|
|
|
MISCELLANEA: An unforgettable trip
After finishing with my exams, my family members and I made a plan to go to Lahore, Islamabad, Murree, Muzafarabad and Azad Kashmir. On June 20, when we reached the railway station I was very happy and excited. There was a huge crowd there.
My father took the tickets and we boarded the train. It was the “Karakoram Express”, a new, air-conditioned train, blue and white in colour. There were many coupes and we booked one for ourselves.
My grandparents and other relatives were there to to see us off. Soon, it was time for the train to leave. We waved each other good bye and the train started to leave the station. Slowly and gradually, the train caught speed and we began to enjoy ourselves. My mother snapped many photographs in the train. We had hot tea and snacks and settled down for the long journey. We had a lot of fun playing “Ludo”.
Along the way, we passed by many stations. Late in the evening, we had dinner. Since there was no place to lie down, we all had to sit through the night. I slept on my mother’s lap. At around 8 o’clock, we reached the Lahore Station. From there, we took a van to the hotel. The hotel looked very nice, almost like any American hotel we see in movies. There were a number of lifts. We went to our rooms, had food and decided to relax for two hours.
In the evening, we went out. First, we went to the zoo. There, I saw many animals and particularly some beautiful peacocks. I was awe struck that Allah has made such a beautiful animal. After that, we went to see the beautiful monument, Minar-i-Pakistan. Thereon, we visited Badshahi Masjid. But we didn’t go inside because we had very little time: in only one day, we had to tour the whole of Lahore. Unfortunately, the Shalimar Bagh was closed when we went there.
Coming back to the hotel, we refreshed ourselves and went to Foodstreet. It’s a nice place, with lots of buildings with lights on them, and we had dinner there.
The next morning, after breakfast, we packed our belongings and left for the trip by a bus to Islamabad. The bus was cosy and air-conditioned, and a bus hostess welcomed us. We munched on a number of things along the way and the journey was enjoyable.
We travelled for four hours, and when at last we reached Islamabad, we found a man from the hotel awaiting us. The weather in Islamabad was quite pleasant. There was greenery all around us, and the roads were clean and smooth to drive on. Soon, we reached the hotel. We went to our rooms to rest and in the evening we went out for a walk.
Later, we went to the beautiful Faisal Mosque for the Maghrib prayers. Next, we visited the Parliament House, the Supreme Court of Pakistan and the Prime Minister Secretariat.
After breakfast the very next morning, we visited Daman-i-Koh. From there, we could view Islamabad completely, and we took many photographs. It was drizzling.
Next, we went to Rawal Dam for boating. We also visited Shakarparyan. There we saw many plants which were planted by famous people.
Back at the hotel, we had lunch and then went to Murree by a van. The route to Murree was extremely beautiful. The weather was very pleasant and cold. The hotel where we stayed had a big lawn with tables and chairs to sit on, and swings for children. At night, we visited the Mall Road. There was a lot of rush there, so we decided to come back some other day for shopping.
The next morning, we decided to go to Patriata. We took rides on lift chairs and cable cars. We also went to Nathia Gali, a wonderful place. We ate sandwiches and bhuttas, had a ride on the slide and snapped many photographs there. It was a lot of fun.
The next day, some of us decided to stay in to rest, while a few of us made a programme to go to Mall Road for shopping. By the time we reached the hotel, we were exhausted.
The following morning, we went to Bhurban. Later, we went to River Jhelum, and had fun playing in the water. After that, we went to Azad Kashmir where we saw the two rivers combining. At the Kashmir Point, we went horse-riding.
The next day was Friday ... the day we had to go back home. Having said our Friday prayers, we packed our luggage and got on a van to the Islamabad airport. The weather on the way back was a little turbulent. One of the passengers panicked and even my mother was scared. But thankfully, two hours later, we safely reached the Karachi Airport.
The tour was a wonderful experience and I thanked my family for taking us to all the different places. Next year, we are planning to visit Kalam, Naran and Swat.
|
|
|
|
