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Indus Boating Civilization
Day-01: ARRIVAL KARACHI
Meet assist upon arrival, transfer to hotel.
Day-02 CITY TOUR
Morning visit to the National Museum, afternoon city tour and bazaar. Dinner and overnight in hotel.
Day-03: KARACHI - MAKLI - HYDERABAD (200 km, 8/9 hrs)
Drive to Hyderabad gives a great opportunity to visit Chaukundi and Makli hills. Chaukundi, a small necropolis with sandstone-carved tombs and Makli Hills (`Little Mecca') with its half million carved stone and glazed-tile tombs that date back to the eighth century. Later we visit Thatta, its mosque with 99 domes, built by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jehan, the creator of the Taj Mahal. Overnight hotel at Hyderabad.
Day-04: HYDERABAD - RANIKOT - AMRI - SEHWAN (250 km, 7/8 hrs)
We visit the 19th-century Ranikot Fort encircled by a forbidding 24-kilometer long wall that is Pakistan's Great Wall. Encompassing an area over 40 square kilometres, many believe that Ranikot is the world's largest fort. Historians think that the Indo-Greeks or Scythians built it. But the people who live here say it was the handiwork of magical giants who served King Solomon. From here, we drive to Amri, the 20-acre excavation site of a society that pre-dates the Indus Valley Civilisation. Later drive to Sehwan Sharif. We explore the city of Sehwan Sharif, known for its shrine of Lal Shabaz Qalandar, a mystic, poet, scholar and missionary, who belonged to the Qalanderiyah Order of Dervishes. Every day, devotees come to this shrine to enjoy an evening performance of the mystic Dhamal. Dervishes in flowing robes, colourful beads, bracelets, and green turbans hum verses against the slow beat of drums and horns. The tempo increases. The dervishes whirl faster and faster, working themselves into a hypnotic trance reinforced by the thunderous din of the music. Dinner and over night camping/Rest House.
Day-05: SEHWAN - MOENJODARO (200 km, 6-7 hrs)
Drive to Mohenjodaro, the most important excavation site of the Indus Valley Civilisation. Under the shadow of an old Buddhist Stupa, acres of desert ruins that date back to 3000 B.C. reveal a mud-brick and burnt-brick city that identifies a sophisticated early society. Walk through the site and visit the museum. Proceed to Sukkur, enroute visit Larkana, the ancestral town of the former prime minister Bhutto's family. Overnight Motel at Moenjodaro.
Day-06: MOHENJODARO - KOT DIJI - SUKKUR (200 km, 6-7 hrs)
We proceed to the city of Sukkur and take a ride in a decorated house-boat on the Indus River -- our way to meet the Mohanas, a boat people who rarely put foot on land. We also see the island-based Sadhu Bella Temple where Hindu worshippers purify themselves in the water. Finally, we visit the nearby Kot Diji Fort, built in the early 19th century by the Talpur Mirs of Sindh as a defence against the British. Constructed of white limestone, it offered ideal protection for 15,000 men; but the fort never saw any warring army approach its three doors. We also visit the Minaret of Masum Shah, built between 1594 and 1618,stands like a solid brick lighthouse on the highest point of Sukkur and can be seen from most parts of the town and surrounding countryside. The tomb of Shah Khair-ud-din Jilani, built in 1760 and repaired in 1884. We also visit Friday Mosque. Overnight hotel.
Day-07: SUKKUR - UCH - BAHAWALPUR (8-9 hrs)
Our next destination on the edge of the Cholistan Desert. Its tombs, shrines, and minarets with glazed blue and white tiles are crumbling. These majestic edifices once stood proudly over the debris of an earlier city built by Alexander the Great. Only the covered mile-long bazaar pulses with life: a maze of lanes lined with tiny shops of cobblers, sweet-meat sellers, iron-smiths, hakeems (herb doctors), footpath dentists, and fortune-tellers. Gypsy women from the desert barter their colourful embroidered work for fanciful lipsticks and perfumes, silver jewellery, and battery cells. Continue drive to Bahawalpur overnight Motel.
Day-08: EXCURSION TO GANWERIWALI IN CHOLISTAN DESERT
An excursion into Cholistan Desert, visit Ganweriwali - an archaeological site from Pre-Harappan Hakra Period 3000 B.C. also visit the imposing Derawar Fort and desert settlements. Return to Bahawalpur for overnight.
Day-09: BAHAWALPUR - MULTAN (100 Km, 2-3 hrs)
Day-11: ISLAMABAD
After breakfast proceed to Taxila, situated 35 miles from Rawalpindi. Taxila once the seat of oriental culture. It was first mentioned as a satrap of Achaemeenian Empire in 6th century BC. It was invaded by the Macedonian Alexander and passing along to other rulers until finally reaching the hands of Ashoka the Great, who moulded the city in to a centre of Philosophy, Art and Education. The creative Gandhara period followed shortly thereafter and Taxila remained a prosperous city. It came to a disastrous end when sacked by white Huns. Today Taxila is an archaeologist’s paradise here is a well-maintained museum and eight sites. Among best-preserved are Sirkap, Julian, Mohair Maradu and Bhirmond.
Evening depart for onward flight
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