Norman's Blog: Islambad

Islamabad

Back in Islamabad, Pakistan after several years I knew the mountains so I was heading south but first some views of Islambad. We left the hotel and drove along Main Margalla Road. We passed several militarysites, such as naval headquarters, army hospitals, barracks, air force offices, training areas. I would have taken a few potos but my guide warned me not to, reinforcing the 'no photo' signs in oictures, in Urdu and English. Why make such interesting buildings from an archetectural point of view if you can't share them with other people?

Then it was past a series of government buildings...

...the National Assembly, the prime minister offices and so on.

At the end of the road roase a Petronas look alike pair of towers with a high level pedestrian gangway between them.

Our first stop was at the sir Syed Memorial. It houses a collection belonging to the Pakistan Heritage Museum. It documents prehistoric humans artefacts from the area, the great civiliasations of the Indus and Gandhara and the evolution of Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam and the Mughals on the sub continent.

Several roads were blocked off so we had to take a tortuous route to get there but it gave me a chance to see even more of the city. It gave me a chance to see what the maximum number of people you can get on the back of a motor bike. I was soon up to four adults and am now looking to see if I can count five.

Helmets aren't complusory but some people wear them. I might see a family with mum and dad wearing a helmet but not the children. Some operate like taxis and the driver might wear a helmet but not the passenger. The most popular colour was green, the same colour as on the national flag. Other colours are available but green is most popular. There were also tuktuks, different makes but all Chinese. The most common tuktuk is made by New Asia, a Chinese company. There are no manufacturers in Pakistan. The largest manufacturer and exporter of tuktuks is Bajaj of India, but given the political tensions between the two, there are no Indian made tuktuks in Pakistan.

Green is popular as it is the country's colour and appear on the national flag. IT is based on the original flag of the Muslim League which in turn drew on inspiration from the Ottoman Empire. Green is for Muslims, white is for the other religions. The crescent and star are Islamic symbols, the crescent representing progress and the star light and knowledge.

The next stop was the Lok Virsa Heritage Museum. It is an ethnological museum and I just love visiting these. Pakistan is a large country and it has a lot of history and a lot of different cultures. It displays costumnes, dioramas, life scenes and tools etc of many of the sub-cultures in the country. Some I knew from previous visits, others I would be visiting later on this trip. Many influences came from nearby countries, most of wich I had visited which made linking everything together a lot easier.

It was also hosting a folk festival with livemusic and dancing, stalls showing current masters following their trade in a traitional manner. It was also on every trip list that week and it was crowded with snakes of children walking past the exhibits. Regretably no photos were allowed by camera...but the children were happilty snapping away with their mobiles.

Then it was a quick stop at the Oakistan Monument...another stop on the school trip tour so it too was crowded...as was the car parks so we had o park a long way away and walk.

There were horse rides and camel riades available and a host of fast food sellers and souvenir offerings.

The right hand imprint of every worker who worked on the monument is represented.

It is in the shape of a flower bud opening. There are four larger petals ans three smaller petals. On the underside of the four big petals are iconic images of buildings associated with that province.

Another view.

There are four pillars on iew from the edge of the Pakistan Monument. On each of three of the pillars are one word of Pakistan's motto, 'Faith, Unity, Discipline'. These were often repeated themes in speeches ny Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of the country more commonly known as Quaid meaning 'the leader'.

I went into the Pakistan Monument Museum. It houses ancient archaeological remains telling how humans lived locally thousands of years ago. It houses three of the card that Jinnah used. There is a gallery of intellectuals who promoted independence for Pakistan dating back a century before it achieved independence in 1947. There are exhibits showing the progress that Pakistan had achieved such as modern engineering and producing hydroelectricity.

Another view of the monument and the four pillars.

We passed the Pakistan Natural History Museum. There are only so many museums that anyone can assimalate in one day. I had reached my limit. I gave it a miss.

My driver took me to the Rawalpindi market. I needed to do some shopping but first, I needed to change money. I went into a moneychanger. Out the back were armoured vans in a highwalled compound with barbed wire and watch towers. There were armed guards everywhere. The entrance for vehicles included bollards and a rolling concrete block to prevent ram raids. Facing the street and set back from it was the single pedestrian door into the facility. There were armed guards on the steps up to the entrance and more armed guards on front of the door. I didn't feel safe if they felt that they needed a small army to protect it.

I walked down the road to the market. I needed a note book to scribble notes in before I forgot the names dates and events that were being hurled at me. The market used to be a Hindu area and hence the temples. On partition, the Hindus all moved out. The emples were left with no one to look after them and they ave crumbled over time.

A former palace with towers for effect not for defence. It is now shops and offices.

Another temple.

The railway station. I wasn't catching a train, I just wanted to see the building.

A diesel locomotive.

One of the carriages.

A row of carriages.

A 1932 German made locomotive. It was a curious design as it was a 1-3-1-3 combination that I hadn't seen before but no doubt one of my steam engine buff friends will explain.