Went to Rohtas last Saturday (Sept. 26, 2015), which was the second day of Eid-al-Azha.

A very different experience from the last reviewer, who went on Ashura a couple years ago.

As for the fort itsself, you can find a pictures all over the web, so I'll describe more of the personal experience here.

First off, there were no police or any restrictions. Eid is a happy holiday whereas Ashura is not, and there were throngs of people in good moods. It seems all the young ladies were home cooking (it was the second day of the Thanksgiving-like Eid, after all), and the ratio of men:women was seriously skewed ~ probably 10:1. There were some families with children (including us), but primarily the other visitors on this day were young men in groups of two or three. As a female blonde Caucasian in Western clothes, there were a couple comments in Urdu (ignored) only one request for a selfie (declined) and so no problem in the harassment department given the attitudes of many non-metropolitan Pakistani young men. There were a couple of agressive young (female) beggars (also declined/ignored)that were more annoying.

We happily overpaid (it was Eid, our kids run all over) a guide Rps. 500 ($5) to show us around and explain the Fort for a couple hours. Normally you should pay the guide ~Rps. 100/hr. ($1/hr.), regardless of how many in your group. The freindly and helpful guide had passable English and passable knowledge of the fort.

The biggest disappointment of the trip was the access road from G.T. to the fort. It's 8km long, and a total mess. A Jeep or other off-road vehicle would be ideal. It was deeply rutted, muddy in parts, narrow in parts. It was obviously a construction project started and abandoned mid-way. The piles of rocks/materials are beside the road in some places, in one lane is paved, and there's a two foot drop off to the other lane. Just really bad. The whole slow tortuous way we were bemoaning corrupt Pakistani politicians and how they get money and then only do half the job. But then we got there and saw the USAID sign. How embarassing. "This improved experience, brought to the Pakistani people by the American people..." or something equivalent. If we're going to abandon a project, at least take down the sign. It didn't come from the American people, it was the American government, and it nothing to be proud of.

So, the phyiscal fort itsself? Impressive. Big. Old. Scary - there are few handrails, you can fall off the ramparts, into the dungeon, well, etc. It was designed as a fort, after all, not a child-friendly tourist experience. Anyone contemplating visiting Rohtas will likely know that Pakistan is not a place that puts a priority on safety. Be careful. Check your vertigo at the massive gate. If you stop to see the snake charmer, stand back, those are real king cobras in those baskets, and there's no medical facility that can treat snakebite within a half-hour/hour at least.

But, yeah, it was great. We had a fun afternoon there. It was inexpensive (we paid the local price of 20 Rupees (20 cents) each. Parking was free. The kids could run around and climb the ramparts - Pakistan is very child-friendly in that way. The guide showed where canon were fired from, where the executions took place, how the defending soldiers would pour boiling water down chutes onto the attackers. The place is huge and if you have the stamina you can walk the 5km around the whole place.

The small museum has interesting panels explaining the history in English and Urdu, which about no one was reading. The displays aren't exceptional. Some old money, old swords, knives, shields. A couple mannequins dressed as King and Queen.

Definitely would reccommend you go. Definitely would reccommend that someone fix that road!