Three Weeks in Pakistan (Chapter 3)

In the last chapter, I was a little overwhelmed by the kindness and hospitality I experienced from family that I met in Faisalabad. I enjoyed my brief visit to the goan – if it was any longer, maybe I would start to feel uncomfortable. Life in the village is so different.

Anyway, I continued to feel overwhelmed as we made our way to Naran-Kaghan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which is a province of Pakistan. This area is rich in culture and natural beauty. 

Our final destination was a lake called Lake Saiful Muluk. Prior to coming to Pakistan, I had never heard of this lake. But, while dreaming of places like the Hunza Valley and Gilgit, I settled for Lake Saiful Muluk. I was told that driving to Gilgit would be impossible during the months of April and May. Even our tour guide on our hike through the mountains of Naran told us that we should come back during the summer months if we really want to see the rest of Northern Pakistan. We told him we would be back, inshaAllah! 

On the Route

The roads were very narrow, curvy and consistently uphill, so the majority of the way the drive  like a slow rollercoaster ride. Not a good drive for people who experience motion sickness – like my mom and younger cousin. We had to make many stops. 

On the way, we came across a bunch of kids selling something on the street. So we pulled over and they wanted to sell us hand-picked berries. There were so many of them, and each of them eager to sell us their berries. They were the cutest – so happy, despite their daily struggles. My mom gave most of them money even though we only took berries from one of them. They were so happy that we stopped on the road. I’m sure many people continue driving through. 

Mansehra

When you map out the drive in kilometres, it’s actually not that much. I think it’s equivalent to Windsor to New York, which I’ve done before. But the one thing I did not consider was that the area was very mountainous and driving in curves and uphill is what took us so long to reach our destination. 

I am so grateful for my cousin who did the drive for us. I couldn’t drive in Pakistan. Before leaving I thought I’d give it a shot, but once I saw the traffic and how crazy people were – drivers and pedestrians – I quickly refused any opportunity. 

We stopped for lunch in Mansehra, a beautiful city situated at a height in the centre of some very scenic views. We ate at this restaurant on the patio. The wind and sun were such a blessing – and the food too! In fact, on our way back we stopped here again because we loved the food and it didn’t make our stomachs upset!  

Kaghan

After a really long drive from sunrise to sunset, we stayed over night in Kaghan. Our stay in Kaghan and our tour of Naran through the mountains, made me realize the generosity embed in the people of Pakistan. I may not have experienced this sort of environment anywhere else in Pakistan – not as much as I did in Kaghan and Naran. Everyone was so patient and courteous. I never came across a single vile human being who was out to scam us or offer the least of their services. 

They offered us the best service. They gave us discounted deals on the rooms since we were getting two rooms for two nights. They even offered to get us food from the local restaurants and bring it to our rooms. We had dinner and breakfast that way. It was truly a blessing, especially because we were so tired. 

The next morning, the hotel manager offered to take us in his jeep to Naran and back. This was amazing because we had not realized that our car would struggle going to Naran, but the hotel manager knew and so we were really appreciative of his offer and patience while we did the hike. He showed us around Naran and told us many stories of the place. He even took us to a good restaurant for food and drove us to a bridge that my cousin wanted to see.

Truthfully, we always tipped them more than “recommended” because they were such genuine and hard-working people. This is their living (tourism) and if we cheap out then how will they survive? I would never feel good getting “a deal” because they truly deserve more for their hard work, care and appreciation of tourists.  

More on our tour through the mountains of Naran, breathtaking views at breakfast, and our everlasting hike up to Lake Saiful Muluk in the next chapter! Stay tuned!