Visited May 2022

As it has been a while since the last review of the one of the most important site of the long ‘gone and forgotten’ civilization of Indus valley, I’ve chosen this one to write a short review of it, one year after my visit Pakistan. Now when travelling around Pakistan is safe (and still very, very cheap) I wonder why so few decide to visit this amazing country and its amazing monuments and nature.

In my opinion for each traveller to Pakistan Mohenjo Daro should be destination NUMBER ONE. I’ve chosen it to be my UNESCO site 700th and a birthday gift for myself. I remember when I was at school and learning about ancient civilizations, Mohenjo Daro was the most mysterious place and ‘Harappan civilization’ sounded so different and exciting… At the university when I was studying linguistics and comparative grammar, the writing and symbols found in MD (together with those from Dholavira) were firing my imagination… (And now, after having visited MH and Harappa, Indus script remains something that I like to look at in the books and my photos, simply for the pleasure of looking and thinking about that past…)

For sure, Mohenjo Daro is the most difficult to reach UNESCO site in Pakistan because of its remote location. There’s an airport very close to the archaeological site and the museum but the commercial flights stopped couple of years ago and no airlines are interested of relaunching connections from/to here. And now the airstrip does not look ready for any flight but helicopter. The bigger city not far from MD is Larkin; from Larkin there are minibus/buses to Dokri (where the train station named Mohenjo Daro is located) and Dhani Buxjunejo/Mandioon bus stop (the bus stop 1 km from the entrance to MH archaeological site). I came to MD from Sukkur by train (PakistanRailways application is helpful) – there’s one train daily from Sukkur Rohri train station (at 07:00, with a long 30 minutes stop at Habib Kot, calling at Larkana at 9:40, and arriving in Mohenjo Daro Dokri at 10:20; from the train station I walked 15 minutes to the bus stand – I asked station staff to show me the way) – and at 11:20 I was at the museum gate!

May, Ramadan, 53°C, no shadow at all… After buying a ticket and signing my name in the guestbook I had to hide myself to drink some water – two bottles were not enough… I asked for a guide to start exploring the site – and he advised me to buy more water, and he was right… The site is big, so we decided that first we’d visit the great bath and stupa area, then we’d come back to the museum and the guesthouse/restaurant to spend the most hotter part of the day (2 hours) (I was prepared for fasting from morning till evening, but I was not ready for such a temperature) and after 4pm we’d go back to see the remaining parts of the excavated areas… That was a very good idea. And if I can advise: visit the site with a local guide – he will show you details you’ll miss without his knowledge.

There were no candles on my cake (no cake at all). There was a lot of sweat, no blood… Just satisfaction!!! And kind of self-fulfilment…And I know where the dancing girl was found!

About the site itself, its history, and the remains, you can find many articles online – I would not be able to add something original or new…