Pakistan: Dodge City with Skiing

The Scoop
Pakistan is still the classic adventurer’s paradise, a wild mountainous region (to the north) and an arid wasteland (to the south), inhabited by fierce warring tribes and squabbling minorities. The isolation and poverty are positively biblical in the smaller towns. The big cities make Blade Runner look like a Caribbean resort. Sensory-numbing amounts of noise, dirt, poverty, temperature extremes, crime and general mayhem send most travelers fleeing to New York seeking peace and quiet. But as many Pakistanis point out, don’t forget India is worse. Pakistan offers natural, archaeological and historical sites, as well as a wealth of interesting backwaters. Amazingly, amongst this Third World developmental disaster, the Pakistani people are some of the most handsome, generous and engaging to be met on this planet, despite their constant warfare and banditry.

Pakistan has been pushed closer to the edge by the massive influx of weapons and refugees caused by wars in Afghanistan and conflict with India. There are a lot of guns in Pakistan with a lot of people who use them on a regular basis. Tourists are kidnapped for ransom but have not been harmed or executed (though a Swede was killed in 1991 in a messy government rescue attempt). Your health is definitely at risk; everything from cobras to dengue-carrying mosquitoes can end it all rather suddenly. Mountainous highways and insane drivers make Pakistan’s roads a killing ground. Much of the country is not under the control of the government but ruled by tribes. Professional bandits prey on poor and rich alike. What better place for a stroll through the countryside?