Beautiful town that harboured a deadly secret

Osama bin Laden may not have written those words, but he well may have thought them during his stay at Abbottabad - a peaceful garrison town in north-eastern Pakistan that lies at the foot of the Himalayas.

The world's most wanted terrorist chose a mansion in this picturesque hill station as his hideout for about five to six years - a far cry from the cave-like existence he was believed to have led after his stint in the mountains of Tora Bora in eastern Afghanistan in late 2001.

"When [tourists] come to Abbottabad, they feel that they are in a different world ... painted by nature," Zafar Iqbal Chaudhry, who runs the La Vista Boutique Hotel in Abbottabad, told smh.com.au from the town.

"One couple from Switzerland, who were on a world tour, commented that they never came across such a beautiful area."

Mr Chaudhry said Abbottabad was popular with local tourists and had foreign visitors, mostly from Japan, during the summer season.

In summer, temperatures rose up to 28 to 30 degree Celsius while in winter, snow would cover the town, he said.

Abbottabad, about 61 kilometres north-east of Rawalpindi, serves as the gateway to the Kagan Valley, also a spectacular tourist attraction.

Located on the Silk Road, an ancient trading route linking China and Rome, the city lies at an altitude of 1225 metres above sea level and was named after Major James Abbott*, the first British Deputy Commissioner of Hazara, who founded the city in 1853.

"Abad" in Abbottabad stands for "a place of living" in Urdu, the official language of Pakistan.

Major Abbott waxed lyrical about his love for Abbottabad in a poem, quoted above, praising its natural beauty and singing birds.

To me the place seemed like a dreamAnd far ran a lonesome stream ...I adored the place from the first sightAnd was happy that my coming here was right.

Mr Chaudhry described Abbottabad as a historical place that became a popular holiday spot and a training base from British army officers during colonial rule in the 19th century due to its pleasant weather and scenic beauty.

"It is well known for schools as well - there [are] more than 350 schools and colleges, including three medical colleges," he said.

The town, with a population of about 120,000, has various names including the City of Pines, the City of Schools and the City of Peace.

It is still home to numerous colonial-era buildings, but is now better known as a military town wealthier than many others in Pakistan, the Associated Press reported.

Dr Ahmar Mahboob, a senior lecturer in linguistics at the University of Sydney, travelled to Abbottabad in 2007 with six Australian postgraduate students as part of an annual English language teaching conference.

"It's a gorgeous place. SPELT [Society of Pakistan English Language Teachers] organised a van for us to travel from Islamabad up to Abbottabad. It's just a beautiful part of the country," he said.

It's very green and mountainous and ... and the people are very friendly ... very hospitable. It's a very safe city."

Amreen Sultana, a consultant at Best & Less Travel in Parramatta, which specialises in flights to South Asia, said that, while more than 1200 people each year booked airline tickets to Pakistan from Australia at her agency, few of them travelled there as tourists.

"Most of them go there to visit family or friends. It's very rare for Australians to go for holidays in Pakistan,” she said, citing the unstable political situation and terrorism fears as the main deterrents.

"From my experience so far, I haven't known anyone who was going for a holiday in Pakistan, and I've been working here for 2½ years."

But if the political climate in Pakistan does improve, Abbottabad - with its good infrastructure and well-manicured lawns - could be one town worth visiting.

Associated Press reporters who visited the town wrote: "Street signs tell residents to 'Love Pakistan'. Little girls wear veils while carrying Hannah Montana backpacks to school.

"Many houses in the outlying areas have modern amenities, but lie along streets covered with trash. Shepherds herd their flock of sheep along dusty roads just a few hundred yards from modern banks."

Bin Laden's large compound, which housed a three-storey building, was built about seven years ago less than two kilometres from the Pakistan Military Academy, an elite training base for officers in the army not unlike the Royal Military College in Duntroon, Canberra.

Rasheed, 32, a local shopkeeper, told McClatchy Newspapers he worked on the construction of the bin Laden complex.

Its one-metre thick walls - which rose up to 5.5 metres high and were topped with barbed wire - made neighbours think the residents were "smugglers, not terrorists", he said.

Surrounding the compound were fields of tomatoes, wheat, cabbages and cauliflower, while "wild cannabis grew along the outer walls of the compound itself, exuding a pleasant fragrance in the hot early summer air", London's Daily Telegraph reported.

Within the compound, neighbours said the bin Laden group - known locally as the Khan family - kept rabbits, goats and two cows.

Zarar Ahmed, 12, a local boy, told the Telegraph the "Khans" gave him rabbits.

"They had installed a camera at the outer gate so they could see people before they entered the house.

"I used to go to their house. He had two wives, one spoke Arabic, and the other one spoke Urdu. They had three children, a girl and two boys. They gave me two rabbits."

The high security in the compound also meant that, when children's balls flew into the area by accident, they were not allowed to retrieve them, but were instead given 100 rupees ($1.10) to buy a new one, a neighbour told Bloomberg News.

While Abbottabad is about a nine-hour drive away from Waziristan in western Pakistan - the mountainous region mired in conflict and which has been the target of US drone attacks - it was also home to Abu Faraj al-Libbi, now described by US officials as bin Laden's courier, for a time before his capture in 2005.

Bali bomber Umar Patek was also arrested in Abbottabad in January.

Abbottabad by General Sir James Abbott

I remember the day when I first came hereAnd smelt the sweet Abbottabad airThe trees and ground covered with snowGave us indeed a brilliant showTo me the place seemed like a dreamAnd far ran a lonesome streamThe wind hissed as if welcoming usThe pine swayed creating a lot of fussAnd the tiny cuckoo sang it awayA song very melodious and gayI adored the place from the first sightAnd was happy that my coming here was rightAnd eight good years here passed very soonAnd we leave you perhaps on a sunny noonOh Abbottabad we are leaving you nowTo your natural beauty do I bowPerhaps your wind's sound will never reach my earMy gift for you is a few sad tearsI bid you farewell with a heavy heartNever from my mind will your memories thwart

*Major Abbott was knighted and promoted to General Sir James Abbott later in his career.