Journey through time: Guided tours of the Walled City begin today

The first tour will be given today for the Amateur Gardeners’ Club.

LAHORE:

The Walled City of Lahore Authority on Saturday launched its guided tours of the Walled City.

The first guided tour will take place on Sunday (today). More than 150 women of the Amateur Gardeners Club (AGC) will be given a tour of the Walled City.

The tour will start at Delhi Gate. The participants will be taken first to Masjid Wazir Khan through Sabeel Wali Gali, Gali Surjan Singh, Muhammadi Mohallah, Phoolon Wali Gali, Gali Mian Sultan, Koocha Gubarchiyan, Gali Mian Sultan, Quraishi Wali Gali and Katra Neemwala.

The authority has arranged for some activities on the route to familiarise tourists with the Walled City’s culture. Stalls displaying traditional knick-knacks will be set up at Sabeel Wali Gali.

These tours will be conducted from 10am to 12 noon.

The restoration of the Shahi Guzargah is almost complete. The part from Delhi Gate to Masjid Wazir Khan has been opened.

WCLA Director General Kamran Lashari said the area used to be less frequented by tourists in the past but many had recently shown interest in visiting it, he said.

“I hope this tour has a snow ball effect,” he said. “We have trained 26 tourist guides. I am confident that they will conduct these tours with vigour and energy.” Deputy Director Tania Qureshi said, “We have worked really hard to train the guides. We have spent six months training them.”

She said the tour for the AGC would be the first of several planned tours. “We have advertised the guided tours on social media,” she said.

The AGC was charged Rs2,500 for the tour.

Tourist Guide Course coordinator Samina Fazil Khan said, “We selected boys and girls from the Walled City.” They had shown keen interest and participated in all the activities. Tourist guide Khairunisa said, “I am grateful to the WCLA for training me. I can now earn pocket money from these tours.” She said that she had not expected to be personally contacted by people to conduct guided tours. “But so many have...I guess this facility had been missing in Lahore,” she said.

Saeed Aziz, another tourist guide, said, “I wasn’t expecting such a good response from tourists. The WCLA has promoted our work on all platforms. I will encourage other boys and girls from the Walled City to participate in the next course.”

AGC president Nosheen Sarfraz said, “We are all very excited to visit the Walled City. This will be a new experience for us. The havelis and restored streets should be an amazing sight.” She said, “We need to promote our heritage and culture and show the world our best side.”

Published in The Express Tribune, December 15^th, 2013.