Sarah Jordan: Christmas Day 2019

We depart the house a little later than planned on Wednesday 25 December as the driver was running a bit late. The roads are basically empty so it’s a quick drive to the starting point.

Team super savari is ready for the city tour!

Now the waiting really begins. There is a group of 16 who are super late. On arrival they then complain they don’t have their own bus. Sorry but turn up on time if you want that!

Due to lots of places being closed today for Christmas Day we are informed there will be a few changes to the original plan. Hey ho. I enjoy watching the world go by! Our first stop has us seeing LOTS and LOTS of pigeons. No thanks, I don't want a photo with them.....

On the walk to breakfast we are shown a couple of buildings with different types of Pakistani architecture.

Breakfast is an omelette and roti prata and I elect for black tea instead of Chai.

Back onto the bus the number of people around has increased tenfold. The city is coming alive now (10.20am).

A few minutes around the road we stop at the Empress Market.

The Empress Market was constructed between 1884 and 1889 and today remains an important place for locals to do their daily / weekly shopping (both food items as well as stationary, materials, textiles and even pets..

I loved wandering around looking at all the stalls - fruit, vegetables, nuts, pasta, knives and the list goes on. We have a coconut juice each which once finished we have cut into and eat the flesh.

St Patrick’s Church was closed so we couldn’t go there or even close by as they had closed the roads for the Christmas Day services.

Next stop is The Dawood Foundation (TDF), this is a restored house open to the public – aiming to promote informal learning spaces in Karachi. It’s a calm oasis from the busy Karachi streets! We wander from room to room, enjoying both the different exhibits as well as the different types of tiles of the floor.

Back into the truck we go – this time to the Port Trust building. What an impressive building this is!! No entrance for us today, instead we wander down the basically empty (apart from a group of children playing cricket) street to the end before returning again.

Our final stop of the City Tour is at the Mohatta Palace, which is now a Museum. When it was built (in the 1920’s) it was for a summer house for a Hindu businessman.

Before entering the museum instead we are informed we need to leave our cell phones with the tour guide. Hmmmm, ok then. Phones down, away we go.

Driving back to the starting point of the tour we take turns being a local and hanging out the door while the truck is moving. Great fun!!!

Its been great having our own special tour guide – Zubair – along the way!

We are dropped off where we started the tour; luckily for us the Karachi Gymkhana Club is a short hop step and jump away and as Zubair is a member (and is required to spend money there) we decide to head there for lunch.