Did you find the natural treasure which the British left behind following their rule over the Indian Subcontinent? The answer can be found in the introduction of my article Heaven on Earth: Murree.
'Let's get a move on it,' yells the coach driver. "Get out of the way and let the paying customers on." Other passengers rush by until Shawn, my newly wed husband scurries frantically across the road while freeing the straps of a scantily loaded camping bag off my back. The bus conductor holds out his hand and demands thirty five rupees for an hours drive aboard his vehicle en route Murree via Islamabad. His Weather worn face and piercing glare makes me wonder since when transport had become so inexpensive. As if reading my thoughts, he immediately demands another thirty five rupees to accommodate both me and my better half in his wooden slated, barred windowed, decorative coach.
As our means of transportation soared rapidly away from the hustled norm of Pakistan's capital to high mountainous peaks of Murree, We leisurely engross in the surrounding lush forestry portraying huge pine trees. The scenery reflected every travelers delight and inviting valley's swarmed with natural springs at an altitude of 2,240 Meters (7,400 feet) nurtured a sense of adventure and free will opposing my mayhem packed customary urban life.
Upon arrival in the rural city, we were caught up with hawkers competing between themselves and targeting us as potential customers seeking lodging. Tanned, toiling and weather beaten citizenry earned their means of living as shepherds, horse and cattle breeders and within busy market places sold jewelery, medicines, clothes, artifacts, air fares and decorations. Many also ran general stores, banks, churches and schools besides offering tourists rides to attractive sight-seeing places.
Best visited in April- May and September- October, Murree displayed the best of nature with white clouds graciously engulfing mountain crests and towering over green valleys below.
We booked a two-bedroom at the economical President Hills hotel, checked for hot water supply and operational heaters and after unpacking, headed towards a restaurant below to relish on famous local fast food burgers, Shammi kebabs and omelets.
After a hearty brunch, we inquired for camera batteries from a local shopkeeper and were suggested Mall Road as a famous market place above Murree hill tops, between Kashmir and Pindi Point. We decided to hike uphill and paused at a miniature roadside eatery sheltered beside a steel sheeted hut to buy 2 plates full of a locally preferred Chana Chaat. Just as we had begun to enjoy the spicy aromatic savory, a tremendous thunderous blast above our heads made our spines quiver. Our shocked facade brought a smile to the roadside hawker as he coyly informed us that a huge horse chestnut had fallen from a surrounding tree on the steel sheeted hut below which we stood.
At Mall Road, we were greeted by a variety of shops, book stores, souvenir kiosks, internet cafes, pharmacies, banks, post offices and cinemas. Renowned Pakistani restaurants crowded either sides of a lengthy narrow street and the enclosure evoked the British Raj, with its Christian churches, cemetery, spacious bungalows, clubs, cricket grounds and colonial-style hotels. The heart of the bazaar continued further along Kashmir Road and Massey Gate. Numerous routes departed outwards and either followed the contours of the ridge or descended to the principal road. After some necessary purchases, we headed back to our abode to doze away our aching weary limbs.
Awakening to a chirpy cold morning, we freshened up and hastily threw on our garbs to visit Pindi point, a famous tourist spot for riding chair-lifts passing down 1.5 km into the wadis. Upon arrival, our minicab driver bellowed to the chair-lift operator who was none the less pleased to welcome us. Chair lifts from Pindi Point travel from Bansara Gali (below Murree) to Pindi Point or to the top of Patriata Hill (on the road to Karor). Both rides cost approximately rupees fifty and take half an hour with a change from open chair-lift to the enclosed bubble in the middle. Once air bourne, strong fragrance from huge blue pine trees inflated the ambience and breath-taking views with crossroads and vast landscapes enthralled our observance. At our descent we were greeted with shopping kiosks and a children's play area apart from another astounding view of the lush Patriata Hills.
My interest in the eminent Convent of Jesus and Mary failed to seize. We planned to visit it as our last quest but primarily revisited Mall Road to purchase customary souvenirs for our loved ones. After purchases, we once again embarked uphill to discover the extraordinary beauty of the Convent of Jesus and Mary. We swiftly snapped some spell-bounding pictures of the convent and rushed back to the hotel to pack our bags.
Murree is a writer's muse, a city packed with undiscovered and wild adventures. Our journey had been eventful and our overall budget, amazingly inexpensive.
Recalling our hiking in the wilderness when we had painstakingly etched our names on a downwards sloping chestnut tree trunk, we hastly promised to return in winter and unravel our name imprints from the same truck. Our next visit however amidst the winter's snow, would portray a different picturesque of Murree altogether. An adventure not to missed.
