Pakistan, a country home to a plethora of tourist hot-spots, travel in Pakistan is almost considered sacred. Locals, settlers, foreigners, people from neighboring countries, everybody loves traveling across the land of beauty. From Gilgit-Baltistan to Balochistan, tourists find hundreds of different traveling prospects to enjoy and feed their thirst for beauty.
However, travel in Pakistan is not the easiest task one can wrap their fingers around; travel in Pakistan requires a number of tips to be followed, in order for the perfect experience whilst traveling. These tips, if followed, will result in an enhanced experience while you travel from one location to another. You will enter the field prepared and ready to take on any challenge that the travel in Pakistan can throw your way!
1. Make sure you are patient – patience is necessary to travel in Pakistan
Remember, you cannot control everything, that is why patience is virtue of necessity. To travel in Pakistan, you need to let loose of other emotions; not get angry, too happy, too excited, too sad or bored. Do not let things get to your head. If you cannot find an ATM while looking for one, do not worry, freakish things happen in the freakiest places when you travel in Pakistan.
2. Emergency Funds – you need to be strapped with extra cash
Always, always, always keep some extra cash. Travel in Pakistan has one thing assured; everything might not turn right for you (in all honesty). You need to keep a good amount of extra cash with you while traveling. Remember keeping the extra cash away from your purse, because of the purse goes, so do the emergency funds. Take care of your belongings and look out for pickpockets and robbers.
3. Art of hitchhiking – to travel in Pakistan, you must be a skilled hitchhiker
To travel in Pakistan, you must master the art of hitchhiking. There will be so many times when the train would be late or there would be no train at all, similar is the case for buses or planes. You must be able to convince other travelers to give you a ride from one place to another. You may have to travel on top of a bus, in the back of a truck or pillion-ride a motorbike. However, make sure that you judge the person correctly before taking a ride with them.
4. Smiling and greeting – nothing works better for a tourist than keeping a positive outlook
Make sure the people think you are always in a good and positive mood while you travel in Pakistan. People of the country take moods and personality outlooks very seriously. A little greet, a smile or a distant wave will go a long way for you and the process of smiling and greeting will help you attain the perks of Pakistani hospitality, wherever you go. The thing about Pakistani people is that
5. Be extra secure – do not get yourself involved in unwise audacity
Getting involved in other peoples’ affairs while you travel in Pakistan is not a very good idea. Let other people handle their own matters and move on. Do not try to resolve disputes or debates you encounter on the road and try to avoid them as much as you can. Remember, not everything is worth getting your hands dirty for.
6. Do not be afraid – be secure, not afraid; confidence is KEY
Confidence is key when you travel in Pakistan. Your personality, body movement, your facial expressions and the way you talk, everything counts as confidence. Meet new people, engage with confidence, share your bits just as much as they do. You must always be in control of the situation or travel in Pakistan will actually get to you and it will not be a very pretty sight.
7. Don’t plan too much – travel in Pakistan is best unplanned, go where it takes you
Planning is not for the huge hearts and definitely for the people who travel in Pakistan. Go with the flow, wherever it takes you. The only thing you need to plan is to stay alive and enjoy as much as you can, and the rest, you need to let go off. Just keep faith in God and in your skills. The positive outlook and seldom planning will lead to one of the best experiences of your life, especially when you’re visiting up North.
8. Do not pack a lot of stuff – to travel in Pakistan, less is more
Too much packing is not one of the traits you need with yourself while you travel in Pakistan. Less is more. Just keep enough clothes and stuff for you to survive. When traveling in winters, make sure you pack warm clothes, especially jackets. When in summers, as less as you can because handling extra stuff would make the heat unbearable. Also, if you lose your stuff while you travel in Pakistan, the majority of chances are someone with a good heart will send it back to you, where it belongs.
All in all, to travel in Pakistan, you must follow the aforementioned tips and brainstorm other such do’s and don’ts. Traveling is often said to be done without much thinking or planning, yes, that is agreed with to a certain extent. However, when you travel in Pakistan, meet different people, see different places, environments, cultures and other such entities; you are bound to work around a substantial amount of tips that will enhance your experience of traveling around the country.
One of the keys to travel in Pakistan, which you will not find in any book or guide, is that this is going to be the best trip of your life. You will have a time that will never be able to replace and memories that will never fade away. There is something promiscuously special about the picturesque scenery of Pakistan which no other country in the world has, so to say. Following these travel tips and your journey will end up as a once in a lifetime experience!