Pakpacking In Pakistan🇵🇰: Top 9 Sights In Karachi

“Alone on the beach, on my own, out of reach and you just passed me by” – Noel Gallagher.

Before this trip to Pakistan (my final Stan), I got my Pakistan visa online (not exactly an easy visa to secure) and arranged to fly into Lahore and out of Karachi. From Lahore, I’d also visit Wagah for the famous India-Pakistan border ceremony and Shadarah Bagh. This way, I could see four main places in Pakistan and be flying in and out of different airports, so no doubling back and for once, no overland train journey. Maybe memories of the train crash from Bangladesh came back to me. The night I could have died, and didn’t. I stuck Karachi on the list. Karachi is the largest city in Pakistan and apparently the 12th largest in the world, with an estimated population of over 20 million, wow. This was another Chongqing! I was expecting it to be the second busisest city I had ever seen, but actually it wasn’t. At times, it felt way too quiet and relaxed to be the frantic 20 million metropolis it advertised. Where are these 20 million people?

Not The Capital

Okay so Karachi used to be the capital city, but now Islamabad holds that title. However, Karachi is still the largest city in Pakistan and the 12th largest in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is also interestingly dubbed “City of Peace” and to an extent I could get that…

It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast, kind of Indian Ocean to me but I don’t think the locals want to hear that. I had a luxury stay here, where I was based at the Hotel Mehran. It is also dubbed “The Heart of Pakistan”, but this time I couldn’t feel that moniker’s relevance. Lahore felt more of the heart to me. Plus here, the exchange places were a nightmare. I had to visit 20 different currency exchange places just to be able to change US Dollars!

I did a bit of walking myself, especially on the beach and at the seafront but for the other sights, just take tuk tuks. It’s easy and cheap to get around on tuk tuks. Here in Karachi, they are yellow and on every corner of every street.

These are some of the main sights I visited and enjoyed. I skipped Mosques here as sometimes I’ve just been to too many of them.

1.National Cricket Stadium

Pakistan wasn’t ever going to love me. For the second city in a row, I was banned from visiting a National Cricket Stadium! In Lahore, I had also been banned! Here in Karachi, I got right up to the gate, begging to be let in just to see it, but no chance. Maybe I had timed it badly as it was hosting the women’s cricket World Cup that month!

I was chased out of the stadium by unwelcoming security staff. They’re not big fans of tourists here!

2.The Pakistani Seaside And Beach

Being a seaside boy from the Northern Irish city of Bangor, of course I had to see the beach! There are many options but I went to the one at Clifton. It wasn’t very commercial but there are camel and horse rides available plus a lot of sellers – they sell drinks, snacks and ice cream.

There is a huge Pakistan flag by the beach and there is also a DickMonald’s/McDonald’s here, which seems oddly out of place!

I pondered about my life here and felt sad about a girl I once knew who left me in the sinking sand. Yet she would have loved this spot.

“I’d give you the world if you’d take my hand, but you left me alone in the sinking sand” – Noel Gallagher.

There was also a sandcastle competition here when I visited.

Also, I was the only white/foreign tourist on the beach. It was quite quiet but I still had some hassle from locals and sellers.

3.Frere Hall

As a writer, author, blogger and reader of course I had to see Frere Hall. Not only is this a library, but it’s a pretty building in a green park in downtown Karachi.

It dates back to the early British colonial era in Sindh – the name of this southern Province. Frere Hotel was completed in 1865, and was originally intended to be Karachi’s town hall. It still looks the part, is well maintained and now serves as an exhibition space and library. Inside it’s like a step back in time and a bit “Ghostbusters-esque”.

4.Mohatta Palace

Another main sight is the Mohatta Palace and this was well worth checking out. This place is not actually related to British Colonialisation. It was built in 1927 in the posh seaside locale of Clifton, which means it is near the beach that I backpacked. It was built as the summer home of Shivratan Mohatta, a Hindu Marwari businessman.However, Mohatta was from Rajasthan and therefore, his time here didn’t last long due to the partition of India.

It is 100 Rupees to enter but no photos are allowed inside. It’s worth seeing – the inside museum has a lot of information and art. The gardens outside are well maintained.

After Mohatta’s departure to India, the Government of Pakistan acquired the building and used it for government purposes. It has been used for various purposes down the years. It was the Ministry of Foreign Affairs initally in 1947 and then it was the residence of Fatima Jinnah, the sister of the Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah (founder of Pakistan) from 1964. After 1980, it was closed and then renovated and converted into a museum.

5.Empress Market

Markets are everywhere and I noticed how cheap clothes were here, so I got a tuk tuk to Empress Market and toured the clothes stalls. I picked up a shirt and some undercrackers here. It was about $1 for a shirt.

Plus the building is stunning looking, tracing its origins to the British Raj era, when it was first constructed. It is a marketplace situated in the Saddar Town district. The market has loads of stalls and you need to bargain hard for what you want.

6.Mazar E Quaid

I headed to the famous Mazar-e-Quaid, also known as the Mausoleum of Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Again, I had timed it badly or just been unlucky. There was a high security presence here and it was closed. I could only get up to the gate.

This is the final resting place of the father of the nation, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, but at least I was able to see the front of it.

7.I Love Karachi Sign

I actually saw two of these but here it somehow feels a bit more significant than the many of these that are in cities all over the world. The reason being Karachi was often known as an ugly, terrible or hated city. Even the sign has an ugly concrete pillar to the side of it. I pulled out my Northern Ireland flag and a local lad came over for a chat!

8.Teen Talwar (Three Swords) Monument

There are a few monuments in the city. I saw the Teen Talwar (Three Swords) monument which is in Clifton and on a roundabout. The three marble swords are inscribed with Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s creeds Unity, Faith and Discipline. It was commissioned by Pakistan’s former President and Prime Minister, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto back in 1973, and it’s a white pillar monument which was designed by Zoroastrian architect Minu Mistri.

9.Murals And Streetlife

I found Karachi to be a city of many colours and varieties with murals here and there. Certainly it was not the ugly city they told us about though it didn’t endear me either.

I enjoyed Karachi though it was also nice to visit quickly and then get out. It didn’t blow my mind and it definitely didn’t feel like there were 20 million people around me! Also the airport is pretty bad – there were no exchange places for money at all and the ones there were refused to change US Dollars and UAE Dirhams.

Here are some videos from my time touring Karachi in Pakistan: