A lil taste of pakistan

[Ramius]

Amazing pictures. Just shows how beautiful Pakistan is.

 

[mriko]

How safe would northern pakistan(where all the good hashish is) be for a canadian of indian punjabi descent? I can pass for pakistani as people in that region look pretty similiar.

Northern Pakistan is quite diverse, you might pass for a local in Peshawar, but certainly not in Chitral area where people have european features (overthere you'll be a "noisy punjabi" eheh...). North Pakistan is safe in general although NWFP south of Lowari pass bears some potential "hotness". I don't think being of Indian descent should be a problem, as far as I know Indian people who visit pakistan have a great time there.
Can't tell much about Punjab actually, always been right through, never stopping in this giant oven. Extremism-speaking it is getting quite hot, especially southern Punjab, with lots of youth joining militant groups but I don't know how it affect loca life & security.

Irie !

 

[SEVEN47]

Northern Pakistan is quite diverse, you might pass for a local in Peshawar, but certainly not in Chitral area where people have european features (overthere you'll be a "noisy punjabi" eheh...). North Pakistan is safe in general although NWFP south of Lowari pass bears some potential "hotness". I don't think being of Indian descent should be a problem, as far as I know Indian people who visit pakistan have a great time there.
Can't tell much about Punjab actually, always been right through, never stopping in this giant oven. Extremism-speaking it is getting quite hot, especially southern Punjab, with lots of youth joining militant groups but I don't know how it affect loca life & security.

Irie !

Ethnically I'm a jatt and we too have our fair share of diversity regarding features, my grandparents are Lahori jatts pre-partition. I always viewed pakistan punjab as fairly secular while the northern areas were the hotbeds for extremism. I'm starting to think I would have to worry more about roaming groups of bandits possibly more than the taliban. In india punjab we have our fair share of no man areas too, particularly border districts with pakistan like tarn taran. alot of badmashes in that area. It was famous during the 80's and early 90's during sikh militancy.

 

[SEVEN47]

Btw what language do locals speak up there? Will they understand punjabi or will they mostly only speak urdu or pashto?

 

[Burt]

urdu and pashto bro-urdu will get you by but pashto is preferred
farsi is as valuable as urdu up that aways

 

[paulo73]

Great thread!
Top pics.

 

[mriko]

my grandparents are Lahori jatts pre-partition

Then you might be welcomed as a returning family member, at least in Lahore.

the northern areas were the hotbeds for extremism

What do you call "northern areas", because in Northern Areas, there is absolutely nothing to fear from any kind of extremists. Lots of people there are shia & ismaeli and they'renot min that kind of activity. Only sometimes in Gilgit Shi'a & Sunni have some battling, but that's all.

I'm starting to think I would have to worry more about roaming groups of bandits possibly more than the taliban.

In Punjab, definitely. lotsa dacoits there.

Btw what language do locals speak up there? Will they understand punjabi or will they mostly only speak urdu or pashto?

I think it's better to avoid speaking punjabi in pashtun areas. Some might not like it. In Northern Areas, dozens of languages are spoken, sometimes changing from one valley to another. Most will speak urdu, and english too.

Irie !

 

[SEVEN47]

Then you might be welcomed as a returning family member, at least in Lahore.

hopefully.

What do you call "northern areas",

NWFP, SWAT, bascially pathan country

I think it's better to avoid speaking punjabi in pashtun areas. Some might not like it. In Northern Areas, dozens of languages are spoken, sometimes changing from one valley to another. Most will speak urdu, and english too.

So I take it the pathans hold hostility against the punjabi people/language/culture? Considering most of the ruling elite are punjabi, is this probable reason? Or some old school bad blood.

 

[Yarkand]

 

[mriko]

NWFP, SWAT, bascially pathan country

Well, then it's not Northern Areas. Northern Areas is actually pakistan-administered Kashmir, less Azad Kashmir. You're talking about NWFP, and indeed most people speak pushto, and quite a lot speak english too, especially young people.

So I take it the pathans hold hostility against the punjabi people/language/culture? Considering most of the ruling elite are punjabi, is this probable reason? Or some old school bad blood.

Well, it's not all pashtun people who have a problem with Punjab of course, but there's indeed some resentment indeed because of the, ultra-corrupted, ruling elite originating from Punjab, to which you add the general perception, in Punjab, of Pashtuns as uneducated, if not backward, peasants, which sure doesn't help.
I wouldn't say it's against the people/language/culture, but the ruling elite is corrupted, treat the Pashtuns like shit plus is nowadays siding with the US who is perpetrating targeted assassinations by the dozens in the NWFP, and many locals don't like this. For some it can be one more reason to reject anything Punjabi.

Lots of people, as "uneducated" as they might seem, speak several languages, 4 or 5 different ones is not uncommon. There are probably quite a bunch who understand & speak some punjabi, but again approaching people, say in Peshawar, & speaking straight Punjabi, I don't know... Pashtoon people are so nice & welcoming that it should be ok, butbBetter not stumble on some nationalist guy eheh. Or imagine, talking straight in Punjabi to someone who has lost part of his family in some of last battles in Waziristan or Swat, what can be the reaction ? I don't know.

Last time I was there something interesting happend to me. I was at Peshawar bus station, on my way back to India. Waiting for the bus to leave I was chatting with the bus-boy (in charge of collecting money for tickets,loading luggages and so on). At one point he asked the typical question "where are you from?". "France". And him to reply, very politely and calmly (it had something british eheh...)"Oh, I hate France". I sure wasn't waiting for that kind of reply... I asked him why, and it happend his brother had set for Britain and was arrested in France & sent back. So he had very good reason to truly hate the country I'm from, but he remained all polite and respectuous during all the time we've been in the same vicinity.

In Chitral there are regularly tourists from Punjab or Sindh stopping there for a few days, I wouldn't surprised that some hotel owner speak Punjabi. I once saw one of my Chitrali friends, who works in hotel, talking in Sindhi with some customers from near Mohendjodaro.


Still, I haven't been there in 3 years (much too long...) so I don't know how things are going in the streets. There have been so much fuss going on in those past three years, i just don't know how it affects people's minds. Can't wait to see by myself ...

Irie !

 

[apachen]

mriko more photos¡¡¡¡

 

[gonzo`]

this has become one of my favourite threads here. Thank you for the info!!

 

[Burt]

I second that gonzo!
your threads/pics inspired me to join ICMAG in the first place
any kalashi pics? do they have a smoke culture or are they into dionysian? thanks in advance

 

[Dimajones-AICC-]

Hi all Compadres!

More hashish in Darra, i found this in the net too, loving..

Cant wait to see this in situ and pick one of this slabs

 

[Ramius]

 

[mriko]

Nie pics ramius, these are from an issue of The Red Eye Express Magazine, which seems alas deceased, was such a great mag...

Cant wait to see this in situ and pick one of this slabs

In situ ? Then you have to options : be patient, or pray hard for peace to come back there. Darra is alas off-limits to foreigners, and not safe to go nowadays as regular fighting happens there. Yesterday or day before some militants attacked a checkpoint on the road between Darra & Peshawar.

mriko more photos¡¡¡¡

More will come apachen. Doing some clen up i've found back a SD card I had lost, with many pics of my 2007 trip. Damn it's l ong, must go back there quick !

Irie !

 

[Dimajones-AICC-]

In situ ? Then you have to options : be patient, or pray hard for peace to come back there. Darra is alas off-limits to foreigners, and not safe to go nowadays as regular fighting happens there. Yesterday or day before some militants attacked a checkpoint on the road between Darra & Peshawar.

Thanks for the tip mriko, definitely i pray for peace on this area.

All the best,
Dima.

 

[apachen]

Hello mriko, I have several questions, I read that the best hashish in the world is in Uzbekistan (tankesti plants), is this true? you could go there or know anything about this?. thanks

 

[mriko]

Greetings Apachen,

Alas I haven't had any opportunity to sample any Uzbek hash to this day. On a historical point, during the early 1800s, in India, Bukhara hashish was considered to be the best available. That was until the Russian took over the area and production was shifted to Yarkand, in Eastern Turkestan.
I don't know what is left of hashish production in Uzbeksitan. Probabaly mostly a cottage industry, with people growing for their own consumption, and maybe some wider scale operation in the far North of the country, nearby the Tchu valley where the plant grows wild on hundreds of thousands of acres (most of the valley is located in Kazakhstan though).

I sure am planning to go there some day, but I just don't know when this will happen.

Irie !

 

[ifrane]

you are a big man mirko!
tank you for beautiful photo!