Islamabad

The cities in Pakistan are a little old fashioned and traditional. But Islamabad is different. It is the capital city and the most modern and clean city in Pakistan. The city is well organized and the entire city has been divided into various zones and sectors. There are eight sectors in the city. They have names like the commercial district, the industrial area, the diplomatic enclave, the educational sector and so on. Each of these sectors has their own shopping areas and a park to.

The famous Faisal mosque is in Islamabad. It is a beautiful mosque famous for its size and architecture. Islamabad is a young vibrant city. Another mosque, the huge Shah Fasial mosque in pristine white marble is enchanting and the sculpted gardens situated in Shakar Parian Hills provide a lovely view and the heritage Museum fascinates the visitor. These are the major places of interest in Islamabad.

The town of Taxila is quite near to Islamabad. Taxila is the famous town where Lord Buddha and the Sikh shrines influenced the world. It may be called a Sikh shrine and the Sikh community revere it. The history of Taxila dates back to 500 BC and it still has the old world charm to it. The sculptures of Taxila show a distinct Greek influence, this is chiefly so because of Alexander's passage through this region.

Blue area is the commercial/business centre of Islamabad and it runs through the entire length of Jinnah Avenue. The eastern road of the Jinnah Avenue runs towards the Parliament road, where as the name indicates, the seat of the government is located.

Islamabad has been built on an area which had thick forests, thus the city is still green and you see greenery everywhere around you. Earlier there were scrub forests in the area and there were large spans of open grounds. This gives the city a clean open look. The weather is pleasant and it is not uncommon to find many exotic plants in the city. The climate is conductive to exotic plants.

In Margalla hills there is plenty of wild life and thus the place has been converted into a national park. There are exotic birds and wild animals too. The endangered and rare Margalla leopard can be found there. The most distinguishing part of the Islamabad architecture is that it is a based on new and old. You see some really modern buildings along with the old traditional ones. One great example of this type of building is the Saudi Pak Tower. In this one building you see both new and old blended into the same structure.

The university Quaid-i- Azam University is located in Islamabad along with all other Embassies and government buildings. The national assembly building is the seat of power of Pakistan. In 2004 a giant globe of silver colour was installed to mark the hosting of SAARC summit in Pakistan that year.

Some of the well known hotels in Islamabad are Islamabad Marriot Hotel, Hotel Depapae, Islamabad Serena Hotel, and Hotel Islamabad Inn and besides these there are many budget hotels too like Shalimar Hotel, Hotel Islamabad and so on.