Taxila

I visited Taxila from Islamabad a few days ago. I would recommend the trip to anyone who is spending more than a few days in Islamabad, but I did much prefer Makli and the Mughal sites in Lahore (I haven't visited Rohtas Fort, Moenjodaro, or Takht-i-Bahi). The positives of visiting Taxila are the ease of getting here, the large number of sites, and how unique it is to see ancient Buddhist artifacts in Pakistan. The negatives were the visible degradation, the lack of helpful signage to understand what you are seeing, and the too persistent guides.

Positives:

The museum, not technically one of the UNESCO sites, is where you should start and is one of the nicer museums I've been to in Pakistan. Taxila is unique for the multitude of different cultures, peoples, and religions that coexisted and succeeded each other. You will hear about, if not really understand that you're seeing evidence of, Greek paganism, Jains, Zoroastrians, and Christians, in addition to the Greco-Buddhist art. If you have visited the temple of the tooth in Kandy, you will be pleased to see that the Thai government has sponsored an exhibit here where two other of Buddha's teeth supposedly are. I found the Greek artistic influences on the Buddhas and scenes of worshippers fascinating. You can see evidence of this influence in the Corinthian columns, hair swirls, and the style of the togas. Some of the scenes in relief are preserved in great detail, but it would have …

It took me 2 years to get into Pakistan. 4 trips to the embassy to request a hiking trip up around Gilgit coming from the Karakoram Highway but I still couldn't convince the officer it was safe and the tour agency didn't seem helpful once they got their money for an invitation letter. Since then there is e-visa. For me I have to apply for a business visa, also a first, but it seems most arriving on a business don't really business here and just pay for an invitation letter. On the other hand, visa fee was waived.

The immigration officer fell heads over heals for me (alternate motive? paving a path to get abroad or my getting his hands on my imaginary monopoly money piles? Second wife? But anyhow he offered to take me out to Mardan and Taxila and my welcome to Pakistan couldn't be better. I met him up at the Taxila museum which I explored on my own. There is a nice app for the museum that will make some display cases easier to understand, although the security guard gave me a rundown of the first one as well (I stopped him not wanting a guide or start shelling out tips for services I didn't ask for). Whereas the museum isn't bad and makes for a good introduction, it's a real shame that they ripped out many artefacts from the original locations to display here.

Second stop was Jaulian, the old monastery. This is …

Taxila is one of those archaeological sites which seem to have a bit of everything - remains of different cultures from Mesolithic to Mediaeval encompassing Buddhism, Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, Islam and Christianity, connections with Alexander the Great and the Silk Road and a great story of late 19th and early 20th century archaeology. It is not a single excavated city but a whole series of remains spread out across the Taxila valley around 30kms NW of Islamabad just where the foothills of the Himalaya begin to become really noticeable. This location put it literally at a “cross roads” of 3 trading routes. In terms of what there is for the average interested person to view, these relate primarily to the period between 2nd C BC and 4th C AD focussed on a Buddhist culture known as Gandharan.

There are at least 50 different sites in the valley, of which 18 have been given ID numbers by UNESCO so you will need to choose between these taking into account your available time, means of transport and interests! There is also a fine museum which needs to be fitted in, both for what it has on show and for its early 20th C ambiance with high wooden ceilings, wonderful glass cabinets, brass fittings and leather chairs! It is also something of a shrine to Sir John Marshall who spent some 20 years excavating at Taxila, initiated its construction and whose office is still on show. My recommendation would be to go to …

I've visited Taxila twice in May 2004; the site can easily be reached from the Grand Trunk Road, which connects Islamabad and Peshawar.

There are several subsites at Taxila, such as Bhir Mound (the oldest part), Sirkap and Sirsukh (two later cities), a giant stupa, a Greek-style temple (called Jandial) and several Buddhist monasteries. A bicycle or a rented taxi can be useful, because the distances between these parts of Taxila are pretty large. At all these sites, it is easy to hire an English-speaking guide, but I was not always impressed by their quality.

The museum is excellent.

More info at http://www.livius.org/ta-td/taxila/taxila.htm