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Pakistan Travel and Destination Guide
PLACES TO SEE
Lahore
Although Lahore may not be Pakistan's capital city, it wins hands down as its cultural, intellectual and artistic hub. If history and architecture are your passion there's an evocative mix, from formidable Mughal monuments to faded legacies of the British Raj. Indeed, even a ramble around the Old City can unfold into a mini-adventure. For those in search of spiritual sustenance, Lahore has qawwali (Islamic devotional singing) and Sufism (Islamic mysticism) that will blow your mind.
Over the years Lahore has burgeoned into a bustling and increasingly polluted metropolis with festering social undercurrents, but it also has some of the most defiantly serene architecture and gardens on the subcontinent. It takes more than just a couple of days to get to know this splendid city, so don't regard it merely as a jumping-off point to nearby India.
Moenjodaro
Of the 165 sites of the Indus Valley civilisation so far uncovered, the remarkable ancient city of Moenjodaro is by far the most impressive visually and archaeologically. Except for the stupa, all of the present layer of excavation is from around 2500 BC. There's also a museum containing relics from the site, including engraved seals and terracotta toys.
Takht-i-Bahi
By far the best and most complete of the ruins of the Gandhara region, which once flourished in the remote valleys of Peshawar and Swat, are those of the 1st to 7th century AD Buddhist monastery Takht-i-Bahi, spectacularly positioned on a rocky hill. It was excavated (and stripped of statuary and friezes) from 1907 to 1913, and later reconstructed.
Chaukundi
Graveyards stretch for many kilometres along the coast around Karachi, but the largest and most impressive tombs and mausoleums are concentrated at Chaukundi. The buildings are constructed of slabs of rock, stacked into oblong pyramids of cubical stone and carved with exquisite designs.
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