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On the west bank of the Indus, 350 miles from Karachi lies Moenjodaro (Mound of the Dead), an archaeological site which has been rated amongst the most spectacular of the world's ancient cities. Considered one of the earliest and most developed of urban civilizations, Moenjodaro flourished from the third to the middle of the second millennium B.C., when it vanished, leaving only traces of its culture. Moenjodaro, along with Harappa - some 800 miles away - formed part of the Indus valley civilizations and it is now generally believed that these were the cities, referred to in the Rigveda, that were destroyed by Aryan invaders.

The urban planning at Moenjodaro was pragmatic and at a high level. Its main thoroughfares were some 300 feet wide and were crossed by straight streets that formed blocks 400 yards in length and 200/300 yards in width. The walls of the city's mud-brick and baked-brick houses were designed to ensure the safety of its occupants so that in times of earthquakes the structures collapsed outwards. It had an elaborate covered drainage system, soak pits for disposal bins, a state granary, a large and imposing building that could have been a palace, and a citadel mound with solid burnt-brick towers on its margin. Judging from the remains, the Great Hall was probably the most striking of its structures, comprising an open quadrangle with verandahs of four sides, galleries and rooms at the back, a number of halls and a large bathing pool perhaps used for religious or ceremonial bathing.

Hyderabad, once the capital of Sindh and now the third largest city of Pakistan, is one of the oldest cities of the sub-continent. Its history dates back to pre-Islamic times, when Ganjo Taken (barren hill), a nearby hilly tract, was used as a place of worship. The city traces its early history to Neroon, a Hindu ruler of the area from whom the city derived its previous name, "Neroon Kot" (Fort of Neroon). The next important phase of its history began when the Indus changed its course from Khudabad.

The monuments of the Kalhora and Talpur rulers and the bazaars of the city are worth visiting. Stretching from Hyderabad fort to the Market Tower is Shahi Bazaar, where well-stocked shops are housed on both sides of a winding street, and alongside a maze of tiny lanes that run off it. Good buys are calico, embroidery, bracelets, lacquered wood furniture, hand-loom cloth, "sousi" and "ajrak", "rilli", block printed colorful "chadars" (shawls) bangles, shoes and glazed tiles. Hyderabad is connected with the main cities of the country by road, rail and air links.