The romance of geography with real Pakistan

It was a long line for the metro ticket in Vienna. When my turn came, the man at the window asked me where I was from. When I said Pakistan, he was eager, telling me how he had been harbouring a dream to visit our Northern Areas (NAs). My encouragement lifted his spirits, although he seemed undaunted by the media-generated negative perception of Pakistan.

Some years ago, on the banks of a holy lake, three hours ahead of Lhasa (Tibet — the Chinese call it Xidan) towards Kathmandu, Nepal, I was comparing the rugged beauty of the Tibetan Plateau to Skardu; and believe me Skardu and its surrounding seemed prettier except for the Yak butter tea that Lhasa has.

Decades ago on a PIA flight from Rawalpindi to Skardu (my first trip up the true North), a little while after seeing Abbottabad and identifying the Pakistan Military Academy, the landscape changed to endless snow with countless pretty lagoons. The beauty of the scenery had an effect. It was sultry August and I marvelled at the tourism potential of our beloved Pakistan.

On a desert safari in southwestern Morocco across Atlas Mountains, a couple years ago, one was amazed at the marketing success of local tourism. Our deserts are far prettier. Over the virgin sand dunes (called dren in Sindhi) in the Nara Desert way south of Rahim Yar Khan, you can see your footprints buried in the sand by the gentle breeze. The sky at night is full of stars and unimaginably bright.

Travelling to the site of Battle of Badr in Saudi Arabia before the pandemic, the scenery was as rugged as our Balochistan and comparable in beauty.

The turquoise waters of Gwatar Bay, west of Gwadar near the Gulf of Oman, where "Victoria Cottage" was built for Queen Victoria (1819-1901) in anticipation of her visit — can take your breath away. So would the inhabitants of nearby local villages in Gunz area with blonde hair and blue eyes… reportedly the descendants of survivors from a Greek shipwreck some centuries ago.

The virgin beauty of the coastal highway from Uthal to Gwadar and west towards Jiwani with earth formations along the way; the Kelmat Kor, the bight in the Arabian Sea with tree groves and blue waters; and the incomparable splendour of beaches in Kund Malir and Gadani — with golden sand — would knock you off.

The Astola Island in the Arabian Sea and Pishukan Beach near Gwadar with its tree lines, deep ravines are other gifts to Pakistan.

A short 20 kilometre diversion from the coastal highway in Makran would take you to Khor Kalmat, a lagoon formed by the Basol River. And you are in a different time and space. How many of us know that the East and West Bays (Dami Zar and Padi Zar) of Gwadar Port were used by the British in the Second World War as R&R (Rest and Recreation) stations for their idyllic beauty, besides placing their sea plane squadrons. History buffs can marvel at the beautifully-carved graves of some Arab warriors near Kund Malir and in Makli near Hyderabad.

The centuries old juniper forest in Ziarat, Loralai, would take you in a fragrant haven, with its beauty multiplied under a crisp moonlight after winter snows.

The enchanting apna der Valley — called little Kashmir; Minapin and Gulmit villages; the lush Shigar Valley enroute to the K-2 base camp, all in Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) would lift your spirits like nothing would. The entire G-B is on fire during autumn when trees change colours.

How many of us have seen Ratti Gali Lake in AK's Neelum Valley with snow cupping its verdant banks and glacial melt adoring its fresh waters.

Sunset on the Indus in Swabi; and the Sheringal Valley in Upper Dir (K-P) are other sites not to be missed. Traveling on Khyber Rail Safari from Peshawar to Landi Kotal in Khyber District with the rail track crossing the Peshawar Airport, is like going through a time tunnel.

The list goes on and I am not talking about the famous tourist destinations of Pakistan. That is how pretty a gift, Pakistan is to us all. And mercifully it is not over-exploited, over-commercialised and is still very affordable even for local tourists.

The nay-sayers of neo-ashhrafiyya — who see no good in this beautiful land and run each year to Europe, the US or a sizzling Dubai, for their indulgence — never seem to notice and know this real Pakistan. This is the Pakistan that the sold-out media rarely talks about. And this real Pakistan is the world's best kept and best preserved tourism secret. It is only a matter of time that the bold and the beautiful, having seen all other attractions in the world, would flock to explore and experience its landscape, its majestic beauty and its hospitable people, come what may.

No other country offers so complete a blend of landscape — from glaciers to alpine forests to plains to plateaus to pretty beaches to deserts — stony and sandy. No other country in almost 1200 kms, across its length, captures so much diversity in languages, cultures, food, dress and racial multiplicity that Pakistan does. Nowhere is history so much in peace, as it is in the Buddhist stupas of Swat, Takht Bhai and Shahbaz Garhi in Mardan or in modern day Hund village on the banks of Indus in Swabi District, where armies of Alexander crossed the river. And we have Lahore… the rajdhani of the only Sikh Empire. But the romance of history for another time.

Our landmass straddles South, Central and Western Asia that alone will keep us alive in the international chess, irrespective of the dominant players. We control the bottleneck south of the Persian/Arabian Gulf that lies on the international trade route including oil flows from the Gulf. So much for our geostrategic significance. So, it is time to shun negativity that is purposefully spread about Pakistan at home and abroad and start taking pride in the real Pakistan, thanking Allah for His graciousness. And contest this negativity, holding the sold out neo-ashhrafiyya and media to account, for wilfully undermining this beautiful land. Even international rankings about Pakistan on this or that index are suspect and influenced.

No country is without issues, and that is the way things always are.