Greetings!!! To all of you. I hope you are safe and sound. Today we will explore some of the most beautiful places to visit in Pakistan. In this article, I will give you a brief description of the beautiful places of Pakistan. I will start the article with a quote of Saint Augustine.

”The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page”

Saint Augustine

1)The Lake Saiful Muluk:

Saiful Muluk is a mountainous lake located at the northern end of the Kaghan Valley, near the town of Naran in the Saiful Muluk National Park. It is located in the Mansehra district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) province of Pakistan, about 9 kilometers (5.6 mi) north of Naran, in the northern part of Kaghan Valley. 

At an elevation of 3,224 m (10,578 feet) above sea level, it is one of the highest lakes in Pakistan. Malika Parbat, the highest peak in the valley is near the lake. The lake is accessible from the nearby town of Naran during the summer season but access during winter is limited, as heavy snowfall and landslides threaten to cut off the lake from other regions.

The Lake Saiful Muluk is named after a legendary prince. A fairy tale called Saif-ul-Muluk, written by the Sufi poet Mian Muhammad Bakhsh talks of the lake. It tells the story of the Egyptian Prince Saiful Malook who fell in love with a fairy princess named Princess Badri-ul-Jamala at the lake.

2)Kund Malir Beach:

Kund Malir’ is a beach in Baluchistan, Pakistan located in Hingol National Park, about 150 kilometers (93 mi) from Zero-Point on Makran Coastal Highway. It is located 236.8 kilometers (147.1 mi) west of Karachi, the largest city of Pakistan. The drive between Kund Malir and Ormara is considered to be scenic. The area is part of Hingol National Park which is the largest in Pakistan.

There are no food or fuel facilities available on the way after Zero-Point. It is considered to be one of the most beautiful beaches in this world. Due to the increase in tourism, some of the mobile networks including Ufone have started their services in the region. Many tour services companies now provide their services to explore this beautiful region. Many people from Karachi and interior Sindh go on the weekends for a picnic. At the same place, one can see mountains, sea, and desert alike.

3)Taxila, Pakistan:

Taxila is a city in the Rawalpindi District of Punjab, Pakistan. Taxila is located about 32 km (20 mi) northwest of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, along the historic Grand Trunk Road, near the important Sikh pilgrimage center of Hasan Abdal, and the Mughal-era Wah Gardens.

The earliest settlement at Taxila was founded around 1000 BCE at the Hathial site. The Hindu epic poem Mahābhārata is believed to have been first recited at Taxila, by the sage Vaiśampāyana. By some accounts, Taxila was home to one of the earliest, if not the first, universities in the world.

Taxila’s ruins are internationally renowned, and function as a series of interrelated sites, including a Mesolithic cave, the remains of 4 ancient cities, and Buddhist monasteries and stupas. The ancient ruins of Taxila were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1980.

Taxila area, though the area was eventually abandoned after the collapse of the Indus Valley Civilization. The first major settlement at Taxila was established around 1000 BCE. By 900 BCE, the city was already involved in regional commerce, as discovered pottery shards reveal trading ties between the city and Puṣkalāvatī.

Taxila was founded in a strategic location along the ancient “Royal Highway” that connected the capital at Pataliputra in Bihar, with ancient Peshawar, Puṣkalāvatī, and onwards towards Central Asia via Kashmir, Bactria, and Kāpiśa. Taxila thus changed hands many times over the centuries, with many empires vying for its control.

Alexander the Great invaded Taxila in 326 BCE after the city was surrendered by its ruler, king Omphis. Greek historians accompanying Alexander described Taxila as “wealthy, prosperous, and well-governed.” His troops were said to have found a university in Taxila, the like of which had not been seen in Greece.

After Alexander’s departure, Taxila came under the influence of Chandragupta Maurya, who turned Taxila into a regional capital. His advisor, Chanakya, was said to have taught at Taxila’s university. Under the reign of Ashoka, the city was made a great seat of Buddhist learning, though the city was home to a minor rebellion during this time.

The renowned archaeologist Sir Alexander Cunningham rediscovered the ruins of Taxila in the mid-19th century by identifying a local site known as Sarai kala (or Sarai Khola) with ancient Taxila. Taxila is located 32 km (20 mi) northwest of the Pakistani capital Islamabad. The city is located approximately 549 meters (1,801 ft.) above sea level.

Taxila is one of northern Pakistan’s most important tourist destinations and is home to the Taxila Museum which holds a large number of artifacts from Taxila’s excavations. Though the number of foreign visitors to the site drastically declined following the start of an Islamist insurgency in Pakistan in 2007, visitor numbers began to noticeably improve by 2017, after the law and order situation in the region had greatly improved following the start of the 2014 Zarb-e-Azb campaign launched by the Pakistani Army against radical Islamist militants.

In 2017, the Pakistani government announced its intention to develop Taxila into a site for Buddhist religious pilgrimage. As part of the efforts, it announced that an exhibition on the Buddhist heritage of the region would be held in Thailand and that the Thai government would assist in conservation efforts at the site. Relics from Taxila were also sent to Sri Lanka for the 2017 Vesak holiday as part of an effort to showcase the region’s Buddhist heritage. The Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation also announced in 2017 that a tour bus service would be launched between the Taxila Museum and Islamabad.

The nearest airport to Taxila is Islamabad International Airport located 36.5 kilometers away. Peshawar’s Bacha Khan International Airport is 155 kilometers away. The University of Engineering and Technology, Taxila was established in 1975 as a campus of the University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore, and offers bachelor, master, and doctoral degrees in engineering.

The Ruins of Taxila include four major cities, each belonging to a distinct time period, at three different sites. Taxila Museum has one of the most significant and comprehensive collections of stone Buddhist sculpture from the first to the seventh centuries in Pakistan (known as Gandharan art. The core of the collection comes from excavated sites in the Taxila Valley, particularly the excavations of Sir John Marshall. Other objects come from excavated sites elsewhere in Gandhara, from donations such as the Ram Das Collection, or material confiscated by the police and customs authorities.

If you are thinking about Pakistan as your next travel destination then I will suggest you add these places to your places to visit in Pakistan list. Pakistan is cheaper than many other countries and also offers a numerous diversified range of places to visit.

One thing I would like to emphasize is that you don’t need to worry about visiting Pakistan. Just check the facts around yourself and ask around the people who have visited. Pakistan has changed the people’s perspective about itself.

In the next article, I will write about a few other beautiful places of Pakistan in the coming days. Let us know what you think about this post in the comment box below. Thank you for taking the time to read this article. I hope you liked it.