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Places to Visit in Pakistan

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Places to Visit in Pakistan

Neelum Valley

About 200 kilometers long the picturesque Neelum Valley is situated to the North & North East of Muzaffarabad Pakistan . Running parallel to the KaghanValley. It is separated from if only snow-covered peaks, some over 4000 meters above sea level. Excellent scenic beauty, panoramic view, towering hills on both sides of the noisy Neelum river, lush green forests, enchanting streams and attractive surroundings make the valley a dream come true. The area is ideal for trekking. A fair weather road opens the valley to tourists upto Kel, 155 kilometers from Muzaffarabad, of which about 150 kilometers has been black topped while the remaining portion is being matalled. Buses ply daily on this rout and accommodation facilities are also available in the rest houses of places of tourist attraction. Simple cooking facilities are available but one has to make his own arrangements for special dishes.

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Hunza Valley
The Hunza (Burushaski and Urdu: ہنزہ‎) is a mountainous valley in the Gilgit–Baltistan region of Pakistan. The Hunza is situated north/west of the Hunza River, at an elevation of around 2,500 metres (8,200 ft). The territory of Hunza is about 7,900 square kilometres (3,100 sq mi). Aliabad is the main town while Baltit is a popular tourist destination because of the spectacular scenery of the surrounding mountains like Ultar Sar, Rakaposhi, Bojahagur Duanasir II, Ghenta Peak, Hunza Peak, Passu Peak, Diran Peak and Bublimotin

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Swat Valley
Swat has been inhabited for over two thousand years. The first inhabitants were settled in well-planned towns. In 327 BC, Alexander the Great fought his way to Odigram and Barikot and stormed their battlements. In Greek accounts these towns have been identified as Ora and Bazira. Around the 2nd century BC, the area was occupied by Buddhists, who were attracted by the peace and serenity of the land. There are many remains that testify to their skills as sculptors and architects. Later some Dilazak entered the area The originator of the present family of Swat was the Muslim saint Abdul Ghafoor,a Pashtun and Akhund of Swat, a Safi Momand of Hazara district, from where he went to Buner territory. He was a pious man and the people respected him so greatly that they called him Akhund Sahib.[3]

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Kalash Valley
The Kalasha Valleys (Kalasha-mondr: Kaĺaśa Desh) are valleys in Chitral District in northern Pakistan. They are inhabited by the Kalash people, who have customs and language which are quite different from their neighbours, and historically have had a different religion. There are three main valleys. The largest and most populous valley is Mumuret (Bumburet), reached by a road from Ayun in the Kunar Valley. Rumbur and Acholgah are side valleys north of Bumburet. The third valley, Biriu (Birir), is s side valley of the Kunar Valley south of Bumburet.

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Kaghan Valley
The Kaghan Valley ( وادی کاغان ‎) is an alpine-climate valley in the north-east of Mansehra District of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan. The valley is a popular tourist destination for Pakistanis, and smaller numbers of foreigners.

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Murree Hills
Murree was the summer capital of the Punjab Province of British India until 1864. The hill station is a popular getaway destination for Islamabad’s populace. It is located on the southern slopes of the Western Himalayan foothills as they ascend northeastwards at an average altitude of 2,291 metres (7,516 ft). It experiences pleasant summers and cold, snowy winters. The city is noted for its Tudorbethan and neo-gothic architecture dating from the colonial era.

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Shandur Pas
Shandur invites visitors to experience a traditional polo tournament which since 1936 has been held annually in the first week of July between the local teams of Chitral and Ghizer. The tournament is held on Shandur Top, the highest polo ground in the world at 3,700 meters (the pass itself is at 3,800 meters). The festival also includes Folk music, dancing and a camping village is set up. The polo tournament is featured in the first episode of Himalaya with Michael Palin.

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Rawalakot
Rawalakot is one of the most beautiful valleys of KASHMIR which is located 80 km away from Rawalpindi and Islamabad. By Road It takes two and a half hour to Rawalakot which is also famous by the name of “PEARL VALLEY” its specialty is natural beauty.

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Ziarat


Ziarat and the juniper valleys around offer good opportunity hiking and trekking. Various gorges also offer adventure and fun during the summer. It is also becoming popular for a taste of snow fall during the winter. Besides, the town itself offers hiking and trekking opportunities.

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Jehlum Valley
This is an ideal valley both for domestic and international tourists. The curling Jhelum river passes through from East to West between the high green mountains joining river Neelum of Domel near Muzaffarabad city.
A 59 kilometers long matalled, all weather road runs along the river Jhelum from Muzaffarabad to Chakothi, which is located adjacent to the control line.

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Badshahi Mosque

Construction of the Badshahi Mosque was ordered in May 1671 by the sixth Mughal Emperor, Aurangzeb, who assumed the title Alamgir (meaning “Conqueror of the World”). Construction took about two years and was completed in April 1673.

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Lahore Fort

The Lahore Fort, locally referred to as Shahi Qila (Punjabi, Urdu: شاہی قلعہ‎) is citadel of the city of Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan.[1] It is located in the northwestern corner of the Walled City of Lahore in Iqbal Park which is one of the largest urban parks in Pakistan. The trapezoidal composition is spread over 20 hectares.

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Shalimar Gardens, Lahore

The site of the Shalimar Gardens originally belonged to the Arain Mian Family Baghbanpura. The family was also given the royal title of ‘Mian’ by the Mughal Emperor, for its services to the Empire. Mian Muhammad Yusuf, then the head of the Arain Mian family, gave the site of Ishaq Pura to the Emperor Shah Jahan, after pressure was placed on the family by the royal engineers who wished to build on the site due to its good position and soil. In return, Shah Jahan granted the Arain Mian family governance of the Shalimar Gardens. The Shalimar Gardens remained under the custodianship of this family for more than 350 years.

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Minar-e-Pakistan

Minar-e-Pakistan (Urdu: مینارِ پاکستان‎ / ALA-LC: Mīnār-i Pākistān, literally “Tower of Pakistan”) is a public monument located in Iqbal Park which is one of the largest urban parks in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan.[1] The tower was constructed during the 1960s on the site where, on 23 March 1940, the All-India Muslim League passed the Lahore Resolution, the first official call for a separate homeland for the Muslims living in the South Asia, in accordance with the two nation theory.

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Tomb of Jahangir

Jahangir died at Rajauri in 1627 after he returned to Lahore. He was buried on the banks of the River Ravi in the large walled garden of Empress Nur Jahan three miles northwest of the region of Shahdara, in Lahore. His tomb was built and completed by Emperor Shah Jahan in 1637 AD, at the cost of ten lakh rupees.

According to some historians, the tomb suffered in the hands of Lahana Singh, one of the three hakims of Lahore before Maharajah Ranjit Singh also stripped it of its most impressive ornaments to decorate the Sikh temple of Amritsar. It housed Amise, a French officer of the Sikh army and Sultan Muhammad Khan, brother of Dost Muhammad Khan of Kabul, who caused further damage. The British government repaired the tomb in 1889 and 1890, with repairs continuing in the following years.

The tomb, along with the adjacent Akbari Sarai and the tomb of Asif Khan, is on the tentative list as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

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Mazar-e-Quaid

Mazar-e-Quaid (Urdu: مزار قائد‎), also known as the Jinnah Mausoleum or the National Mausoleum, is the final resting place of Quaid-e-Azam (Great Leader) Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, as well as his sister, Māder-e Millat (Mother of the Nation) Fatima Jinnah, and Liaquat Ali Khan, the first Prime Minister of Pakistan. Located in the Jamshed Quarters neighborhood of Karachi, the mausoleum (Urdu/Persian/Arabic: mazār), completed in the 1960s, is an iconic symbol of Karachi throughout the world.People love to visit especially foreigners.

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Great share dear, you have kept this section alive by your rare informative pictures of all kinds
 
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Noor Mahal, Bahawalpur

The Noor Mahal (Urdu: نور محل‎) is a palace in Bahawalpur, Punjab, Pakistan. It was built in 1872 like an Italian chateau on neoclassical lines, at a time when modernism had set in. It belonged to the Nawab of Bahawalpurprincely state, during British Raj

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Mohenjo Daro,Sindh

Mohenjo-daro (Sindhi: موهن جو دڙو‎, Urdu: موئن جو دڑو‎, IPA: [muˑənⁱ dʑoˑ d̪əɽoˑ], lit. Mound of the Dead;English pronunciation: /moʊˌhɛn.dʒoʊ ˈdɑː.roʊ/) is an archeological site in the province of Sindh, Pakistan. Built around 2500 BCE, it was one of the largest settlements of the ancient Indus Valley Civilization, and one of the world's earliest major urbansettlements, contemporaneous with the civilizations of ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Crete, and Norte Chico . Mohenjo-daro was abandoned in the 19th century BCE, and was not rediscovered until the 1920s. Significant excavation has since been conducted at the site of the city, which was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1980

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The Indus Valley civilization was entirely unknown until 1921, when excavations in what would become Pakistan revealed the cities of Harappa and Mohenjo Daro (shown here).

This mysterious culture emerged nearly 4,500 years ago and thrived for a thousand years, profiting from the highly fertile lands of the Indus River floodplain and trade with the civilizations of nearby Mesopotamia.

Lost City of Mohenjo Daro -- National Geographic


Faiz Mahal of the Talpur Mirs

Faiz Mahal is located in Khairpur city of Sindh Province of Pakistan ; which is similarly classical Mughlia architectures such as Taj Mahal. It was built in 1798 for the palace of the Talpur royal family in Khairpur Mirs. It was built in the loving memory of Iqbal Beghum a.k.a Balli.

The current descendant of the Talpur family, Mir Ali Murad Khan Talpur, who acceded to the Pakistani state in 1956, is an environmentalist and has to his credit an extraordinary flora and fauna safe haven called the Mehrano, notorious for its black buck, and hog deer, both of which have turn out to be rare in Sindh, Pakistan. - See more at: Faiz Mahal

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Bhurban, Punjab

Bhurban (Urdu: بھوربن ‎) is a small town and a hill station in Punjab province, Pakistan. The resort town is named after a nearby forest. It is located approximately 9 kilometres from Murree city
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Chitral, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Chitral (Urdu: ضلع چترال‎) is the largest district in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, covering an area of 14,850 km². It is the northernmost district of Pakistan. It shares a border with Gilgit-Baltistan to the east, with Kunar, Badakshan and Nuristan provinces to the north and west, and with Swat and Dir to the south. A narrow strip of Wakhan Corridor separates Chitral from Tajikistan in the north


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Gilgit, Baltistan

Gilgit-Baltistan (Urdu/Shina/Burushaski: گلگت بلتستان, Balti: གིལྒིཏ་བལྟིསྟན), formerly known as the Northern Areas of Pakistan is the northernmost administrative territory of Pakistan. It borders Azad Kashmir to the south, the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to the west, the Wakhan Corridor of Afghanistan to the north, Xinjiang, China, to the east and northeast and Jammu and Kashmir to the southeast.


Gilgit-Baltistan is an autonomous self-governing region that was established as a single administrative unit in 1970, formed by the amalgamation of the Gilgit Agency, the Baltistan region and the former princely states of Hunza and Nagar. It covers an area of 72,971 km² (28,174 sq mi) and is highly mountainous. It has an estimated population approaching 2,000,000. Its capital city is Gilgit (population 216,760).

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Kaghan Valley, Mansehra District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

The Kaghan Valley (Urdu: وادی کاغان ‎) is an alpine-climate valley in Mansehra District of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province ofPakistan. The valley is a popular tourist destination for Pakistanis, and smaller numbers of foreigners. The valley has largely rebuilt after the devastating 2005 Kashmir Earthquake.

Named after the nearby town of Kaghan, rather than the river which cuts through it (Kunhar River, the valley extends 155 kilometers (96 mi), rising from an elevation of 2,134 feet (650 m) to its highest point, the Babusar Pass, at 13,690 feet (4,170 m). Despite being named after the nearby town of Kaghan, the valley's new tourist base is in the town of Naran), which is a base station that allows further travel to sites such as Lake Saif-ul-Malook and Lalazar.


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Muzaffarabad
Muzaffarabad (Urdu: مُظفَّرآباد‎; Pahari, Potwari: مُظفٌر آباد) is the capital of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan.

It is located in Muzaffarabad District on the banks of the Jhelum and Neelum rivers. The district is bounded by Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa in the west, by the Kupwara and Baramulla districts of Disputed territory of Jammu & Kashmir in the east, and theNeelum District of Azad Kashmir in the north.

According to the 1998 Census, the population of the district was 725,000, and according to a 1999 projection, the population had risen to almost 741,000. The district comprises three tehsils, and the city of Muzaffarabad serves as the cultural, legislative and financial capital of Azad Kashmir.


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Patriata, Islamabad

Patriata is a quiet retreat at the highest point of Murree Hills which consequently is the highest point of Punjab as well. Patriata has a breathtaking landscape. High forested ridges and deep intersecting valleys with terraced slopes offer magnificent views of this naturally beautiful area.

TDCP (Tourism Development Corporation of Punjab) > Destinations > Mountains & Hill Stations > Patriata

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Neran Kot Fort or Hyderabad Fort, Sindh Pakistan

Hyderabad city in the earlier history was known as Nayrun Kot, as this city was established by a Hindu Raja, Nayrun. It's commonly narrated that Hazrat Ali [(A.S), The first Imam of Shia Muslim] had visited the Nayrun Kot during the reign of Raja Nayrun. The footprints of Hazrat Ali (A.S) are preserved in a Dargah called "Qadam Shah", situated at the foot of Qila Chari Kalhoras. To honour the visit of Hazrat Ali (Hyder) and as a remembrance, Miya Gulam Shah Kalhoro, changed the Nayrun Kot to "Hyderabad".

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Pacco Qillo
Pacco Qillo (Urdu: پكا قلعه‎, Sindhi: پڪو قلعو‎, Strong Fort), formally known as Pakka Qilla, is an early modern fortification inHyderabad, Pakistan.[1]
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The Fort was constructed on the hillock known locally as Gunjy, by Mian Ghulam Shah Kalhoro, around 1768 when he founded the city of Hyderabad

Astola Island, also known as Jezira Haft Talar:

Satadip or 'Island of the Seven Hills', is a small uninhabitedPakistani island in the Arabian Sea approximately 25 km (16 mi) south of the nearest part of the coast and 39 km (24 mi) southeast of the fishing port of Pasni. Astola is Pakistan's largest offshore island at approximately 6.7 km (4.2 mi) long with a maximum width of 2.3 km (1.4 mi) and an area of approximately 6.7 km2 (2.6 sq mi). The highest point is 246 ft (75 m) above sea level. Administratively, the island is part of the Pasni subdistrict of Gwadar District in Balochistan province. The island can be accessed by motorized boats from Pasni, with a journey time of about 5 hours to reach the island.

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Wheres Islamabad
sabar kero! Poora Pakistan aik din mein dikha doun? Itna chota b nai hai mera wattan! :angry:
 
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Dudipatsar Lake

Dudipatsar Lake or Dudipat Lake is a lake encircled by snow clad peaks in Lulusar-Dudipatsar National Park. The lake lies in the extreme north of the Kaghan Valley, in the Mansehra District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, in northern Pakistan. The word "dudi" means white, "pat" means mountains and "sar" means lake. This name has been given to the lake because of the white color of snow at surrounding peaks. In summer the water of the lake reflects like a mirror. The word "sar" is used with the name of each lake in the area, translating as 'lake.'


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Shangrila Lake, Skardu

Shangrila Lake or Lower Kachura Lake is a part of the Shangrila resort located at a drive of about 20 minutes from Skardu (nearly 2,500 m or 8,200 feet) town.

It is a popular tourist destination, and has a unique restaurant that is built on the fuselage of an aircraft that had crashed nearby.

Shangrila was established in 1983 with the opening of the first Resort Hotel in Skardu, Baltistan. Shangrila Resort Hotel was founded by the late Brig.(Retd) Muhammad Aslam Khan, the first commander of the Northern Scouts of the Pakistan Army.

Shangrila was named after a book titled "Lost Horizon" by James Hilton. In the novel, the author narrates a tale in which an aeroplane crash landed near a riverbed, in the early 1920s. The surviving passengers came across some Buddhist monks from a nearby temple and sought their help. They were taken to a beautiful lamasery filled with a variety of fruits and flowers. The monks looked quite young, although they claimed to be hundreds of years old. The idyllic place was called Shangri-la, a Tibetan word meaning "Heaven on earth".



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Kachura Lake, Skardu

The Kachura Lakes are two lakes in the Skardu District of Gilgit-Baltistan, northern Pakistan. The lakes, at 2,500 metres (8,200 ft) in elevation, are Upper Kachura Lake and Lower Kachura Lake. The latter is also known as Shangrila Lake and is within a tourist resort named Shangrila Resort outside the town of Skardu.

The lakes are in the Karakoram mountain range of the western Himalayas, the greater Kashmir region, and in the Indus River basin.


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Kalam, KPK

Kalam Valley, Swat KPK Pakistan (Places to Visit)
In Swat Valley, Kalam Valley is a valley along the upper reaches of the Swat River in Swat, in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.

Summer Season in Kalam Swat
Kalam Valley is known for its waterfalls, lakes and lush green hills, and is a 270 km drive from Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan. It is a popular destination for tourists.

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Keenjhar Lake, Thatta,, Sindh

Keenjhar Lake (Urdu: ڪينجهر جھیل ‎Sindhi: ڪينجهر ڍنڍ‎) commonly called Kalri Lake (Urdu: کلری جھیل ‎,Sindhi: ڪلڙي ڍنڍ ‎) is situated in Thatta District, Sindh, Pakistan. It is 122 km away from Karachi and 18 km away from the town of Thatta. It is the second largest fresh water lake in Pakistan. It is an important source that provides drinking water to Thatta District and Karachi city.

Keenjhar Lake has been declared a ramsar site and a wildlife sanctuary. It provides a favorable habitat of winter migratory birds like ducks, geese, flamingos, cormorants, waders, herons, egrets, ibises, terns, coots and gulls. It has been observed as a breeding area of the black-crowned night heron, the cotton pygmy goose, purple swamphen, and pheasant-tailed jacana.

Keenjhar Lake is also a popular tourist resort. A large number of people visit it daily from Karachi, Hyderabad and Thatta to enjoy picnic, swimming, fishing, and boating.

The Sindhi legend of Noori Jam Tamachi took place around the lake, and to this day there is a shrine in the middle of the lake marking Noori's grave. Everyday hundreds of devotees visit the shrine.


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Kundal Shahi, Azad Kashmir

Kundal Shahi (Urdu: کنڈل شاہی ‎) is a village and tourist resort in Neelam Valley, Azad Kashmir, Pakistan. It is located 74 kilometers (46 mi) from Muzaffarabad on the bank of Neelam River.

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Kundal Shahi is a village that is located in the Neelam valley, at an elevation of approximately 1,350 meters above sea level, at the point where the Jagran Nallah joins the Neelam River. The distance from Muzaffarabad, the capital of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, to Kundal Shahi is some 74 kilometers by road. The Line of Control (LoC), which separates the Indian-administered part of Kashmir from the Pakistani-administered part, runs through, or close to, the Neelam valley, at some points right along the river and at other points across the mountains on the left side of the river. At Kundal Shahi, the LoC is removed by a few kilometers from the bank of the Neelam River. This makes Kundal Shahi a relatively safe place as far as cross-border shelling is concerned, and for this reason the tehsil headquarters, formerly in Authmuqam 10 kilometers up the valley, have been shifted in recent years to Kundal Shahi.


Kundal Shahi, also a small commercial centre and being the commericial centre of the area it is congested and over crowded .Kundal Shahi is also operational centre of the Azad Kashmir. Kundal Shahi station has a rest house manned by the logging and saw mills at the Western bank of river Neelum adjacent to metalled road. From this place a visit can be planned to the loveliest part of the Neelum Valley, commonly known as Jagran Valley

- See more at: Kundal Shahi, Neelum Valley, AJK


 
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Madyan, Swat

Swat is a one of the beautiful valley in Pakistan located 170 kilometer from Islamabad.
Saidu Sharif,is the captial of Swat. but the main town in the Swat valley is Mingora Various religions have flourished here including the cradle of many Buddhist part of Gandara The imprints of their culture can be easily seen in archaeological sites.
Swat, in the past, has been home to Buddhism and spread to other parts of Asia from here. This great progress became possible due to personal dedication of King Ashoka to Buddhism. During his reign, Buddhism spread to Japan, Tibet, China and Bhutan.
Swat was a princely state in the North West Frontier Province until it was dissolved in 1969. With high mountains, green meadows, and clear lakes, it is a place of great natural beauty that used to be popular with tourists as "the Switzerland of Pakistan.

Madyan Swat Pakistan : Photos, Diagrams & Topos : SummitPost

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Madyan (Urdu: مدین‎) is a popular hill station, located at a distance of about 55 km from Mingora, in the Swat District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The station is at an elevation of 1,320 m above sea level.



Makran Coast, Balochistan


The Makran coast is Balochistan's southern strip and stretches for 754 kms. Long sandy beaches, rugged promontories and tidal creeks characterize the coast-line. There ranges of hills, rising to over 1500 meters (5000feet), run parallel to the coast: the Coastal Makran Range, 30 kms inland; the Central Makran Range, 130 kms inland; and the Siahan Range, 200 kms away from the sea. There is very little rain in the Makran region; the few villages and towns along the coast and between the hills are sustained by spring water.

Many of the Makran people are dark-skinned and have African features. They are probably descended from slaves brought by Arab merchants to the subcontinent. They subsist on fishing, date farming and camel breeding. Most of the men work part-time in the gulf state and Oman, and send money home to their families.

Alexander the great marched half his army home along the inhospitable Makran coast in 325 BC, and Muhammad bin Qasim came from Baghdad to Sindh through Makran in 711 AD. The Makranis stood firm against the Mughals, but bowed nominally to the British Raj. It is only since 1971 that some effort has been made to develop the region.

There is no road along the coast, but daily flights connect the four main coastal towns of Ormara, Pasni, Gwadar and Jiwani with Karachi, and there are flights to Quetta three times a week, Gwadar and Jiwani, both picturesque towns flanked by cliffs and beeches, belonged t o Oman for about 200 years. The Khan of Kallat gave them as a present to the sultan in the 18th century, and in 1958 they were sold back to Pakistan. Ormara is currently being developed as a major port.

Turbat, the divisional headquarters for Makran, is a small inland town near the hills, with little to recommend it but its 300 varieties of dates. Turbat is accessible by a rough road from Lasbela, and by daily flights from Karachi and Quetta. Panjgur, the principal date-growing area further north, can also be reached by air. The track from Khuzdar to Panjgur is very rough.


HIMALAYAN HOLIDAYS PAKISTAN ... (GEOGRAPHY - BALUCHISTAN / The Makran Coast Page)

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Saif-ul-Malook Lake, Kaghan-Valley

Saiful Muluk (Urdu: جھیل سیف الملوک‎) is a mountainous lake located at the northern end of the Kaghan Valley, near the town of Naran. It is in the north east of Mansehra District in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan. At an elevation of 3,224 m (10,578 feet) above sea level, it is well above the tree line, and is one of the highest lakes in Pakistan

Physical features
Saiful Muluk was formed by glacial moraines that blocked the water of the stream passing through the valley. The Kaghan Valley was formed in the greater Pleistocene Period dating back almost 300,000 years when the area was covered with ice. Rising temperatures and receding glaciers left a large depression where glaciers once stood. Melting water collected into the lake.

Ecology
The lake has rich eco-diversity and holds many species of blue-green algae. Large brown trout are found in the lake, up to about seven kilograms. About 26 species of vascular plant exist in the area, with Asteraceae the most commonly found specie. Other species commonly found in the region are: Ranunculaceae, Compositae, Cruciferae, Gramineae, Apiaceae, Leguminosae,Scrophulariaceae and Polygonaceae.

Folklore
A fairy tale called Saiful Muluk, written by the Sufi poet Mian Muhammad Bakhsh, talks of the lake.[6][7] It tells the story of the prince of Persia who fell in love with a fairy princess at the lake.[8] A poet and writer from Balakot, Ahmed Hussain Mujahid, wrote the story of Saiful Muluk in prose depicting the local version. There is also a cave (based on the name of the giant who pursued the prince) at the lake, with glistening pebbles and flowing water. The cave was the hiding place of Prince Saif and the fairy Badr when the giant was trying to find them. Locals say that due to a miracle the giant turned into a statue while searching for them. The cause of some torches and mobile phones not working in the cave is still a mystery.


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Rohtas Fort, Punjab

Following his defeat of the Mughal emperor Humayun in 1541, Sher Shah Suri built a strong fortified complex at Rohtas, a strategic site in the north of what is now Pakistan. It was never taken by storm and has survived intact to the present day. The main fortifications consist of the massive walls, which extend for more than 4 km; they are lined with bastions and pierced by monumental gateways. Rohtas Fort, also called Qila Rohtas, is an exceptional example of early Muslim military architecture in Central and South Asia.

Rohtas Fort - UNESCO World Heritage Centre
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Saindak & Reko Diq, Balochistan

Reko Diq is a small town in Chagai District, Balochistan, Pakistan, in a desert area, 70 kilometres north-west of Naukundi, close to Pakistan's border with Iran and Afghanistan. The area is located in Tethyan belt that stretches all the way from Turkey and Iran into Pakistan.

Reko Diq is a remote location in the North-West of Chagai district. Chagai is a sparsely populated western desert province of Balochistan. It is mostly low relief and thinly populated desert. The weather of Chagai ranges from very hot summers of 40-50 °C to very cool winters of up to -10 °C with less than 40 mm precipitation (winter rain and minor snow). It also exhibits periods of high wind and dust/sand storms which have a demobilizing impact on the local activities and trade. Access to the Chagai district is via the Zahidan - Quetta highway also known as the London Road.

The Reko Diq area is part of the Tethyan Magmatic Arc, extending through central and southeast Europe ( Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece) Turkey, Iran and Pakistan through the Himalayan region into Myanmar, Malaysia, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. It contains wealth of large copper-gold ore deposits of varying grades.


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Sajikot Waterfall, Abbottabad

Havelian/Abbottabad – Saji Kot Water fall a very attractive tourist point in the Hazara Region. People from all over the Pakistan come and enjoy its beauty.

Sajikot is located in tehsil havelian District Abbottabad. It almost 23 Kilometers in Distance from Havelian. THe road to Sajjikoy travel near Bandi Atai Khan, Banda Shaikhan, Kiala and Tamnal Sjikot.



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Taobat, Azad Kashmir

Taobatt (Urdu: ٹاؤبٹ ‎) is a village and tourist resort in Neelam Valley, Azad Kashmir, Pakistan. It is located 200 kilometers (120 mi) from Muzaffarabad and 39 kilometers (24 mi) from Kel. It is the last station in Neelam valley

Taobatt is accessible from Kel by unmetalled road. A Motel of AJK Tourism and Archeology Department and a small number of hotels with meager resources are located there for tourists stay.


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Shimshal Lake, Hunza-Nagar District

Shimshalشمشال (in Urdu) is a village located in Gojal, Hunza–Nagar District, in the Gilgit–Baltistan region of Pakistan formerly known as Northern Areas of Pakistan. It lies at an altitude of 3,100 m above sea level, and is the highest settlement in Hunza Valley of Pakistan. It is the bordering village that connects Gilgit-Baltistan province of Pakistan with China. The total area of Shimshal is 3,800 km2 and there are around two thousand inhabitants with a total of two hundred and forty households. Shimshal is made up of four major hamlets; Farmanabad, Aminabad, Center Shimshal and Khizarabad.


Ranikot Fort - The Great Wall of Sindh


The Ranikot Fort also known as Dewar-e-Sindh (Great Wall of Sindh), with a circumference of about 26 km or 16 miles, is reputed to be the largest unexplored fort in the world. Since 1993, it has been on the list of tentative UNESCO World Heritage Sites. It is located in the Kirthar Range, about 30 km southwest of Sann, in Jamshoro District, Sindh, Pakistan.


Ranikot is the most talismanic wonder of Sindh. Visible from five kilometers away its massive undulating walls twist and dip over the hills. Its walls, are built with dressed sandstone and reinforced with 45 bastions along the outer wall, of which 7 are rectangular and the remaining are round. All modified through the ages to accommodate the use of gunpowder, this perhaps makes it the largest fort in the world.

The original purpose and architects of Ranikot Fort are unknown. Some archaeologists attribute it to Arabs, or possibly built by a Persian noble under the Abbasids by Imran Bin Musa Barmaki who was the Governor of Sindh in 836. Others have suggested a much earlier period of construction attributing to at times the Sassanians Persians and at times to the Greeks. Despite the fact that a prehistoric site of Amri is nearby, there is no trace of any old city inside the fort and the present structure has little evidence of prehistoric origins.

Archaeologists point to 17th century as its time of first construction but now Sindh archaeologists agree that some of the present structure was reconstructed by Mir Karam Ali Khan Talpur and his brother Mir Murad Ali in 1812 at a cost of 1.2 million rupees (SindhGazetteer, 677).


“The size of Ranikot defies all reasons. It stands in the middle of nowhere, defending nothing” writes Isobel Shaw. So why was this fort built here in the desolate terrain of the Kirthar range? Many theories have been developed to answer this question. According to Ishtiaq Ansari, the Talpurs had sent their families to Thar and Kachchh when Afsharids attacked Sindh during the times of Kalhoras. However, after acquiring the rule of Sindh, they wanted a safe and secure place where they can send their families during the troubled times. This might have prompted them to rebuild this fort to their needs. Rahimdad Khan Molai Sheedai holds view that its location in Kohistan on the western frontiers of Sindh gave it its strategic value. Whereas Mazher Ansari is of the opinion that, it was first constructed in the Achaemenid Dynasty of the Persian Empire (550 – 330 BC). As this empire stretched from Turkey in the west, where a similar wall is constructed near the Caspian Sea called The Great Wall of Gorgan, which is 155 km in length and to the east up to River Indus in Sindh, where this majestic fort is located. (Text by Wikipedia).

Ranikot Fort - the Great Wall of Sindh
Mysterious Ranikot: 'The world's largest fort' - Multimedia - DAWN.COM
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Faisal Mosque


The largest mosque in South Asia, the Faisal Mosque was the largest mosque in the world from 1986 until 1993, when it was overtaken in size by the newly completed Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca, Morocco. Subsequent expansions of the Masjid al-Haram (Grand Mosque) of Mecca and the Al-Masjid al-Nabawi (Prophet’s Mosque) in Medina, Saudi Arabia, during the 1990s relegated Faisal Mosque to fourth place in terms of size.

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Mohenjo-daro

Mohenjo-daro was built in the 26th century BCE.[7] It was one of the largest cities of the ancient Indus Valley Civilization, also known as the Harappan Civilization, which developed around 3000 BCE from the prehistoric Indus culture. At its height, the Indus Civilization spanned much of what is now Pakistan and North India, extending westwards to the Iranian border, south to Gujarat in India and northwards to an outpost in Bactria, with major urban centers at Harappa, Mohenjo-daro, Lothal, Kalibangan, Dholavira and Rakhigarhi. Mohenjo-daro was the most advanced city of its time, with remarkably sophisticated civil engineering and urban planning. When the Indus civilization went into sudden decline around 1900 BCE, Mohenjo-daro was abandoned.[

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Wazir Khan Mosque

The Wazir Khan Mosque (Punjabi/Urdu: مسجد وزیر خان Masjid Wazīr Khān) in Lahore, Pakistan, is famous for its extensive faience tile work. It has been described as ‘a mole on the cheek of Lahore’. It was built in seven years, starting around 1634–1635 AD, during the reign of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jehan. It was built by Hakim Shaikh Ilm-ud-din Ansari, a native of Chiniot, who rose to be the court physician to Shah Jahan and a governor of Lahore. He was commonly known as Wazir Khan, a popular title bestowed upon him (the word Wazir means ‘minister’ in Urdu and Persian). The mosque is inside the Inner City and is easiest accessed from Delhi Gate. The mosque contains some of the finest examples of Qashani tile work from the Mughal period.

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Lake Saiful Muluk

The lake has rich eco diversity and holds many species of blue-green algae. Large brown trout are found in the lake, up to about seven kilograms. About 26 species of vascular plant exist in the area, with Asteraceae the most commonly found specie. Other species commonly found in the region are: Ranunculaceae, Compositae, Ranunculaceae, Cruciferae, Gramineae, Apiaceae, Leguminosae, Scrophulariaceae and Polygonaceae.

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PAF Museum, Karachi

The museum was established in 1990 in two disused hangars in a remote part of the Base. The museum was expanded significantly from its humble beginnings in the period 1999 – 2004, additions include children playing areas, rides, and eateries.

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Lahore Museum

The Museum contains some fine specimens of Mughal and Sikh door-ways and wood-work and has a large collection of paintings dating back to the Mughal, Sikh and British periods. It includes a collection of musical instruments, ancient jewellery, textiles, pottery, and armory. There are important relics from the Indus Valley civilisation, Gandhara and Graeco-Bactrian periods as well as some Tibetan and Nepalese work on display. The museum has a number of Greco-Buddhist sculptures, Mughal and Pahari paintings on display.The Fasting Buddha from the Gandhara period is one of the most famous objects of the museum. The ceiling of the entrance hall features a large mural by renowned Pakistani artist Sadequain.

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Mohatta Palace

The Mohatta Palace is located in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. It was built by Shivratan Chandraratan Mohatta, a Hindu Marwari businessman from modern day Rajasthan in India, as his summer home in 1927. The architect of the palace was Agha Ahmed Hussain.However, Mohatta could enjoy this building for only about two decades before the independence, after which he left Karachi for India. He built the Palace in the tradition of stone palaces in Rajasthan, using pink Jodhpur stone in combination with the local yellow stone from Gizri. The amalgam gave the palace a distinctive presence in an elegant neighbourhood, characterised by Indo-Saracenic architecture which was located not far from the sea.

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Frere Hall

It was used as a Town Hall during the Raj. During the same period it housed a number of busts including King Edward VII’s which was a gift from Seth Edulji Dinshaw. It also housed oil paintings of former Commissioners in Sind including Sir Charles Pritchard and Sir Evan James.

In 1877 at Karachi in (British) India, where the first attempt was made to form a set of rules of badminton.

After a terrorist attack attempt on the US Consulate, which faces Frere Hall, the park was declared off-limits to the general public for a few years until 2011. As of Spring 2011 the park was opened for the public again as the US consulate was relocated.

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