Ziarat Trip Covered in Express Tribune

Yesterday, Express Tribune - a local daily - published my report on our Ziarat trip in the print edition.

Here goes the online version of the same:

http://tribune.com.pk/story/481593/a-ziarat-to-ziarat/

Your comments on the above link will be highly appreciated.

Visting Wazir Mansion this Sunday - December 23, 9:30 am

Earlier this year, while hosting a Latvian CSer Artyom I was failed to recognize a photo in his camera which showed a beautiful building in Karachi - and being a born-Karachite I was like embarrassed!

That was Wazir Mansion, the birthplace of our Founding Father Muhammad Ali Jinnah, located in Kharadar near Tower.

This is a multistory archaic structure and a 'protected national monument' - opened for general public only recently.

I am sure many of us living in Karachi including wannabe globe-trotters, like myself, have not yet bothered visiting this picturesque building. Atleast none I am in touch with! I guess we should know a bit more about our culture before looking here and there! (pun intended)

And then last year while visiting Cairo we met locals belonging to a travel community who were arranging free walks exploring around the city out of hospitality. Since then I was thinking starting such a thing in Karachi and this is the first step towards that.

So with this long backdrop, those who are reading this, either locals or travelers, are invited for a walk around the old city highlight of which would be the historic Wazir Mansion. Surrounding heritage buildings would definitely be an opportunity for those having DSLRs and an imaginative eye.

Schedule: December 23 at 9:30 am

I am aware early Sunday morning would not be too convenient for many but as they say "jo sota hey woh khota hey" so please sacrifice just one sleep and be part of this :-P

Btw, this is the best time of the year for such an activity because of the pleasant weather and then very little or no traffic is expected on a Sunday morning which makes the otherwise chaotic surroundings explorable. Through this we may pay tribute to Quaid-e-Azam a couple of days before his birthday, even if sounds rustic.

Here I must re-confess that I have not been to the monument yet so anyone with the know may please take the lead - although I am aware of the directions and the neighborhood.

Those who feel interested please reply here or at my email: muzamil79@gmail.com. Those who are not in Karachi may join us virtually when I will post pictures and a brief trip report Inshallah.

See you

Ziarat Residency, Apple Farm, and Tourist Traps

This review is part of our recent Ziarat trip. Details of the trip here

Hotel Review: Shalimar Hotel and PTDC Motel

 Transportation Reviews: Karachi-Quetta-Ziarat and back

 

At a height of ~8,000 feet, Ziarat might be the only place in the Southern Pakistan which can be called a hill station. Although it might not be as lush as those in the Central and Upper parts of the country – for instance Galiyat, Kaghan Valley, Swat, etc – however, it still deserves an outing due to its distinctive Juniper forests, orchards, colonial history, and healing characteristics.

Here are a couple of things which one should not miss while visiting the cool hill station:

Quaid-e-Azam Residency

Quaid-e-Azam Residency Ziarat

Ziarat Residency, where the Founding Father – or Quaid-e-Azam – Muhammad Ali Jinnah http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_Ali_Jinnah spent last few days of his life, upon doctors’ advice, fighting the lung cancer is the most characteristic structure of the hill station. The aesthetically designed wooden building does not only possess architectural significance but it is also a remnant of the golden days of the British Empire looking over their rebellious northwestern frontiers towards Afghanistan and beyond.

Now the charismatic 19the century Residency is a national monument and is maintained accordingly.

Reaching the monument from Ziarat bazaar is no big deal; take the upward artery from Shalimar Hotel, or from other any other gulley, walk uphill for around 15 minutes and you will be there. The place is so obvious that losing the way is difficult; however, one can take the assistance of passersby if confused. As you move upward, views of the surrounding valleys will become clearer making the trail-cum-road more refreshing.

The place opens daily from 9 to 5 with lunch break and except for Wednesdays. Unfortunately, we got to know the Wednesday thing only after I lifted Mikael’s buggy all the way upstairs – with the little one inside as he was sleeping – that we are there on the bad day! However, staff was courteous and opened that for us. After all we traveled all the way from Karachi to see Quaid’s memorial. By the way, no one was there except for us and those guards, which I believe would be the case even if we would have visited on a legitimate day.

Gardens around the Residency are the best maintained in the whole Ziarat and provided us with a good opportunity to enjoy our little picnic with Misha running and jumping around freely. Yellow leaves were dancing down from trees, with every passing breeze, announcing the autumn coming!

Sunshine was just perfect for the due warmth – in the otherwise cold town – and the Vitamin D intake was a bonus. Air was as fresh as it could be and an opportunity for us to breath deep to purify our polluted Karachite lungs! Skies were so clear and so blue that we could see the moon – right around noon – inevitably! The whole arena was engulfed into a deep silence which could only be broken by the slow winds and autumn leaves.

When we reached there, the Residency was closed

Because it was Wednesday!

However, the staff opened that for us

Misha found a big park to run freely and collect autumn leaves

An Autumn Leave

07 Tree turned yellow.jpg

Can you spot the moon?

A motorcycle with special facilities

It was the phone call of Abdus Samad Dotani – a gentleman and a local landlord – which forced us to windup and come down to the bazaar to discuss when to visit his apple farm.

Orchard

Bird Eyeview

Surrounding valleys of Ziarat produce premium quality cherries and apples of various varieties which fetch handsome price in Punjab’s fruit markets. If one is coming from Quetta, patches of orchards start appearing on both sides of the slanting road half an hour ahead of the city center around Zandra and Kewas valleys. Cold and dry weather plays an important role in making Ziarat apples juicier and more flavorsome.

Since winters was in the offing, trees started changing colors; from greenish to red, orange, and finally yellowish. It was a beautiful sight indeed.

We felt lucky when invited by Abdus Samad Dotani to visit his family farms along with a sumptuous luncheon, full of Pushtoon hospitality. Will you call it best of both worlds when he told us that there were still a couple of trees loaded with apples! He intentionally left them for his guests and friends.

We spent a couple of hours in the farm where our host enlightened us about the local trends regarding farming. He told us that some farmers are shifting to cherries and other fruits from apples because of the low priced produce in the market coming from the neighboring sanctioned-hit Iran.

While I was sitting in his traditional ‘farshi’ guest room, a delegate from a developmental NGO was there discussing the upliftment prospects. Though people in the area are conservative and mostly support conservative relegiopolitical parties, they also welcome genuine NGOs simultaneously. That observation was contrary to my previous stereotyped thought. Abdus Samad also told us that though ignored in the previous generation people are now aware of the importance of female education and a majority of girls around his village are now going to school.

At the end of the day, he packed us a couple of cartons full of fresh apples for the home also!

An apple farm from outside

An apple farm from outside

Last of the Trees with Apples

Apples from Ziarat Attract Good Prices Because of Superior Quality

A Couple of Isolated Apples

Another One Hanging Alone

Yet another one

Varieties in the Farm

It gets wasted too

Quality Inspector.

Do apples grow on bushes?

A bunch of colorful ones

A row of apple trees

Farsh with handwoven carpet

Meeting with NGO

Juniper - the pride of Ziarat

Tourist Traps

Apart from the above two, most of the other attractions marketed by touts, e.g. natural spring, khewari baba, etc, are no less than a tourist trap and a source of earning for local drivers, in my opinion.

This review is part of our recent Ziarat trip. Details of the trip here

Hotel Review: Shalimar Hotel and PTDC Motel

 Transportation Reviews: Karachi-Quetta-Ziarat and back

Karachi to Quetta-Ziarat Transportation Guide

This review is part of our recent Ziarat trip. Details of the trip here 

Hotel Review: Shalimar Hotel and PTDC Motel

Must See: Ziarat Residency, Apple Farm, and Tourist Traps

Al-Aziz Runs Comfortable Overnight Coaches between Karachi and Quetta - Rs. 2,100

This month we (family of 4) visited the hill station to enjoy the color of autumn and to utilize our long unused inventory of warm clothing. Initially, I planned to go by car but friends suggested otherwise due to the reported security situation especially around Khuzdar, which is halfway between Karachi and Ziarat on the RCD Highway, so we switched to Plan B, i.e. public transport.

Here goes a brief review of our experience on the road:

No Direct Transport between Karachi and Ziarat

There is no direct public transport from Karachi to Ziarat therefore one has to take a break in Quetta and then transfer to the Ziarat bound hiace/coaster. The transfer can be made immediately, in the earlier part of the day, as there are multiple vans going to the hill station each day.

Karachi to Quetta

For Karachi to Quetta there are many options available; one of the cheapest is the regular coach (Rs. 1,200 pp; twice a day) while the most expensive is Toyota 2.0D taxi (Rs. 3,500 pp, only in morning). Among those, I opted for the 30 seater 2x1 overnight luxury coach (Rs. 2,100 pp, twice a day) run by Al-Aziz, upon Zahoor’s advice who is the manager of Shalimar Hotel Ziarat.

Al-Aziz Coach

After a little googling I found Al-Aziz Coach contact numbers and booked our seats via phone a day before the journey. The coach had to depart at 7pm from Yousuf Goth Terminal, on the Hub River Road, which is way out of the city; however, they provided the shuttle service from their office located near Hassan Square, where we had to reach at 5:30pm to pay for the tickets and to catch the shuttle at 6pm. We did exactly that

Shuttle Service

The shuttle service was a bit uncomfortable and a little late too but not too annoying for the 45 minutes ride. We transferred to the big coach which left the Quetta bound terminal half an hour late as it had to wait for some confirmed passengers who were reportedly stuck up in the city traffic.

Journey Starts

Bus looked new with business class style seats; fully reclining and comfy. Most of the passengers were families with some having kids too. Lights were turned off after 15 minutes and the whole bus went into hibernation, except for the driver off course! There were 5-6 empty seats when we started the journey, which became a nuisance as the staff filled them up enroute with discounted passengers!

After two and a half hours, around 10pm, the bus took a stopover at Bela at a designated restaurant which was selling bad quality food in a disgusting environment. Surprisingly, the stopover on the way back, at Khuzdar, was much better with reasonable facilities.

Al-Aziz Coach Office at Hassan Square

Al-Aziz Coach Runs Shuttle Service Between Hassan Square and Yousuf Goth Terminal

Al-Aziz Coach Yousuf Goth Terminal on Hub River Road - Located Inconvenientl

Al-Aziz Caoch has 2x1 Comfy Seating

We Reached Quetta Before the Sunrise

Quetta to Ziarat

We reached Quetta around the sunrise and promptly took a rikshaw to the Ziarat bound bus station located at Spinzai Road. For Ziarat, I wanted to buy tickets in the coaster, rather than in the hiace, for the sake of comfort, however, I could not find the office of Kakar Transport.

When we reached the hiace stand, at around 7am, there was a van standing stuffed up with passengers and still selling seats. Touts there tried hard to convince me to get onboard but I insisted on the next van for better seating.

For Ziarat, I bought 4 seats, instead of 2, in the middle of the van to make the onward journey less uncomfortable. Next van departed at 8am, reached the hill station around 10:30 am, and dropped us right in front of Shlimar Hotel. http://mozumbus.blogspot.com/2012/11/shalimar-hotel-ziarat-and-ptdc-motel.html

In all, it took us around 18 hours, door to door!

Return Journey

Return journey was quicker and took 16 hours door to door. From Ziarat, I pre-booked 4 seats in the Kakar Transport’s coaster, which picked us up right from our accommodation at 2:10pm, a bit late than the given time.

We reached back Quetta before 5pm and took the rickshaw to Al-Aziz Coach Terminal at Saryab Road. Interestingly, we forgot to pick Mikael’s stroller while leaving the hotel but luckily there was another hiace following the coaster which picked that and brought it to Quetta, just in time!

There I made a mistake! Rather than booking the return seats in the Karachi coach – when we reached Quetta from Karachi – I thought doing it later via phone, which did not prove wise as the staff was very reluctant in making reservation on phone. Thankfully, the mistake did not turn into a trouble.

Coach left the terminal around 6:15 pm; again a few minutes late, however, it was full this time. It reached Khuzdar at around 10pm and took stopover for dinner. The hotel there was very reasonable with clean toilet facilities.

Finally we reached back Karachi Saddar at 5:30am where I took a rickshaw and reached back home safe and sound Alhamdulillah around 6am!

Kakar Transport Runs Coaster Between Quetta and Ziarat

A Fruit Laden Truck on the Highway

Mud Houses Between Ziarat and Quetta

Al-Aziz Coach Terminal at Saryab Road Quetta

Expense Sheet

Home to Hassan Square Rickshaw: Rs. 200

Karachi – Quetta Coach: Rs. 4,000 (2 seats)

Quetta Rickshaw: Rs. 100

Quetta – Ziarat: Rs. 520 (4 seats)

Ziarat – Quetta: Rs. 560 (4 seats)

Quetta Rickshaw: Rs. 200

Quetta – Karachi: Rs. 4,200

Saddar to Home Rickshaw: Rs. 300

Contact Numbers – Al-Aziz Coach Quetta

Hassan Square Karachi: (021) 34945778 – Saleem

Saryab Road Quetta: (081) 2450607 – Naseebullah

Contact Numbers – Kakar Transport Ziarat

Ziarat: 0333 7057573 – Musa Jaan

Quetta: 0333 7839642

Contact Numbers – Qadri 2.0D  Car Service

Karachi: 0301 2513311

Quetta: 0300 3800383

Lahore: 0302 3846001

Islamabad: 0321 5221057

This review is part of our recent Ziarat trip. Details of the trip here 

Hotel Review: Shalimar Hotel and PTDC Motel

Must See: Ziarat Residency, Apple Farm, and Tourist Traps