How many of you have visited Pakistan and what is your opinion about it?
Walter B
I only visited once for work and hated the assignment. I went in December (northern winter) and only had light summer clothing, and therefore was always cold. I never ate any meat during the while time I was in Pakistan. I found the people acceptable and polite but the treatment of women was surprising -- some women just wore a scarf to cover their heads while other wore various types of Hijabs including the full body-covering Burqa. Child labour was rife. Censorship was strict.
jimquk
I visited some 25 years ago. It was like another world. Karachi airport hot, sweaty, chaotic, people everywhere. Two days travelling out to NWFP. DIK airport: soldiers checking with mirrors under vehicles, looking for bombs. Driving across flooded rivers. People everywhere. Riding in tanga. Silent servants. Feeling awkwardly underdressed in shalwar kamiz. Darrah gun market, Peshawar, Khyber Pass. Buses and lorries that fallen thousands of feet. So-called mujahedin and a drug baron/MP's palace. Crossing Attock bridge ("unsafe bridge" notices), Punjab seemed a different country. Islamabad, "load-shedding", buy candles and your own padlock for hotel room doors. Woken by loud and grating azaan right outside our room. Taken to British Embassy as my White skin would ensure preferential treatment: cringeing as we went straight to the front of a room full of people *clutching their British passports* Dinner at a hotel: a servant girl of 12 or 13 standing against a wall as her employers ate. They called the waiter to give her the leftovers. She still stood as she ate. The mist disgusting thing I seen in my life. Trip to Murree: food poisoning. Lahore: beautiful city. Sikh temples. Beautiful azaan: he really calling you to pray: reading along with the muezzin: "as salaatu kheirun min an nawm" and falling back asleep. Multan: plane hit the runway so hard the overhead lockers all burst open. People everywhere. "Dust and beggars". A vandalised Hindu temple. I don't mean to sound negative: it was challenging rather than bad. I was very aware of our privilege. I was struck by the fact that life continued with basically no input from the government. People doing their best. On our return, I had a minor reverse culture shock: it seemed so weird that all the cars at the lights simply lined up one behind another, and even left spaces. And I was sick again for a week (stopped the malaria tablets too soon).
Foofa
I've never visited Pakistan. But I do know that when my NGO worker relative goes there for on assignment she can't use her normal Israeli passport and so has to keep her secondary one valid. Which sort of says to me I wouldn't be entirely welcome in Pakistan. However, I know several people from Pakistan and they're lovely.
Anonymous
Have never visited it but from what have heard I would not want to visit any country like that far too poor for me.
Anonymous
Everybody was polite. They sucked my dick when I told them too. It was wonderful!