“If there is to be heaven on earth, it is here” said the poignant Mughal king Akbar commenting on the picturesque landscape of Kashmir. Kashmir evokes awe-inspiring response from an incessant flurry of tourists. The place is covered with such natural splendor that it may take many lives to soak it entirely. With the mighty Himalayas looming over it and the hills of Karakoram and Nanda Devi adding to the effect, the place looks seeped in beauty. River Lidder, Jhelum and Chenab augment the impact of beauty.

The place is generally covered in snow. This drives the tourists crazy. Rose and tulip sprouting from the snow and brown and black horses trailing through the tuft of green grass make for a spectrum of colors. Tulip festival in Kashmir is rated by many as one of the most celebrated floral events of Asia. Lacs of tulips blossom and create rich paraphernalia exuding a riot of orange.

Gulmarg is a place which needs specific mention. The place is surrounded by snow-capped mountains and it has huge acreage of greenery spreading over it like the reverse canopy of sky. Owing to the long queue of tourists, the place has been blessed with resorts and hotel chains which deal in great accommodation and superior ethnic food.

Pahalgam is another must watch. The place also marks the point of commencement for those leaving for Amarnath pilgrimage.

Dal Lake stands at the cornerstone of history. It has a floating garden and a historic group of four trees called Char Chinar held over a high pedestal. The water is unlike that found in Lakes. It can get really tumultuous at times. Mughals had built beautiful gardens in the State. Kashmir houses the Shalimar and the Nishat gardens.

Unfortunately the place had been marred by violence and cross-border terrorist activities had piled the intrinsic beauty of it with loads of gore and bloodshed. Thankfully, the situation seems to have come in hand.

All images via Flickr's Creative Commons pool.

In the north of Pakistan they do not make spicy foods. Greater attention is placed on bread. After each meal is Qehwa or Kehwa, usually served in small glasses, Cha has the flavor of jasmine. The "kehwa" is popular especially in Peshawar, the capital of North Western Border Province, for this reason is also known as Peshawari Chai (Te of Peshawar).

The recipes of the South, especially in the provinces of Sindh and Punjab, are very spicy. Many dishes among the most popular include Biryani (rice with saffron with spices), Korma and Pullao (non spicy rice).

In the urban centre of the country, where the greater the chances of meeting between cultures, new dishes are invented. The local and international cuisines, not only are gaining popularity but are beginning to join the local dishes. Many local Pakwan (rooms where you can buy prepared meals) are inventing new styles offering dishes made from different cuisines.

Although the generation that migrated from India with the creation of Pakistan have brought with them the style of different culinary regions of India, young people today are very attracted to the Fast Food, dishes that allow shorten the time of preparation. In this respect should be mentioned that at Karachi quick Masala preparations are produced. The city gave rise to many different brands of these typical mixes of spices and essential to Indian cooking. Today many of these are known and much appreciated in different parts of the world.

Variety of Bread

In the daily diet of many Pakistanis there is a round and flat bread (roti) and Basmati is rice that is often eaten. In general you can find different types of bread, often cooked in traditional stone ovens called Tandoori.

• Chapati - the most popular homemade bread made with whole wheat flour. It is subtle and not leavened.
• Naan - unlike the chapati, is much more often, leavened and done with white flour. Sometimes you add sesame on the crust.
• Roghni Naan - with sesame seeds and with a little oil.

Main Dishes

Among the best dishes are the Biryani, Pullao and Nihari, Haleem, Karachi Chicken, Chicken Tikka, Kofta, mutton or chicken Korma, Shab Degh, Chicken / Mutton Handi, Chakna. Sajji is a dish Baluchi (West Pakistan) composed of boneless lamb stuffed with rice became popular throughout the country.

Kebab

The most obvious influence of Middle East in the local cuisine is certainly the Pakistani kebob or kebab. The kebab of Baluchistan uses Afghan style and uses only salt and coriander. Lahore is renowned for its kebab that is spicy and with marinade made from a mixture of herbs, lemon juice and yoghurt.

Desserts

Desserts include the popular Kulfi, Falooda, Kheer and Rasmalai. The Pakistani tradition also includes a long list of desserts. Some of the most renowned are the Gulab jamun, Barfi, Qalaqand and various types of Halva.

Drinks

In addition to you, certainly the most popular drink Pakistan, are also many other soft drinks:

• Lassi - with milk or yoghurt to taste sweet or salty
• Rooh Afza - a traditional syrup dissolved in water or milk, consumed especially during Ramadan
• Gola Ganda - crushed ice with various flavorings

At night once me and my wife were roaming in the market to buy few things for our selves, she wondered how the grand mosque would look at night. I told her to see the mosque her self so we decided to go to the mosque at midnight once almost all the lights would be switched on. At around 11O clock at night once our son fell asleep we left our hotel room and headed towards mosque. There upon reaching we used escalators and went to first story of the mosque, we used escalators located near Bab-e-Umrah (Gate Number 62) and from there we saw the complete inner courtyard of the mosque. The scene was magnificent and ever lasting. We both were mesmerized with the spectacular view of the mosque. While looking at the Holy Kabba my wife asked about going inside Hateem, she asked me as she had not offered prayers there before. So we both came down and to our good luck at that time Hateem was not overcrowded and we found space for offering prayers there. We both prayed there and then went towards Holy Kabba and stood right under Mezab-e-Rehmat and prayed All Mighty Allah for forgiveness and mercy. We kept standing with the wall of Holy Kabba for quite some time and felt our selves extremely lucky to be touching our bodies with the most holy and sacred place in this universe. This touching of the walls of Holy Kabba while standing, gave us divine tranquility and peace of mind and soul. We stayed there for quite long and then went back to our hotel.

Our Last Day in Saudi Arabia

29 June 2005 was our last day in Saudi Arabia and we all woke up with heavy hearts, as we all knew that in few hours we should be leaving this sacred land. Last day began with normal routine and after Fajjar prayers we had our breakfast and then went back to the mosque to spend some time in front of the Holy Kabba Our contingent was scheduled to leave Saudi Arabia on night 29/30 June 2005, since our flight was at 1 AM night Saudi Arabian time therefore 30 Jun was counted as a complete day in the Umrah package. Our family members did Tawaf-e-Vida in the morning and did some shopping. In the afternoon we all were informed that half strength of the contingent would move to Jeddah at 6 PM in the evening and the other half would move at 8 PM. Our family was to leave with the group leaving at 6 PM. Buses were provided for loading of luggage at 4 PM by the contingent organizer, three buses were to move in first group to Jeddah airport. Loading started at around 4 PM and in almost one and a half hour it was complete.

Fifteen minutes before 6 O clock every one was seated in the buses and bus leaders counted people two to three times before buses started the journey on Makkah-Jeddah highway. We all had a good last look at Masjid-Al-Haram once our buses passed infront of the mosque. I kept looking at the mosque till it vanished from my eyes and then with a very heavy heart I closed my eyes so that I should be able to absorb the tears that had filled my eyes.

Jeddah Airport and Flight Back To Pakistan

We reached Jeddah airport at around 8 PM and after disembarking from the buses were surprised to know that our contingent organizer had not given our air-tickets to the bus leaders, so almost seventy people were now standing outside the airport terminal helplessly as nothing could be done. No Saudi official allowed any one to enter the terminal nor was any PIA staff available to listen our problem. At that time check in for PIA's Karachi bound flight was also in progress. At around 9 PM an official from PIA staff came out and informed us that not before 10 PM we would be allowed to enter the terminal for check in and the reason told to us was that the Karachi bound flight was leaving at 10 PM and the same set of officials had to clear that flight before letting us in. Our flight was PK - 742 scheduled to leave for Islamabad at 1 AM Saudi Arabian time. Hence we kept waiting outside for two hours and the worst thing about the airport was total absence of any sitting facility for passengers. Most of the luggage pushcarts were filled with luggage and people kept standing for more than two hours.

Finally around 10 PM other part of the contingent arrived in 2 buses and with them came the contingent organizer holding air tickets in hands. On announcement by PIA staff, we were then allowed to enter the terminal. Here a long queue was established at packing machine for getting Zamzam water plastic can packed. Staff at packing stall charged us five rayals for each plastic can packed in plastic bag. After getting plastic cans packed we went to luggage screening section where complete luggage was checked, Saudi officials worked with speed and with out creating any impediment. After screening of luggage and checking by custom officials we went to PIA counter and were amazed to find it closed. Again passengers of the PIA flight were made to stand unnecessary in the checkin area, this created a lot of problems for children as there was nothing available to feed them nor even cold water was available for drinking. People who came to Jeddah with group one were virtually thirsty and hungry since loading of buses. At last at around 11: 30 PM a member of PIA staff informed our contingent leader to call a family member from each family to show passports of all members of the family and get boarding cards. I collected eight boarding cards on behalf of my family and then deposited our baggage with the PIA staff and got baggage tags from them.

After depositing baggage we went to immigration counter, there immigration officials checked our passports and they also worked with swift pace and in just few minutes we were cleared to go to departure lounge. In the departure lounge we found a huge duty free shop with uncountable items available for purchase but prices were quite high. Since every member of my family was feeling hungry so I went to a snack bar and purchased eight donuts and seven glasses of Pepsifor them. A single donut was charged at a price of six rayals and a glass of Pepsi was sold at seven rayals a glass. By eating donuts and drinking Pepsi we quenched our thirst and hunger.We kept sitting in the lounge till fifteen minutes past midnight and then were told to proceed to the aircraft.

Before boarding the aircraft our passports were rechecked by the Saudi officials, and were then allowed to board the aircraft. Aircraft took off from Jeddah at 1 AM Saudi Arabian time (3 AM Pakistan Standard Time). Flight to Islamabad was again of 5 hours and was very tiring; thanks to All Mighty Allah our son remained well during the flight and kept sleeping till aircraft landed at Islamabad airport at 8 AM Pakistan standard time. Flight was comfortable but courtesy of cabin crew needed a lot of improvement as I found most of the male members of cabin crew shouting at people, another amazing thing was the we were served with the dinner at 2 AM in the night. I wish that airline should look into the matter and instead of providing a very late dinner; it should provide an early breakfast to the passengers.

Here in Pakistan we were again made to suffer in long queues infront of immigration desks. Here Pakistani officials were working at a very slow pace and they were clearing simultaneously two flights. One flight was ours and other was a PIA's flight that had arrived from London at the same time. Ultimately after three hours my complete family passed through immigration counters and then we collected our baggage from the baggage collection lounge. Pakistani Customs Officials were quite nice and supporting and with out causing any unnecessary delay we were cleared to go out. Finally at around 12 PM we all family members were out of terminal. Here our drivers who had brought the cars from my home were waiting for us. My in-laws at that point departed from us, as they had to leave for Karachi by another flight at 3 PM same day.

After bidding farewell to them, we all went to our home and thus our fifteen days journey was over. This visit to Saudi Arabia was very hectic and tiring but I after undertaking it can proudly say that it is worth every thing. If one has time and resources, then one must visit the house of All Mighty Allah and the city of his most loved Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). I still cherish the memories I have brought from there and pray that All Mighty Allah may grant permission to me and my family to be there once again and I am very much hopeful that my prayers would be heard and accepted by All Mighty Allah very soon.

This may have to do with the Islamic law of monopolies being forbidden. It is actually a good country and contrary to what westerners believe. Most Pakistan's have pride in their country for being untouched by western life's sinful ways.

Being Pakistani and having immigrant parents, I am educated much about this country. I last visited Pakistan five-six years ago and plan to visit next year during summer. It is a great place to go for vacation. Very Rich in culture and great food. The only thing that may be a problem, Heat and living conditions in certain area's. The weddings are great and are much fun.

I highly recommend it for a summer get away.

Countries like Pakistan have got huge golden treasures of history and civilization that are already being displayed at different museums. The Mohenjodaro and Harrapa on the bank of the river Indus are considered world's second oldest and largest rich civilizations after the great Egyptian civilization. These civilizations depict a history of verity of things from livings to households, from religions to architectures and many more and are remarkable for there uniqueness.

In addition to the mughal architecture that adorns the city of Lahore; there are a good number of buildings having the beautiful British architecture. These include, but are not limited to, Government College Lahore, General Post Office, Saint Anthony's High School, and among these most prominent, The Lahore Museum.

The Lahore Central Museum

The Lahore Central Museum:

The best Museum in Pakistan, housed in an attractive artistic style, the Lahore Museum was established in 1894 in the historical city of Pakistan, Lahore. It has been regarded as the one of the major museums of South Asia. Lahore Museum, also known as Central Museum, gloriously stands on the famous Shahrah-e-Quaid-e-Azam, previously known as The Mall Road, opposite to 100-year old Allama Iqbal Campus of South Asia's famous Punjab University.

Blended with the elements of old tradition of Mughal architecture, the Museum is conspicuous among all the structures build during the British period on Shahrah-e-Quaid-e-Azam. It is in fact Pakistan's largest museum and holds the country's richest cultural and historical materials. The foundation stone was laid by Prince Albert Victor, Prince of Wales, while the father of famous writer Rudyard Kipling, John Lockwood Kipling, was one of the famous curators of the museum and the novel Kim was set in the vicinity of the Lahore Museum.

The Architecture:

The British during their reign compensated Lahore, by harmoniously combining Mughal, Gothic and Victorian styles of architecture. Victorian heritage is only next to Mughal monuments. The Lahore Museum was built on the same mughal-Gothic style. The lush green Shalimar-like gardens, neatly planted trees and flowers diffusing bright colors and fresh fragrance, a good strong and secure red-brick building, beautiful parabolic tombs depicting Islamic heritage with an artistic work of crafted and paved windows and doors, attracting castle-like balconies, with an enchanting white royal entrance and the historical cannons greetings, all cast a spell on the on goers to stand and see and forces the audience to come and look in side this great architecture piece.

The Main Hall Of Portraits:

On student tickets, I along with my four other friends, at last entered this beautiful building after having a security check. The first thing we saw were large collection of paintings dating back to Mughal, Sikh and British era. These were portraits of the great mughal kings, queens, knights, warriors, ministers and other VIPs at that time with there brief history written under their proud looking pictures.

All these portraits, probably more than hundred of them, were placed beautifully on the pavements on the right and left sides of the main hall of the museum. There was a little darkness in the main hall so these paintings were skilled fully lit, making them more beautiful and attractive. While we were already enchanted by the beauty of Mumtaz Mahal and Noor Jahan after seeing there pictures we suddenly heard a young man smiling and saying, “You are not the first person to whom these ladies have attracted young men like you all by the power of their beauty!” And later we came to know that he was the museum guide with quite a great knowledge about history.

The museum has 20 galleries with items dating from the Stone Age to the 20th century. Walking slowly and briefly explaining he told us how Noor Jahan discovered the secret of rosewater, what were the consequences that led to creation of Taj Mahal and when was this beautiful architecture regarded as The Wonder of the World, how the kings ruled the subcontinent while telling their stories of bravery and courage, what were the traditions at that time, what were the drawbacks that led to decline of the mughal emperors, and many other things that we really enjoyed listening.

The Arms & Artillery:

After listening keenly to the stories of these portraits our guide took us to another interesting section of this historical museum, The Arms and Artillery. Right after entering this war section our first sight rested on the great regal bronze sculpture of Queen Victoria wearing Honiton lace apron, sitting gracefully and watching her admirers. During our guide's presentation on this section I came to know for the first time that the building in which the museum is presently housed was built in 1887 to commemorate Her Majesty Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee, while as I wrote before, His Royal Highness Prince Victor in 1890 laid the foundation stone.

In 1893 the construction was completed, which was designed by Sardar Sahib Ram Singh. On the right and left sides of Her Majesty there rests the heads on a small pillar of the famous King George V and King Edward VII, made with the same regal bronze material and casting the same proud expressions. On the left side of this section of the museum there are varieties of war weapons and tools dating back to 19th and 20th centuries from small knives to huge swords, war clothes and shields. Different kinds of bows and arrows of different sizes and shapes and many other brutal weapons, though may not be as sharp as they were before but they still cast the same sharp effect on our minds. Whereas on the right side this section there are beautifully placed war weapons and tools of the World Wars with some of them used during the Indo-Pak wars.

Our guide had a pretty good knowledge of these weapons and tools. He then showed us the huge shells placed in a glass box which were fired in 1965 Indo-Pak war. At the end of this section there lies the famous Grumukh inscripted Artillery Gun of the Sikh period.

The Freedom Movement:

Our guide then took us to the place to which this Lahore museum is famous for, The Pakistan Freedom Movement. This huge section has varieties of things. The whole right wall is dedicated to a great warrior and king, Tipu Sultan, with lot of pictures from his childhood to his death and the place where his body was found. Behind the wall there is another huge painting of Tipu Sultan during his last fight with the British painted by the famous Shahbaz Khan. While the rest of this section is dedicated, in pictures, to the making of Pakistan.

These pictures include different pictures of Quaid-e-Azam during speeches, in conventions meeting with VIP personnel, different photos of Allam Iqbal while studying, thinking, having huqa, photos with the Quaid, and a lot of photos dedicated to many of those who took active part in the struggle for freedom. Our Guide presented us with good information of these pictures in such a good fashion that for some time we thought we were watching a real freedom movement film! The corner of this room has personal things used by the great Quaid. These include a smoke pipe, a typewriter and glasses, beautifully preserved in a glass case. Another side of this section has a huge collection of stamps (approx. 1216), depicting the story of Pakistan. In 1973 the Pakistan Movement gallery and Pakistan postage stamps gallery were set up. These stamps are of different shapes and sizes and are dedicated to almost every field of life, from freedom movement to politics, wars, peace, sports, education and different achievements.

Just beside the wall of stamps there is another wall in the memories of the Martyrs of Pakistan, who sacrificed themselves to save this nation during the Indo-Pak wars. All of these great men have been rewarded the highest military award of Pakistan, Nishan-e-Haider. At the exit of this section there stands another huge portrait of Quaid-e-Azam with Lord Mount Batten having a speech by the same famous painter, Shahbaz Khan.

The Ancient Civilization:

This museum is also famous for preserving, in various galleries, objects from Harrappa, Mohen-jodaro and other parts of the world. The Hindu collection, which consists of carved stone sculptures of Krishna, Radha and other deities, portray the artistic skill of the craftsmen. Burmese, Tibetan and Nepalese collections are also found in the Hindu, Buddha and Jain gallery. Buddhist sculptures are unique. Some are present in sequence such as the life story of Buddha from his previous incarnations, birth, youth, enlightenment, preaching of the law and death at the center of the Buddha gallery, friezes and other pieces of a reconstructed stupa from Sikri are displayed.

Other displays are metal and stone objects, pottery and terracotta figures, and other belongings. The most prominent among the sculptures was that of the Fasting Siddhartha. I have to admit I was startled by the Fasting Buddha's ribs and didn't want to spend too long looking at him! We were also attracted by those four Asoka-Lions that were quite beautifully lit. Sikh gallery was also quite beautiful, especially the model of Golden Temple. Our Guide knew a lot about the Sikh era. We were amused by the history of all these Gods and Goddesses told by our historian guide.

This museum has vast collection of sculptures of these various Gods and Goddesses. Since we were science students it was difficult to predict what these statues were telling but our guide told very skilledfully almost every expression they were showing and we were amazed at the works of these craftsmen.

Buddha Head Julian

The Fasting Siddhartha

The Ethnological, Arts & Crafts, Coins & Medals, Islamic & Paintings Gallery:

In the next hour we, along with our guide, visited the section of Ethnological gallery, Arts and Crafts, Coins and Medals, The Islamic Section and Paintings gallery. In the first gallery he showed us huge beautiful glass cases. These cases were presenting different cultures and tradition of different parts of the country, like all the provinces, the deserted areas and the Northern areas, including a huge skilled painting showing all four provinces. He told us that historical Jain Temple and Ethnological galleries were added in the late 1960s.

Entering in to the Arts and Crafts area we saw quite a beautiful wooden model of the Kapurtha Mosque which was made by a French architect. This section of the museum has usually wooden models of famous buildings, Buddha and various real-looking wild creatures starring wildly at its onlookers. Our guide also knew the makers of these beautifully-made models. A rich collection of nearly 50,000 coins in gold, silver, copper bullion and other metals are also displayed in the Coins and Medals area. The periods which they represent include Greek Bactrian, Indus Greek, Scythian, Krishna, Romans, Parthian, Sassanian, Hun, Delhi Sultanate, Mughal, Durrani, Sikh, British, etc.

The Islamic collection consists of miniature paintings, calligraphy, manuscripts and various kinds of crafts including arms, carpets, shawls, ceramics, jewelery, paper mache', notable manuscripts of the 10th century's Holy Quran in Kufi script, Safavid sword, wooden door and many other rare artifacts. In the contemporary paintings gallery collection the specimen of Ustad Allah Bakhsh, Abdur Rehman Chughtai, Guljee, Ali Imam, Anna Molka Ahmad, Zain-ul Abidin and other eminent artists are displayed. At the end of our tour of history the thing we should have seen right after entering the main hall of the museum we saw at the end.

In the miniature paintings gallery, as one lifts his head up one can observe the mural painted on the ceiling by our great artist, Sadequain. Once again it was difficult to understand this painting because of our science mind, so our guide explained that it is based on poet Iqbal's verses evoking the spirit of man to triumph over odds. It depicts man's search for knowledge and ultimate triumph. According to our guide, Sadequain painted the ceiling in 1973, living and working in the building for six months. Sadly, while working on his second ceiling at the Freer Hall in Karachi, the painter took ill and died leaving the work incomplete.

Sadequain's Ceiling Art

The Mystic World Of Museum:

A visit to the Lahore Museum is an experience in itself and offers to the visitor a plethora of knowledge of our culture and history. After having this unforgettable tour it now seems as if we know everything about history. It is indeed this mystical effect of the museum that we cannot forget our history.

Everything here has a hidden meaning behind it whether it's the enchanting architecture of the museum or its spell casting look, whether it's those attractive portraits or the grace and proud on the kings, whether its those ancient weapons or their modern counterparts, whether it's the courage of Tipu Sultan or the intelligence of Quaid-e-Azam, whether its the poetic spell of Allama Iqbal or its effect on the Martyrs, whether it's the highly skilled works of our craftsmen or thought provoking paintings by eminent painters, whether it's the magical effect of religions or the mysterious myth telling stones, each and everything here has a story to tell. And that story is preserved in the small but a big building of the museum until the end of the history itself.