On a warm Friday night this Ramadan, we at Karachista decided to venture out to hop onto Super Savari Express’ Land and Sea Sehri Tour. Touring the historic sites of Karachi by night on land and sea, eating Karachi’s celebrated delicacies, we couldn’t think of a better way to enjoy this Ramadhan with our friends and family. An enjoyable alternative to the typical cafe’s and restaurants, we were pleasantly surprised with the experience.
At 10 PM our excited group assembled at the Super Savari Express office opposite Hotel Metropole, eagerly awaiting the unfolding of the night’s events. In no time, we all huddled onto the fluorescently lit bus. Equipped with straw ‘pankhas’ to beat the heat and our phones charged to capture all insta-worthy moments, we set off to our first destination- Burns Road. Upon reaching Burns Road after a brief ride through the streets of Saddar we started off with ‘Dehli Walay Aloo’ and Cholay courses at a roadside dhaaba. After enjoying the sweet delectable cholay and aalo- a quintessential Ramadhan dish, we headed onto our next destination: TDF Ghar. TDF Ghar is a restoration project funded by the Dawood Foundation. With a stellar view of Quaid-e-Azam’s Mazaar (Karachi’s Landmark destination) from TDF Ghar’s rooftop, we enjoyed the romantic summer breeze of Karachi.
After peering through the restored lobby of TDF Ghar, we rushed back to the bus to secure places on the top to have an unobstructed view of the beautiful city as we drove past the roads of Karachi. Our next destination, aligned with the spirituality of the month of Ramadan: Abdullah Shah Ghazi’s Mazaar. Although the Mazaar is closed for the public at night, we were able to go all the way up and inside without the rush and hustle bustle ever present at the Mazaar. After marveling at the ornate mosaics inside the Mazaar, we exited the shrine of Karachi’s patron saint and headed onto explore a different area of Karachi.
We then headed onto Keamari Port and transferred onto a boat adorned with luminescent light, a Super Savari classic. In the midst of the sea, we gorged on delicious and tangy spicy aalo’s with fried naans and saccharine matka kulfi for dessert. As the boat lulled to the waves, we ate, enjoyed with our friends and danced to the blaring music on the boat.
Next, we headed to Cafe Bogie at the City Railways Station on Chundrigar Road. Here we played a competitive and thrilling game of ‘ludo’ while the Cafe resounded the soothing compositions of Coke Studio hits. Here we had the special Cafe Bogie Sandwiches and cheesy deep-pan pizzas. To re-energize ourselves we all indulged ourselves with a cup of sweet chai and sealed the deal with a bite of paan. As we drove past Chundrigar Road and Merewether Tower back towards the Super Savari Express office, we concluded the tour and headed home, feeling nostalgic and definitely more connected with the city we call home.
Photo credits: Ariaana Khan – Instagram handle: @iakshutter
