Your first question would be "what's the link among three of these places?" and some would consider the title ridiculous too. But before you would become more judgmental, let me clarify that there is absolutely no link among these. Lemme put it more precisely, I simply long to visit these three places. Why? Well I have to dig in it why do I want so. It's not a newly built wish. It would not be wrong if I would say I have been wishing to visit these places from my childhood, OK fine, since I got consciousnesses. Fine now? Here comes the question WHY. First of all, I like travelling ALOT. Seeing new places and meeting new people are my favoritest things ever. I have a long list of places I want to visit and it keeps changing time by time. But these three places remained at the top. Let me answer one by one the WHY question:
Landi Kotal:
The main reason, why I want to visit Landi Kotal, is my nani's cherished memories about it which we used to listen like from ever. Her father was DSP before and after the creation of Pakistan. He was posted at many places in the subcontinent and he usually kept his family with him where ever he got posted. And where he couldn't be able to keep them with him, he usually brought them for a short trips. Our bedtime stories (and sometimes daytime stories as well) were and still are used to be all about the cities, people, traditions, etc of all those places he got the chance to serve at. The most exciting place I found among all is Landi Kotal. There is no serious reason for that but the places like it fascinates me like anything. He was posted in any nearby area of Landi Kotal (I dont remember right now which was the area) but he could not keep his family there, so the whole family took a train to visit the Landi Kotal.
Landi Kotal or Landikotal is situated in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of Pakistan. It is 1,072 meters above the sea and is the highest point on the Khyber Pass. It is also the route to Peshawar. It is the last railway station of Pakistan. From here, you can view Afghanistan on the other side of the border. Landi Kotal was used to be a tourist destination years back. I remember watching Travel Guide of Pakistan (a very famous and my fav PTV show. I used to be extremely jealous of its host that he got the chance to see the whole Pakistan free of cost, hn) about Landi Kotal which strengthened my urge to visit this place.
Khyber Train Safari is the most enthralling thing about Landi Kotal which is described as a journey into time and history. It used to be a weakly and then bimonthly service. The safari train ran between Peshawar and Landi Kotal through Khyber Pass. The train used to cover a total of 52 kilometers (32 ml) through 33 tunnels and 92 bridges and culverts and its track passed unusually through the runway of Peshawar Airport. Just imagine the thrill!!.
The heartbreaking news is that the safari service was closed due to the washing away of railway track and bridges by flood. The security situation is not so good there these days. The roads which were beautifully built once, are completely broken now due to the heavy trucks and containers loaded with the tons of NATO supply transporting to US troops in Afghanistan. I met a woman in hospital who was from Landi Kotal. I used to ask her alot about LK. She told me that the distance between Peshawar and Landi Kotal was of approx. 2 hours but now it took 4 to 6 hrs to reach Peshawar because the trucks and containers with NATO supplies would drive very slowly and create traffic jams badly.
How unfortunate it is! I am Pakistani, living in Pakistan, want to visit another city of Pakistan but cannot for many reasons. But I still hope and pray that Landi Kotal would become tourists' destination and may its all beauty and charms come back again with no going back!!
Egypt:
The Mummy? The Mummy Returns? Indiana Jones? Well these movies happened to accelerate my enthusaism of seeing Egypt at least once in my whole life. I am a history loving person. Ancient history and remains of old civilizations mesmerize me. I found the Old Kingdom of Egypt as the most influential old civilization among all. When I read or watch any movie or documentary about these, I feel myself breathing in their age of thousands years back. I just want to ride a camel and get in to the Pyramids. It's so fun to read about their old kings, queens and princes. Mystery attracts me big time. And I found Egyptian kingdom deadly mysterious.
There were many Egyptian students studying at my school in USA. I always wanted to make Egyptian friends so that I could arrange my Egypt tour easily. But you know when there is a motive behind any relationship, it would never get started. Darn! And the other reason was the Egyptian guys are not different from Pakistani guys. They used to stare like hell.
Another interesting incident. An Egyptian guy started taking interest in my friend. He liked her alot and then ended up proposing her. My friend was not ready at the beginning but seeing that guy's eagerness, I jumped in and finally convinced my friend to marry her. And you would catch my inside motive too ;P . My smooth trip to Egypt was not far away. They got engaged after the involvement of their families. He was very thankful to me and used to call me baji. He was a gentleman. The we returned. Wedding plans were under discussion. He visited my friend in Pakistan once. Everything was going fine. I still do not know what happened exactly but on his returned to Egypt, he broke the engagement and got married to an Egyptian girl. And left us with "Haw haye". He never contacted again, neither he received our calls. He suddenly came and got vanished from our lives. My first expression on all this was; "How would we go to Egypt now?". Yes sometimes I act mean, very mean. I am a despised person and should be loathed for all my valuable thoughts. I somehow held myself responsible for it too. I should have not insisted my friend to go for him. But khair their families were involved too. I got the punishment too. They had planned wedding in January 2013 which meant seeing pyramids very soon. I am not seeing my wish come true sooner or later. But who knows!
Turkey:
We all read alot about Turkey in our text books. Who can forget about the splendid Ottoman Empire and then the Khilafat Movement. Turkey remained significantly important in Muslim world for centuries. I would be writing a separate post about Turkey in near future. It deserves it. The way Turkey has preserved their ancient history is very captivating. Their ancient majids, splendid gardens, old huge libraries, beaches, beautiful weather, newly built infrastructure, I wanna see the signs from my eyes how they once ruled the world, then faced the decline and now again at the take off position. And I also want to the Pamukkale, the aka Cotton Castle :)
Landi Kotal:
The main reason, why I want to visit Landi Kotal, is my nani's cherished memories about it which we used to listen like from ever. Her father was DSP before and after the creation of Pakistan. He was posted at many places in the subcontinent and he usually kept his family with him where ever he got posted. And where he couldn't be able to keep them with him, he usually brought them for a short trips. Our bedtime stories (and sometimes daytime stories as well) were and still are used to be all about the cities, people, traditions, etc of all those places he got the chance to serve at. The most exciting place I found among all is Landi Kotal. There is no serious reason for that but the places like it fascinates me like anything. He was posted in any nearby area of Landi Kotal (I dont remember right now which was the area) but he could not keep his family there, so the whole family took a train to visit the Landi Kotal.Landi Kotal or Landikotal is situated in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of Pakistan. It is 1,072 meters above the sea and is the highest point on the Khyber Pass. It is also the route to Peshawar. It is the last railway station of Pakistan. From here, you can view Afghanistan on the other side of the border. Landi Kotal was used to be a tourist destination years back. I remember watching Travel Guide of Pakistan (a very famous and my fav PTV show. I used to be extremely jealous of its host that he got the chance to see the whole Pakistan free of cost, hn) about Landi Kotal which strengthened my urge to visit this place.
Khyber Train Safari is the most enthralling thing about Landi Kotal which is described as a journey into time and history. It used to be a weakly and then bimonthly service. The safari train ran between Peshawar and Landi Kotal through Khyber Pass. The train used to cover a total of 52 kilometers (32 ml) through 33 tunnels and 92 bridges and culverts and its track passed unusually through the runway of Peshawar Airport. Just imagine the thrill!!.
The heartbreaking news is that the safari service was closed due to the washing away of railway track and bridges by flood. The security situation is not so good there these days. The roads which were beautifully built once, are completely broken now due to the heavy trucks and containers loaded with the tons of NATO supply transporting to US troops in Afghanistan. I met a woman in hospital who was from Landi Kotal. I used to ask her alot about LK. She told me that the distance between Peshawar and Landi Kotal was of approx. 2 hours but now it took 4 to 6 hrs to reach Peshawar because the trucks and containers with NATO supplies would drive very slowly and create traffic jams badly.
How unfortunate it is! I am Pakistani, living in Pakistan, want to visit another city of Pakistan but cannot for many reasons. But I still hope and pray that Landi Kotal would become tourists' destination and may its all beauty and charms come back again with no going back!!
Egypt:
The Mummy? The Mummy Returns? Indiana Jones? Well these movies happened to accelerate my enthusaism of seeing Egypt at least once in my whole life. I am a history loving person. Ancient history and remains of old civilizations mesmerize me. I found the Old Kingdom of Egypt as the most influential old civilization among all. When I read or watch any movie or documentary about these, I feel myself breathing in their age of thousands years back. I just want to ride a camel and get in to the Pyramids. It's so fun to read about their old kings, queens and princes. Mystery attracts me big time. And I found Egyptian kingdom deadly mysterious.
There were many Egyptian students studying at my school in USA. I always wanted to make Egyptian friends so that I could arrange my Egypt tour easily. But you know when there is a motive behind any relationship, it would never get started. Darn! And the other reason was the Egyptian guys are not different from Pakistani guys. They used to stare like hell.
Another interesting incident. An Egyptian guy started taking interest in my friend. He liked her alot and then ended up proposing her. My friend was not ready at the beginning but seeing that guy's eagerness, I jumped in and finally convinced my friend to marry her. And you would catch my inside motive too ;P . My smooth trip to Egypt was not far away. They got engaged after the involvement of their families. He was very thankful to me and used to call me baji. He was a gentleman. The we returned. Wedding plans were under discussion. He visited my friend in Pakistan once. Everything was going fine. I still do not know what happened exactly but on his returned to Egypt, he broke the engagement and got married to an Egyptian girl. And left us with "Haw haye". He never contacted again, neither he received our calls. He suddenly came and got vanished from our lives. My first expression on all this was; "How would we go to Egypt now?". Yes sometimes I act mean, very mean. I am a despised person and should be loathed for all my valuable thoughts. I somehow held myself responsible for it too. I should have not insisted my friend to go for him. But khair their families were involved too. I got the punishment too. They had planned wedding in January 2013 which meant seeing pyramids very soon. I am not seeing my wish come true sooner or later. But who knows!
Turkey:
We all read alot about Turkey in our text books. Who can forget about the splendid Ottoman Empire and then the Khilafat Movement. Turkey remained significantly important in Muslim world for centuries. I would be writing a separate post about Turkey in near future. It deserves it. The way Turkey has preserved their ancient history is very captivating. Their ancient majids, splendid gardens, old huge libraries, beaches, beautiful weather, newly built infrastructure, I wanna see the signs from my eyes how they once ruled the world, then faced the decline and now again at the take off position. And I also want to the Pamukkale, the aka Cotton Castle :)
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