Murree (Pakistan)

Murree is a great place to visit in Pakistan, it is located approximately 50 km North-East of Pakistan. It will take about an hour to reach Murree from Islamabad. 50 km in the U.K is not a lot, but in Pakistan due to the large amounts of Traffic congestion it will take longer than usual. The traffic congestion is so bad that you will a lot of the time about 4 lanes of traveling cars on a 3 lane road.

Another thing you have to take ...
...because in these colder seasons Murree is extremely cold and virtually impossible to go there for tourism purposes. The late spring and summer seasons are the best for tourists looking for a cool get away from the intense heat of ground level Pakistan.

Murree is one of the most popular summer destinations in Pakistan. In the summer the weather conditions are ideal for most, it is neither too hot nor too cold. On average it is about ... more

Murree is a great place to visit in Pakistan, it is located approximately 50 km North-East of Pakistan. It will take about an hour to reach Murree from Islamabad. 50 km in the U.K is not a lot, but in Pakistan due to the large amounts of Traffic congestion it will take longer than usual. The traffic congestion is so bad that you will a lot of the time about 4 lanes of traveling cars on a 3 lane road.

Another thing you have to take into account is what season you decide to travel to Murree. If you opt to go in the Winter or Autumn seasons you will have no major traffic problems leading to the destination. This is because in these colder seasons Murree is extremely cold and virtually impossible to go there for tourism purposes. The late spring and summer seasons are the best for tourists looking for a cool get away from the intense heat of ground level Pakistan.

Murree is one of the most popular summer destinations in Pakistan. In the summer the weather conditions are ideal for most, it is neither too hot nor too cold. On average it is about 12-16 degrees centigrade, as measured by my granddad's car in Pakistan when I visited Murree about 1 and a half years ago. The reason why Murree is much cooler than the rest of Pakistan is because it is much higher and is located on a range of hill/mountains.

With Murree located on such a place you can guess what the roads were like. The roads leading to the main area of Murree is a winding one, which seemed endless, due to the slow speeds you had to travel. The slow car speeds are necessary on the roads leading to Murree as the roads are winding and very bumpy.

Another reason why you have to travel fairly slowly on the roads of Murree is because on many turns on the roads, it is very difficult to predict whether an oncoming car is approaching or not. If you go too fast you are in danger of having a seriously fatal crash. Also parts of the road leading to the main bit are not protected by side rails, so there is a danger of falling off from the sides of the roads.

On the way up you will see many small shops, made from scrap materials. These many shops will consist of people selling food, clothes and other memorabilia. These shops are usually on much flatter parts of the upwards journey, but are still fairly awkward if you intend on visiting them and buying good from them. You have to be careful with some of these shops as they most probably will be selling items of low value and quality.

There are however, some exceptions on the upward journey. On the way up you will see many shops selling very good looking carpets and rugs, there will also be many small stops consisting of bearded men selling corn on the cobs, for a fairly cheap price. Last time I went to Murree the price of a cooked corn on the cob was 10 rupees which is approximately equivalent to 8 or 9 pence.

When you get near the top, you will see an array of wildlife ranging from different types of birds to monkeys. The most prominent wildlife will be monkeys, the type of monkeys were some sort of Pakistani baboons. I could tell this because of the DISTINCT features (e.g RED area of buttocks) LOL. The baboons were feisty creatures and pounced on the smallest chance of gaining some food. Some baboons even tried stealing from the people selling the food.

Finally, when you reach the uppermost level of Murree, accessible by a car you will find a range of much better looking shops and stores. Most shops and stores sold mainly food items and the occasional gifts/presents. There were a number of hotels present, but if you ask me they were of not a good quality. I went into a suggested 3-star hotel, which was abysmal and not worth the 3 star rating. I didn't really care as i wasn't going to stay there for the night.

Although, me and my family decided to have our lunch there. We ate at a family restaurant, which at the time was fairly empty and has enough room for all my family (including uncles and aunties from Pakistan). There was a total of 13 family members including me, the food was O.K for a reasonable price of 1200 Pakistani rupees, for a total of 13 people. What we had was the traditional Pakistani SALAN, with 13 naan breads, plus FREE water. The food was satisfying for the price charged. 1200 rupees is equivalent to just over £11.

After lunch, i noticed that a man had appeared with a gun and a board consisting of balloons. I guess he saw my football shirt, guessed that i was from a foreign country and wanted to make some money out of me. The aim of the game was to shoot the board of balloons, without missing. The gun was not a PROPER one, just a nail shooting one. The man said if you get all the balloons without missing you get your money back, and if i missed a single balloon then i would have to pay double. All was going well, until i had about 6 balloons left from a total of about 30. The man took the gun from me and re-loaded it, and as soon as i took the gun from him and aimed at a balloon i missed and had to pay up.

I didn't notice but my uncle did, he noticed that the man tampered with the gun somehow causing me to miss. I payed the man the money before my uncle had a moment to stop me. My uncle requested the money back, but was unsuccessful in his attempts. I told my uncle that it was no big deal as it cost me a total of 50 rupees (about 45 p).

After lunch we went on the chair lifts, which take you up to the peak of Murree. The chair lifts were about 50 p per person. The trouble with the chair lifts was that they were endlessly moving and you had to get on them whilst they were moving and also get off them whilst they were moving. This was no big deal for me as I was young and agile, but for the older generation it was a different story. They found it much more difficult because of obvious reasons.

Once at the peak, I was truly amazed at the perfect scenes of natural beauty. We were so high up, the clouds were on the same level (NO JOKE). On the peak you have options such as taking horse rides, taking photos of the beautiful scenery's or simply having a sit down and enjoying some nice drinks. After the many drinks i had i obviously had to go to the loo. This was difficult as all the loos were grimy and were the traditional Pakistani toilets, where you cannot sit down as the toilet is just a hole.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Murree and would visit again. The only downside would be the toilets and non-stop chair lifts, which pose a problem for elderly people or people with physical problems.

Thank you for reading my review of Murree, hope you enjoyed it. I'm sorry to say i have no photographs as i didn't take any, i only took a video camera and i only have a video of Murree. 

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