Princess of Hope

She stood there, namelessly, for God knows since when – right there in the wilderness along the coast of the Arabian Sea, wearing a royal robe and a hood. The wind whistled around her, teased her but she could not stop the winds as the fast blowing winds swept past her and blew dust around her. No one visited her and she felt extremely lonely. Her only companion in he area was a huge Sphinx of Giza, Egypt like feature who shared her loneliness.

Then one day she saw huge creatures, yellow in colour with black round objects making them move and cutting a way through the mountains. Then a black limning was put on the areas that were cut and leveled by the strange creatures that she hadn’t seen before. And then she saw people started to move in smaller creatures with speed on the black carpet spread near her. She saw one of the people stopping and looking at her with awe and wonder in his eyes. She was happy that she was finally found. More and more people started to visit her, staring at her and taking her photographs.

One day a tall woman flanked by others came all the way from Hollywood, started at her and then called her Princess of Hope. Suddenly from obscurity, she became famous and made headlines across the world. A blue board was erected on the road pointing towards her direction with her new name on it. The lady that gave her name was none other than Angelina Jolie, the famous Hollywood actress and the UN ambassador of goodwill.

The exact location of Princess of Hope is about 275 kilometers from Karachi. So if you live in Karachi or visiting Karachi, take a day off for a drive by taking the N25 national highway to Hub from Karachi. Passing near the post of Gadani, famous for its ship breaking industry, Wander and Sonmiani beach, the Makran Coastal Highway starts about 10 kilometers short of a place called Uthal with a clear blue sign indicating the direction. While N25 continues due north, the Makran Coastal Highway branches off towards west (left). Much before the village of Sangal, you will find dirt track leading to Chandargup towards your left. Chandargup is the highest mud volcano in the area.

In about three hours’ time one will reach the Hingol River and the Hingol national Park. From here you can also visit a Hindu temple called Nani Mandir, which is off the main highway by some 6 kilometres. But for doing so, you must have a good and robust jeep as ordinary cars may not reach the place. Nani Mandir is an important Hindu pilgrimage. The visit or the pilgrimage is also called ‘Nani ka Haj’.

Continuing your journey on the Marakn Coastal Highway after crossing the Hingol River, you will reach the Kund Malir Beach. From here the coastal highway moves directly up north entering you into the Buzi Pass. Flanked by the mud mountains, the road starts to turn towards west (left). From here one would first come across the Sphinx and then he Princess of Hope.

Going further west, the road would start to descend towards Rudeni Band and would finally lead to the Ormara seaport. The same road continues west towards Gwader, but that’s a long drive ahead. For a day’s journey, one should not go beyond Ormara, unless arrangements for night stay at Ormara are tied up.

Related Reading:

Pakistani Sphinx - a natural wonder of its own kind (Jaho Jalal)

Mud volcanoes of Pakistan (Jaho Jalal)

Hingol National Park (Pakistanpaedia)

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