By Bus, Islamabad

The most iconic form of transport in Islamabad is of course the decorated buses. From memory these did the slightly longer routes such as from Islamabad to 'Pindi. Nothing beats them for pure art on wheels with their clanging metal frills along the bodywork, the intricate designs on the interior and the mad-horns playing tunes and more trinkets from the rear-view mirror than I thought was physically possible!

They were a pretty sociable experience for a young traveller like me - I met numerous enthusiastic Pakistani students keen to have a chat and share their tips on travel in Pakistan.

You have to catch these at least ONCE!

After catching Taxis for the first few days, we finally decided to try the minibuses. These are un-decorated van-style minibuses which do short runs along various routes through the city. We took one from Islamabad to Rawalpindi for something amazing like Rs.5 (about 10 times cheaper than the taxis).

You basically leap aboard after flagging it down and pay the guy who is hanging out of the door of the bus. Be prepared for a squeeze, but at that price its worth it!

These colourful buses are the best way for the locals to get around Islamabad.Always very, very crowded.