancellor himself gave a very impressive slide presentation on the UOG, its past, present and future. It is important to mention here that BPWO President 2009, Ms. Zahra Ashraf Chief Architect Government of Punjab and her team were the architects of this grand and much needed university project.

We were then given an extensive tour of the campus by  Professor Faud Khawja, who had returned from the USA to ‘give back to his motherland’ Prof. Faud Khawja must be an amazing teacher, because all over the campus we say posters saying “we love you Prof. Faud”  To me he came across as a highly motivated teacher,  bursting with ideas and wanting to change the world. I wish we had more professors in our universities  like him.

Prof. Faud Khawaja, head of  the Mass Communication Department.  He proudly showed us  the latest state of the art equipment and teaching tools he had personally chosen and brought to Pakistan from the USA for UOG, making his department the best equipped in Pakistan.

The 35 odd ladies and the UOG faculty were served a delicious lunch of ‘murgh qorma’ , ‘murgh biryani’, raita, naan and kheer for desert.  After the heavy lunch, we boarded the busses for our return journey on the way stopping to see two famous ‘havali’s of Gujrat.

KIDAR NATH HAVELI (PALACE)

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This beautiful ‘haveli’ has now been renamed and turned into the Fatima Jinnah Girls College. Unfortunately, it has not been maintained even though it is now a functional college.

RAM PIYARI MAHAL

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Just a short walk away from Kidar Nath Haveli, stands the Ram Piyari Mahal, it must have been a beautiful mahal in its days of glory, but like most historical monuments in Pakistan, this small palace is also lying abandoned and in need of repair. There seems to be an effort on the part of the government to turn it into a museum, but there is evidence of that effort being abandoned half finished. It was sad to see this, once beautiful haveli in such a sorry state.

Why is it that we have no respect or love for our culture, heritage, and art  be it Hindu, Sikh or Muslim ?

Could it be that we as parents lack this quality and therefore don’t pass it on ?

Could it be that there is something seriously wrong with our education system ?

When will we learn ? when all our heritage sites have been flattened ?