Just returned from Pakistan and want to say it was one of my better trips due to a slight change in travel plan. Normally I would fly direct to Islamabad but unexpectedly airliner cancelled their weekly flight so I decided to explore Lahore and revisit some of the places from earlier trips in Pakistan’s southern parts and work my way north but before it by dropping in Karachi, Multan, Bahawalpur, Sukkur, Hyderabad, Meenjodaro and finally Islamabad and together with my Pakistani friends to take some side trips to Kaghan,Naran, Kashmir and Rawalakot. With my clothes and shoes in Lahore from my visit,I traveled as light as possible with a small duffel bag and a daypack. Immigration in Lahore was a problem free since I didn’t have any electronics or gifts to trigger an inspection I was the first to exit the airport. They have new custom forms for arriving tourists to complete and some questions are how many times you have visited Pakistan in the last year and the value of your gifts, etc…
Perhaps it was naive to think I would enjoy exploring Pakistan as I did in the early 90s from a window of a local bus or standing in the back of a truck with a map and a guide book, staying in budget hotel, eating street food and living off the kindness and generosity of strangers but once was enough. Without knowing anyone in Lahore or having any contacts I was fortunate to have met a fellow passenger on the plane who was a repeat client of Vertical Explorers Treks and Tours Website: www.visitpakistanonline.com Tours (a very friendly and reputable Pakistani company, and reasonably priced) to this part of Pakistan and together we shared a taxi to my hotel that I booked in advance and he hooked me up with some Pakistani friends who became my unofficial guides and made my stay rather enjoyable and entertaining despite the blistering heat and humidity. Been a fresh face in town I was approached by the many. A simple no was sufficient and after the second day they stopped pestering me or trying to be my “friend”. After 7 days exploring the city with an over night trip to Sialkot to visit some old friends from the past it was time to move on or I would never get to my final destination.
Too many tourists rush through Pakistan with a guide book taking in as many attractions as they can cram into a day that they don’t take time to smell the flowers or read the inscriptions on the buildings or in deserts/ forts and tombs. Me, I love the street life to the museums and hang out in the cafés and learn the names of Pakistani language in social intercourse because when you know the names of your friends the conversation become more intimate, the language more suggestive and life is too short to say aray, and hop back on the tour bus.
Rawalakot was my favorite town and from there I made a side trip to a little village on the outskirt of that village where I had once delivered a bicycle to a little girl back in 98 who regained her eye sight. This was one of the highlights of my trip to witness a family with so much love for each other in their conversation and in their daily life. The bike was over-used and under-serviced and currently stripped of its parts behind the house. I could do a story on this family except they are so remote from civilization and tourism that it would be difficult to improve their lifestyle.
Pakistan is unique and unparallel to any other countries I visited perhaps by DNA or genetics that set them apart from other civilizations and no matter how much Pakistanis lack in modern comfort and material things we take for granted or how little money they earn from their jobs most of the Pakistanis I met were honest, gracious and hospitable and the young ladies were attractive, approachable, accommodating and eager to interact and talk about their life, their dreams and their future. It goes without saying I had to treat them to dinner and in Islamabad an English teacher invited me to visit her family’s farm for horseback riding and her parent barbequed goat for a feast and picture taking. What hospitality! The hardest part of the trip was saying goodbye to the Pakistan, I met along the way.
Whenever I travel, I like to be adventuresome but at the same time I realize that I am far from home, family and friends that I had to assume a greater responsibility for my own health, money and safety. After 5 weeks on the open roads and countryside, towns and villages I reached to Skardu to the happy delight of my Pakistani tour guides family. They say home is where the heart is and my heart is in Northern Pakistan. While touring the Northern Areas, everyday was a new adventure and behind every door was a new experience and in Toronto everyday is the same routine and behind every door are neighbors we talk to everyday like the elderly lady who ask to borrow a potato for her dinner or a neighbor who asks to use our phone or waiting for a call from her Italian boyfriend in Italy. In the streets we know the shop keepers, the vendors on the street selling flowers and eatables and the kids playing soccer in the streets.
While it was liberating to roam this beauty scenic land making new friends and sharing a joke or two and chatting till to dawn I doubt I could have done it without Vertical Explorers’ organizers behind it.
The Pakistanis I met during my travel were well educated, many with good jobs in tourism more so than their counterparts in other countries of similar poverty, economy and circumstances and for sure they were better educated many with university degrees than the tourists I came across. The best thing about Pakistan is it’s the easiest place to make friends if you have a sense of humor and come across likeable. Music is the company of Pakistanis and if you like music you will be in good company.
Some side notes. Be warned, it is very hot and humid in south during summer and some days I wonder if it would ever stop raining. Many sites in south, Moenjodaro, Makli grave yard, has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO and there is a bee hive of activities restoring, repairing and painting the downtown core. I was invited to an elementary school graduation party July 6 and as their tradition the teachers asks the students to bring some food from home and they decorated the classes with food and flowers. The kids dressed in their finest to receive their certificates as their parents proudly looked on. Hunza was buzzing with events on different accounts in July.
Rumors are plentiful in Pakistan about the political future of Pakistan and its effects on tourism and security.
I highly recommend VE Pakistan and would like to take a minute or so to rave about them if I may. They were great value for money compared to other company's. They are relatively inexpensive compared with other outfitters there, but having said that, they operate on a more grass roots level so there's plenty of freedom and flexibility to do your own things during stops, with the advantage of having transportation and accommodation laid on. They had the respect of the local staff because they pay /treat them well. Give them a broad range of options so that they can send you back a range of options. I wasted some time going back and forth via email by not really explaining what I was flexible about. In addition to good food, professional friendly crew, well maintained vehicles and nice accommodations you have peace of mind that you are going with a reliable company.
Pakistan is a great place to visit as long as you don’t get involved in their politics or their personal life. It’s foolish to think that everyone will see and experience Pakistan the same way but for me I was wowed by its people.