Photo by Usman Asad

‘The octopus fell from the twenty-fourth floor like a shooting star;
As he crossed each floor he said, “I’m alright so far”.’
Quoted in Blue Chip magazine, July 2007

Located in the Potohar Plateau in the north west of the Pakistan, and often described as being “25 km from the rest of the country” (though fast careering towards it on many fronts), Islamabad the Beautiful, as it is known, definitely has its moments, which in fact owe much to that 25km conceptual distance. Though not an organically-developed city - (it was designed by the Greek architect Doxiadis during the 60’s as a grid-based triangle with its apex facing the Margalla Hills) - it has evolved from its bureaucrat-dominated planned origins into a very pleasant, very green, pretty well organised and actually very liveable town. (Well, mostly – though the current security situation needs close watching, and close adherence to security advice from your governments…..)

Photo from www.worldisround.com

Architecturally, it veers between 60’s style low-rise bungalows, monolithic marble government structures, modern Gulf-style imperial mini-palaces, and high rise towers (including the up and coming monolith, the Centaurus). It is basically quite different from most people’s preconceived concepts of “what Pakistan is like”, in that it is not crowded, not dirty, not full of veiled women (the temporary Ninja Chicks with Sticks phenomenon excluded) and lacks any sign of true colonial heritage - (other than in the attitude of its bureaucrats who sadly are far from a dying breed).

Nestling at the foot of the Margallas, (map of Islamabad) full of huge, mature flowering trees, hedges of bougainvillea and greenery, not (yet) polluted - it is a true oasis both in terms of visuals, its relative diversity of population (ie you see foreign faces and they are not stared at, which is rare in the rest of the country), and climate, which is significantly better by several degrees than most of the rest of Pakistan. http://www.wunderground.com/global/stations/41571.html

In fact, part of its unique character and appeal in the climatic context of Pakistan is that it actually has four seasons – brief though spring and autumn may be, at least they are there, for three to four weeks each, though change of season also signals the onset of hay fever for many, which kicks in twice a year when the weather changes).

Chill out with your coffee in the morning on a terrace watching the sparkling green parakeets flitting in pairs between the trees, or sit out on your verandah at night, with a glass in hand, watching the stars. Intermittently functioning street lights make for great star-gazing.

Isloo, as it is affectionately known by ChI’s, used to be considered a small sleepy town, where people went to bed at ten o’clock at night because there was nothing to do. No longer! While it’s certainly not the bustling metropolis that is Karachi (with all the attendant hassles of an insufficiently-developed mega city with security problems), or the bourgeois/conservative, traditional, food-centred culture of Lahore, Isloo definitely has its good points. And the Socialite Party Scene (led by the Sofa Brigade) can be quite relentless.

However, the place really empties out on public holidays (such as the two Eids, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eid_ul-Fitr  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eid_ul-Adha  which fall two months apart, and because they are calculated according to the moon, shift backwards annually by about two weeks.)

And sadly, since the September 2008 bombing of the Marriott hotel, even the Socialites are holding back….but being the place it is, it is sure to re-bound.

Isloo was once memorably described in a local newspaper as “taking on the look of a hollow-eyed virgin” on such occasions, when most Isloo-ites head out for their home bases elsewhere in the country. It is a somewhat transient city – though the transience can last quite a number of years, as many will testify, and this can be as much by choice as through force of circumstance.
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ChI Stays At…..
Recommended hotels - (though there are of course others…)

•  The Serena, for almost-5-star quality (and 5-star rating). Not cheap, but an oasis of civilisation.

•  The Villa (boutique hotel/guest house) on St 12 in F6/3 - (cleared for security by a number of international agencies), is a pleasant, well equipped alternative to the few high-end hotels in town. Tel +92 300 8500077; email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

•  The now-bombed out Marriott holds affectionate memories for ChI, but let’s see what the new version (due to open by January 2009) brings…. But never The Holiday Inn – too close to the Lal Masjid, for starters.

•  The under construction 7-star Centaurus, if and when it is completed and becomes a Conrad Hilton, will be checked out and quality-assured by ChI.