Islamabad, a green new capital ready for attack.

After spending a few days in Lahore, I was ready for a four-hour bus ride to Islamabad, the capital of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Built as a planned city in the 1960s and established in 1967, it replaced Karachi as Pakistan’s national capital. This meant they had plenty of space when planning this city, with enormous boulevards, lots of greenery, and all the quarters (blocks) being divided with numbers.

Arriving in Islamabad

As stated earlier, I was arriving on a bus from Lahore. My mistake was that I thought the bus had Islamabad as a final destination and that the bus terminal was closer to the city centre since I followed Google Maps while driving along. The bus stopped, and about half of the passengers went off. I asked the guy next to me if this was the final stop. He said no. After a little while, he asked where I was heading, and I told Islamabad, and then he said I had to get off there. I was escorted to a minibus, and we drove for about 30 minutes; then, the driver stopped and said I had to go with a motorbike to reach my hotel.

Parks, gardens and trees

I got to my accommodation, a villa made into a “luxurious guest house.” It was maybe not luxurious, but it was all okay and in a nice area. Later, I found out that there were several embassies in the area, but whatever was behind the large walls and gates, absolutely all the houses had armed guards. This bothered me not, but you felt watched wherever you went. I guess this shows how fragile the peace in the country is. When I went to see the National Assembly of Pakistan and other official buildings, I could not get closer than one kilometre away from them, meaning I could not even glimpse them.

As I said earlier, this city has a lot of greenery. All streets have trees, and along avenues, there are long parks that you can walk in. It also has very few high buildings, like the one in the second picture, so you do not feel you are in a big city. I went to the Fatima Jinnah garden to see the Baradari monument. The park is enormous, almost as big as Central Park in New York. Very few people were there, so I had a peaceful time.

The Faisal Mosque

The building that sets Islamabad on the map is the Faisal Mosque, the National Mosque of Pakistan. It is the largest mosque outside the Middle East and is inspired by the design of a typical Bedouin tent. I was outside it three times, and third time lucky, to be able to enter this vast building. An amiable man tried to tell me that he was in charge of the light in the mosque, but I did not get that, so when he went to light the enormous chandelier, I thought it was turned on by itself. So I did not rush to take a picture. The light was only on for maybe 30 seconds, and then it turned off again, so I did not manage to take a photo when it was lit.

The Pakistan Monument

On a hill a bit out from the centre, you find the Pakistan Monument. The monument was constructed to symbolize the unity of the Pakistani people. The four large petals represent each of the four primary cultures of Pakistan: the Punjabi, the Baloch, the Sindhi, and the Pakhtun. Its elevation makes the monument visible across the whole Islamabad area and makes it a popular tourist destination. Walking was too far, so I did something irresponsible: I sat back on a motorbike without a helmet.

All in all, Islamabad was a pleasant enough city. There were big differences, and the guarding and police all over could be a bit disturbing. When you build a new city, there is not much old culture to find locally, so I did find I had seen the most within two days. The Faisal Mosque was an excellent reason to go there. On my way back to the hotel, I passed this skip, where several monkeys were looking for food. That is something you do not see in many places in Europe. The next stop now is Afganistan.