Upcoming Event: Bohra Food Street, April 22, 10pm

Karachi never sleeps! We Karachiites love late night outings, fresh sea breeze, and fiestas to distract ourselves from the urban chaos and a hectic day life.

During Ramzan, this habit reaches its peak with dwellers popping-out from all corners rushing around the food outlets for a night out all the way till Sehri. This is what Karachi vibe is. Let's be part of this craziness and indulge in the food scene!

There's method to madness though. The plan is to explore a unique place, a food street which only gets alive during Ramzan nights, and then shuts for the rest of the year.

We will hangout around Bohri Food Street, located in the old city, which offers a variety of Gujarati styled street food at one place: Khattay Aaloo, Bhel Puri, Chaat, Kaleji Bun (this you'll not find elsewhere), Limka, Saifi Sharbat (whatever it is), Malpura (sweetish), and what not

There's another seasonal street market around; makeshift stalls where we will do window shopping for those Eidi envelopes, ornated with traditional emblems and inspired patterns.

In the vicinity, we have quite a rich stock of colonial heritage buildings which are an additional treat to explorers and photographers. You don't get a chance to capture them in the wee hours otherwise.

What is Bohri? Bohri (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dawoodi_Bohra) is one of the communities of Karachi which makes an ubiquitous part of city's heritage and cultural diveristy. This community finds its roots in the Indian State of Gujarat. Apart from their distinctive religious rituals and outfits, the community is famous for their peaceful demeanors, inherited trading skills, and above all a whole variety of food.

So guys, buckle up and join us in this mouth watering crawl. We will try whole lot of food and drink varieties virtually the whole night. Keep your Aftari light for that day so that you can have and digest the once in a lifetime opportunity!

This is a family and community friendly event. Everyone is welcome regardless of their affiliation and opinion. Please keep a budget of Rs. 1,000; half for contribution during food tasting and rest for your own choosing. Please put on weather friendly clothing. A pair of joggers or walking friendly shoes is an absolute must along with a bottle of water to keep you hydrated and a roll of tissue papers, wet wipes are even better.

Travelers in town, backpackers, and photographers will be given priority in case there is space constraint.

You are highly encouraged to invite a Bohri friend or two, or a friends from other communities, so that we learn from each other in an inclusive environment. 

Friday, April 22, 2022, 10pm-01am

Meeting Point: Pakistan Chowk

City Walk 4: Paper Market to Wazir Mansion

Paper Market: Flag Vendors and the Omnipresent Kachra

Continuing from the last Winters, when we wandered around Karachi's Old City, this time we walked around "Paper Market" to observe Independence Day preparations.

We started with Paratha breakfast around 9am from Pakistan Chowk, did Jashne Azaadi shopping from "Paper Market" which was bustling with 14th August display material of all sorts and colors - green being the dominant and concluded it by 1pm, at Wazir Mansion, paying tribute to the Founding Father Muhammad Ali Jinnah.

Walk Map: Pakistan Chowk to Paper Market to Wazir Mansion, ~5km Return

Here are some photos from the Walk:

The Walk Started Only After Paratha Feast

Electioneering in the Old Town was Fierce

Urban Decay

Buns Lined up for "Special Karachi Burger"

A "Bohri" Masjid in the Old Town

MCB Tower at Chundrigar Road in the Background

Balcony

A Typical Old City Road on a Calmer Sunday

Entrance of Bohri Masjid: Cleanest Sight Around  

Essentials of Life in Karachi: Minibus/Coach, Bus, KE Truck! 

Other Than "Kachori" There is Another "Phenomenon" to be Noticed! Guess What?

Sikanjabeen

Hepatitis Alert: Fresh Sugarcane Juice

Pakistan Colored Bangles

Some Vendors Even Sit on the Road

KMC Building: A Lazy Sunday Morning on the Otherwise Chaotic Bandar Road 

Sunday Special: Second Hand Shoes on the Display

Sunday Special: Second Hand Suitcase on the Display on Main Bandar Raod

Bandar Raod: Keamri Cranes Are Visible in the Backdrop

One of Roadside Vendors Saddar is Famous For

  

"Black" Chaunsa - A Mango Variety Not So Premium

Karachi's Historical Memon Masjid - Backdoor

Preparing for Baqra Eid

Electricity is Supplied at Every Nook and Corner of the City

Heading Towards Wazir Mansion - Quaide Azam's Birthplace

This was Even Before Baqra Eid!

The Other Side of Memon Masjid 

Most Buildings in the Old Town Are "Ship" Shaped Highlighting the Port 

Bottom Left: A Newspaper Photographer Was Searching for a Photo Opportunity and Got Us!

Links of previous City Walks:

City Walk 3: http://mozumbus.blogspot.com/2017/11/city-walk-3-frere-hall-to-national.html

City Walk 2: http://mozumbus.blogspot.com/2017/09/city-walk-2-empress-market-to-frere.html 
City Walk 1: http://mozumbus.blogspot.com/2017/08/a-walk-around-old-karachi.html

United States of America - East Coast Itinerray

Map: We visited White Mountains (New Hampshire), Boston, Washington DC, Orlando, and New York

Pending the detailed travelogue, here goes the brief itinerary of our recent, first time, family trip to the United States:

December 8, 2015

Left Karachi through Emirates. Luckily, got a good fare and that too at the last minute!

December 9, 2015

Reached New York's JFK Airport. Took AirTrain to Manhattan.

From Manhattan caught Megabus to Boston - 5 hours. Pre-booked online.

Reached Boston, Massachusetts. Stayed with Noman's family.

December 10, 2015

Did day trip to White Mountains, New Hampshire. Drove through the scenic Kancamagus Highway - courtesy Noman.

Stayed with Noman's family.

December 11, 2015

Roamed around Stoneham and Boston, Massachusetts.

Took overnight Megabus to Washington, DC - 10 hours.

December 12, 2015

Reached Washington DC. Visited the White House.

Stayed with Katie's family (Couch Surfing).

December 13, 2015

Visited the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History and the Capitol Hill.

Took overnight Megabus to New York City - 5 hours.

December 14, 2015

Reached NYC early morning. Took NJ Transit to Newark Airport, New Jersey.

Flew through JetBlue to Orlando, Florida - 3 hours. Pre-booked online.

Stayed with Ryan et all (Couch Surfing).

December 15, 2015

Day trip to Wikewa Springs, Florida - courtesy Ryan.

Stayed with Ryan et all (Couch Surfing).

December 16, 2015

Visited Disney's Magic Kingdom. Stayed there till 12 am!

Stayed with Ryan et all (Couch Surfing).

December 17, 2015

Rested after a long day at Disney.

Stayed with Ryan et all (Couch Surfing).

December 18, 2015

Took Uber (first time) to the Daytona Beach, Florida.

Stayed at Day's Inn Daytona. Booked through booking.com while on the way to the beach! Got a value deal!

December 19

Took taxi to Orlando airport. Took JetBlue to Newark, New Jersey - 3 hours.

Stayed with Salman Mirza's family.

December 20 

Reached Middletown, New York State - courtesy Salman Karimi.

Stayed with Maria Karimi's family.

December 21

Did half day trip to Newburgh, Hudson River - courtesy Maria Karimi

Stayed with Maria Karimi's family.

December 22

Reached Queens, New York City.

Did Staten Island Ferry to see the Statute of Liberty.

Visited 5th Avenue, Rockefeller Center, Times Square for Christmas decorations and Light Show.

Stayed with Salman Karimi.

December 23

Visited Manhattan in the morning then headed to the Bronx Zoo.

Stayed with Salman Karimi.

December 24

Did morning walk on the Brooklyn Bridge and then some shopping!

Return flight from JFK Airport through Emirates.

December 25

Half of the day evaporated due to the time difference while rest of it spent in the plane and airports!

December 26

Arrived back at Karachi Airport safe and sound Alhamdolillah after two weeks of fun.

Comments on the Itinerary:

With some unwanted to and fro, I accept that it was not a perfect itinerary; did not get enough time for planning. For the starting point, I booked the return flight: Karachi - New York - Karachi. Usually I prefer 'open jaw' but Emirates fare for the simple return flight for this sector was too lucrative. Otherwise, landing into Boston and flying out of Orlando would have been a good idea, logistically speaking.

One of the targets for this trip was to take kids to Disney, Orlando. Therefore, I booked JetBlue for Newark - Orlando - Newark. There was not much thought behind choosing the Newark Airport except for that it was close to New York.

Washington DC came in late into the itinerary otherwise Washington DC - Orlando flight would have been a saner option than Newark - Orlando one and could have saved us from the hassle of taking bus from Washington DC to Newark via Manhattan!

Still we managed to squeeze White Mountains, Washington DC, Magic Kingdom Disney, Wikewa Springs Florida, Daytona Beach, Manhattan, Bronx Zoo, etc into our first ever trip to the US - again a big thanks to all the friends who supported us in making it possible.

Festival of Buddha Jayanti, Nagarkot Hill Station, and Pashupatinath Temple

This is Day 13 of Nepal Travelogue (May 25, 2013)
Day 12 Day 11 Day 10 Day 9  

Day 8  Day 7  Day 6  Day 5

Day 4  Day 3  Day 2  Day 1

Was Buddha Born in Nepal?

Before the trip, while planning, I was excited to know that our dates coincide with a local festival: Buddha Jayanti, the birthday of Buddha; however, I had no idea that the event is also a bone of contention between India and Nepal! As can be seen from the banner above, Nepalese cry foul of its neighbor for not recognizing the Hiamalayan country as the saint’s birthplace. Instead, India claims the honor to her benefit.

Without knowing much about the controversy, we happily participated in the signature campaign which you may described as بغض معاویہ rather than حب علی! Interestingly, there were grumblings around as locals were skeptical of us; they might be confusing us with Indians!

The Festival of Budhha Jayanti

We spared Bhaktapur at the tail end of our trip as a local CSer assured us to show us the celebration around his hometown, which has an influential Buddhist population. But the guy ditched us at the eleventh hour, which was off-course disappointing because we would have better attended the event at Kathmandu’s Swayambhunath, which gets extremely vibrant during Buddhist festivals.

Rather than whining anymore, we decided having a walking tour of the town at our own.
ہمّت مرداں ؛ مدد خدا !

To our luck we found a big noisy procession at Darbar Square, the most notable aspect of which was the dummy of Dalai Lama; a crowned boy sitting on wagon’s roof maintaining a demeanor expected from a religious figure. Simultaneously, a troupe of boogies was dancing passionately on the deafening drumbeat flaring up the otherwise docile march.

Further roaming around took us to a monastery where the event was being celebrated rather decently. As per the tradition, women from around the community brought homemade food to be distributed among young students, or future monks. One of the organizers got excited to know that we came from Pakistan and candidly offered us the same food; a platter of daal bhaat and kheer. He further enlightened us that the brighter ones among these pupils will be given scholarships in Thailand. Ambiance inside the hall perfectly resembled to that in a typical Pakistani seminary although I never thought that there might be any influence of Buddhism on Islam, and that too in Pakistan. Or this may be a reflection of shared Eastern traditions.

Change of Plan
Although it was a happening first half of the day but things were not going as per the plan, mostly because we felt ditched by the CS guy. That resulted in a heated debate among us, the most obvious thing expected from a married couple regardless of the situation! Finally we both agreed to change the plan and ditch Bhaktaour in reply, where we earlier intended to spend two nights, and instead thought of visiting the nearby hill station Nagarkot.

Outside the gated city, we tried negotiating the sightseeing tour with a cab driver who referred us to a minivan. Good for us, as we wanted to checkout from the hotel and needed space for the luggage and Urooba’s souvenir shopping. We texted this change of plan to Kathrin, our kind host in Kathmandu, who was gracious enough to accommodate us for two more nights, before we flew back to Karachi. On the other side, the lady manager-cum-owner of Nyatapola Guesthouse, where we were staying, got vivid by this sudden change of plan and tried fleecing us the second night’s charge – unsuccessfully though.

Nagarkot – Kathmandu’s Murree

Nagarkot was to Kathmandu what Murree is to Islamabad, however, a lot less commercialized. So if you endeavor deep into Himalayas – e.g. Pokhara, Everest area, etc – there is no need, in my opinion, to bother visiting this resort town. Having said that, I must say the place is a good escape if one feels enough of the noise and pollution of Kathmandu.

We stayed there till sunset and then came down to Kathmandu and visited the enroute Pashupatinath Temple – a huge Mandir famous for royal cremations. It was getting darker and watching a dead body being prepared for incineration at the Shamshan Ghat was too explicit and nauseating for me. Perfect setting for a horror scene! Although Urooba was more composed and analyzing the scenario, albeit with a distance, from the the medical point of view. Nearby, I found a post-burial ceremony, which was easier for me to negotiable with. A band of musicians was playing some tradition rhythms, may be part of the local funeral rites, while the audience was sitting in the rather Western setting. 

With this, we ended the day, and so did the Nepal trip, effectively speaking, as we spent the coming day rather uneventfully at Kathrin’s place before returning back to Karachi.

Budhha Jayanti Flag in Bhaktapur

A Neighborhood Monastery in Bhaktapur

Women from the Neighborhood were Distributing Food Among Students

Looks Like a Pakistani Madarsa!

It Was Kind of a Parents Day at the Monastery

Heavy Woodwork is Bhaktapur's Specialty

Bhaktapur's Artisan-ship is Evident from these Intricate Designs

Attention to Detail!

More Worldly Kids Outside the Monastery

Bhaktapur's Narrow Alley

Some Sort of Dried Vegetable

Now Going to Nagarkot - Kathmandu's Murree

Terrace Farming Around Nagarkot

Himalayas Shrouded in the Mist

Nepali Bamboo

A Picturesque Dating Spot!

Nagarkot Treeline Around Sunset

Outstanding!

The Darkness of Pashupatinath After Sunset