Pakistan

Visited: October 2023

Duration of visit: 12 days

Capital city: Islamabad

Population: 231 million (2023)

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

• Dinning out with a group of local boys in the original capital Karachi.
• Night train ride from Karachi to Lahore – a great opportunity to mingle with locals.
• Incredibly friendly Pakistanis (men), who sometimes didn’t let me pay for food, transport or chai.
• Planned city – the capital Islamabad – organized, green, clean and the most exclusive to live in the whole country.
• Crazy night drive on Karakoram highway, which would go in my records as one of the most dangerous experiences of my life.
• Northern Gilgit – Baltistan region offers the most amazing countryside.
• Master the truck art in Peshawar, one of the most vibrant cities in Pakistan.

Surrounded by big world powers, China, Iran and India, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan started to break stereotypes from the moment that it was born as a new country in 1947. Probably the biggest breakthrough was caused when they elected the first female politician, Benazir Bhutto, as prime minister.

From the beaches of Karachi to the second largest mountain in the world K2, there are over 80 languages spoken in the 5^th most populous country in the world. The cricket-obsessed nation is also proud as the land of mangoes, natural beauty and one of the most hospitable nations in the world.

Pakistan was part of a trip that also included Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan in autumn of 2023. Since my eVisa request was being ignored week after week, I was really glad when, after a month, I finally got a permit to visit the country.

In mid-October, the temperatures in the south were pleasant, while the northern area was blossoming in autumn colors, cooling down, but fortunately clear sky with plenty of sunny weather made my experience unforgettable.

I didn’t have much expectation before visiting Pakistan, especially due to the fact that there is very limited information available for travelling.

I could divide my trip in two parts.

• The urban areas of Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar and Islamabad are conglomerates of millions of people, motorbikes, rikshaws, chaotic traffic, markets and vendors selling all kind of products.
• The north region of Gilgit-Baltistan is a completely different world, where nature offers some of the most scenic landscapes in the whole region.

I am extremely satisfied to have visited both areas, even though, having more time, I could explore more profoundly some other regions, especially around Skardu.

One of the downsizes of Pakistan is, without a doubt, the cuisine. Since it is based almost exclusively on meat and chapati, my vegetarian diet was more about survival than enjoying the local dishes. Mutton, chicken, sheep, beef and, in the north also yak dishes, are combined with chapati, naan or other variants of flat bread.

Vegetable dishes are rare, usually tasteless and prepared with doubtful hygiene. Diarrhea is part of the experience, but fortunately, there is inexpensive and highly efficient medicine to treat it.

A special part of Pakistani culture is definitely the friendliness towards foreigners.

Pakistanis treated me extremely nicely or even paid for food, taxi or fruits. Again, and again they were greeting me kindly and with profound interest asking me about my origins. I was always quoted the correct price and treated as a local.