How Pakistani Mountains have Pierced my Heart
A road trip on the old silk road — Karakoram highway
Pakistan is the most misunderstood country I know. People know nothing about Pakistan only what media tells them. We all know media doesn’t portray the truth only what’s politically ‘required’. There are people who travel to Pakistan and fall completely in love with the country and its people.
What have I heard about Pakistan from others before I left?
It’s a 99% Muslim country be careful Muslims are dangerous!
They have a few wives be careful!
It’s full of terrorist be careful!
You need a gun when in Pakistan!
These are just a few most memorable ones but I’ve heard so many and they are all negative! People don’t want to hear beautiful things about Pakistan. It is convenient that Pakistan is seen as a ‘terrorist’ state like it has been portrayed in many TV shows, for example, Homeland.
Pakistan to me, was a dream which is a reality for so many who live there. Pakistan isn’t a poor country either it’s a rich country but it has been over exploited by the West. Therefore, it’s convenient for Pakistan to be portrayed as negative and a bad place to be so it continues to be exploited.
What do we know (good) about Pakistan?
Five of the highest mountains in the world are in Pakistan! The second highest mountain in the world is in Pakistan and is called K2. We drove by Nanga Parbat 9th highest mountain in the world. It’s no news Pakistan is a home to some of the highest mountains in the world.
Pakistan has boarders with Iran, India, Afganistan and China. It’s fifth most populous country in the world. Pakistan means the land of the pure faith. How beautiful! Pakistan is a Muslim country. Pakistan’s current Prime Minister Imran Khan an ex cricket player.
Pakistan has mango trees! Rare tigers that live in those beautiful mountains. The nature in Pakistan is beyond belief. The food is fantastic. I knew all of this before I left but when I got there everything was magnified times a hundred and more.
What did I love about Pakistan mountains?
I couldn’t believe how high these mountains are. My husband and I live in Spain and we see beautiful mountains often, particularly in Andalusia. However, the mountains in Pakistan have stolen my heart. When I looked up half a sky is a mountain. Can you imagine how that feels?
Have you ever looked up and saw a giant mountain first and then a sky? I always appreciated the mountains. I loved seeing it. In Pakistan, is a different ball game! I cannot describe the feeling when you drive on Karakoram highway and you need to stretch yourself to see the sky. The mountains are so big.
Everything in Pakistan is bigger than you think. The beauty that comes with it it takes your breath away and doesn’t give it back! The beauty of Pakistan is heartbreaking. I’ve never seen anything like it. EVER! Words cannot describe the beauty of Pakistan particularly the North of Pakistan.
The mountains made me feel so small and insignificant. What have I done in my life to show for it? Look at those mountains in their glory many thousands and thousands of years it took to form and we are lucky few to see it. Pakistani mountains have made me think differently about life.
No tourists in Sight
Nothing in those mountains is made for tourists. NOTHING! It’s all real. It’s all raw. It’s all so beautiful. In Pakistan, you can do pretty much anything you like. For example, rafting, skiing, hiking, rock climbing, mountain climbing swimming, horse riding, polo anything you want. The list is endless!
None of it has been targeted to tourists! Imagine how pure everything is those mountains. You don’t see an American coffee shop made for tourists. You don’t see hiking trails sold to tourists either. However, there are plenty companies that would love to take you around. It’s all so pure because it’s untouched by Western consumerism.
We have been driving around those mountains. We have been seeing breathtaking views of magical nature. Imagine not to meet any tourists?!!? Sure, there are other Pakistanis travelling around but not Western tourists. It’s a real magic to me! It made feel I have seen nothing before I came to Pakistan. A friend of ours said:
‘When you live in an area where the sky is half a mountain, your soul changes.’
It does just by visiting a place like that. Pakistani mountains are something else. I’m still in awe of it and I want to be back there. To put it all in a perspective the highest mountain in Europe is Mont Blanc 4,809 m. In Pakistan, at 4,000 m you’ll find the largest plateau in the world at that height. There’s a difference! I am not even talking about the heights of those super high mountains!
What was the road trip like?
The trip itself was long. It was 16 hours on the road. However, what a road it was! The views, the mountains, the river, the experience and I will never be the same afterwards. This road is a historical old silk road where the East connects to the West. There are so many stories untold and told on this road. I felt I was travelling on a piece of history.
The road itself is fascinating because it goes through such a different landscape in a short space of time. We were slowly going up to 4,000m as the road takes you there. Once we reached the top it felt like we got there in seconds. I felt sick. I felt dizzy. It was suddenly cold. It was windy. I could see Rakaposhi mountain in the distance. It was beautiful but couldn’t wait to get down so I could feel ‘normal’ again.
We travelled through villages. We crossed a glacier where you can get out of the car and take photos. We drove by amazing lakes and stopped to take photos. Rafting, for example, you can stop your car and do some rafting along the Karakoram highway. There’s a strip of the river on which you can do it. How amazing is that?!
We stopped at some cafes for food which was outstanding. A simple cafe on an old silk road is amazing. Nothing is made for tourists. It’s exactly how the locals ‘do it’. It’s made for people to stop and have a good cup of tea. Everything is cheap too.
Pakistan is untouched by tourism and that’s so beautiful.
Is Pakistan dangerous? No. However, if you are making a trip up North you’ve got to make sure you are going in the right season. There are many areas for sliding rocks so it can be dangerous for that. If there’s snow it might be tricky to get through some of the roads too.
Pakistan mountains are hard to get to. It’s not made for tourists so it’s clean. No infrastructure set for hard core tourism as in other areas in the world for climbing high mountains. Everything is real, raw and beautiful. Pakistan mountains are untouched. That’s a real beauty!
I couldn’t believe the beauty of Pakistan is just is like that. Pakistani mountains have pierced my heart with its beauty and I want to be back there again, and again, and again.
Next time you hear negative comments about Pakistan, think twice before you accept it as ‘truth’. To me, Pakistan, showed me what a beautiful world we live in it’s never ending and so giving… The whole world should see Pakistan mountains at least once in your life.
Love and Light!
