The
busy bustling life of Manchester is nothing less than a rollercoaster ride.
It’s a metropolitan city where I have devoted very less amount of time to
myself, and have been mainly focusing on my job. 2 hours of my daily routine
are just dedicated to commuting between my home and my workplace.
By
the grace of God, I got married last year in Faisalabad, Pakistan, and my wife
has since then been with me in Manchester. Marital bliss proved to flip my life
upside down, as I had to now focus on myself as well as my wife. She was not
used to the lonely and busy life of Manchester. I love Manchester as much as I
love Faisalabad or Pakistan, but I still miss my roots back home. My chaotic
schedule was making it impossible for me to spend quality time with wife.
My
first wedding anniversary was approaching, and I was quite tensed to decide how
I should be celebrating it. Should it be just another dinner at some fancy
upscale restaurant, or a day shopping and emptying my pockets at the Harrods?
My wife felt lonely as well. That’s when a friend of mine suggested me for a
holiday somewhere nice and exciting.
I
quickly applied for a short leave from my workplace, and thankfully my boss was
good enough to approve this 15 days leave. Then came in the next question,
where should we go for a holiday; Europe, Far East, Middle East or somewhere in
the wild African region? We thought about it for a couple of days, and then we
came up with a plan to visit the wonderful Swat valley in Pakistan and
experience it’s enthralling beauty, where we could literally experience ‘heaven
on earth’. It is always wonderful to visit Pakistan, the country that is my
identity, but this time I was especially excited as we were visiting somewhere
I had never been to.
We
really didn’t need to prearrange for Cheap Flights to Faisalabad Pakistan package, as we could get rest done
much more easily upon arriving in Faisalabad. I quickly booked my tickets to
Faisalabad, and luckily found Cheap
Flights to Faisalabad from Manchester from Azzy Travel Ltd. in Manchester.
We
departed on this exciting journey, just 3 days before our first wedding
anniversary. Upon arriving in Faisalabad, we decided to spend one night at
hometown, so that we could relax and freshen up before departing to Swat
Valley. We arranged for a van service to take us from Faisalabad to Saidu
Sharif, the gateway to Swat Valley.
The
beautiful land of Swat is known as the land of romance. What more perfect place
could I have found to spend the best quality time with wife? As we approached
Saidu Sharif, the lush green valley of Swat welcomed us with its rushing
torrents, icy-cold lakes, fruit laden orchards and flower-decked slopes.
Saidu
Sharif, Mingora and Murghzar are known as the ‘headquarters’ of Swat Valley.
Upon arriving in Saidu Sharif, we were guided to a moderately priced hotel. It
was there where we found the tour operator who offered us a tour of 10 days at
a very reasonable price, taking us to all the beautiful places of this pure
land.
Oh,
it was like a dream come true. We spent the day in Saidu Sharif, visiting some
of the most beautiful sight seeing attractions. The Swat Museum in Saidu Sharif
exhibits some of the finest collections of Gandhara art in the world. Saidu
Sharif proved to be a shopper’s paradise as well, where we could find a very
good bargain on the local handicrafts, finest embroidered linen, beautiful
pieces of hand woven rugs, the finest Pashmina shawls, silverware &
jewellery items to stun they buyers and some of the most marvelous products of
wood work.
We
were amazed to learn about the historical richness of the Swat Valley. This
land is otherwise known to be the land of Buddhist learning and holds a special
position for the Buddhist pilgrimage. It is believed that the Buddha himself
came to Swat during his last reincarnation as the Gautama Buddha and preached
the people of Swat. Swat Valley prides in itself to hold more than 400 Buddhist
sites covering its area of 160 Km.
We
also learnt how Alexander of Macedonia fought and won some of his major battles
before crossing over to the delta of Indus River. Over 1400 monasteries once
flourished in this historical land. This land was the home to the famous
Gandhara art and sculptures. Many Muslim conquerors like Mahmud of Ghani, Babur
of Ferghana and Akbar fought their battles in this region.
The
big day finally arrived, our wedding anniversary, and this was the day when we
arrived in Malam Jabba, the beautiful ski resort on top of the mountain of the
Hindukush range. This scenic ski resort houses natural beauty and imprints of
the Gandhara civilization. We were accommodated in a beautiful motel. We just
couldn’t find a more romantic place to spend our first wedding anniversary. We
spent the day at the skiing platforms, hard a lot of fun at the chairlifts,
enjoyed heart’s content at the roller / ice skating rinks, and enjoyed the
finest food at the local restaurant. The hotel staff was very friendly, and
arranged for a complimentary special wedding anniversary cake to make our day
more special. After a long tiring and exciting day, we slept away the night at
our motel. We returned to Saidu Sharif after 4 days of fun and enjoyment at
Malam Jabba.
Upon
returning to Saidu Sharif, we continued our tour to places around the Swat
Valley, and visited some of the most beautiful places like Miandam; the
beautiful valley of fragrant and scenic beauty, the small towns of Madyan &
Bahrain which are famous for trout fishing and handicrafts, and Kalam; the most
popular tourist spot of the Swat Valley. We also visited the beautiful areas of
Ushu, Matiltan and Mahodand Lake, and also the scenic valley of Utrot-Gabral.
This entire trip was a beautiful sight seeing as well as a historical learning
experience.
Days
passed very quickly, and the time came when we had to say goodbye to this
beautiful valley where we experienced some very unforgettable moments; memories
which we will forever cherish. We returned to Faisalabad, where we stayed for a
night, and the next day took our return flight from Faisalabad to Manchester.
This
entire tour made refreshed our minds and hearts, and brought us closer than
ever. We spent the most quality moments together that we were longing for. It
was not a very good feeling to come back to our chaotic routines once again in
manchester, but the thought of visiting the beautiful Swat Valley and
Faisalabad in our next vacations will keep our spirits high.
