I managed a sasta and tikao Karachi to Lahore trip.
What happens when everyone that you know in another city (literally all of the two people you know) decide to get married in peak travel season? The airfares for a one-way ticket from Lahore to Karachi and vice versa are over PKR 25,000.
And considering you’re a strong independent woman, you have to pay your own way. But what if you’re a strong independent and frugal woman? That causes an issue. I wasn’t ready to shell out thousands of rupees when I was already spending so much on the clothes for the wedding and what not.
I mean, attending weddings when you’re a woman isn’t cheap. And this was my best friend’s wedding we are talking about. Of course, I had to be there with all new wedding clothes! That meant trying to save up on other costs, e.g. on travel.
And because I was traveling alone, going by train did not seem like a safe option for me. Unless I booked a whole dabba which come on, isn’t happening on my budget either.
So what was left? The old trusty bus ride. So I set off on finding how long the trip takes and it was a whopping 23 hours. NO THANKS. I cannot sit cramped up on a bus for that long, my knees would give up. Well, that’s what I thought anyway.
So, I decided to break my journey in a city midway between Karachi and Lahore; Rahimyarkhan. Lucky for me, I have relatives in the area. However, there are a lot of hotels, guests houses and even hostels in the city in which you can rent a room for the night to rest before you go on the second leg of your journey.
You could opt to stop at various cities at the halfway mark such as Sadiqabad or even Bahawalpur. Plus, with this, there’s the added bonus of seeing a beautiful city!
And did I mention it’s cheaper as well? Karachi to Lahore directly costs about PKR 4,500. But Karachi to Rahimyarkhan is PKR 1,500 and then Rahimyarkhan to Lahore is PKR 1,520. So the night at the guest house should pretty much be covered by this cost.
And another thing I would recommend is to travel at night, this way you spend the entire or a majority bus ride sleeping and get to your destination early morning. I opt for 9 PM buses since they reach the destination by 7 AM. Every time I have traveled the same distance during the day, I have been incredibly restless and annoyed.
And if you’re someone who gets motion sickness, eat a Gravinate, the medicine also has sedative properties and wah, kya neend ati hai.
As for my journey itself, I was well prepared. Since I was traveling alone I did not want to get off from the bus more than needed. This is why I started fasting a few hours before I had to travel. You don’t need to do this but I thought it was necessary for long travel.
And inside the bus, I opted not to eat or drink anything as well. I might have had a glass of water when I wear nearing my destination, but that was about it. I did not have to get off from the bus and leave my things unguarded. But if you happen to find a nice companion in the seat next to you, then you can ask them to keep an eye on your belongings and get off the bus to stretch your legs.
I also charged my laptop and took some movies with me which I had been intending to watch. The selection on the bus is not always to your liking even though this trip, they surprised me by playing Adam Sandler’s Anger Management.
In the end, the trip was great and I wasn’t tired or worn out like I would be had I traveled the whole 23-hour stretch all at once. I would totally recommend doing this because I saved so much money and got to enjoy the scenery all the way from Karachi to Lahore. Totally worth it.
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Cover Image Source: pulsenews.co.kr