One of our prestigious clients book the Pakistan Tour this October to see Pakistan and witness the words that are presented by world media.
Fran Puljic is an automation engineering living in Croatia. he was an enthusiast to travel the world and witnessed amazing places by himself.
We had a great privileged to host him and his fellow throughout the trip. Here is the experience that is shared by him on this weblog.
When I chose Pakistan as my destination this fall, I hope that this decision will remain a secret until the start of the trip. However, as it usually happens, it didn’t happen, and that’s why I don’t want to disclose it. Most people have similar comments. The brief message is as follows: “So where are you going, what are you going to do, and is it not dangerous?”.
Although there is a new major crisis on the border of Pakistan, and Westerners tend to put everyone from the Bosphorus to the Bay of Bengal in the same basket, I decided to take this opportunity to go to a country that attracted my attention. . The scenery and stories I read in spring. When I got there, I didn’t have any prejudice against the people who lived there because this was my first contact with them, I decided to let them shape my view of myself, not the Western media.
As soon as they arrived at Islamabad Airport, they immediately proved their accuracy. It took three hours from getting off the plane to leaving the airport-first of all, we had to pass the border inspection, and the border inspection also checked the certificate of the crown vaccine. Then, two other officials check your passport, visa, and PCR test (yes, you need to be vaccinated and have a negative test). After ensuring that all the paperwork was correct, another rapid antigen test was performed, and finally customs inspection, and finally left the airport.
As a city built only 60 years ago, Islamabad does not have much history. With its construction, it became the capital (formerly Karachi) for several main reasons-it is close to a military base and has a smaller population than Karachi (if there is a rebellion against the ruler, it will be a big problem, a large number of 30 people. It is difficult to limit 1 million people), as well as the presence of parliament buildings and better natural isolation (surrounded by mountains). Although, like any city, it has its own trump card. In my opinion, the Faisal Mosque is one of the most beautiful mosques in the world, and the National Monument provides a beautiful view of the city. In addition, in many places, you can eat authentic street food or drink the juice of mango, banana, apple, or other fruits.
The next stop, after Islamabad, is Naran, a small town. It is the last stop in front of the Babusar Top. The mountain road leads north to Pakistan. On the road, literally screaming colorful trucks, so-called jingle trucks.
Specifically, Pakistanis spend thousands of dollars to decorate their trucks, because a better-decorated truck = higher income for drivers = more drivers for drivers = better drivers, which can be said to be one thing Business investment. On the way to Naran, I also went to a market in a small village passing by, where I experienced Pakistan Province for the first time.
The whole market stopped working, staring at our trucks, gathering in groups, some of us secretly, others publicly taking pictures and selfies, just pushing each other to get as close as possible. Although this seems offensive,
After Naran, it’s time to head to Pass, this will be the next stronghold. The route to get there extends to the top of Babusar Pass and the trail of the same name, which is nothing more than an easy tour. The unpaved road, in a catastrophic state of waterfalls, streams, and landslides, is not pleasant at all, especially when there is an abyss of hundreds of meters at the end of the Indus River on one side and a boulder on the other side of the road Probably at any time.
Even today, I am not sure whether I would prefer to drive on those roads to overlook the cliffs during the day or at night, where I can’t see them in the dark, but I know they are there somewhere. In addition to this adrenaline, you can stop in many places to see the beautiful scenery that attracted me to this country in the first place.
Passu is also one of the smaller towns, and its special feature is that it serves as a springboard for some nearby attractions. The largest is of course the Khunerjab National Park, which includes the border between Pakistan and China and is the highest crossing point in the world, with an elevation of fewer than 4,700 meters. Khunerjab is also known as the hometown of snow leopards. It is strictly protected and rarely seen. Interestingly, there is an ATM at the highest altitude in the world.
In addition to the national park, you can also see the Passu Glacier and the Hussaini Suspension Bridge. This is one of the most dangerous bridges in the world. It is 191 meters long and has about 400 irregularly placed wooden boards. It is the only crossing of the Hunza River. Of the river. When I first crossed, I didn’t care at all. The wind from Dinara, which can be measured, blows abnormally. Every time I lower my head is fascinating because, with the flow of the river, the ground under my feet seems to be sliding. It is a cable used as a handrail. It seems omnipotent but unstable. However, as the steps on the bridge increase, self-confidence also increases. It turns out that crossing the bridge to the end has become easier, although it was not the case at the beginning.
After Passu, I went to Karimabad, where I learned about the culture of the Hunza, the longest life expectancy in the world. Their lifespan is very long, an average of 120 years (at least they say that how much truth there is) thanks to cleaning the air, water, and organic food they grow. Although junk food and many silent killers are slowly entering their lives, their life expectancy is still around one hundred years old. In Karimabad, there is also Baltit Castle, which was the main attraction of the family that ruled Hunzam at that time and has now become a museum.
Karimabad was the first city where we stayed for a long time, and it has a primitive spirit (although it is nothing compared to the spirit that reinvigorated me later). The streets are lively and people handle everything, but here I saw for the first time how Pakistanis treat each other. In other words, due to the narrow streets and steep slopes of Karimabad, whenever two cars need to pass pedestrians, they park one car at a time. Sitting in the dining room, my eyes fell directly on the 180-degree curve on the big ramp. Without the help of a random person in the driveway, any car going there would not pass, he would tell him how to turn the steering wheel or how close he can get to the car parked there.
People are very tolerant, standing on the street, saluting, wondering where I come from and what I am doing here. They like to take pictures and even ask you to take pictures of them. Although they don’t own a mobile phone, they will never get that picture, but let me have it. Although they often prevent me from asking some questions, as I said before, they don’t have intrusive, boring, clunky or any other adjectives to describe these people, which is good. No one pulls me out to buy things, and no one tries to deceive me as a tourist, which is common in almost all countries/regions I have visited.
The next stop is Skardu, a two-day base, a springboard to the cold desert, and Desai National Park, the second-highest plateau in the world after Tibet. For our national park, I really like one of the things about tourism in Pakistan. I finally want to show the following in Croatia: The ticket for Pakistanis is 300 Pakistani rupees (about one and a half euros), and the ticket for foreigners is 20 US dollars. About 11.5 times more expensive. But it continued, and for residents of Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan, where the park is located, the price rose to 40 Pakistani rupees or about 20 cents of the euro. This continues to allow its residents to easily access and obtain permits while funding the entire park from the pockets of visitors.
It is difficult to reach the two destinations, and there is no chance without a powerful ATV. Of course, how lucky I am, the tire of the jeep dropped twice in a remote place, but the driver and tour guide easily solved it. The endless plateau is wonderful, and so are the roads leading to it, but by meeting the Bedouins walking through these areas, offering tea, talking about their actions and what they depend on, everything is in the water. They said that they are at high altitudes in the summer, but once the cold weakens because the cold at these altitudes is unbearable. Of course, information will not proceed in one way. In turn, I talked again about where I came from, what I did, and how I ended my position, and they sounded as surprised as I was.
Just as the group was about to leave Skardu and return to Islamabad via Babsal, news came and changed the entire itinerary. In other words, everything I have seen so far has been planned in the Pakistan Tourist Guide. “Go there, look at this, this is an attraction, pay here.” But closing the Babusar Pass and “forcing” the truck not to go over the mountain but to bypass it has no plan at all.
Therefore, we must decide to trek around the mountain. The small problem is that the road passes through at least some inconvenient areas. At the first checkpoint, we were given an armed escort. A soldier in uniform and holding a rifle was riding a truck with us. This immediately signaled the situation to the locals. Danger. We stopped in two towns, and the true spirit of Pakistan really surfaced. People may see tourists less often than snow leopards. In the town where I forgot the name, everyone left their jobs, jobs, and responsibilities, and gathered together in disbelief to watch what was happening. For a time, there must be 250-300 people gathered together, plucking up the courage to ask for a selfie. When one of them finally waited for our soldiers to step back and clear some traffic and asked for a photo, I agreed.
The waiter in the restaurant couldn’t help being shocked, because we had dozens of people sitting in this restaurant, running in all directions to do everything, lest we accidentally miss anything. After lunch, we bid farewell to the soldiers and were escorted by special police. Every time we pass through a checkpoint, the patrol will change (a total of six). Soon thereafter, we encountered obstacles in the form of road construction and we stumbled and stood for several hours. This allows us to dine in some local bars, where food flies in from all directions, like a vibrant kitchen (semi-open) that I have never seen before, and somehow I don’t think I will either. After that traffic jam, due to the landslide, another time (albeit slightly) must be cleared. Cars are only allowed to drive in one direction, otherwise, the road is very narrow, so this is welcome,
Heading Back to Islamabad
After all these adventures and bazaars, finally came to the toll booth in Islamabad. 2 In the morning, half asleep and half awake, I heard some noise, I opened my eyes to see/heard our driver arguing with the character in the house. Once I started thinking about what kind of dissonance would appear at the toll gate, where the car was driving, pushing, and leaving, our driver jumped off the truck and jumped onto the toll gate, first weaving the right half of the character that the person was trying to play with the correct crochet When hitting him, the window was closed, but the effect was not good because our driver held the door very tightly.
Then the character in the house realized that he would not have a good time like this, left the door, and retreated into the house, keeping a safe distance from the driver’s hand, but did not leave his slippers. The whole situation lasted for about ten seconds, because we were completely shocked, and then another toll booth staff came over to appease Rocky (as we always call him), and then we moved on. In the end, the people in the toll booth were so rude and arrogant to us). Then Rocky lost his temper (he drove 3 days and 3 nights on those disgusting mountain roads, completely understandable) and re-educated him.
I sincerely hope that this class will teach him to be polite next time. He threw up all kinds of insulting names because he didn’t get the money in his hand fast enough and complained that we were blocking traffic (at 2 am, there was no one on the road except us). Then Rocky lost his temper (he drove 3 days and 3 nights on those disgusting mountain roads, completely understandable) and re-educated him.
After experiencing all these adventures and shocks, came to the last stop in Lahore. Pakistan’s second-largest city, after Karachi, the capital of Punjab Province. A smoggy city with less than one-kilometer visibility and a population of between 10 and 12 million. It is indeed the most chaotic city I have ever seen. There are animals, pedestrians, motorcyclists, four-wheelers, four-wheelers, cars, and tractors on the road at the same time (if you forget something, this is not intentional).
There are no traffic lights, no signs, and no priority rules. The bravest person (or the craziest person) is the best. Although the city itself has its attractions (mosques, palaces, shopping malls), the old city that contains the market is an attraction in itself because the influx of people in a billion ways is something I can observe for a few hours. Fighting rooster and spice
Finally, let me talk about one of the highlights of this trip. Travel to the border between Pakistan and India in the traditional guard changing and flag-lowering ceremony. Although it seemed rather boring, the Pakistanis and the Indians staged a performance for an hour and a half. The soldiers stood in front of each other, threatening each other, threatening their weapons, generally speaking, who was stronger. A tribune was built around the border. Fans, locals, and tourists sat there cheering and shouting, drums were loud, loudspeakers were speaking loudly, sirens sounded, and everyone was trying to vote for each other. I have to say that this is a difficult thing to apologize for and I should try it.
If someone told me that lowering the flag would embarrass any football match (with the same number of fans), I would not believe it, but I was quickly dissuaded. Passing by, passing by these Pakistani soldiers, I felt upset for the first time in my life. It is more than two meters thick, strong, broad, and huge. Now I don’t know if they are all like this, or just people bordering their mortal enemy India, but they are really impressive.
As for the people themselves, I have mentioned them enough, and they make me believe in their kindness and accessibility every day. In Lahore, the four of us entered a store and wanted to buy something to drink. We brought some Pepsi to the counter and wanted to pay, but the seller didn’t want to take the money. A “quarrel” broke out. We put the money in his hands, but without a chance, he refused to accept the words “You are a guest from my country, you are a guest from my country, and you will not give money to me”.
“This gesture, when I experienced these words for the first time as a stranger, instead of trying to whip me to the extreme when they arrived, it actually showed me how unspoiled the people there are. I think any comparison of the behavior of most restaurants in our area is superfluous.
Of course, we also discuss political and religious topics with the locals. I heard how they view the situation in Afghanistan and their views on everything. I won’t quote or mention these conversations too much now, because I don’t want this blog to have any political significance, but I still do it because I want to mention that there is a huge difference between what people here look like and what they think and how the western media present it.
The Pakistanis realize this, they realize that they think of themselves as a large area outside of India and Afghanistan. They realized that due to the situation in Kabul, almost the entire world considered Pakistan to be an unsafe and dangerous place. They accepted the fact that due to a large number of COVID-19 in India, the entire Western world also closed its borders to them, even though their numbers were very small at the time.
Nothing prevents them from waving enthusiastically on the street every time, thanking them for visiting their country or meeting with them as much as possible, even with an empty can of coke or letting them try a little of their food until you finish.
Get rid of your prejudices, if you have any prejudices, whether they are conditioned on race, religion, sexual orientation, or geographic location. Prejudice makes us close our eyes and make us believe that our ideas are right and that any different ideas are wrong. They do not allow us to see life outside of our comfort zone. These people are not just statistics, but people with jobs, hobbies, families, and desires. There is no right or wrong, only difference. The sooner we start to accept different things does not necessarily mean wrong, the sooner
I hope that at least some people who have read this article will remember the next time they see news about cruelty, aggression, or religious intolerance among people in this part of the world because not everything is always presented as it is. It’s really much bigger than a small screen.
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