Murree Heven in Pakistan

One of the most visiting hill station of Pakistan, Murree, and I name it “City in Clouds”. For those who live in Lahore or downwards to it till Karachi; Murree is like a fantasy city. Mountains covered with lush green trees, cold atmosphere, fresh air, beautiful valleys and most importantly clouds on the roads hugging you with full of happiness.
Reason of being most visiting hill station is its approach. It is almost two hours drive from our capital city Islamabad. Roads are broad and safe. It is 7500 feet above sea level and besides the beautiful natural environment to enjoy, it has other stuff of entertainment too.

The Mall Road:

A road full of life, hotels, restaurants, handicraft shops and happy faces. It needs a separate full length post but in short most of the people who visits Murree, get their rooms on Mall road. This is the place where people just walk till 2am or 3am in morning and enjoy the beautiful weather.
It has bazaar downstairs, like 10 feet below the main Mall road. This is a place of shopping for visitors. Mall road is used to walk around and to have food (Oh I love this part)

Pindi Point:

Pindi point is 15 minutes walk from mall road. It has a beautiful view of valleys and mountains. You can see Pindi city from there. There is a chair lift at Pindi point which we friends don’t use to ride on. We friends go to Patriata for chair lift ride which is lot more entertaining and safer.

Kashmir Point:

If we leave Mall road from other end and walk for fifteen minutes then it will lead us to Kashmir point. It has a beautiful sight seeing. You can see Kashmir mountains from this point. It is the highest spot in Murree and due to increasing rush on Mall road; this point is taking visitor’s attention day by day.
Now it has a long bazaar, a joy land and lots of eating places. Most of the visitors came to ease down and relax in Murree and need a quite place to live so they prefer to book a room in Kashmir point instead of Mall road.

Patriata:

This is famous due to chair lift, which worth a ride. A ticket of Rs. 200/- gives you first a chair lift ride from one point to another. From that point you sit in a cable car which took you to another mountain where you have much stuff to do. Look at the picture for all stuff available there. Then after spending beautiful moments with nature’s beauty have a cable car and then chair lift ride back.
You can’t stay there for long. I think last cable car is at 5 pm which take every visitor back. At that time a person goes all the way whistling to check if there is any one left and then take last cable car. I asked him what happens if someone missed it, someone left behind, ain’t there any space to spend night there? so he said ‘it never happened before and there is no place to spend night over there’. However I’ve seen some huts but it would be for those local people which have shops on that mountain.
One more entertainment there which most of people love to do is horse riding however we friends prefer to walk with nature.

River Neelam:

It is a nice place to have a picnic. People use to have snack and lunch at the corner of this river or sometimes in it like in the picture. One can feel the cold wind and cool water which tends to be the best thing in summer. This part of river neelam is considered in Azad Kashmir. This is how far I’ve seen Azad Kashmir till now, I’ll go further soon INSHALLAH.
We also enjoy the journey to this river Neelam: Mountains covered with lush green trees and high slopes of mountains creates an eye catching view. One don’t get to know the time if enjoying this cool wind and water there.

Bhurban:

People use to visit Pearl Continental Hotel Bhurban which is on beautiful location. It has rooms starting from Rs. 10,ooo/- per day which changes according to season. It has an entry fee of Rs. 300/- which you can spend in the hotel in any activity. I do on eating food but you can also watch movie in their mini cinema. There is also a open air theater and a Helicopter Pad which has a beautiful valley view.

Good Bye Murree

In summer season it is like the best place to visit. We friends definitely go to Murree in every summer to get away with this sweaty atmosphere of Lahore’s July / August and feel the fresh cold air at its most. We try to fill our lungs with this freshness so that we can remain fresh for rest of days but sadly to say that it longs until we don’t take a road down to city. From that moment on we start missing Murree; its freshness, its cold atmosphere, its happiness and overall ambiance of this fantasy city which is in clouds.

7 Best Things To see in Bali

By:Rayan Shah

Bali is one of the most popular island destinations in the world especially for honeymooners.The island's varied landscape of hills and rice terraces, beaches and volcanic sites has made this paradise a perfect holidays to choose.My trip to Bali with my colleagues gave me an answer why people love to spend their holidays here.There are so many things to see and to do in this 'Island of the Gods'.Below I listed down some of the best things to see in Bali that totally based on my personal experience and opinion.

1. Sunset/sunrise

Once in Bali, watching the sunset and sunrise is a must.I believe that everyone who has been to Bali agreed that the sunset and sunrise at Bali offer such a magnificient view if the weather allows.The famous tourist spot to watch the sunset is at the Tanah Lot.I arrived there around 6pm and watched the sun went down and slowly disappeared in front of my eyes.The sky was orange in colour that created a romantic moment and a breathtaking panorama of the surrounding.While for sunrise, i catched it at the Jinbaran Beach nearby the hotel.I didn't regret to wake up very early in the morning just to see the spectacular sunrise moment.

2. Cultural Dances

Bali is renowned for its variety of cultural dances.As majority of the Bali's population adheres to Hinduism, the balinese dances are often influenced from the Hindu epics such as Ramayana.I have the chance to watch two Balinese dances when i was in Bali.Those are the Kecak Dance and the Barong Dance.I really enjoyed the Kecak Dance performance as it was performed by a group of men sitting in circle and repeatedly chant 'kechak cak' where indirectly become a background music of the show.

3. Paddy Terrace

Looking at the lush-greenery of paddy terrace at Tegallalang is actually a good therapy to relax our mind and to exercise our eyes.Surrounded by cool atmosphere due to it's location at the hillside, paddy terrace area in Tegallalang provide a picturesque panorama and fresh air suitable for relaxing.My short break at the area make me feel so calm and peace.This is one common view and one attraction not to be missed when visiting Bali.

4. Volcanic Site

As Indonesia lies along the Pacific Ring of Fire, Bali is no exception to experience a series of earthquake and volcanic eruption.Two famous active volcanoes to see in Bali are Mount Agung and Mount Batur.My journey by mini bus to Kintamani, where the Mount Batur lies left an unforgettable memory as it was my first time visiting the volcanic site.The surrounding is cold and awesome with the Mountain stand still seems ready to explode.Having my lunch at the local restaurant facing the mountain was absolutely a perfect day.Later,my visit to Lake Batur that created from the eruption of the mountain just added some sugar to the trip.

5. Beaches

Famous among the tourist, Kuta Beach has become a favourite for everyone who looks for water sport.The beach stretches as far as the eyes can see.The waves are suitable for surfing,that's one of the reason why the beach is always packed with surfers all around the world.I was lucky to stay at the hotel nearby the beach.I love to stroll along the beach watching people playing beach soccer,sunbathers in colourful swimsuit,paragliders in the air, masseurs doing their job..what more i can say.The beach is lively with different of activities.Besides Kuta, some other beaches such as Nusa Dua and Jinbaran offer a different panorama where these area preferred by people seeking for quite environment.

6. Arts & Crafts

Planning to bring something back home, Ubud area, Celuk and Mas village are the right places to go.Ubud is the place to look for amazing and quality painting but cheap in price.While Celuk and Mas village are home to wood carving and silver jewelery that offer variety of hand-made stuff.Watching the locals made the furniture using their own hands was a great experience.It is not an easy stuff but with the skill learned at an early age,the result is superb.

7. Temples

Hinduism is the most dominant religion being practice in Bali.It is no surprise to see countless of temples around the island.Either it is small or big temple,one thing for sure all of them carry the same Balinese architecture with the wall carving influenced from the ancient Hindu era.My visit to Taman Ayun Temple helped me to know about the Balinese culture and tradition even better.I'm impressed to see the multistoried roof and the surrounding of the temple which seems so peace and harmony.

I believe that Bali has a lot more to offer than what in this list. I wish I will have a chance to visit this Island again and explore another part of it.Bali,see you soon..