By Saad ul Azeem Bukhari
Joseph Campbell said, “The big question is whether you are going to be able to say a hearty yes to your adventure.” Well, in response to Campbell quote I would say that one must always say a hearty yes to adventures, tours and trips; and it makes me hard to believe that there would be any person who doesn’t like adventures and trips; well if there is one; then I don’t think so that he is sane. By the way, in here; I am more likely to talk about Lahore which is not only mine but majority’s most favorite places in Pakistan. You must be well aware of the famous quote of; “Lahore Lahore hai” so there would definitely be some reason that every Pakistani is having this quote in his mouth and he is speaking out as many times as he can. Mohsin Hamid in The Reluctant Fundamentalist said, “Lahore, the second largest city of Pakistan, ancient capital of the Punjab, home to nearly as many people as New York, layered like a sedimentary plain with the accreted history of invaders from the Aryans to the Mongols to the British.”
An anonymous author wrote a book 134 years ago (1860) quotes from Milton on Lahore in his preface, "Cities of old or modern fame, the seat of mighty empires which met the eyes of the repentant Adam from the hill of Paradise." (Paradise Lost , book XI). And then Moore: Lahore a city of "palaces and domes" a city of "enchantment sacred to the loves of Lalla Rookh and Feramorz."
Well, there’s no doubt in the fact that Lahore is predominantly famous for its historical places which are sacred and at the same time are specialised work of art as Moore termed ‘Palaces and domes’. Many visitors from whole state and even foreigners visit Lahore focusing the historical places but where Lahore has made a name for defined history at the same time one can also find it as one of the most modern and contemporary western life style over here. Below are the suggestions of some of the places inspired by west and they must be visited.
The Sozo Water Park is prepared with all modern services and facilities for thousands of people come yearly. There were a lot of beautiful parks in Lahore but Sozo Water Park added a lot of the beauty to Lahore. It was a great amusement park for visitors around the country and for locals living in Lahore. This is famously known as the awesome place for families and friends recreation, especially in the summer times.
For the culture and art lovers, Lahore Art Gallery is the favorite place which is placed at Al-Hamra Cultural Complex in Lahore. It's famous among tourists across country and art lovers around the world. This place is having an amphitheater flooded with Punjab arts and crafts Museum. Major functions related to art, culture and literature are arranged here with the collaboration of multi-national companies.
For the entertainment lovers, Royal Palm Golf and Country Club is a golf course and social club complex in Lahore. It is located on the Canal Bank Road in Lahore. It is a national and international sports venue. As of 2013 memberships were the equivalent of $8,000. In 2004, a large group of Bollywood personalities from India, including Akshay Kumar, Shilpa Shetty and Sajid Khan, were hosted at an event at the club during their visit to Lahore. Royal Palm Golf and Country Club is the best in Pakistan, evaluated by Planet Golf.
For the sophisticated shopping and food lovers, M. M. Alam road is a fabulous option, named in honor of flying ace of Pakistan Air Force, Air Commodore Muhammad Mahmood Alam. It is a commercial hub with many restaurants, fashion boutiques, shopping malls, beauty salons and décor stores. In contrast with Food Street in Gawalmandi, which is located in old city and is considered a budget dine out, M.M. Alam road hosts a variety of flamboyant restaurants and Cafes in modern Lahore such as Nando's, Freddy's Café, Chicago Uno Grill, Tiffin's, Meezo, Cafe Zouk, Salt'N'Peppers Village, KFC, McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Fat Burgers, OPTP and many others. A long delayed remodeling project of the road was launched in 2011 with a budget of PKR 250 million.
For the household and utility shoppers, Hyperstar is one of the largest shopping malls and super stores in Lahore located in Fortress, the ultimate benefit of visiting this place is that it contains an extensive number of products and shopping under single roof. They also offer promotions, offers and other campaigns to attract the customers. The products include home appliances, household goods, textile and clothing grocery and beverages as well as fresh food items. Moreover, the architecture is based on modern style including escalators, centrally air conditioned with qualified and disciplined salesmen and women.
For the brand lovers, The Mall of Lahore is a large, state-of-the-art multi-purpose shopping mall complex in Lahore, consisting of a wide range of designer brand outlets. The shopping centre is a project of the real estate company Bahria Town and security is tightly maintained over there. Some of the featured stores in the mall for men as well as for women are Khaadi, Ego, Limelight, Hub, Levi’s, Khaadi Khaas, The body Shop, Zara, Quiz, Mothercare, The baby shop, Accessorize, Green Valley, GNC, Stoneage etc.
While visiting Lahore, one must take a ride of Metro Bus Service. Lahore Metro bus is a bus rapid transit system in Lahore. The route covers dozens of residential and commercial localities along the city’s main artery — Ferozepur road, linking together Lytton road, Jain Mandar, MAO College, Lower Mall, Civil Secretariat, Aiwan-i-Adal, Chowk Katchehry, Shrine of Hazrat Data Ganj Bakhsh, Ravi Road, and Shahdra town. An 8-km section of the route is elevated. The system uses e-ticketing and Intelligent Transportation System wand. The Metro Bus Project is a monumental achievement for the Punjab government which is going to change the traffic culture of Lahore forever. No matter how much distance you got to cover, you just have to buy a ticket worth rupees 20.
For the reading lovers, Quaid-e-Azam Library has a collection of more than 100,000 volumes, both in English and Oriental languages like Urdu, Arabic and Persian. Standard books on literature, science, history, reference works, periodicals and literature for ladies and children have been acquired. Situated in the Jinnah Garden, Quaid-e-Azam Library is considered a high profile research and reference library of Pakistan which caters the needs of research scholars and graduate students. The library has the capacity of 250 readers and provides air conditioned environment.
For the sports lovers Lahore Gymkhana Club is the best option. It offers sports including golf, swimming and squash, and organises social activities for the members. Lahore Gymkhana club was formed with the objective of providing social and intellectual recreation to the residents of Lahore and Lahore Cantonment. There are multiple facilities which the members can avail. These can be categorized into sports, leisure, parties/events etc. The club has an existing membership of above five thousand.
For amusement lovers, the best place is the Joyland in Fortress. Joyland Park is one of the most innovative and oldest parks of Pakistan. It was a vision of a place where children and parents can have fun together. The park is the house of few of the most thrilling and amazing rides of the country. The good thing is that it is one of the most secure and safe family park in Lahore. It is the only park in the country that is ISO 9001:2008 Certified. If you want to have a real fun, you must visit this amusing place.
No matter what is the age of the person, Lahore is the place where people can avail the best opportunities that can be of education, entertainment, shopping, sports, art, culture etc.