Pakistan – part 1

Visited: October 2023

Duration of visit: 7 days

Capital city: Islamabad

Population: 231 million (2023)

Estimated reading time: 17 minutes

• Dinning out with a group of local boys in the original capital Karachi, labeled by the memoirs of the first governor of Pakistan Muhammad Ali Jinnah.
• Night train ride from Karachi to Lahore – a great opportunity to mingle with locals, listen to interesting stories, obtain first hand viewpoints on local affairs and lifestyle.
• Incredibly friendly Pakistanis (men), who sometimes didn’t let me pay for food, transport or chai.
• Feeling the passion during the Flag Lowering Ceremony at Wagah border.
• Planned city – the capital Islamabad – organized, green, clean and the most exclusive to live in the whole country.

Pakistan was part of a trip that also included Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan in autumn of 2023. Although my eVisa request was being ignored week after week, finally, after a month, I got the permit to visit the country. In mid-October, the temperatures in the south were pleasant, whereas the northern area was blossoming in autumn colors, though it was becoming cooler.

In this article I describe the first part of my Pakistan adventure in 2023: Karachi – the first capital of Pakistan, traffic as an organized chaos, mingling with locals, Lahore – the center of education and culture, the Flag Lowering Ceremony at Wagah border, the planned capital city – Islamabad.

More articles about my adventures in Pakistan are available here:

“Do you have a return airplane ticket and a hotel reservation?” asked me a serious migration officer at Karachi airport while reviewing my eVisa.

“Of course. All documents are in order!”

I answered confidently, but knowing that my air ticket from Kyrgyz capital Astana to Budapest wouldn’t convince him easily. There was no need to. With a smile on his face he greeted me:

“Welcome to Pakistan!”

I was ready to visit the 140^th country on our planet.

In general, I dislike arriving to any unfamiliar place at 4:00am; a new country at that hour could be even more unattractive. SIM-card selling points were closed, only official, expensive airport taxis were available. I crossed the parking lot, walked to the main road and found a completely run-down car that turned out to be a taxi.

A bearded man connected the wires to start the ancient engine and drove me surprisingly fast to my guesthouse for less than 4.00 US$.

I felt safe from the moment I stepped out of the airport, feeling an easy-going, relaxed atmosphere.  I was too tired for anything but falling into a comfortable bed after two nights or 26 hours of travelling by car, bus, airplanes and a taxi.

The first capital of Pakistan is not famous as a touristic destination. Hot even in the mid October, Karachi is located far away from the Himalayas, on the shores of Arabian Sea.

After changing money, my first mission was to get a local SIM card. A guesthouse cook was driving me around on a motorbike to the franchise offices of mobile operators, but no one would give me a SIM card without a local ID card and police clearance report. Finally, in the central office of Jazz mobile provider, they seemed to understand what was needed to connect me to a local mobile provider.

Well, it turned out later that not really! It took 2 visits, 3 hours of waiting and a lot of patience to solve the mystery of my phone not being previously registered in Pakistan.

The original capital of Pakistan is marked by the first governor of independent Pakistan, which was proclaimed a new-born country in 1947, when the British colony was divided in two parts – the predominantly Hindu India and Muslim Pakistan.

Muhammad Ali Jinnah governed only for a year, before the sickness and consequences of chain smoking caused his death. However, he left a deep and respected legacy in Pakistan. Innumerable streets, roads and localities in the country are named after Jinnah. His mausoleum, Mazar-e-Quaid-e-Azam, and the exhibition about the last year of his life in Mohatta Palace Museum stand to commemorate his importance.

In the evening, I joined a local group of guys who I previously contacted through social media. Ahmed and his friends are petrol and geology engineers, graduated in Islamabad, who moved to Karachi for better work opportunities.

In a male society, they spend a lot of time together studying, working and going out. Before getting married, mingling with girls is not common in Pakistan.

After marriage they would dedicate more time to family life, but still maintain the eternal friendship as very important.

Prearranged marriages are a turn point in life, when boys transform into men, assuming responsibility of providing material benefits to the family, while women produce children and take care of the house. In modern, less conservative relationships, women work as well, but the basic responsibilities don’t change.

We first visited a traditional colonial house, converted to a museum with a cafeteria on the roof. Since I am vegetarian, we tasted only non-meat dishes. There were not many on the menu, but still delicious. The best place for deserts is located on the famous food street – Burns Road, which can be found right in the middle of Karachi’s historic district.

My first impression of Pakistani people was extremely positive and continued through most part of the trip. One of the real surprises was the kindness of many unknown people. They wouldn’t let me pay for a taxi ride, food in a restaurant or juice on the food stall.

“You are my guest in our country. You are welcome!“

I was surprised seeing some women with hair completely uncovered. Apparently, there is no law enforcement for women dress code, but it is rather up to cultural roots or parent’s policy how liberal the daughters can behave. Some of them smiled or looked at me, but I cannot imagine talking with them due to strict Muslim awareness.

I expected traffic jams to be much worse in a megacity with population of 15 million people. An organized chaos of motorbikes, cars, rickshaws, buses and animal pulled vehicles was moving constantly.

From my first ride in a taxi car, I soon downsized to rickshaw and moto taxi. Scary at the first sight, without a helmet, classic, locally manufactured motorbikes, are comfortable if the support pedals for the passengers is properly fixed. Obviously, it is seldom the case.

Moto drivers don’t look back while driving, even checking both sides is not common before changing directions slowly, but consistently. The scariest part is driving in the wrong direction with the aim of shortcut, which is common and not registered as an offence, as long as it is executed in a careful way.

I used InDrive app to hire private transport, which immediately provided me a bunch of options for the desired destination and never disappointed me with the quality of service.

Travelling by night train from Karachi to Lahore was a pleasant and predictable experience. Even though I apparently bought the last available ticket in Business class for the 1,214 kilometers long trip, I was alone in an air-conditioned, 6-berth compartment, most of the time. I didn’t even realize when most of the passengers left the train, while sleeping on the top berth.

The AC was strong, but I warmed up with a blanket, which I rented for a dollar. Tea and breakfast were served, vendors passing by all the time. I met some people, who were interested in my intentions of visiting Pakistan.

I soon realized that Pakistanis have very different background, social position, job opportunities and English knowledge.

Interesting enough, they are all aligned in recommending me to definitely visit the northern part of the country, where the beautiful nature offers some of the highest mountains in the world.

The Badshahi Mosque is best visited in the morning, when the sun shines directly to the forepart embellished with carved red sandstone, including marble inlay. It remains the largest mosque of the Mughal-era, and is the third-largest mosque in Pakistan. However, when it was built, the mosque was the biggest in the world for several decades. Unfortunately, during my two visits the interior was closed.

Exploring the narrow streets and vibrant markets of the Old City is like stepping back in time. I just walked around without any particular plan.

A group of men invited me for a cup of tea: “Sit here, talk to us and relax.”

They run a construction material shop, work every day till late night. A family run business give them enough money to survive and enough time to relax, talk and analyze profoundly different topics of their life.

Anarkali Bazaar is a famous shopping destination known for its textiles, jewelry, and traditional clothing. Blocks and blocks of stands are mostly dedicated to women clothes, shoes, textile and jewelry. The funniest fact for me is that the vendors are exclusively men, since in a conservative Muslim society, women are not wanted to be too much in contact with men.

The late afternoon ceremony at the Attari – Wagah border, between India and Pakistan is officially held to formally close the border in the late evening and remove both countries’ national flags. Every day before sundown, this so-called Flag Lowering Ceremony is held. More of an entertainment ceremony is displayed every day as a patriotic performance.

Elaborate and rapid dance-like maneuvers, raising legs as high as possible and strongly hitting the ground with hard soles, symbolize the rivalry, as well as brotherhood or cooperation of two nations that were part of the same country before, but still occasionally fight for the disputed territories of Kashmir.

I got a chance to approach Pakistani soldiers from so close that I felt how strong and tall they actually are. Retired army soldier who lost one of his legs during the fighting, warmed up the crowd with hilarious dancing in circles, showing an amazing balance on a single leg. Drums, flute, national songs and saluting animated crowds on both sides of the border to proudly express their devotion.

Soldiers were parading on the way to the border line in different formations, until the flag was lowered, serious looks exchanged and the crowd enthusiastically celebrated national pride in their army.

The most intriguing fact is the sound management on both sides of the borders that are separated only by a fence; we never heard any music, saluting or cheering from Indian side.

Lahore is famous for its delicious cuisine, especially its mouthwatering street food. My day of food experimenting started with breakfast at the Old Anarkali food street. Not much choice from various basic restaurant or food vendors: daal and warm naan were accompanied by freshly mixed papaya shake.

Before midday, I spotted the Noori Milk Shop through a labyrinth of narrow streets in the area of Delhi gate, to taste the most delicious lassi in town. It was exquisite, slightly sweet, served on the street or as a take away option. Many people from the neighborhood were queuing, confirming the quality of the product. The owner didn’t want me to pay for lassi: “You are my guest. Welcome to Pakistan!”

For late lunch, I drove some kilometers south of the city center, where around Qaddafi Stadium restaurants serve the best fish specialty of Lahore – rohu fish. Fried fish was far from being delicious, with particular seasoning, accompanied by chapati and mayonnaise.

The consequences of my culinary exploration were somehow predictable. Diarrhea, stomachache and general sickness.

I quickly adjusted the menu to proven recipe: Coke, chocolate and official medicine.

While exploring Lahore old town, walking through a buzzing gold bazaar, I stopped in Masjid Wazeer Khan mosque, considered the most ornately decorated Mughal-era mosque, nicknamed The Architectural Ornament of Lahore. The mosque is renowned for its intricate faience tile work, as well as its interior surfaces that are almost entirely embellished with elaborate Mughal-era frescoes of infinite variety and colors.

When taking my flip flops off, I was warmly received by a shoe keeper with a sharp look, a long beard and a raspy voice:

“Where are you from my friend?”

As the majority of other locals that I encountered, he had no clue where my home country Slovenia is located.

“Oh, Yugoslavia, Tito, I know. Bosnia, Croatia, …. “

It was easier, when I offered a brief history of the descendants of the former Yugoslavia.

Four octagonal minarets mark the corners of the main courtyard, lending the structure balance and adding to its grandeur. The mosque has been under extensive restoration since 2009, therefore it is not easy to get a good shoot without scaffolders and, at the same time, capturing all the minarets from the central patio.

On the way out, a gentle female voice spoke to me in flawless English: “What is your name?”

An exhaustive conversation developed within minutes. I invited a local girl and her friend for a cup of tea in a nearby teahouse. They immediately endeared themselves to me due to their open-minded attitude and excellent English. An English teacher who also studied in the USA introduced me to her friend Sohaib, who comes from the northern part of Pakistan. In the next few days, he is going to his hometown Gilgit for his cousin’s wedding.

When I mentioned to him that I was also thinking about the possibility of visiting that area, he invited me to join him:

“You must visit Hunza Valley. It’s the most beautiful part of Pakistan, the weather is still reasonably warm, autumn is the best time. I’ll lend you a warm suit, you’ll pay me a part of the cost of petrol, and tomorrow we’ll head for Islamabad together.”

All my concerns and doubts were instantly dispelled. Deal done.

“I am coming with you!”

The plan was to meet Sohaib at 2:00pm on a certain point in Lahore. He would take me and his brother in his own vehicle to Islamabad. I was running between my bed and toilet sink most of the morning, healing the consequences of previous day food tasting.

I purchased a very effective medicine and dehydration powder in a local pharmacy for less than a dollar. Supported by Pepsi and chocolate in less than 24 hours of treatment I was back to normal again. No regrets for food tasting! It is part of the experience.

I managed to improve my state considerably by 10:00pm, when we finally kicked off with 8 hours delay. The BMW model 5 was comfortable, the perfect highway reasonably transited by buses, trucks and cars, which respected driving rules much more than in any Pakistani city chaos so far.

After two hours of driving, we stopped at an enormous service area for a short rest, when Sohaib noticed that the battery light on the dashboard turned on.

Islamabad (The city of Islam) was built as a planned city between 1960 and 1970 to replace Karachi as the national capital.

Greek architect Constantinos Apostolou Doxiadis developed Islamabad’s master plan, by which he divided it into eight zones: from administrative, diplomatic enclave, residential areas, educational and industrial sectors, commercial areas, to rural and green areas.

Islamabad has the same approach as some other planned cities around the world that I visited before (Canberra, Brasilia, Yamoussoukro): big scale with inefficient public transport system, no downtown or city center, lack of attractions. In addition, Islamabad has the highest cost of living in Pakistan, therefore it is dominated by middle and upper-middle class citizens.

Traffic is fluent even during rush hours, rickshaws are prohibited.

What has one of the most cosmopolitan and urbanized cities of Pakistan to offer to visitors?

Not much really, especially considering the size of the city and the importance. Faisal Mosque, Pakistan Monument, Heritage Museum and various parks pretty much complete the list. After previously visiting some parks in Pakistan, I quickly crossed them off the list and focus my activities on the central mosque and the Pakistan Monument.

The Faisal Mosque is the national mosque of Pakistan, the fifth-largest mosque in the world and the largest within South Asia, located on the foothills of Margalla Hills. It is named after the late King Faisal of Saudi Arabia, who donated 28 million US$ when the construction started.

The mosque was actually the largest mosque in the world from 1986 until 1993, when it was overtaken by the mosques in Saudi Arabia. The Faisal Mosque can accommodate about 300,000 worshippers. Another example of its greatness are the Mosque’s four minarets, each one 79 meters high (the tallest minarets in South Asia) and measuring 10×10 meters in circumference.

I took a moto-taxi to visit the most important religious monument in Islamabad. It was cold and cloudy. I was able to spot the mosque from a big distance, shining in the afternoon sun, standing out in bright colors. Unfortunately, the inner parts were closed, so I was not able to appreciate the eight-sided main hall that looks like an Arab’s Bedouin desert tent from the inside.

The sunset was great, many people praying, children running around, teenagers posing for selfies, families hiring professional photographs for the perfect picture.

The Pakistan Monument was constructed to symbolize the unity of the Pakistani people. It is dedicated to all victims who sacrificed their lives for a better tomorrow. The design of the monument is rooted in the rich Mughal architecture.

Today’s technology was used to modernize the historical form of the muqarnas – a form of three-dimensional decoration in Islamic architecture in which rows or tiers of niche-like elements are projected over others below.

The four large petals represent each of the four main cultures of Pakistan; the Punjabi, the Baloch, the Sindhi and the Pashtun. The three smaller petals represent the minorities, Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.

The nearby museum and wonderful view over the city of Islamabad make the monument a popular tourist point for Pakistani. I haven’t seen any foreigners during my visit.