Ali Kausar Travelogue
To be checked 1510 words
Ali Kausar - BSIII -
19 - 2k18
Travelogue
From Hyderabad to the
great wall of Sindh.
Being an introverted young lad, I have never found the
opportunity to explore my own province Sindh, so one following morning my
family was discussing this irregular trip to the great wall of Sindh known as
the Rani kot. My relatives were also staying with us from Karachi so they also
wanted to make such a trip into the interior Sindh. My mother was showing us
this brochure from our local museum which was taking people on a one day trip
to Rani kot, we all immediately bought the tickets and decided that this time
we all are going to go together along with complete strangers, that were also
interested in the ever so mysterious fort of Sindh, known as Rani kot. So we
got our tickets and prepared to set out for the transportation vehicle. On the
brochure it said that the bus would set out at 12:00pm which gave us a whole
day to do some packing. We would be setting out promptly tomorrow morning.
We arrived at the Sindh Museum and all of the passengers
were there already with their luggage waiting for the bus. At 12:10 the bus
arrived about 10minutes late because of traffic and we all got on our seats my
family picked the seats behind the front row and the bus started moving finally
we started heading towards our destination.
Among the passengers there were some local families,
researcher's, lecturer's and a tourist. The tourist that was there had only
recently decided to come onboard. And by recently I mean literally a few
minutes before the transport had arrived. There was this Korean family that had
come to visit the Sindh Museum, So my
brother indulged in some small talk with the Korean family about the trip that
we were going on and so they decided that it would be a fun trip for their son
to go on. They bought the ticket on the spot and their son got onboard with us
on the trip just like that. Everyone packed their food and luggage for the
journey to eat on the road and they all shared it with each other. We brought
some naan pakora's with us that vanished quickly from our hands when other
passengers saw them.
Having researcher's on board really helped me learn more
about our destination, as we drove across the highway I learned that Sindh is
an ancient civilization that goes back at least seven thousand years and it has
many important archeological sites. Many are explored, however, Rani Kot Fort,
which is one of the largest forts in the world, has yet to be explored.
Meanwhile on the road the scenery of Jamshoro wasn't less
compared to any other place. The dam of the "Sindhu darhya" and the
Al manzar hotel which is situated on top of a hill on the river is a sight to
behold with the vast river flowing bellow us as we drive across the dam.
Have to say the traffic problem was out ot the ordinary.
Nobody would have guessed that there would be traffic at this time of the year
where everyone is staying indoors and less activities are being planned. We got
stuck in traffic after almanzar and finally got on open road after like half an
hour later.
Along the highway we stopped a few times for breaks and
pictures. Ofcourse courtesy of my cousins and I. And it's important to make the
most of journey's such as these because you never know when the your smal
little world gets sealed up on you. Back to the trip, about 2-4 hours after
setting out from Hyderabad. We finally started seeing the vast deserted land of
the Saan gate. We stopped at the Saan gate guest house for tea and to have a
look at the extravagant sunset glistening across this marvelous fort. After
that amazing experience we still had to drive for about 3km all the way upto
Mirri kot which was known as the palace in the heart of the fort, And also
known as the palace for the kings that used to utilize this fort in their era.
The miri kot was decorated entirely for the guests and arrangements were made
such as stage theater and book stalls were present for the visitors. What i saw
when i got there was, we weren't the only people that were visiting the fort
many many people came to spend the night in the fort there was a guest house
present beside the Mirikot aswell.
The night had finally started in the venue inside Mirikot
the theatrical had began they presented some folk lore musical drama and songs.
I was amazed by the acting of the artists even in the cold night of this desert
they perfectly performed their theatrics. Afterwards we sat around the bonfires
and sipped on our hot coffees. Everyone was introducing themselves to each
other many tourists and students were also their from Karachi. Then me and my
family headed towards our guest house which was situated outside of the Miri
kot to freshen up, after changing my jackets, I quickly ran back to the fort
because I had realized something. There wasn't a single form of lighting system
anywhere except for the venue and the guesthouses, so on my lonesome I headed out
far away from the venue climbing higher into the walls of the fort and I
finally found what i wanted to see. The bright night sky with the entire galaxy
to be seen by the naked eye it was a sight to behold. I could clearly see the
wing of our milky way galaxy and all its stars. this was a night to remember, I
recommend going on a hike at night in Ranikot and view the bright night sky
without any light pollution around you. After a few minutes I headed back to
the guest house for some rest because we were going to go on a hike around the
fort in the morning before setting back home.
The guest house gave us a nice room which was comfortable
enough for the night. We got a good night's rest and woke up at around 8:00am.
I quickly got ready and had my breakfast which was a decent meal provided by
the staff. After the meal we quickly headed out to see the fort. After seeing
the fort in daylight i realized it covered almost the entire mountain range
around the area, the fort seemed like it never ended at all. I heard from the
researchers that this is the largest fort in the entire world and I could see
it with my own eyes the walls were solid high and had archer windows to shoot
arrows out of and the large gates had spikes on them, which were used against
elephant riding invaders from what i heard. After walking a good distance
around the hills we finally saw the famous fresh water streams which the fort
was named after, the "Rani" in the name means streams and these
streams had a strange mythology connected to them. This fresh water stream that
I visited was known as "pariyun jo tarr" which roughly translates to
the bathing place of Angels. Nobody knows if real Angels came to bathe in this
stream or not but i didn't miss my chance to dip my hand in the fresh water
stream. Soon after we headed back to the guest house because the transport
vehicles were ready to take us home.
We got our stuff into the vehicle and sat on our seats
finally heading back home. I sat beside the korean boy that had came along the
trip with us and asked him about his own experience witnessing the vast old
culture of Sindh. He was amazed by the structure of the fort but was also a bit
disappointed to why our government doesn't do much for such gem's like these.
Places like these which are a wonder among the entire world could be one of the
most famous tourist spots if they are taken care of in a right way. I agreed
with him on that and yet we were still amazed by the fort on itself. The
vehicle that set back on the road and we all were served coffees on the way
home. The passengers had gotten close by now and were singing the songs that we
heard in the theatre at night together. We all sang and laughed all the way
back to jamshoro where we made one last stop at super madina restaurant. My family
and I bought some snacks and had tea, took some pictures and then we got back
on the road towards home. We reached the Sindh Museum at about 12:00pm and
stretched our legs finally to head back home and connect to my wifi to post my
pictures and videos. That was my trip to Rani kot the greatest wall of Sindh.
#AliKausar, #Travelogue,
Media & Communication Studies, University of Sindh
Comments
Post a Comment