I sometimes forget how beautiful Pakistan is

From Karachi sunsets by the port, to Naran and across to Dir - I am lost in surreal beauty.

I follow the news all day. Its my job, and yes, it makes me bitter and cynical.

Thankfully, I have found surprising solace and joy in browsing the wondrous photos of Pakistan shared daily by people using Instagram.

For those who have never heard of it, Instagram is a free photo sharing program and social network that was launched in October 2010, and has now gained a considerable following even in Pakistan after it was acquired by Facebook.

Throughout my eight hour (and sometimes longer) shift, I find myself turning to my phone, tuning out the news and tuning in to these beautiful, surreal, strange and sometimes hilarious visual moments captured or created by ordinary people.

I'm going to share some of my favourites from last week over here, but more than that, I would like to express gratitude to the people who share them (oh yeah, and the creators of Instagram!).

..................................................................................................................

Just your (super)ordinary Karachi sunset taken by zarakhanzk



..................................................................................................................

One more awesome photo of a Karachi sunset by zarakhanzk



..................................................................................................................

Inside the historic walled city of Lahore - by sanazulfiqar



..................................................................................................................

If you've ever been on a train across Pakistan, this should be familiar - by nikhatali



..................................................................................................................

Valley Upper Dewal, Murree captured by naidy86



..................................................................................................................

Back in Karachi, out by the port - by bambicash34



..................................................................................................................

Unreal! "This was way up in the air, going over one of the very many of Pakistani mountains... Subhanallah it was just beautiful." - by amarabano



..................................................................................................................

At Dir City, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, by faizanahmad



..................................................................................................................

Is it cheating to manipulate an image too much? Honestly, I (and 90% of ordinary folk) don't care! Just your regular Karachi street, by mannalmohammad



..................................................................................................................

A surreal moment at the Pak-India border, by nickadvani



..................................................................................................................

A gorgeous piece of Hawksbay beach, Karachi. By zaidchhapra



..................................................................................................................

Speaking of photo manipulation, an interpretative capture of Muhalla Khuda-daad, old walled city Peshawar by warpdrive



..................................................................................................................

Just a drive down Pakistan's highways, by mannalmohammad



..................................................................................................................

Karachi; the old and the new merge - by darkmysticx9



..................................................................................................................

Sunrise in Naran! By warpdrive



..................................................................................................................

Last but definitely not least, "Frozen Lake Saif-ul-Mulook is shown on the top while we took this expedition in late winter of 2009. The bottom most photo shows the Lake from my tent and the middle one is a huge pano of Naran while climbing down from the mountains..." - by warpdrive



..................................................................................................................

If you loved these photos, do give a shout out in the comments section for the people above!

Also, feel free to email the web desk if you have an interesting set of photos you have shared on Instagram (or elsewhere).

We love photos!

Read more by Jahanzaib here or follow him on Twitter @jhaque_