Pakistan - Islamabad

Leaving behind all the wonders of Multan, we drove to Islamabad. We are two days ahead of schedule but that’s no problem.

Before I start talking about this city, I want to return to what Delphine said about Multan’s local cuisine. I loved most of the dishes but ‘Pakora’ and ‘Korma’ were absolutely disgusting. By all means, there is of course no accounting for tastes.. Delphine, you said that ‘Tandoori chicken’ was nice as well but actually I didn’t like the yoghurt and coconut milk in it. According to me, these are ingredients that you can only use in a dessert. Thomas and Naomi, what did you think about it? One thing’s for sure.. I look forward to eat our Belgian fries again.

Now something more about our next stop. Despite all the wars that have been fought in Pakistan, it’s definitely not a country without character. This I realised when we visited the capital, Islamabad. According to me, this city is on its way to become a notable metropolitan. There are a number of reasons why I think that.

International Islamic University

First of all, Islamabad has a big step further when it comes to education. That’s not surprising because the city has the best universities of Pakistan. Our guide gave us this information but we could clearly notice this ourselves as we saw a lot of students walking around with agendas and notebooks. The guide showed us around in the International Islamic University, a school that hosts a lot of international students.

Secondly, the hospitals and health facilities are not what they used to be. When you’ll ever travel to Islamabad and you have to be hospitalised, you don’t need to be afraid because they offer the latest, hygienic conditions and have specialised departments such as Cardiology, Surgery and Pediatrics.

Margalla hills

A third reason is that there are nice tourist attractions. Islamabad is the perfect place to hike or trek so when you’re an adventurous person you will love this place. We also did a hiking activity and followed the Margalla Road. It’s the most famous walk in Islamabad. After 2 hours, I was completely exhausted because the slopes were so steep. Luckily we stopped after 3 hours to eat something in Pir Sohawa. 

When you’re not that sporty, you can still visit the Pakistan Monument Museum or the Faisal Mosque. We visited the Pakistan Monument Museum and saw a very interesting audio documentary about the war history of Pakistan.

What struck me the most about this city, is the air of solitude and peace that it has and the extremely friendly people. They’re always ready to help you or talk to you.

Ulrike

Sources:

http://www.visitislamabad.net/islamabad/files/file.asp?var=cityguide

http://listphobia.com/2011/12/16/10-best-tourist-attractions-in-pakistan/

http://whitengreen.com/pk-126-trail-3--hiking-track-of-islamabad

http://travel.hamariweb.com/Asia/Pakistan/Islamabad/Places-to-Visit/Pakistan-Monument-Museum