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  • Writer's pictureAstrid Wells Cooper

Islamabad

Islamabad, Pakistan


I’m pleased to e-meet you, Islamabad, and congratulations on your label: Capital City of Pakistan.


You’re not a huge city, in fact you’re the 9th largest in Pakistan but you are known as having the highest standard of living, of being the safest and having the most abundant greenery.

Frankly Islamabad, you have surprised me!

Honestly, I didn’t really know much about you at all. I admit I had a few vague, preconceived notions of you, but you have proved them wrong.

Firstly, I never thought you would be so lush and beautiful. You snuggled yourself into the Himalaya’s when you were built in 1960’s like a child burrowing into their Grandfathers lap.

Next, I assumed you would be super-hot and dry. And yes, you do get hot but with a median temperature of 21 degrees, your sub-tropical climate seems quite familiar to this Brisbane resident.

Your 5 seasons, all the traditional ones plus Monsoon Rain, keep everything lush and green.


If I come to visit, I’ll check out your impressive Pakistan monuments. I like that your tourist places are shiny and new instead of the cliched castles and ruins. Blah, Blah. I think it’s really lovely that the four petals symbolise the unity of the Pakistani people. That’s real neighbourly, Islamabad!


I might also check out your very impressive Faisal Mosque built in 1986, it’s also super shiny and new and the gardens look really pretty.

But your biggest surprise, (and I would never have guessed this), was that you have Margalla Hills National Park right on your doorstep.

I’d like to catch an Uber to Daman-e-Koh to see the view from the gardens. With a few friendly monkeys.

I think I’d really love to explore your National Park. You tell me I’d only have to walk for an hour or two to reach the real actual Himalayas! (Well their foothills, anyway. Still counts!)

Yes, you may have made your Margalla Hills National Park rugged, steep and with near vertical slopes, but it is home to leopards, barking deer, pangolins and porcupines. EEP!




Islamabad, despite your shiny, new surface, let’s not forget you were built on ancient lands and the very first human settlements in Asia are thought to be underneath you. You say you’ve got relics going back 50 000 years – that’s a pretty big claim, Islamabad!

I might check out all your old stuff (and the really, really old stuff) at the Pakistan Museum of Natural History.



Now, I’m an ocean type and I sometimes feel a little claustrophobic in the middle of a continent. Luckily you built a man-made lake in the middle of a desert so I could always head over to Lake Rawal for a little play on the water or a picnic at the park.


I love a market as much as the next locked down e-traveller, but I feel like I our friendship is at a level where I can say this now, erm, Islamabad, your markets were a little off brand.

Not so shiny now… You kept this side of yourself well hidden.

Here are some things I learnt about you, Islamabad:

· You like to chuck a wobbly. You’re built on in an active seismic zone, so I’ll need to be prepared to stand in a doorway and cross my fingers when you decide that your milkshakes bring all the boys to the yard.

· The official language is Urdu but most people speak Punjabi. I speak neither. Awks.

· Your taxis don’t have meters and when a person arrives at their destination, the driver will ask them to pay as much as they like. Also, awks. Ubers are generally agreed to be cheaper and less ambiguous.

Look, Islamabad. I applaud your effort. Your city looks really pretty, and you’ve done a great job to create something out of not much. Great choice of block – location, location, location and all that. It just feels like maybe you are taking yourself a bit too seriously. No offence, it’s just that I do feel more comfortable in a city with a sense of humour. And I don’t think you’re being honest with yourself. You have to live your truth, Islamabad!

I’m not saying I would never come and check you out in the reals, but I have relegated you to my B-List at this stage. Soz.





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