After spending 15 years in Saudi Arabia and vacationing in various cities of Europe, North America and Far East, my wife this year decided that it was high time my kids aged 13, 10 and 4 got to know about their motherland - Pakistan.
We, therefore, booked ourselves on a two-week tour of Pakistan at an amazingly low price. (The reasons for the low price became very obvious at the end of the tour).
The nightmare started with an 18-hour journey from Karachi to Faisalabad. Although the train was reasonably clean and air-conditioned, the toilets were another story. As a friend of mine remarked, "I wouldn't put my dog in there".
Even now the stench makes me nauseate. My 4-year-old daughter freaked out totally and refused to enter the toilet. We had to make her wear her pampers so that she could relieve herself.
I feel sorry for the people who have to commute using Pakistan Railways (PR) on a regular basis. This was my first and last trip using PR.
After an exhausting and depressing 18-hour journey we reached Faisalabad. I had read so much about Faisalabad that I was really excited to see the city. The reality was a huge shock. Faisalabad is an extremely dirty, depressing city. As soon as we left the station we were swarmed by an army of beggars who refused to leave us.
We left for Rawalpindi in a coaster and after a 6-hour road trip reached Pindi, Rawalpindi was also a huge disappointment. It is a city of dirt, depression, unhygienic standards, a really rundown city. This was my first impression of Pindi's Adamjee Road.
The next day we left for a trip to Islamabad. This was the only bright spot in the entire tour. Islamabad is a well-planned city with beautiful parks and places. However, the city is dead at around 10:00 pm.
We left for the Swat Valley the next day. The Swat Valley has always been projected as a land of clear blue skies, beautiful mountains, blue water, etc, etc. The reality is quite the opposite. Mingora is a dreadful city, with acute poverty and filth.
We went to Malam Jabba the next day. The beauty of the surroundings were considerably marred by the acute poverty of the people residing there. As soon as we reached Malam Jabba we were surrounded by beautiful children all begging for alms or trying to sell something. We climbed the mountains and here the civic sense of Pakistan people was evident.
The mountain was littered by empty juice packets and other filth. I have never seen so many flies in one place. In fact the only thing my 4-year-old remembers are the flies!
Kalam is the place, which will haunt me forever. My younger children both had severe cases of food poisoning there.
My son was the worst affected. He made the mistake of eating some fruits and he had severe diarrhea., vomiting and stomach cramps. With no decent medical facilities available, I was out of my mind. I had to give him the medication, which we had with us.
Fortunately he recovered after a day. But here I would like to note that there are no medical facilities, tourist information centers, emergency centers, etc in all the places I visited. I just cannot think of the nightmarish consequences of somebody falling sick or injuring themselves in places like Naran or Kalam where the access is both difficult and dangerous.
From Kalam we moved on to Abbottabad for a night. There was nothing to see except a congested market place and the ever present flies. From Abbottabad we moved to Naran. Again roads were very dangerous. Naran is a beautiful place but there are no good hotels, no hospitals or any sort of tourist information centres.
My youngest daughter fell sick in Naran. She developed cough and cold that made her very irritable and tired.
We visited Jheel Saiful Malook, a breathtakingly beautiful place.
We also went to Lalazaar, although the roads made us wish we hadn't.
From Naran we went to Rawalpindi and on the last day we went to Nathiagali, Ayubia, Murree, etc. A two-day tour was cramped into a single day and we were all totally exhausted at the end of day.
The next day we left for Karachi by plane.
The trip killed all the romantic notions I had had since childhood, about places like Swat, Rawalpindi, Abbottabad. One last thing, I am sure that people who keep on saying that the North of Pakistan resembles Switzerland, have never been to Switzerland!
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