North Pakistan, Day Fourteen: Islamabad To The End

The biggest issue we faced today was the holiday. It was Muharram, so almost everything was closed. I'd even go as far as to say we became pretty desperate for things to do. In fact, I'd go further and even suggest that, respective to the rest of the trip, the last three days had pretty much stalled.

Our first attempt at visiting an attraction was the Pakistan Railway Museum. The museum itself was closed, but the station itself had plenty of colonial delights to offer us. It was actually quite enjoyable even though most of it was restricted for us. Perhaps just as interesting were the slums we drove through on the way; the first indication I saw of the poverty here in Islamabad.

We then went on to the Shakarparian Friendship Garden, where visiting leaders and dignitaries would be asked to plant trees. There were actually some big hitters named here, including various past leaders of the USA, China and Iran.

Next up was the Pakistan Monument. This was exactly what was said on the tin, although I have to admit the monument itself was pretty impressive - and informative if like me visitors take the time to interpret all the murals present.

We then visited Saidpur, which was esoteric itself even before you visit the Hindu temples at the end of the village.

Our next stop was our hotel to kill a couple of hours before heading off to Faisal Masjid to offer Asr prayer in congregation. This was another significant memory brought back, and considering it wasn't exactly a new mosque 20 years ago it was doubly impressive to see just how timeless its design still is.

Dinner was then at Monal on the Margalla Hills, which offered both decent food and excellent views of the capital. We managed to stay there for sunset so got Islamabad both during the day and night.

By the end of our meal we had all gone into clock watching mode as we counted down the hours to our late flight back home. Our driver took us to Rawalpindi for tea and pakoras, which in my eyes was definitely a bonus as I had never visited the much older adjoining city before (and in fact never realised how accessible it was from Islamabad).

And that was all we had left for our trip of North Pakistan. We did a lot; more than enough, and in some ways we had even done too much on a trip that might have better been served with repeated return visits. Then again, we do still have most of the west of the region to cover, so maybe these are lessons we can forward with us after all.