Pakistan A tourist paradise

Sunday, May 22, 2011
posted by Posted by Shahzad Afzal

Pakistan A Heaven On Earth

Pakistan A Heaven On Earth, Pakistan is blessed by natural beauty there are hundred of places to visit. World second largest Mountain K-2 is located in Pakistan.

Pakistan has its own tourism attraction because of its diverse cultures, peoples and landscapes. The variety of attractions ranges from the ruins of ancient civilisations such as Mohenjo-daro, Harappa and Taxila, to the Himalayan hill-stations, that attract those interested in field and winter sports. Pakistan also has five out of fourteen mountain peaks of height over 8,000 metres (26,250 ft), that attract adventurers and mountaineers from around the world, especially to K2. From April to September, domestic and international visitors to these areas bring tourist income to the local people.

Shangrilla resorts & Lake 

Deosai  Pakistan

The Deosai National Park is located in Skardu, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan.

In Balochistan there are many caves for cavers and tourists to visit especially the Juniper Shaft Cave, the Murghagull Gharra cave, Mughall saa cave, and Pakistan's naturally decorated cave, the Mangocher Cave. Pakistan is a member country of the Union International de Spéléologie (UIS).

Beautiful Sheosar lake in Deosai,Pakistan

Monument, Islamabad

A waterfall located at Pir Ghaib near Bolan in Balochistan.It is so blue and Beautiful that we cant even think that it is located inside the barren landscape

The northern parts of Pakistan are home to several historical fortresses, towers and other architecture including the Hunza and Chitral valleys, the latter being home to the Kalash, a small pre-Islamic Animist community.Punjab is also the site of Alexander's battle on the Jhelum River. The historic city of Lahore is considered Pakistan's cultural centre and has many examples of Mughal architecture such as the Badshahi Masjid, Shalimar Gardens, Tomb of Jahangir and the Lahore Fort. The Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) also helps promote tourism in the country. However, tourism is still limited because of the lack of proper infrastructure and the worsening security situation in the country. The recent militancy in Pakistan's scenic sites, including Swat in Khybar Pakhtoon Kawa province, have dealt a massive blow to the tourism industry. Many of the troubles in these tourist destinations are also blamed on the frail travel network, tourism regulatory framework, low prioritisation of the tourism industry by the government, low effectiveness of marketing and a constricted tourism perception. After these areas were being cleared off the militant groups in late 2009, the government, with financial support from the USAID, started a campaign to reintroduce tourism in Swat valley. Pakistan receives 500,000 tourists annually, with almost half of them heading to northern Pakistan.

Amazingly Beautiful Shimshal Lake

The beautiful snow clad mountains at Siri Paye,Pakistan

Hingol National Park is the largest National Park in Balochistan Pakistan . It was established in 1988. Hingol River flows through the national park before emptying into the Arabian Sea

Hingol National Park

Jhalked The beautiful place in kaghan valley.

Malam Jabba

Malamjabba Resort

Neelum Valley in Azad jammu and Kashmir which is in Pakistan's Control

Strange landscape on the way to Gwadar from Karachi.On the way you will see plenty of viewslike this

The Beautiful flowers spreaded on babusar Pass ,Pakistan.2There were flowers of almost every color there

The beautiful Karambar lake and Karambar Pass at 4300 m approx above sea level in Chitral,Pakistan

The beautiful mountains of Hindu raj in Ishkoman resembles almost the China 's Tibet in their beauty

The beautiful river Swat passing through beautiful forests in Swat valley Pakistan

The beautiful valley of Chillam in northern areas of Pakistan .

The Beautiful Village in the Mountains of Hindu Raj named as Kishmanja in Upper yarkhun valley,Chitral

This lake is located in Neelum Valley ,Ajk(Azad Jammu & Kashmir ) Pakistan.The name of lake is Chitta Katha

 

Posted by Shahzad Afzal at 8:03 PM
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Pakistani Independence Day Celebrations

Pakistani Independence Day Celebrations

Pakistani Independence Day Celebrations, Pakistan Sovereignty Day, Pakistani Freedom Day, Pakistani Liberty Day, Pakistani Self-Determination Day, Pakistani Self-Rule Day, Pakistani Autonomy Day, Jashn-e-Azadi Pakistan Mubarik  (14th August), Jashn-a-Azadi, Jashane Aazadi, Jashun-a-Azadi, 14-August, Pakistan ki Aazdi ka Din

Pakistani Independence Day Celebrations, Pakistan Sovereignty Day, Pakistani Freedom Day, Pakistani Liberty Day, Pakistani Self-Determination Day, Pakistani Self-Rule Day, Pakistani Autonomy Day, Jashn-e-Azadi Pakistan Mubarik  (14th August), Jashn-a-Azadi, Jashane Aazadi, Jashun-a-Azadi, 14-August, Pakistan ki Aazdi ka Din

Pakistani Independence Day Celebrations, Pakistan Sovereignty Day, Pakistani Freedom Day, Pakistani Liberty Day, Pakistani Self-Determination Day, Pakistani Self-Rule Day, Pakistani Autonomy Day, Jashn-e-Azadi Pakistan Mubarik  (14th August), Jashn-a-Azadi, Jashane Aazadi, Jashun-a-Azadi, 14-August, Pakistan ki Aazdi ka Din

Pakistani Independence Day Celebrations, Pakistan Sovereignty Day, Pakistani Freedom Day, Pakistani Liberty Day, Pakistani Self-Determination Day, Pakistani Self-Rule Day, Pakistani Autonomy Day, Jashn-e-Azadi Pakistan Mubarik  (14th August), Jashn-a-Azadi, Jashane Aazadi, Jashun-a-Azadi, 14-August, Pakistan ki Aazdi ka Din

Pakistani Independence Day Celebrations, Pakistan Sovereignty Day, Pakistani Freedom Day, Pakistani Liberty Day, Pakistani Self-Determination Day, Pakistani Self-Rule Day, Pakistani Autonomy Day, Jashn-e-Azadi Pakistan Mubarik  (14th August), Jashn-a-Azadi, Jashane Aazadi, Jashun-a-Azadi, 14-August, Pakistan ki Aazdi ka Din





Pakistani Independence Day Celebrations, Pakistan Sovereignty Day, Pakistani Freedom Day, Pakistani Liberty Day, Pakistani Self-Determination Day, Pakistani Self-Rule Day, Pakistani Autonomy Day, Jashn-e-Azadi Pakistan Mubarik  (14th August), Jashn-a-Azadi, Jashane Aazadi, Jashun-a-Azadi, 14-August, Pakistan ki Aazdi ka Din

Pakistani Independence Day Celebrations, Pakistan Sovereignty Day, Pakistani Freedom Day, Pakistani Liberty Day, Pakistani Self-Determination Day, Pakistani Self-Rule Day, Pakistani Autonomy Day, Jashn-e-Azadi Pakistan Mubarik  (14th August), Jashn-a-Azadi, Jashane Aazadi, Jashun-a-Azadi, 14-August, Pakistan ki Aazdi ka Din
with thanks to 

http://mydiaryblogsite.blogspot.com/2011/08/pakistani-independence-day-celebrations.html

Jinnah The Great Leader

i

Pakistan, the nation the Quaid-i-Azam founded, needs him and his values more than ever.

In Pakistan, Jinnah is venerated because his struggles on behalf of the Muslims of India resulted in the establishment of the country. But Jinnah’s true claim to greatness as an Asian leader is more universal: he sought to protect the rights of minorities through constitutional law.

Jinnah was a secular, Westernized, British-trained barrister; himself a Muslim, he married a Parsi, spoke mainly in English and wore European clothes. In 1920, he left Mahatma Gandhi’s Indian National Congress, of which he had been a member for two decades, not because of his own faith but because he believed Gandhi’s use of Hindu symbolism would encourage religious zealotry in politics. As Asia emerged from colonization, among the most vexing problems facing the continent’s nascent nation states was that of their large minority populations. Jinnah’s preferred solution was a legal one: constitutional measures ranging from electoral safeguards to guaranteed representation in state institutions. It was only when his attempts to achieve these measures failed that he began to campaign for a separate state for the Muslims of the subcontinent.

Six decades later, Pakistan has drifted far from Jinnah’s vision of a secular democracy. President Pervez Musharraf, who invokes Jinnah’s values in speeches, has little patience for democracy. The religious opposition parties reject as un-Pakistani the concept of secularism. And the inhabitants of smaller provinces like Baluchistan find themselves lacking the protection for minorities that Jinnah made his life’s mission. If one believes in the rule of law, mistrusts religious zealotry and opposes tyrannies constructed in the name of majorities, one should find it easy to see oneself in Jinnah and to empathize with his struggle. Much of Asia could learn from his example, none more so than those of us who belong to the state he founded.

Long live pakistan, I love it

Pakistan claims some of the tallest mountain peaks in the world. This nation is home to Mughal architecture and archaeological remains in The Indus Valley to the empire of Alexander the Great. Landscapes in Pakistan allow for variety of trees and plants to flourish. The animal life in Pakistan reflects the varied climates of the land.
also green
and you will see what pleasures there are

Pakistan as an Eden

I love my country because

it belongs to us

it is amazing because

it is made by stars

want to know, what we are?

to define, you, soial stars, we are

not only twinkling in the sky but also on earth

to make an edem of this earth

to tell you how great we are

want to see, what kind of flowers there are ?

see our children where ever they are

want to see where they grow

look at our place, as eden can be seen

it is colourfull

also green

and you will see what pleasures there are

Muhammad Emad ul Islam

Khewra Salt Mines Pakistan

Lovely Pakistan

Searching For Heaven, Paradise, Peace

Secret within the Secret
Monday, June 6, 2011

Salman Rashid

The Soon Valley: quiet, secluded glens, thickly wooded with phulai (Acacia modesta) and sanatha (Dodonea viscosa) where the air rings with the call of the koel and the raucous arguments of Indian tree pies; where the lakes, if the season is right, abound with migratory ducks from the frozen marshes of northern Asiatic Tundra; where one can simply lose oneself in a wilderness of hill and forested glen within minutes of wandering away from any village; where clear rills tumble over bleached limestone and where it is still possible to surprise fox cubs frolicking in the thickets.

Such is the magic of the Soon Valley, part of the Punjabi highlands of the Salt Range and known to so few. The dilettantes that do know the Soon and feign to write about it will spell it Soan putting the knowing traveller somewhat off course. While the Soan (pronounced Swaan with a nasal ending) is a river that rises in the Murree hills, sweeps past Islamabad and Rawalpindi, skirts the north-western edge of the Soon valley at a respectable distance and dumps itself into the mighty Sindhu River near Makhad town, it has nothing to do with Soon Valley whose name is pronounced exactly as the English word.

The Soon Valley has many secrets but the one it has kept the best certainly is Kunhuti Bagh. If you dined with, say the Cabinet Secretary in his home in Islamabad in April or May and the dessert included freshly picked Washington Navel or Spanish Valencia oranges, you could be certain they had not been shipped in from across the oceans. This fruit was the pick of Kunhuti Bagh, making the orchard the only producer of off-season citrus fruit in the entire country. But this lasted until about ten years ago.

Official word on the orchard is virtually non-existent and so there is a tale. Kunhuti was some deputy commissioner who set up this garden for his pleasure and gave it his name, so the uninformed local ‘historian’ will tell you. But district records divulge that it was back in 1926 when a certain Major Whitburn, the District Engineer, carried out a survey to select a site for an orchard in order to experiment with non-local citrus varieties. Two things went in favour of this site, first, the climate. At 700 metres above the sea even its hottest summer is yet mild in comparison to the rest of Punjab. Secondly, a copious stream runs through this wild forest which could easily be harnessed for irrigation.

As for the name: a quick run through the list of deputy commissioners of Shahpur district (having since ceded the honour to first Sargodha and then Khushab), there was no official whose name even remotely sounded like Kunhuti. It is a purely local name.

Seventy acres were earmarked for the orchard and plantation began in 1933. Before the decade was over, the Kunhuti orchard was yielding first class Valencia and Navel oranges. That was not all, however. There were peach, apricot, pomegranate and mango trees as well that yielded a goodly harvest.

Things went well until partition and then Kunhuti went the same way as everything else we inherited from the Raj: down the tube. Until the end of the 20th century, the orchard was in the keep of the District Council. With steadily fading interest the council kept it trundling along and was making a meagre income from the annual crop. Then, in 2003, the orchard changed hands to become the responsibility of the Agriculture Department. That, according to one official, rang the death knell for Kunhuti. To begin with, the staff was by and by reduced to just two gardeners: for a garden spread over seventy acres these were scarcely adequate.

Not surprising then that the plantation begun so ambitiously by well-meaning colonial officials has fallen to less than half of its original area. Even so, the remaining trees are mostly diseased. The acreage abandoned by the forest is slowly being encroached upon by wild growth and taking the shape of rank forest. Better this than the area being turned into farmland or, worse yet, built up.

Back in 1990, the first time ever I visited Kunhuti, there were still the two species of orange trees that the orchard was celebrated for. And if one were to go by the gardeners’ report at that time, the District Council was making money auctioning the crop. Ambitious plans were afoot to utilise a small hill within the orchard and experiment with other species of fruits including cherry. One could see that the masters of the orchard were serious for they had laid out a gravity irrigation system to hock the water of the stream up the slope without the use of electricity. Now, seventeen years later, there are no Valencia or Navel oranges, having all died off. Of the many mango trees just one remains. Though trees of other species are still there, most yield very little fruit because of lack of care. Indeed, the pomegranates seen in late August were all blighted and hung shrivelled to the trees.

They only good thing to happen in this once fairy tale garden is the restoration of the old rest house. I do not have a date for its original construction, but it seems to go back to the 1940s. Back in 1990 it had a caved-in roof and I had felt it would soon be pulled down. This time round, the roof was redone, but the interiors of the three rooms were bare. One could at least be thankful for the small mercy of restoration.

Sadly there is no plan to re-introduce the lost species that once did so well in the balmy climes of the Soon Valley. The gardeners reflect the state of disinterest of their department for they could not be bothered about going the extra mile to procure Valencia or Navel saplings from a nursery an hour’s bus ride away. All they do is sit about gossiping and collect their salary at the end of the month. As for the Secretaries Agriculture, both provincial and federal, they may not even know Kunhuti exists.

Although the charm of sampling rare species of oranges in the dry heat of May is gone, yet the nine kilometre drive northward from Khabeki village by the lake of the same name in the heart of the Soon Valley is dramatic. The road winds around hills with deep gorges on the side and strangely shaped buttes rising from the valley floor in a landscape that seems utterly devoid of other human presence. Then suddenly, one is confronted with a tree-lined pathway and in the background the off-whitewashed rest house building.

Though the fruit trees are nearly all but gone, Kunhuti still is a lovely sylvan retreat where the birds sing with the abandon they know only in a pristine forest and the lovely rill still flows pure and untainted. If for nothing else, one must, once in the lifetime, take the nine kilometre-long road for the birdsong.

Fellow of Royal Geographical Society, Salman Rashid is author of several books including jhelum: City of the Vitasta and The Apricot Road to Yarkand, Riders on the Wind, Between two Burrs on the Map, Prisoner on a Bus and Sea Monsters and the Sun God. His work - explorations, traveling and writings - appears in almost all leading publications.

Directions: Get off M-2 at Kallar Kahar and take the road south past Padhrar. At Pail More you turn west for the Soon Valley and the village of Jaba. At Jaba turn south the road goes to Khabekki past the turning to Kunhutti. You are likely to miss the turn to the right as you head for Khabekki. There is actually only one turn to the right. Don’t forget to ask for directions. Bhadon (monsoon) is the best time to visit when the clouds are beautiful.