Pakistan's Makeshift Amusement Parks Are Pure Happiness On Earth

Photographer Muhammed Muheisen captures the sights of Pakistan's makeshift amusement parks, where children laugh, play, and enjoy the real "happiest place on Earth."

On the outskirts of the Pakistani twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, several makeshift amusement parks have arisen as places where children are free to laugh, play, and enjoy their youth with their friends and family.

The neighborhoods that these parks are built in house thousands of refugees who have fled homes from regional conflict. But for less than 5 cents per ride, these children are free to do what they do best — be kids.

Muhammed Muheisen / AP

Pakistani boys enjoy jumping on a trampoline, at a makeshift entertainment park set up in Islamabad, Pakistan.

Muhammed Muheisen / AP

A Pakistani girl sits on a merry-go-round, hoping for a free ride at an entertainment park in Rawalpindi, Pakistan.

Muhammed Muheisen / AP

Pakistani youths enjoy a ride at a makeshift entertainment park set up outside a shrine in Rawalpindi, Pakistan.

Muhammed Muheisen / ASSOCIATED PRESS

A Pakistani boy enjoys a ride on an amusement wheel on the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan. The cart reads in Urdu, "Happy Eid, from London to America."

Muhammed Muheisen / AP

Pakistani Riaz Ahmad performs for a small crowd, riding his motorcycle around a circular vertical track on the last day of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, or "Feast of Sacrifice," in an entertainment park in Rawalpindi, Pakistan.

Muhammed Muheisen / ASSOCIATED PRESS

A Pakistani girl who fled her village with her family due to fighting between security forces and militants in Pakistan's tribal area of Bajur looks on while waiting to have a ride with other children at a makeshift entertainment park set up in the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan.

Muhammed Muheisen / AP

A Pakistani girl hangs on a hand-operated Ferris wheel, hoping to get a free ride instead of paying the 5 rupees (5 cents) ticket near a slum in Rawalpindi, Pakistan.

Muhammed Muheisen / AP

An Afghan refugee boy and his sister enjoy a ride on an improvised swing, in a poor neighborhood on the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan. Pakistan hosts over 1.6 million registered Afghans, the largest and most protracted refugee population in the world. According to the U.N. refugee agency, thousands of them still live without electricity, running water, and other basic services.

Muhammed Muheisen / AP

A Pakistani man uses one arm to lift 80 pounds, trying to attract customers to lift weight for 10 Rupees (10.6 cents) at an entertainment park in Islamabad, Pakistan.

Muhammed Muheisen / AP

A Pakistani man who fled his village due to fighting between security forces and militants in Pakistan's tribal area of Bajur, enjoys a ride on a merry-go-round along with other children, at a makeshift entertainment park set up on the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan.

Muhammed Muheisen / AP

Pakistani children enjoy a ride at a makeshift entertainment park set up in Islamabad, Pakistan.

Muhammed Muheisen / ASSOCIATED PRESS

Pakistani children enjoy a ride on an amusement wheel operated manually, on a roadside in Islamabad, Pakistan.

Muhammed Muheisen / AP

Pakistanis watch as an acrobat rides his motorcycle around a circular track, at an entertainment park set up outside a shrine in Rawalpindi, Pakistan.

Muhammed Muheisen / AP

Afghan refugee children enjoy a ride on an improvised swing in a poor neighborhood on the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan. For more than three decades, Pakistan has been home to one of the world'€™s largest refugee communities: hundreds of thousands of Afghans who have fled the repeated wars and fighting in their country. Since the 2002 U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan some 3.8 million Afghans have returned to their home country, according to the U.N.'€™s refugee agency.

Muhammed Muheisen / AP

Pakistani Christian children enjoy a ride on a hand-operated Ferris wheel for the price of 10 rupees, (10 cents), at a makeshift entertainment park set up on the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan.

Muhammed Muheisen / ASSOCIATED PRESS

Pakistani children who fled their villages with their families due to fighting between security forces and militants in Pakistan's tribal area of Bajur, enjoy a ride on a merry-go-round at a makeshift entertainment park set up in Islamabad, Pakistan.

Muhammed Muheisen / AP

Pakistani children enjoy jumping on a trampoline in Islamabad, Pakistan.

Muhammed Muheisen / AP

Pakistani children enjoy a ride at a makeshift entertainment park set up in Islamabad, Pakistan.

Muhammed Muheisen / AP

Pakistani girls enjoy jumping on a trampoline after paying 10 rupees (16 cents) per 10 minutes in Islamabad, Pakistan.