What can be seen in a day in Islamabad

Day in Islamabad

Situated at the foot of lush green mountains, Islamabad is considered one of the most beautiful capitals in the world.

If this is your first time in the city, you may be wondering what is there to see and what is there to see in a short time?

That was the question that took us on this one-day 'Express' tour of Islamabad.

Let's see what quiet and interesting places are waiting to welcome tourists here.


First floor, Shahullah Dutta's Cave

This place is located at the foot of Margalla hills, a short distance from Sector D12 of Islamabad.

The road to get here is nominal, but not so bad that you would try to get it off your list.

The high hanging roots of the banyan trees cover these caves

This  are a few caves between the mountains, is garden and a natural spring whose water flows down the road.
This place is known by both the names of Shahullah Dutta's Cave or Buddha's Cave. The question is who was Shahullah Dutta and what is the history of these caves?
Muhammad Ismail Abbasi, a local, says the cave was a place of worship for Buddhist monks in ancient times, while a man named Shahullah Dutta was the head of the settlement centuries ago, after whom the place was named Shahullah Dutta. Û”
The high-hanging roots of the banyan trees cover these caves. There are mango trees in the garden in the shade of which you can sit cheaply and enjoy tea at a nearby stall, where you will be surrounded by ducks.

There is an ancient well here which is said to have been built by Sher Shah Suri

For your entertainment, a cradle is hung from a hundreds of years old banyan tree, which not only refreshes childhood memories but also reduces stress.

A road goes up from the caves of Shahullah Dutta where the higher you go, the more beautiful views of the valley and the city of Islamabad will be in front of you. After a place here, the Haripur division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa begins.

Just take the leftover food and garbage with you instead of leaving it here

The whole area was in fact an ancient highway connecting Afghanistan and India. There is an ancient well here which was built by Sher Shah Suri according to Muhammad Ismail Abbasi. Sit down on the steps of this well for a while and imagine yourself in the Middle Ages.

Second floor, Margalla Hills National Park


Trail
About 25 minutes from Shahullah Dutta, there are hiking trails in the Margalla hills called trails. There area total of six trails, with Trail Three and Trail Five being the most recognizable.
To complete Trail 3, you must be an old mountaineer, otherwise the climbs can be difficult for beginners. But if you complete Trail Three, you will reach the famous restaurants located on the tops of these mountains.
But if you don't want to walk for two and a half hours, take Trail Five like us, which is relatively easy but just as attractive.

Trail
Be sure to keep a bottle of water with you when you come here as you will feel thirsty while hiking. If you are coming here in September and October or in the rainy season, innumerable springs will be waiting for you to dissolve the juice in your ears and quench your thirst.

The rest of the springs are dry at the moment due to the lack of rainy season but we were lucky to find a spring flowing here today. Bring home meals and bread, fruit licks or whatever you like, and sit here by a spring and enjoy the natural music and simple food. Believe me, this taste will not be found in any of the most expensive hotels.

Trail
Just take the leftover food and garbage with you instead of leaving it here.

If you don't want to walk too much on the trails of Margalla, there are wooden benches and rocks here and there that you can sit on to relax, get tired and enjoy the chirping of birds that are now in the noise of the cities. Rarely heard.

And when you get off the trail, don't forget to eat jaggery tea and fritters from the stall next to the parking lot.


Third Manzil, Pakistan Museum of Natural History

Third Manzil Nature History

Islamabad
If you, like me, are one of those people who always have the word whale on their tongue, then you should definitely visit this museum, because the blue whale structure here clearly states that the whale Not a fish, but a mammal like a human.
At the door you are greeted by a blue whale structure that is also present inside. If you enter here with a ticket of only 30 rupees, after a few rooms you will reach a room where you will encounter the structures of an elephant and a giraffe.

Museum
There are also different types of bones and skulls on different shelves during different stages of human evolution. that was a fascinating experience to a see these ancient  the fossils in front of me because of my keen interest in evolutionary biology.

These fossils are arranged in sequence, and behind their shelves are images of the changes that have taken place in human society over time, giving these bones language in the form of a pictorial story.

In fact, before visiting this museum, I had very little information about the fossils of ancient animals found in Pakistan, the metals and jewels found here, and the variety of birds and animals, but anyone interested in natural history You can get lost in this small museum for hours.


Museum
On the second floor of a museum is the dinosaur gallery in which  of you can see that largest dinosaur, T. Rex, with its mouth open in front of you in the famous movie Jurassic Park, which you can imagine millions of years ago. Fear makes you tremble.

The same gallery houses sculptures of different species of birds and their eggs, while a chart on a wall shows evolutionary sketches of how all the birds in the world today are a species of dinosaurs. Û”
The third-floor fish gallery displays a whale shark found off the coast of Pakistan's Sindh province. The whale shark is the largest fish in the world and the fish in this museum is 40 feet long and weighs 16 tons at the time of capture and has been preserved with the help of the United Nations.

As you walk out of the museum, another marvelous garden awaits you. This is a giant statue of an animal called Balochi Therium, which was in fact an extinct species of rhinoceros. Its fossils were discovered in 1908 in the Dera Bugti area of   Balochistan province, hence the name Baloch Therium.
It was one of the largest mammals on our planet. Standing in his footsteps, you suddenly feel like a dwarf.

The whole museum is undoubtedly a box of historical treasures. It is also surrounded by the Folk Heritage Museum and the Pakistan Monument which are worth visiting.




Last destination, Shahdara


Shahdara is the located just  for outside the Quaid-e-Azam University, just that  outside the city of Islamabad. That road is a bit rough when you turn the  inwards from the main road to get here, but you can still get here after about a 45-minute drive from Islamabad.
There is a valley between the beautiful and lush the  mountains where you can greeted by the cold and freshwater springs.

The special thing about this place is that if you want to have something to eat here, the restaurant and stall owners have placed their tables, chairs and cots of  the middle in a flowing springs which  the doubles the taste of refreshments.
Before, during or after refreshments, enjoy the duck games that gather around you by placing your feet in a fountain and in the meanwhile pay attention to the music playing at a distant hotel.

At  the Shahdara, you can just  walk as far as you want in the mountains, but the  most of the  people come here only because of the flowing springs, which last almost all year round.
As the sun sets early these days due to winter, we also quickly ordered tea, fritters and chips, which ended our short but fun tour of Islamabad's resorts.