Karachi - Haleji Lake - Keenjhar Lake - Thatta - Makli - Bhanbore - Karachi on Bike

[mudasernaeem]

zabrdast yar
@ism1 ap hr waqt bolty hain karachi kuch nhi.mein northern areas sy dor hon...etc
ab kya khty hain?

[ism1]

zabrdast yar @ism1 ap hr waqt bolty hain karachi kuch nhi.mein northern areas sy dor hon...etcab kya khty hain?

chaley jayen gey coming Sunday ko yaar, not a big issue

[ism1]

nice going Xoofi

[Xoofi]

Will update the remaining thread after reaching Lahore InshaALLAH. I have a train to catch in next 2 hours

[aghaabbas]

Nice tripe & picture.....

[Sulaiman75]

After reading @Sulaiman75 twin threads at PW about Bike Trip, I really wanted to just get out of town on my bike. Although it was not possible to go Gilgit-Baltistan or Kashmir all of a sudden, so I decided to head to Thatta District on my 70cc bike (Super Star brand, more commonly known as China) which I bought in April 2007. So this Friday (20th December 2013), I planned this trip with my university friend who is now working in Saudi Arabia and is currently on vacations to home country.

This was not the first time I have taken this bike to Thatta. It was in fact 5th time I was taking this bike to Thatta. But this was the best trip among all the previous ones. The reason it was the best because previously I always got late and was not able to visit all the places that falls on this route. This time, I planned to visit all the following points in the itinerary mentioned below and was successful:

1) Haleji Lake
2) Keenjhar Lake
3) Shah Jahan Mosque, Thatta City
4) Makli Graveyard
5) Bhanbore Museum & Ruins

Here is a teaser picture of the trip.

A detailed story along with the pictures will be coming soon

Dear Sufian,

So you finally DID IT !!!

Mash Allah.

I am so happy to read about your trip and just beginning to read the detailed story.

[Sulaiman75]

so you got the motivation from Sulaiman bhai :D. how was the experience?i have also planned it many times but never got the courage to do it. now you have done it so want to ask that what is the road condition? puncture wala's available on the route? and what about the safety concerns? the things to carry? thanks in advance

Brother, I don't think the road conditions for a bike are all that much of an issue since the bikes can usually navigate through rough areas. And I am so glad that he took the trip.

[Sulaiman75]

It took us hardly 5 minutes before we were on old national highway after crossing Malir 15 railway crossing. There was a lot of traffic on the road, mostly because of people going to their offices. Here is the shot of sun rise from Malir River (Malir Naddi) Bridge.

We didn't stop anywhere, crossed the toll plaza right after Kathore Link Road (that connects old highway to super highway). We didn't pay any toll tax as we were on motorcycle. Right after crossing toll plaza, there is a big bridge over Railway Lines and the right there is huge factory of Fauji Fertilizer Bin Qasim Limited (FFBL). We stopped there for a couple of minutes and took a few pictures.

Right after crossing that bridge, the old national highway shrinks into a single road, with hundreds of patches. The road condition is not very good. There is a ACLC checkpost after the bridge but it was empty. Ahead of that checkpost, there is another checkpost which marks the start of Dhabeji. Quickly we reached Dhabeji, initially we planned to get breakfast from here but it was too early and neither of us was feeling hungry yet so we decided to keep going and reached Gharo at 8:40 AM (it took us 1 hour 20 minutes from Malir). We then had a wonderful breakfast of Paratha, Omelete & Tea at Cafe Imran which is at the end point of Gharo City on highway road.

I really didn't wanted to waste time so drank the tea in desi style because it was too hot In about 20 minutes we were going again. We passed sunway lagoon water park and soon we hit the diversion on left that leads to Haleji Lake.

Excellently written, I was reading each word, looking at each pic and enjoying the narration as you literally made me feel as I am traveling with you. In fact, as I don't know these areas yet I have a Google Map window open on the side and looking through the route as you described it. Wonderful Experience ..

Thumbs Up !!!

[Sulaiman75]

A Wonderfully written trip with beautiful pics. A real treat to read!!!

(H)

[Xoofi]

Sorry guys, kind of missed this thread after going to Lahore & then further to Galiyat Time to resume the unfinished thread Also thanks everyone for their replies and comments, I will answer each after the narration has been completed.

As soon as we headed for ruins from a clearly marked trail (as shown in below picture), I spotted a huge water collection which seemed like a lake on our left side. It was kind of very big and probably was rain water collection.

The ruins were merely walls made of rocks, the marking boards told us which part it was during the civilization period.

After roaming the ruins, there is a little elevation. We gained some height and then I saw the unexpected. There was a huge canal or river type of thing which I could see from a distance. At first I thought it was the same canal which is coming from Keenjhar Lake used to give water supply to Karachi (later proved wrong, will be told further). It was such a refreshing experience that we enjoyed a lot. We decided to go to the bank of that canal but the whole area below the cliff till the bank was boggy and wasn't doable easily until we were ready to penetrate through the mud. So we dropped the idea of going to the bank and went to the right side where there were more ruins.

[Xoofi]

Further there are more ruins, a great structure which was a mosque hundreds of years ago. It was claimed to be the first ever mosque of South Asia. Further there were ruins of madrassa and a temple. This exploring almost took an hour and right before sunset we went back to check out the museum.

[Xoofi]

At the back of museum, there is a model of Manjanik placed and in surroundings there was a little garden with lots of trees that looked to be very old. Took quick pictures and headed towards main museum.

But when we reached Museum, it was closed because the time was over. However, after excusing with the care taker, he agreed to open it for us. While he was unlocking the gate of museum, I asked him about the canal we saw earlier. He told that it was from sea and is Gharo Creek. I immediately recognized it as I had heard its name but never saw it. It was amazing how far back the sea water can reach inland. Its a nature's mystery. Praising the power of Allah, we made our way to museum.

[Xoofi]

The museum was pretty well maintained. Every item was properly marked along with the history. There were ancient coins, ornaments, pottery etc. The items were dated back to as old as 8th Century AC. We were already running short of time so had a brief look on each item. I also took the pictures of their history so that I could read them later as there was no time to read all the history now.

[Shafin619]

I have been to haleji lake and bhanbore with my biker group.

[ism1]

VERY NICE ADDITION @xoofi KEEP IT UP BRO

@yac_ventura after reading this thread, you are thinking abt our next day trip

[YAC_Ventura]

VERY NICE ADDITION @xoofi KEEP IT UP BRO

@yac_ventura after reading this thread, you are thinking abt our next day trip

Off course!

[ism1]

Off course!

so, do check my post at TQC KHI Thread after Jumma prayer

[lazyboy]

Nice trip and very well narrated.... Never Stop Exploring

[shahidutz]

Nice Trip @Xoofi i had visited same places many times on my bike it's memorable precious places, Abb dil ker raha hai dobara visit karun.
Yahan shayad bht kum logon ko pata hai gharo se kuch launch jati hain jo bhanbur se hoti hui ek aiseh haseen place pe jati hain jahan samandar ka pani beech mei hai aur charo taraf trees hain , Wahan log fish hunting k liyeah jatay hain. @xoofi app filter bhi jateh wahan bht sareh bagat hain jo bht haseen hain aur wahan se apko Poora samandar nazar ayega mountain per churkar.
Anyway good trip keep it brother.

[Xoofi]

When we left the museum, it was already 5:45 PM. We witnessed a great sunset at the gate of the museum.

We started our return journey and got back to the link road again which connects to main national highway at Dhabeji. In between of that road, we spotted some IGLOO type of structures while going. In return, we passed by them again and decided to stop for a few pics. These IGLOO type of structures were in fact kiln (bhatti) in which coals are made. It was a unique experience to watch how the coals were made. We made few pictures and video of these kiln. The locals were watching us but they didn't objected, but they were friendly.

After witnessing the coal making, we started to move again. By this time, the natural light was almost gone. My helmet's visor had many scratches so I had to keep it open for good visibility. But when I opened the visor, thousands of mosquitoes (or may be some other flying insects) kept colliding with my face. Few went in my eye which was a pretty miserable experience. So I was forced to keep the visor shut no matter how bad the visibility was.

Anyway, soon we touched the national highway again and thankfully the insects were not present here. Perhaps they were present on link road because of vegetation and damp fields. We didn't stop anywhere, crossed Dhabeji, Toll Plaza, Gulshan-e-Hadeed, Quaidabad and reached back to my friend's home at 7 PM exact. So our whole journey was just 12 hours long as we had left my friend's house at 7 AM. In 12 hours we witnessed so many things and collected beautiful memories. A brief summary of that trip is below:

1) Breakfast at Gharo
2) Haleji Lake
3) Gujjo Twin Canals
4) Keenjhar Lake
5) Boat Ride to Noori's grave & Island exploring
6) Friday prayers at Shah Jahan Mosque, Thatta
7) A bit of Rabri shopping at Thatta bazaar
8) Basement mosque, Ameer Khani Mosque
9) Lunch At Thatta
10) Makli Graveyard
11) Bhanbore Ruins
12) Gharo Creek
13) Bhanbore Museum

People of Karachi often complain that there is no where to visit for Karachi people. But all these places are less than 125 km from Karachi and worth exploring. This bike trip was amazing and InshaALLAH I will complete my dream of traveling to Khunjerab on bike some day soon

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