An unexpected work trip brought me and some colleagues to Karachi, Pakistan. Besides being the capital of Sindh province in South Pakistan, Karachi is also the country’s major commercial and industrial centre. The 3D2N trip offered a glimpse into the country which I would not otherwise have a chance to visit due to safety concerns. Karachi incidentally has one of the highest crime rates in Asia, which will make any traveller rightly concerned about safety. It was both nerve-rattling and reassuring to see rifle toting police on the streets and patrolling on vehicles.
Karachi is a city marked by a wide disparity in the wealth of its residents. From the airport on our way to the hotel, we saw streets with shabby houses and shops. Garbage and debris in heaps and piles every now and then. The shops appeared to be selling old, dusty stuff from decades before and tired-looking shopkeepers sat in front with their wares looking frozen in time. On the other end, we saw big posh bungalows with high walls surrounding them on our way to work. Heard from the locals, the gap is growing wider.
View of the streets of Karachi from a moving car.
Though the buildings in the city are mostly in neutral colours due to maintenance considerations and hence the cityscape looks kind of monotonous but the large vehicles on the roads don’t look dull at all. Here majority of buses, trucks and tankers are individually decorated in eye-catching, multi-coloured designs.
Passed by one of its famous landmark, Frere Hall, located just opposite our hotel.
I stayed at Karachi Marriott Hotel, one of two that are the best in the city. Karachi is not a place for mass tourism, hence good quality hotels are lacking. To get into the hotel, we had to go through stringent security checks but it was worth the effort for the peace of mind it provides its guests. The hotel is well-maintained though the age clearly shows.
My deluxe room which was ‘home’ for 3 nights. The room is clean and spacious but comes with a price tag of US$197 + 13% tax per night including breakfast.
The usual room amenities:
The breakfast spread was really generous and wide-ranging with local food choices as well as international.
In the upscale Dolmen shopping mall where our team had lunch at their food court.
The food court has rows of fast food outlets on one side and spacious seating areas on the other.
In Karachi, it is easy to satisfy cravings for fast food with MacDonalds, KFC, Subway and Starbucks readily available though I didn’t try them. Instead, I tried something more local from ChaChaJee fast food restaurant. We ordered a traditional thali meal to share which consisted of behari boti (bbq boneless meat), biryani rice, mughlai chicken (chicken in mild creamy gravy), chicken ginger, 2 naans, 1 paratha, raita and salad. The set with 2 soft drinks cost KPR995 (US$6.30).
The weather in Karachi is usually hot and humid, yet it has a dessert climate and seldom rains, perhaps 2-3 times a year according to locals. During this time if the year, temperatures usually hit 40-42 degC during the day. Thankfully for me, the weather was not so punishing during our visit, ranging from 31-33 degC, which also shows its mercurial nature. Due to the dry climate, the surrounds frequently appeared to be dusty, so much so that I could not see far into the horizons.
The only place of interest I visited is Clifton Beach during sunset. Clifton Beach is on the Arabian Sea, with long stretch of clean, dark, fine sand. The folding waves rolled gently onto the sand while families had fun in the shallow waters. Try camel-riding at PKR100/pair (equivalent to US$0.70) for a quick 5-min walk along the beach and into the shallow water. It was fun but too bumpy for me to take any photo of the sea which was a pity.
Due to the pricking heat, the locals usually venture outdoors after sunset and thus dining-out means eating at late hours. Dinner time is usually after 8pm with some restaurants opening only after this time till late. If you have dinner appointment with Karachiites, the meeting time tends to be from 8.30pm.
Food is something I experienced most in Karachi. Pakistani cuisine is a subset of Indian cuisine as Pakistan is part of India for most of history. Cuisine from Sindh province is characterised as ‘highly seasoned’ and ‘spicy’. Besides 2 lunches, the team had all our meals in the hotel since we did not want to venture out due to safety concerns. My first meal in Pakistan is chicken jalfrezi, a traditional curry cooked with marinated meat in medium spiced gravy.
Biryani, a beloved staple of Pakistani, is a rice dish cooked with meat, a variety of spices, yoghurt, onions, potatoes and tomatoes. Served with yoghurt and vegetable salad, it makes a hearty meal.
Tried beef paya and chicken nehari during breakfast too, another 2 of their traditional dishes. Nehari is a slow-cooked thick curry while beef paya is a dish of beef trotters cooked in a base of onions and garlics with herbs and spices.
My room service dinner of spicy vegetable cutlet (KPR850) and Yakhni Shahi Shorba, Pakistan’s traditional spiced clear chicken soup. Noticed every time a soup is ordered during a meal, it is accompanied by a generous basket of bread. The vegetable cutlet was made from breaded fried mashed potatoes mixed with cumin seeds, chilli and chopped vegetables and very filling. The soup had a greenish tint and was good, though it will be much better if they can have lesser oily floating on top of the soup. The local cuisine, I observed, tends to be on the oily side.
Lunch at an organic food cafe serving Western and Pakistani cuisine.
Tried their Mulligatawny soup (bottom left), a rich creamy lentil soup with grains of basmati rice and spiced with curry powder which was really good. My main course was Pakistani omelette with paratha (top left), eaten with pickled green chilli, and tea (bottom right). The omelette, with shredded vegetables and chilli, was only average. Their beef tawa qeema (top right) was flavourful and went well with paratha.
Being a cautious traveller, this trip is a memorable experience to a country which I may otherwise not have a chance to visit.
