Grand Trunk Road: What Are Your Memories?

Posted on September 12, 2009
Filed Under >S.A.J. Shirazi, Travel
12 Comments
Total Views: 43760

S.A.J. Shirazi

Traveling on Grand Trunk Road all my life, it captured my imagination as a cultural curiosity when I read Rudyard Kipling’s Kim. At the beginning of the last century Kipling called it:

“a wonderful spectacle…. without crowding…. green-arched, shade-flecked … a river of life.”

But Pakistan’s National Highway Number 5 (N5), alias the Grand Trunk Road, or simply the GT Road, presents a different impression now.

Commuting up and down the GT Road are caravans of trucks, buses, cars, animals and animal transport also auto-rickshaws, all having equal right of the way. On the GT Road every bus, truck, and a car must pass the vehicle ahead. “The GT Road,” a veteran traveler John Otto wrote says, “really belongs to the trucker.” And he is right in a way. Have you traveled there lately? Seen any changes?

Photo Credits: WesternRaider

12 responses to “Grand Trunk Road: What Are Your Memories?”

  1. Darweesh says:

    Travel further from Jehlum towardsRawalpindi/Islamabad, after crossing “Trakki mountains” you find growing Abadis on both sides of the road but after Gujarkhan its more visible while Rawalpindi to Hassan Abdal its just passing through a long long Abadiwala bazar which has changed the whole culture of the region.

  2. Owais Mughal says:

    Over the years the changes that I’ve noticed around GT road (N5) is the complete population explosion. From Lahore to Jhelum, there is continuous ‘abaadi’ on both sides of the road. I can never tell anymore where Lahore’s ends and from where Gujranwala starts. There was a time when after crossing Ravi one could tell right away that Lahore has ended but not anymore. Same goes for Wazirabad and Gujrat which now appear to be twin cities connected together.

  3. Umar Shah says:

    Whether G.T road is N-5 or a portion of it is a question for the master of roads and transportation in Pakistan, Mr.Owais Mughal :)

  4. Rumi says:

    GT road and N-5 are the same thing? :s They must be different. reconsider it!

  5. Haroon says:

    If you think what a great marvel the GT Road has been throughout the ages it boggles the mind.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*