Pakistan, June 21 -- The Cher song gets it right. When you are walking in Memphis, your feet are ten feet off the ground. The city has a unique buzz. European in feel, it is anti-identikit, anti-chain-store, anti-homogeneous. Cool without even trying.

In Memphis, the histories of music and civil rights are intertwined - a point underlined by both Martin Luther King Jr and Elvis Presley dying in the city within a decade of each other.

This year marks Memphis's bicentenary - surely the perfect excuse to visit. Music simply pours out of every nook and cranny and has played a role in the development of the blues, soul and rock 'n' roll.

The tone is set the moment you land and are greeted by the airport logo, which is a vapour trail traced ...