Sindh

* The southernmost province of Pakistan takes its name from Sindhu, a Sanskrit name for the Indus River, which bisects the province and brings it life. Until the completion of a huge dam at Sukkur in 1932 most of Sind (or Sindh) was barren desert, but irrigation has restored a wide swath through the lower Indus flood plain.


* Sind was called the 'Unhappy Valley' or the 'Land of Uncertainties' by ancient travellers who marched through the scorching deserts of Persia and Baluchistan for long, wearying weeks towards the Indus - only to find its valley depressingly and and barren. It's also a land of sheesharn and pipal trees, darting parrots, bright kingfishers that flash along the river banks, and white herons perched on the backs of water buffaloes.


* In the hot season the landscape shimmers and its greys, browns and reds turn creamy-white. Wind-driven dust and sand create a haze which can turn the sun red or blot it out. Along the coast this is the time when fishing ceases and marriages take place, when at the full moon villagers, fakirs, snake charmers and musicians climb to mountain shrines for all-night feasts. In autumn the coastline is suffused with colour, the sky and sea tinted with crimson.

Pakistan has well defined seasons; Winter (December - February), Spring (March - April), Summer (May - September) and Autumn (October - November). During summer in plains, the temperature may go as high as 45C. Between July and August, the monsson brings an average 38 to 51 cm of rain to plains and 152 to 203 cm in tower Himalayan valleys of Murree. Average temperatures of some of the main cities and tourist places are as under.