Sindh Culture And Heritage Tour

Welcome to Karachi! You will be picked up from Jinnah International Airport on arrival and transferred to Movenpick Hotel, Karachi. We have selected the Executive Rooms that come with a balcony, city views, and several premium amenities.

You can choose between a king bed or twin beds and enjoy eco-friendly amenities in the bathroom that comes with a bathtub. The rooms also feature a seating area, work desk, LCD TV, personal safe and minibar making your overall stay as comfortable as possible.

A lavish Pakistani Dinner will be served at the on-site restaurant called The Pakistani with live folk music.

The restaurant offers a unique experience for our guests who can choose between a table or traditional floor seating. We have recommended the fine dining Sindhi cuisine for your first day with their specialty Prawn Masala, Jumbo Prawn Skewers, and the Dal Makhani slow cooked black lentils gleamed with butter and served with Nan.

This day is for the explorer in you! You will start your day with a visit to the famous Saddar Bazaar, a local marketplace embraced by vintage buildings dating back to the 1920s.

The Gothic and Renaissance revival styled buildings in this bazaar have been preserved in their original state and give guests a chance to explore the historical accounts of the coastal city. Experience Karachi s roadside food culture here with several kiosks offering local snacks such as limca (local lemonade with soda water) and chaat (subcontinental snack with chickpeas and chutney).

Walk to the nearby Empress Market and Bohri Bazaar two of the oldest bazaars in the city. The highlight of Empress Market is the 140 feet high clock tower made with buffed colored stone in Indo-Gothic style. Empress Market is famous amongst the locals as the place to buy 100% pure herbs, honey, spices, cold compressed oils, and dry fruits. Bohri Bazaar, on the other hand, is known as the hub of local, handmade goods from bags to home d cor. Located approximately 4 minutes away (by car) from Empress Market is the Saint Patrick s Church.

Considered the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Karachi and the site of the first every church in Sindh, this cathedral boasts Gothic Revival architecture with lavish art and ornamental d cor on its interior walls. After witnessing the religious diversity in the heart of Karachi, we continue our drive for approximately 6 minutes to reach Jinnah Mausoleum with its adjoining museum.

The tomb is the final resting place of Pakistan s leader Quaid E Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah. Located at the top of a stepped pyramid in the middle of a massive park, the white marble structure is inspired by modernist designs and reflects the concept of purity.

You will then drive for approximately 15 minutes to further explore the religious diversity of the city with the Tooba Mosque. The mosque has the largest single-dome mosque in the world with a diameter of 212 feet with a capacity to hold 5,000 worshippers.

After witnessing the spiritual grandeur of the mosque, we take our guests for an exclusive food-tasting tour in the diplomatic area of Clifton.

This area boasts some of the most popular fusion eating concepts in Karachi s culinary scene. Our picks for you include Caf Flo - a French restaurant famous for Foie Gras, Okra - a Pan-Asian restaurant famous for lip-smacking red snapper and Khanji for their delicious traditional cuisine.

After a tantalizing lunch, enjoy a cup of tea at a local chai caf and catch a friendly chat with the young locals who have caught on to this trend of sipping midday tea. For our last stop, we will visit the Mohatta Palace Museum.

The palatial house built with pink and yellow stones in 1927 boasts Indo-Saracenic architecture and was once home to Fatima Jinnah (sister of MA Jinnah) but now has been turned into a museum devoted to the arts and history of Sindh. After an eventful day, we return to the hotel for a late dinner at The Pakistani.

Continuing your thematic dinner from last night, tonight will be the Mughlai tradition of Punjab. We have recommended the Lachaydar Paratha served with Spring Onion Minced chicken and hand blended lassi.

The guests meet in the morning and depart for their drive to Hyderabad. Enroute we stopover in Thatta to walk through UNESCO World Heritage Sites bearing the mark of the Sindh civilization from the 14th to the 18th century. We will visit the ancient sites of Chaukhandi Tombs, Bambhore, and Makli Necropolis.

Chaukhandi Tombs is an early Islamic cemetery famous for the elaborate carvings and designs on the sandstones. Located 1 hour and 45 minutes away (by car) from Chaukhandi, the tombs at Makli Necropolis are another must-visit heritage site.

Both the tombs are known for their age, intricate carvings, and boast the architectural style typical of lower Sindh. We have added Shahjehan Mosque to this excursion so that you can witness Mughal grandiosity in all its glory.

The mosque boasts the most elaborate blue tile mosaic work in South Asia and geometric brickwork typical of the mosques built in the Mughal era.

You will have lunch at Makli Grill Restaurant a cozy eatery built with red bricks. We recommend the mutton handi (local mutton stew) here served in traditional steel bowls with piping hot puris (fried flatbread). After lunch, you will be driven to Keenjhar Lake a lake that has been declared a Ramsar site and a wildlife sanctuary. You may enjoy swimming, fishing, and boating in this lake.

Folklores are an important part of the culture in the region and Keenjhar also has an interesting tale associated with it.

Your guide will narrate the story of Noori Jam Tamachi - a fisherwoman who is connected to the lake with a shrine to her name in the middle of the lake that echoes with Sufi poetry often. After exploring the area we will continue our journey to Hyderabad with a couple of hours drive.

Dinner will be served at Royal Taj Restaurant where you get to taste local styled prawn tempura and Chicken Angara served with raita (a local condiment made with yogurt) and naan (flatbread).

Buckle up for a full-day excursion to Hyderabad the 2nd largest city of Sindh and founded in the mid-18th century.

It also houses the relics from the 7th century settlement of the first Muslim rule in modern day Pakistan. We will visit the Shahi Bazaar which is one of the longest shopping streets in Asia that runs for 2km. You can find jewelry, arts, crafts as well as ornamented silk and the embroidered fabric of Sindhi heritage such as Ajrak and Sindhi mirror caps.

The bazaar is also famous for Navalrai Market Clock Tower built in 1914 and havelis with wood-carved balconies. Next, we drive for approximately 8 minutes to the tombs of the Talpur and Mian Ghulam Kalhora restored beautifully by the government of Sindh. The Talpur tombs are known for their exquisite tile decoration in blue floral patterns with hints of green, yellow, and brown.

While the Kalhora tomb reflects Sindhi art preferences with tiles, gildings, and arc-shaped windows with geometric shapes. Later we will drive to the University of Sindh but before that we will take a boat ride in the River Indus near Kotri Barrage.

Lunch will be served at a fresh seafood restaurant by the river where we will try the popular and unique fish of Sindh Palla. This fish lives in both salt water and fresh water during its lifetime, perhaps the reason why its taste varies greatly from head to tail.

Although it can be fried or eaten with pullao we would recommend having yours roasted with salt, wrapped in leaves, and then placed over coal for a smoky flavor. At the university, we will visit the tomb of late Allama II Qazi and the Museum of Sindhology.

The museum is a cultural archive of artifacts, thread metal woodwork, pottery, paintings, and jewelry from the region collected over decades.

Dinner will be served at your guest house in Hyderabad where the locals will whip you a special treat of Hyderabadi Biryani, cooked to a fusion of spicy colors and rich taste of meat. After which the you can grab a cup of tea and enjoy conversations with locals.

You will start your journey to Larkana with a stopover at the famous Shrine of Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai - the greatest poet of the Sindhi language.

You will get the chance to sit down at the shrine and listen to our guide explain the poetry and songs being sung by the faqeers (mystic beggars) with the Danbooru instrument.

On special permission you can take a few pictures of this spiritual experience. Later we will visit the museum of Bhit Shah and learn the archived descriptions of his poetries.

We will have a local lunch and visit a traditional Ajrak workshop where you will have the opportunity to learn about vegetable coloring and centuries-old block printing techniques using mud and animal dung.

We will visit Garhi Khuda Baksh the resting place of Benazir Bhutto, Pakistan s first ever female prime minister and her father Zulfikar Ali Bhutto the revolutionary leader who revived democratic rule in modern Pakistan.

Larkana is also the hometown of the world s most influential female Sufi singer Abida Parveen. Although we try to arrange for a meet in person where we can, we take you to one of these Sufi music schools to experience the power of folk Sindhi music, fused with Islamic Sufi traditions. We will then continue our drive to Larkana and check-in at Samara Inn Larkana.

After a local delicacy breakfast of dal pakwan, we will leave for a full-day tour of Mohen Jo Daro and Doki. The site is spread out over a vast area with markings. We will visit the SD Area of Mohen Jo Daro which was an administrative site known for the Gandhara Stupa, which dates back to 2nd or 3rd Century AD and underground sewage system.

Your guide will walk you through different parts of the site and will explain the facts of life, religion, politics, and the language of the Indus civilization. Later we will visit the DK area which was a rich residential area.

Visit the chief s house here and witness the grid system of the city. Take a walk on the main street and its bazaar area to envision 5000-year-old residential quarters. On return from the site we will have lunch at the archeological rest house and spend some time learning about different aspects of the Indus civilization. Get ready to visit the interesting village of Dokri where we see the age-old practice of pottery.

Try your hand at it! You will love exploring the rural lifestyle and simple pleasures of this village. Also try the cold Thadal the Sindh delicacy drink made of fresh milk and paste of almonds. You will return to Sambara Inn and freshen up for a local dinner where we will enjoy the Sindhi specialty Bughal Teewarn tender mutton chops cooked with tomato, garlic and onion paste along with a mix of Sindhi homegrown spices and pholka flatbread.

You will depart for Sukkur with stopovers at the Kot DG fort and Kot DG archeological site. An 18th-century Talpur fort, Kot Diji is located at the brink of Thar Desert. It is built on top of a pre-Harappan civilization archaeological site that goes back to 2500 to 2800 B.C.E.

On arrival in Sukkur, we will visit the Sat Behan Asthan (the graves of the 7 virgin sisters), the temple of Kalan in Arorr and the mosque of Arorr built in 726AD by the first muslims in the subcontinent.

The day will end with a visit to Clock Tower Bazaar of Sukkur. A 90-feet high tower with four clocks that marked the passage of time on four sides, this structure is a must-visit. The tower is nestled between Victoria Market, Mehran Markaz, hotels, and shopping malls making it a timeless classic and a key landmark. Guest will check-in at Hotel One Sukkur to spend the night.

Freshen up in your suite room and then enjoy a local dinner of Nihari and the pleasant conversations that always accompany this food. Nihari is by consensus the national dish of Pakistan!

After a healthy breakfast of Koki flatbread with Sindhi pickles, curd, and tea you set out early for your drive back to Karachi. We will travel via Sehwan and Ranikot. Sehwan is a historic city heavily peppered with shrines such as the majestic Lal Shahbaz Qalandar and Luki Shah Sadar and embraced by serene lakes such as Manchar Lake.

Lal Shahbaz is one of the most revered saints in the entire subcontinent and amongst the global Sufi heritage. En route our journey to Karachi we will visit the Ranikot Fort near the Kirthar National Park.

This fort is popularly known as The Great Wall of Sindh. Bearing striking resemblance to the wall of China it has a circumference of approximately 32 kilometers and is considered one of the world s largest fort by many accounts. After a soulful day we will arrive to Karachi and check-in at Pearl Continental Hotel where you can enjoy an array of premium amenities.

The Executive rooms come with king-sized or twin beds, writing desk and chair, bathroom amenities and controlled air-conditioning and an access to the executive lounge. We have arranged complimentary spa passes so that you can end your luxurious trip with an indulgent massage and therapy session.

Dinner will be served at Chandni Restaurant an onsite fine dining restaurant that offers succulent Mughlai BBQ with classical music and unforgettable city views.

Enjoy the elaborate open breakfast at PC with halwa puri and paaye (goat s leg). Today we will visit the grand museums of Karachi to give a collective picture of the country s recent past and its progressive present. After breakfast at the hotel, we will head out to visit the Maritime Museum, and the Air Force Museum.

The museums are located close to each other, both sprawled out over an open-air museum space decorated with real decommissioned exhibits as well as historic galleries.

We will visit the Frere hall next. This 1865 building was designed in a Venetian-Goth style using local as well as British architecture elements. It was named after the British commissioner of Sindh in 1850 who made Sindhi the official state language and contributed to its formal literary development. We will then walk to the nearby National Museum of Pakistan and cherish the rich past and historic achievements of the country.

Take a 15 mins walk to the popular Caf Bogie. Built in the skeleton of a defunct train bogie, this less known eatery serves some amazing pizza variants, chicken tikka, and bbq dough sandwiches. Stop for lunch and enjoy the lively ambiance. Continue our walk or another 5 mins to arrive at an artist colony and explore the underground art scene in Karachi.

The Commune Artist Colony is a local Pakistani designer s brainchild, who turned a regular tobacco warehouse into a hotbed of graffiti artists, painters, muralists, and more. Zoom into the creative mindset of Pakistani artists as every wall in this artist colony is a montage of graffiti and paintings from different artists depicting the cultural influences of Pakistan in their work.

From Commune we drive out for approximately 20 minutes to reach another artistic space called TDF Ghar to have tea and snacks with the founder of this space. This creative hub is a restored 1930s house (Ghar in Urdu) that has been turned into informal learning where people from all walks of life can discuss all things culture, science, poetry, and arts.

Our guests would love the heritage and history of the city reflecting in this house located in the heart of old Karachi. Original hand-crafted tiles, a cozy reading area, and an alfresco seating area with lush green vines wrapped around raw bamboo poles called the Sehan Caf TDF Ghar s vintage environment promises an enchanting experience. Drive down to Clifton beach to catch the sunset. Walk on the thick beach sand, pick some seashells, and take this time to align your chakras.

The sound of the waves crashing and the cool wind at the deep blue sea is nothing short of a meditative experience. You can also catch the unique experience of a camel ride along the seashores of the Arabian Sea. We end the day with a visit to Port Grand. It is a marina promenade with the aroma of food kiosks and outlets on both sides and contains the spirit of modern city life.

You will be transferred to the airport for your flight back home. We hope you enjoyed discovering the culture and history of the Sindh civilization. Book again with us whenever you feel like escaping the present and adding a new chapter to your exploration stories. Chalo Pakistan!