Road to Karachi
We drove out of Hyderabad, crossing the Hyderabad Bypass Bridge. It is a dual bridge with the raiway running along the cebtre and a single lane width road on either side of the railway. We avoided the motorway and took the main road. The Indus was out of sight but not far from the road to the east. Soon we left the irrigated agricultural area and were driving through desert.
We left the edge of th desert and stopped at Keenjhar Lake. It is the largest man-made lake in the country. It is fed by the Karachi Canal. At its deepest, it is 10 metres deep. The water level is at its highest in summer when the Indus id filled with snow melt from the mountains so evaporation is not an issue.
It is a popular place in summer for people wo live in Karachi sweating in the heat of summer. Ths large body of water affects the local weather and it is noticeably cooler than the coast and sometines has a breeze. There was a lake side resort that we stopped at. It was the low season so it was quiet but there were cabins and bungalows to rent and various water sports on offer.
A view of one of the bungalows.
The cafe and restaurant area.
The roads were as bad as any where else with potholes. I had seen plenty of road crews working to repair the roads but his was only the second time that I saw a traffic cone in use.
We stopped at the Shah jahan Mosque in Thatta, the capital of Sindh in the 16th and 17th centuries before the capital was moved to Hyderabad. It was built in 1647.
The approach id through beautifully maintained gardens...
...including several fountains.
A view of the main entrnce...
...and the decoration of the dome at the entrance. The mosque is considered to have the most elaborate tile work in South Asia.
A view of one of the side galleries...
...and across the prayer space.
The mosque is also notable for its geometric brickwork, a decorative element that is unusual for Mughal mosques of the period but may reflect the Shah's discoveries whilst on campaign around Samarkand on the Silk Road.
A detail of a window.
The mehrab.
Another decorative brickwork along a side gallery. There were steps up to the second level but bats were roosting there and we were not allowed entry.
Also in Thatta is the Makli Necropolis.
The entrance to the site. It is a UNESCO World Heirtage site. It is spread over ten square kilometres and hosts more than half a million tombs. It dates between the 13th and 19th centuries. The grander tombs are of royalty, governors, ministers, saints and scholars.
The tomb of Mirza Jani and Mirza Gazi Baig.
The entrance to the site...
...and to the tomb.
The tomb of Mizra Tughral Baig, 1649.
A close up of the tomb.
A detail of the architecture, a corner arch to get a round based dome to sit comfortably on a square base, otherwise the base of the dome would only touch at four points.
A view back to the tomb of Mirza Jani and Mirza Gazi Baig
Inside the tomb. The blue lines are the glazed edges of tiles built into the walls. It is exceptioally skilled brickwork as there is hardly any cemen between the bricks and the tiles.
The entrance to the tomb of Bagi Baig Uzbek, built 1640.
The tomb of Jan Baba, built 1664, housing him and several close relatives.
The grand tomb of Isa Khan Tarkhan II, the son of Jan Baba. He cecame governor on the death of Mirza Gazi Baig in 1612.
The main facade. It has two storeys but the stais have been removed as the floor is unsafe.
The tomb of Dewan Shurfa Khan after a recent renovation. There was also a string of other tombs but less architecturally interesting and of lesser nobles.
Not far waway is the Chaukundi Tombs. These date from the 16th to 18th centuries.
Many of them are inspired by the architecture of the nearby Makli Necropolis but these are covered with delicate carvings in sandstone. The tombs are of close relatives.
Two of the few structures at the site following the Makli style f tombs.
A detail of an intricately carved column.
Tombs of men have a crown or turban at one end. The stone work is intrictely carved but there are no inscriptions.
Then is was back intot the car to find a hotel in te sprawling city of Karachi, founded in 1729 and home to more than 20 million people making it the 12th largest in the world. Some claim the number to be much larger if you include the urban sprawl into neighbouring areas. Either way it is big and larger than some countries.
A view of one of the bungalows.
The cafe and restaurant area.
The roads were as bad as any where else with potholes. I had seen plenty of road crews working to repair the roads but his was only the second time that I saw a traffic cone in use.
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