Pakistan Travel Guide

Pakistan OVERVIEW

Pakistan and good reputation just don't click, at least not in terms of political stability and security. The Sunni-Shia conflict - tensions between two denominations of Islam - has maimed places of Muslim cult, and hostility towards anything that's Western materializes into assaults and terrorist activity. Difficult neighborhood among the insubordinate Afghanistan to one side, Iran to another, and a border with India and the ongoing 60-year-old fault line of Kashmir doesn't make it easy for Pakistan either to sell its natural wonders, great architecture and outstanding hospitality of the nation.

For the time being, travelers to Pakistan are warned they are entering the lion's den and risk becoming victims on their own request, which is not far from the truth. But when the suicide bombings die down and kidnappings end, the world will be safe to unwrap this yet another Asian package of thrilling experiences and marvelous sights. From hidden ancient bazaars of Rawalpindi and Quetta, jostling streets of the cosmopolitan Karachi and architectural marvels of Lahore to adventure-stirring Karakoram Mountains and K-2 for the biggest of daredevils, the Silk Road winding through the Himalayan range and the Hunza and Gilgit valleys or the Marakan coastline with 754 kilometers of picture ready vistas - Pakistan can be as prepossessing as the magical sounds of sitar spilling out of copious workshop premises in Islamabad.

Both Pakistan's landscape and its history are fractured and unsettled. The country's history traces back to the beginnings of human life in South Asia and presents Pakistan as the home to the Indus Valley civilization, which is amongst the oldest in the world. Prior to the 1900's, it was from here that the Muslims ruled over Central and Southern Asia for over 300 years. Today Pakistani fabric is woven with people from various races among which you will find Arabs, Persians from Bukhara and Samarkand, Turks from Central Asia and the native Sindhus who were converted to Islam. The unique sense of profound cultural concoction prevails in this world's sixth most populous nation. A nation of people who are by nature welcoming and hospitable to foreigners despite the indifference they face from their government and sporadic hostility from the outside world.