"We introduced this service after Eid-ul-Azha this year. The response has been good, especially when school and college students come on field trips," said the official at the Daewoo bus depot.

"Every Sunday, the city tour bus starts at 9.30am and takes passengers to the Lahore Museum, the Lahore Fort, Badshahi Masjid, Minar-e-Pakistan, Shalamar Gardens and Wagah Border for the parade," he told me as I bought the ticket for Rs600.

I had been impressed by Daewoo’s attempt at facilitating tourism in Lahore. This way, the different attractions scattered in the city could be visited in a single day, without the hassle of arranging personal transport to each one separately.

However, the new service is not well-known -- not even amongst Daewoo’s own employees! Rana Kanwal, a medical student, explained, "I was perplexed when the guard (at the entrance of the adda) told me that there was no city tour -- for I had brought my friend from Abottabad along after receiving a text message from Daweoo about it. Luckily, I decided to ask someone else!"

The passengers began boarding the bus in the cold morning by 9.15am. There were families, excited toddlers in tow and youngsters. The bus, which had a capacity of 32, held 24 passengers. The largest group was a family which contained members from Okara, Lahore and Karachi who had all met up in Lahore. There was a medical student from Abottabad and a group of boys from Multan, while the rest were locals. 

At 9.35am, children shrieked excitedly "Bus chalne lagi hai". Youngsters toyed with cameras, a boy took out earphones from his pocket while one laid his head back to take a nap -- the city tour had begun!

The first stop was for one hour at the museum. The passengers were surprised to find out that they had to buy the ticket separately (it was for Rs20 with additional charges for a camera). Inside, the museum was almost completely empty at the early hour. The groups moved around, with the children racing around, reminding me of how bored I used to be in a museum as a kid.

A girl, Omama said loudly "Mama, see, there are clothes here," when she came across the fabrics section.  Most of the tourists only got time to roam around the Prehistoric gallery, with artifacts from the Soan Valley, Neolithic Period, Harrapa etc. They had a chance to admire jewellery, carpets and ivory designs from the Mughal Period as well as the galleries depicting different religions in the subcontinent.

Due to the time constraint, hardly anyone went to the first floor which detailed more recent history: pictures depicted the violence of the 1857 War of Independence, the Aligarh Movement, the Round Table conferences etc, and showed a timeline of Quaid-i-Azam and Allama Iqbal’s life. Many of the pictures seemed familiar for they had been reproduced in the Pakistan Studies books used in schools.

A collection of medals, stamps and coins was also housed there. The ground floor held the Paintings gallery which led into a small room holding old manuscripts. At that time, all the lights weren’t even on!

By 11 am, we were back in the bus, and speeding past the Government College University and Central Model High School. We stopped outside Lahore Fort and were told to meet at the park near Minar-e-Pakistan at 1pm.

The different groups inside the bus dispersed, with most heading to the Lahore Fort first, trudging past the vendors selling snacks and souvenirs. After buying the Rs10 ticket for the Lahore Fort, the group trod up the elephant steps, some stopping to catch their breath, and made their way through graffiti adorned arches. Most stopped first at the famous Sheesh Mahal (Palace of Mirrors), parts of which were undergoing renovation.

After about 15 minutes, the fruitlessness of an unguided tour became apparent so I decided to get one before surveying the Diwan-i-Khas (Hall of Special Audience), the Diwan-i-Aam (Hall of the Common Man) and the museums inside the Fort --  we were the only ones from the bus to do so.

Exhausted after the exercise, the different groups arrived in the park. Some sat in the grass and enjoyed a picnic while others sat in the seats belonging to road-side restaurants. We were given lunch (Biryani and drinks) that was included in the tour. A fellow group member said, "Well, our expectations were very low so this is better. It’s nice to get free food and that makes the tour very economical. However, I do wish that they had told us that they were using the normal city buses rather than a special one."

After lunch, most snapped pictures in front of Minar-i-Pakistan and read the inscription of 1940’s Lahore Resolution. By 2pm, we were in the bus again and were told, "We’re going to go straight to the Wagah Border so that we can get good seats there. If we go to Shalamar Gardens first, we’ll miss the parade."

This time the ride was long and some passengers fell asleep. After buying tickets for Rs15 and standing in a long queue, we were finally seated in gender-segregated pavillions.

Patriotic songs played in the background while drums beat and slogans echoed in the large area. Vendors roamed around, selling flags. The enthusiasm was infectious, reaching a fever pitch when the gates opened and the parade began.

However, the shoving while exiting, despite the numerous announcements made requesting discipline, naturally put a damper on everyone’s upbeat mood.

We were back in the bus at 4.30pm but waited an hour for the prayer break to end. The children’s chatter filled the bus -- they excitedly said that Wagah had been the best part of the trip, commenting on the songs they had liked best.

It was refreshing to see some attention paid to facilitating tourism in a city bursting with rich cultural sites. The service is new and can be improved by including a guided tour whilst exploring different places. As Kanwal said, "I expected that we would move in a group. Here, we were just told the time to come back and everyone went their separate ways."