The tour with Amal family
By: Zain Ul Abdin
Tags: Travel Writing, Batch 127, Amal Fellowship

Last week, we the fellows of batch 127 happened to visit Khewra Salt mines and Kitas Raj Temple alongside our Program Manager and Program Associate at Amal Academy. The visit was the part of the fellowship and everybody was informed about the plan one day before leaving for it. The time decided for departure was 6:30–7:00 am to ensure timely return as weather was expected to be more foggy at night which may hinder driving as well.

It was 5th of January 2020 and as per plans everybody willing was on the meeting point in time. It took a little extra time in doing breakfast as it was arranged beforehand. We left for the Khewra Salt Mines by 9:00 am. The great journey has been started which was our 1st and last outdoor session as well as a final meetup.

It was a great day. I had the most comfortable seat in front line which didn’t let me feel tired throughout the travel. Cool breeze was blowing and light music was adding beauty to the whole scene. By we get into almost the half way the demands of some quality performances (on music being played) started to growl till one of our fellows who is really good at dance presented some of his moves which entertained us all. Gradually everyone started to participate in it and this made 1st half of our day one of the most colorful ones. We enjoyed music, did dance, played antakshiri (a musical game) and a lot other stuff.

Fellows of B127 doing fun in the bus

Then we stopped near a filling station (near Khewra) where our fellows from B128 were present as well. We gathered and photographed this beautiful moment

Fellows of Batch 127 and Batch 128

Soon we reached Khewra Salt Mines, the second biggest salt mines in the world and biggest in Asia

Entrance to Khewra Salt Mines

I alongside my fellows strolled here and there in the salt mine, observing various interesting spots. I have been there for the first time so was surprised to see the salt rocks making all of the mine

This water was surprisingly crystal clear!

And the mine as a whole was structured as a tunnel. So many thanks to this rail track, this made our day

And finally some photography session at Khewra

On departure from Khewra we headed towards Katas Raj Temple, the one with thousands of years of history in it. Right after 30 minutes, we were at Katas Raj Temple

A picture near main Katas Raj Temple

The site consists of 4 temples, one for each of Sri Shiv, Sri Hanuman, Raam and one other

Temple of Shri Shiv

Temple of Hanuman

After spending couple of minutes here, we headed towards our last spot which was “Khabbeki Jheel” near Kalar Kahar

A view of Khabbeki Lake

Here we spent our last couple of minutes, taking rides, playing games and doing much more of the fun. Now it was the time to leaving off for dinner before departure

Group photo of Batch 127 taken before departing Khabbeki Lake

We stopped near a restaurant for dinner

Then left for our destination, the home. It was the beginning of the ending and we all were sad at it. However in order to keep things lighter we played the songs and did some really great performances as well. It was the best high ever

The final group photo

This one journey was very different from what we fellows have been through the entire 3-months and this reinforced our belief that Amal is a journey, not a destiny. We had the fun together. Our program manager Ma’am Anum Nasir told us how close ties we made with each others and with her as well and she gave us compliments and feedback on individual basis which was soothing. The ending was not however very peaceful as some of us guys were burst into emotions. However this journey and having lots of fun together shaped us as the family which we commit to be so even after the fellowship.