Hyderabad

Hyderabad, 164 km north of Karachi the second largest city in Sindh and one of the largest in Pakistan. Hyderabad is five km from the eastern bank of the Indus changed its course away from Khudabad, at that time the capital of the region, the new capital was shifted to Hyderabad. In 1766 the Kalhora ruler constructed a fort half a square km in area and it still stands today. In 1843 the British arrived and defeated the Talpurs, completing their conquest of Sindh.
In the old city, buildings are topped by badgers that look like chimneys on roof tops. They catch the cool breezes which blow steadily in a south-west direction for 40 days from late April each year. Hyderabad is hot for most of the year, although in autumn and winter the temperature dips down to around 24 C . In the old sections of the town, cows still roam the streets giving it a distinctly mediaeval atmosphere.
On the northern side of the hill on which Hyderabad is sited there are tombs from the Talpur and Kalhora periods. The tomb of Ghulam Shah Kalhora is one of the finest, although its dome collapsed and has now been replaced by a flat roof.
Also worth a visit is the Institute of Sindhology's museum at the University of Sindh. It has displays on all aspects of Sindhi history, music and culture depicting the lifestyles of the desert tribes. Infrequent GTS buses go to the campus, otherwise take a miniwagon to Jumshero, across the river from Hyderabad, and walk the 1-1/2 km to the university.

Kirthar National Park

This park may be visited for recreation education or research but shooting is forbidden. A four hour drive north- east from Karachi, of the Super Highway (for 4 WD vehicles only) takes the visitor deep into the heart of Kirthar National Park, again preserve measuring over 3,000 square kilometers in the Kirthar hills and a good destination for 3 day trip if the bandits are brought under control. October to February is the most comfortable...that is, coolest...time to go but the flowers bloom during the (relatively) wet monsoon in August.
Five furnished rest house with cooking facilities and running water are situated on the edge of a wide valley in the centre of the park at Karchat. They are book able through the Sindh Wildlife Management Board, which also hires out tents to those wish to camp. Some food is available if ordered well in advance, but it is better to take your own food, drink and bedding.
The rolling valleys and contorted, rugged lines of the Kirthar hills form a natural haven for Urial sheep, ibex and chinkara gazelle. Jungle cats, desert cats and even the occasional leopard or desert wolf also prowl the park, but you would be extreme lucky to see them. Pangolins (scaly anteaters), porcupines and monitor lizards are more in evidence.
Other attractions in the park are 18th century Chaukundi style tombs at Taung and pre-historic archaeological remains at Koh Tarash. The enormous Rani Kot Fort is also within the park, two hours by jeep from Karchat. Rani Kot is about four hours from Karachi via the Super Highway and Indus Highway.

Moenjodaro

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At Moenjodaro (Mound of dead) in the west bank of the Indus in Sindh have been found the remains of one of the earliest and a most developed urban civilizations of the ancient world. Discovered in 1922 Moenjodaro once metropolis of great importance forming part of the Indus Valley Civilization. Moenjodaro 4,000 years old brick ruins of the Indus Valley Civilization city of Moenjodaro.
The Indus Valley Civilization flourished from 3,000 to 15,00 BC, making it contemporary with the ancient civilization of Egypt and Mesopotamia. At its height, it comprised at least 400 cities and towns along the Indus and its tributaries, covering most of the present-day Pakistan and stretching north-west as far as modern Kabul and east as far as modern Delhi. The water ways were the main highways connecting the empire, and flat bottomed barges almost identical to those still use today plied the rivers from city to city. Few of the cities have been excavated.
The most imposing remains are those of the great bath which consisted of an open quadrangle with verandahs on four sides, galleries and rooms at the back, a group of halls on the north and a large bathing pool. It was probably used for religious or ceremonial bathing. Nearby are the remains of the great granary, possible public treasury where taxes were paid in kind. Testifying to the high developed and artistic sensibility of the Moenjodaro people is discovery of necklaces pendants of beads ear rings and anklets of ivory and mother-of-pearl, vessels of silver, copper and browns and polished stones weights and measures which suggest the existence of strangest civic regulations.
From coins and poetries discovered, archaeologists believe trade and cultural links existed between Moenjodaro and the contemporary civilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt. Various objects d'art found at Moenjodaro include burnt clay male and female figurines, and models of the bird, steatite bust of a noble man or a priest- king, wearing a loose robe on which the trefoil pattern is engraved and small dancing girls in the browns with slim figures and flat Negroid features. Figural art is best illustrated by steatite seals bearing life like representations of animals and mythological creates such as is the unicorn. The ruins of this Indus Valley Civilization face eminent danger from the rising water tables and salinity. Government of Pakistan in cooperation with UNESCO is making all possible efforts to avert this danger and save Moenjodaro.

Kot Diji

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Kot Diji site is 25 kms (15 miles) south of Khairpur town in the Khairpur District of Sindh. Archaeologists say that the discovery of this pre-historic site has furnished information of high significance since it pushed back the pre-history of Pakistan by at least an other 300 years from about 2,500 BC to 2,800 BC. Evidence of new cultural element of pre-Harappan and pre-Moenjodaro date has been found at Kot Diji. The excavations there have proved that the Indus Valley Civilizations people borrowed or developed some of the basic cultural elements of the Kot Dijians. The site consists of two parts: one comprising the citadel area on the high ground where the ruling elite lived and outer area inhabited by the common man. The Kot Diji culture is marked by well- furnished well-made pottery and houses built of mud-bricks on stone foundations. In fact, the Kot Dijian ceramics through different in form and technique are no way less artistic then the sophisticated back-on-red pottery of Harappans. The Harappans borrowed some of the basic cultural elements from Kot Diji. The Harappan decorated designs such as the "fish scale " intersecting circles and the pipal leaf pattern were evolved from the Kot Dijian decorated elements like the horizontal and wavy lines, loops and simple triangular patterns. There is a no proof yet of the place or the regions from where the Kot Dijians arrived in the Indus Valley. Kot Diji situated between Ranipur and Khairpur on the highway from Hyderabad, on the east bank of the Indus close to Rohri. Worth site trip.

Sukkur

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North of Larkana the landscape becomes luxuriant, and in Sukkur the railway line and the highway split up, with a road and rail tracks leading north-west to Quetta via Sibi and Jacobabad, while another highway and railway line go via Rahimyar Khan and Sadiqabad straight to Multan. Sukkur is a sprawling town, with beautiful mosques, gardens, shrines and madrazhis (Muslim religious schools). A desert oasis town, similar to Jaisalmer in Rajasthan, it also boasts many havelis, however, unlike those of Jaisalmer, the Sukkur variety are decorated with geometric, floral designs and painted in a variety of bright, contrasting colors. Just across the Indus is Rohri, also fairly prosperous and an important rail and road junction.
The two towns, 5 km apart and 544 km north of Karachi are linked by the Landsdowne and Ayub bridges, which are extremely beautiful. There is a medieval mosque with porcelain-tiled walls, and eight km away are remains of the ancient city of Aror where Alexander the Great is said to have camped.

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Source: Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation. www.tourism.gov.pk