Rawalpindi

Mughal, Sikh, Afghan and British empires have all passed through Rawalpindi in the last 1,000 years, each adding their own touches to its fibre. However, there's been no change more defining to Rawalpindi than the planned construction of the Pakistani capital of Islamabad in the 1960s. This megacity capital was joined at the hip to old Pindi (as the place is known to locals), thereby bringing in jobs, industry, politics and plenty of more opportunities. Over the decades, Rawalpindi, despite being the older city by some millennia, settled in to play second fiddle. Its suburbs such as Bahria town were enriched with well-to-do housing, commuter trains whizzed to the new government offices to the north-east, and pretty parks like Ayub and Liaquat Bagh (now infamous as the site of so many political assassinations) were planted. History still abounds here; visitors can flit between the throbbing Saraf, Moti and Raja Bazaar, uncovering temples and old architecture in their midst. Also, be sure to ask your Rawalpindi tour guide about the Taxila tourist train for Buddhist relics, or trips to the Rohtas Fort for old Mughal tales.