Taxila
With my bodyclock on Beijing time, I woke around 0400 and dozed again till 0715. The hotel breakfast started at 0800 and we found a nice spot in their garden to wait and eat around 0845. As we found out later, most hotels take about 45 mins just to prepare omelette, toast and tea.
The plan for the morning was to go the historic area of Taxila. We departed at 0930 and arrived at the museum at 1030.
Taxila is probably one of the richest crossroads of civilisations. There are ruins with over 1000 years of South Asian, Persian, and Central Asian influences.
I thought it would be a good idea to explore the various ruins outdoors before it got too hot before doing the indoor museum. At the ticket counter, we learnt that only Sirkap and the museum were open.
The other areas which I visited before, namely Mohra Moradu and Dgarnarahuja stupa were closed. With the mercury rising, I was secretly pleased that we wouldn’t have to spend too much time walking in the heat.
We took an auto-rickshaw to the Sirkap site, an ancient Bactrian Greek city from 2 BC. The remains consist of gridlike stone walls and a few stupas added during the later Buddhist era.
Text continues after this gallery.
-
- Getting to Sirkap site.
-
- Sirkap.
-
- Sirkap.
-
- Base of a stupa at Sirkap.
Back at the museum, we admired the Buddhist art, some of them with hints of Greek influence in their hair and facial features.
Text continues after this gallery.
-
- Replica of the votive stupa at Mohra Moradu with a seven-layered umbrella.
-
- Buddha statues here hint at Greek influences in their hair and facial features.
-
- The base of the votive stupa has some includes Greek gods and Buddhas.
We finished at 1145, only 1h15 after arriving. I ordered a car to take us back to the hotel and grabbed lunch consisting of burgers at the same restaurant as last night.
Faisal Mosque
After a rest in the afternoon, we set off to the nearby Faisal Mosque by car about 1600. We stored our shoes and walked upstairs to the outdoor area before entering the mosque. Jo, entered separately to the female prayer area, with a scarf covering her head and shoulders.
Text continues after this gallery.
-
- At the Faisal Mosque.
-
- Faisal Mosque.
-
- Inside the Faisal Mosque.
Meeting Nasir
Our fixer for the road trip on the Karakoram Highway is Nasir Ahmad, whom I met 14 years ago when his family ran the Medina Guest House in Gilgit. That time, I did the Karakoram trip by public transport!
I had arranged to meet him at 1730 and the Kabul Restaurant but I hadn’t realised that the one across the road was a copy cat restaurant (so he says, but I would have thought it was a branch). It took us a few minutes to the real thing a little down the road.
He treated us to a delicious Afghan meal while we discussed the upcoming trip and various concerns, in particular the upcoming protest by Imran Khan’s party on the day before the commencement of our road trip. Shipping containers have already been placed beside access roads into the city in case road blocks are required.
Money changed hand for the car and driver at USD75 per day (plus an extra day for the positioning down to Islamabad to collect us). This included the driver’s meals and accommodation but excluded fuel, our accommodation and expenses.
Afghan dinner with Nasir.
On the way back, we popped into a mall for a wander. By sheer luck, Jo found a Coach purse that was exactly what her granddaughter Jasmine had requested.
I was happy with how our first day in Pakistan had panned out. There was a bit of pressure for me to make sure that both Kim and Jo were comfortable and activities were at the right pace.