Saturday started with a swim in the hotel's pool. Only foreigners around the pool, some of them already pretty sweating... and it's only 10am!! After drying out, went back to the room to update my pics and plan the day. At 3pm, Sajid came to pick me up with Abbas. We went to Lake Rawal, a lake created by a dam and used for irrigation purposes. There were very little people as it was still to hot for them (35 degrees) but a very strong smell all over the place. This was coming from some herbs: hashish!! Practically all over the place, like a bad weed. We went then to the dam. There is a small park close-by where you have a panoramic view of the lake Rawal, Margalla and Murree Hills as well as Islamabad and Rawalpindi (town attached to Islamabad). There were school trips there so many groups of girls or boys were running around, going on small boats around the lake...
After this we went to the Shakarparian Hills. There is again a view point and a nice park where each foreign president who visited Islamabad planted a tree. However this was closed... So instead we tried some local food: huge chips (40cm diameter) with a lot of chili powder. Excellent but need a drink afterwards!!
Close-by the Shakarparian Hills is "Lok Virsa", the National Institute of Folk and Traditional Heritage. Inside the arena are many food stands from each region of Pakistan as well as local arts. There is as well a pretty good museum about the different regions, their culture and customs. Two different prices: 25 rupees for locals and 200 for foreigners... And inside there must be at least 15 guards to make sure you follow the correct path. If it says right, they won't let you go left. ;-)
All these visits made the time fly and we decided to head for a local ice-cream before a last visit: Shah Faisal Mosque. Unfortunately it was closed from today for one week due to cleaning. So we looked at the exterior of the modern building. This mosque is huge: it was designed by a renowned Turkish Architect, Vedat Dalokay and named after late King Faisal of Saudi Arabia. It has 88m high minarets and 40 meters high main prayer hall. The main prayer hall can accommodate 10,000 persons while the covered porticoes and verandas can take over 24,000 worshipers. The main courtyard has space for 40,000 people. The mosque is linked with a religious university. All is of clear grey and white marble. Really nice. I'll have to come another time to see the inside as well. Unfortunately it is forbidden to take pictures, though some locals did... (but why look for trouble as a tourist??)
That was all for today. Tomorrow Manu, a French guy now based in Dubai, is joining me. We'll go together to visit some ruins 30km out of Islamabad with Abbas, as usual.
