Pakistan – Southern Pakistan Tour

Itinerary

Saturday 9 September – Karachi

• Arrival in the southern city of Karachi in the morning with airport pick up.
• At 8:00 AM meet your guide and we start the city tour.
• Tomb of Jinnah (also known as the Mazar-e-Quaid or National Mausoleum), here lies Muhammad Ali Jinnah , the founder of Pakistan.  
• We visit the Masjid-e Tooba, the largest single-some mosque in the world.    
• Highlight: We take the boat to go crabbing with fishermen, Karachi is known for this and it gives us a great photo opportunity.
• Overnight in Karachi.

Sunday 10 September – Karachi – Makli – Hyderabad

• Tomb of Chaukundi and the ruins of Bhanbore. This was the place where Islam first came to Pakistan. Shah Jahan Mosque, built during the reign of Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan who bestowed it to the city as a token of gratitude, is influenced by central Asian Architecture.
• Highlight: We drive to Thatta and the Makli Necropolis, a famous UNESCO site in Pakistan. The story goes that over 1 million people are buried in the hills here.
• Keenjhar Lake, located in Thatta and is one of the largest fresh water lakes in Pakistan and an important source of drinking water.
• We drive on to Hyderabad.
• Hyderabad is famous for its Bombay bakery coffee cake.
• Evening tour of the various Sufi shrines of Bhit Shah. Hopefully we’ll see some Sufi-dancing as well!
• Overnight in Hyderabad.

Monday 11 September – Hyderabad – Sehwan Sharif

• We drive to Ranikot Fort, this wall is also called the Chinese Wall of Pakistan with its vast walls – in a rather remote location, no-one quite knows what it was built to defend, and its origins are unclear. In more recent years it was a famous place for bandits to hide, but today it’s peaceful and quiet again.
• Highlight: Short stop at Manchar Lake, here you see a local culture in which many people still live on the lake.
• In Sehwan Sharif we visit one of the most holy shrines of Pakistan, the Shrine of Lal Shah Baz Qalandar. At this shrine after sunset is often a Sufi Dance with music, locally known as Dhmal.
• Overnight in Sehwan Sharif.

Tuesday 12 September – Sehwan Sharif – Mohenjo Daro – Lakarno – Sukkur

• Highlight: We drive to Mohenjo Daro. This is one of the best and largest preserved cities in the Indus civilization. The area is believed to be around 250 hectares. We explore the various places of this UNESCO site, including the museum.
• We’ll visit the incredible White Palace and Faiz Mahal Palace along the way.
• We visit the Bhutto-Mausoleum in Lakarno. The Bhutto family is still one of the most important and influential families in Pakistan.
• Overnight in Sukkur.

Wednesday 13 September – Sukkur – Multan

• We will start the day with visiting the shrines of the Seven Sisters in Sukkur.
• Short stop at the the shrines of Uch Sharif before we continue to the Cholistan Desert.
• Highlight: We visit the impressive and remote Derawar Fort. This incredible fort is 30m high and has a circumference of 1.5km.
• Drive to Multan.
• Overnight in Multan, the ‘city of saints’.

Thursday 14 September — Multan – Lahore

• In the morning we’ll do a short tour through Multan. Multan is famous for its innumerable shrines, but we’ll focus on today’s life with visiting the well-known bazar.
• Drive to Lahore, the cultural capital of Pakistan, en-route we will stop at Sahiwal to visit Harappa, Harapa civilization also known as Indus valley civilization developed the first accurate system of standardised weight and measures.
• Overnight in Lahore, perhaps the greatest of the Moghul dynasty’s cities, definitely the cultural capital of Pakistan.

Friday 15 September – Lahore

• Lahore Fort, the main citadel of the city.
• Badshahi Mosque, the most famous mosque in the city.
• Walk through the old town.
• Street doctors, street dentists, street pharmacists and bone setters.
• Highlight: Wagah Border ceremony, you can see the lowering of the flag here every day. This is happening with much fanfare from the Pakistani and Indian sides.
• Overnight in Lahore.

Saturday 16 September – Lahore – Rawalpindi

• End of the Southern Pakistan tour. Departure at your own time.
• If you join for the Karakoram Highway Tour:
• Drive to Rawalpindi.
• Rhotas Fort, a well-known UNESCO fort.
• Dinner at Fortress Street, next to Rawalpindi cricket ground.
• Overnight in Rawalpindi.