Do Pakistanis really TRAVEL?. I don’t consider annual pilgrimage to Pakistan and crashing in at a relative’s ghar and spending days at Anarkali and nights stuffing up at yet another friend or relative’s home as travelling.
I find that most desis have no concept of discovering other countries and cultures. Now, seriously…how many of us have visited the Andes in South America or drove thru DAKKAR valley in Northern Africa or wandered through the Amazon or spent a week in New Zealand?.
There is a saying of Prophet Muhammad PBUH, " Don’t tell me how educated you are, tell me how much you have travelled?"
I am not generalizing at all but then again prove me wrong…
This is a fact that Pakistanis are not for travelling. I'm unaware of any survey, but had there been any or if there would be any on this subject, at least 95% won't go for the idea of travelling. I don't know what are the reasons. Please don't tell me it has to do anything with poverty! Pakistan's middle class is quite a 'strong party.'
OK, forget about international travel... honestly, we don't even travel within Pakistan. Going to Murree for a week in summers is not travelling. How many of us have wondered out to Kailash or the Silk Route or Mohenjo Darro?.
I know plenty of Pakistani Canadians/Brits who absolutely love travelling, me included!!
I've been to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico and all over Western Europe...plus, I'm planning a trip to some additional European countries next year. And no, I don't just sit in the resort. I think it's important to get out there and see how other people in the world live...
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There is a saying of Prophet Muhammad PBUH, " Don't tell me how educated you are, tell me how much you have travelled?"
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well on another occasion he's alleged to have said to travel even to china in search of an education so I guess that takes care of his concern for both.
I have also thought about it a lot and come to understand that out society doesn't have any concept of annual holidays, neither officially nor unofficially. 90% employees are entitled to only one day off in a week and if at all they get some paid-leave at the end of their job contracts, they would rather go for hard cash instead of cashing in on holidaying. We also do not have the concept of travelling with family. Women are mostly left alone at home if ever one goes out. So the missing element of family-outing may also contribute to less exploration of nature and culture.
I would love to see that some day government of Pakistan, with the collaboration of private sector, celebrate at least 3 holidays bringing to halt the whole business cycle in the country. This will not only result in better mental health of their employees, but also bring some more money into motion.
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*Originally posted by funguy: *
I find that most desis have no concept of discovering other countries and cultures. Now, seriously...how many of us have visited the Andes in South America or drove thru DAKKAR valley in Northern Africa or wandered through the Amazon or spent a week in New Zealand?.
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I kind of agree with you, at least from the people that I know in our community, most of them seem to only travel to Pakistan, or England to visit their families. However there are a few that go all out and visit different areas of the world for the sake of visiting and exploring a differnet country and culture. Personally, I'd love to travel the world, I just haven't and don't have the time for it. I'll put it on my "to do" list :)
Well, I'm a Pakistani... I'm dying to travel and explore... but I can't, I'm stuck with the usual Pakistani stuff... our lives are so darn bizy and hectic... but I never even the tiniest oppurtunities to even go to a mall I haven't been to before... :D
Ibrahim and I both love to travel and do so whenever we get the chance. Luckily sometimes this means twice or three times a year. And no...it's not the standard pilgrimage to Pakistan. In fact, I haven't been there in over ten years and he hasn't been back for more than six years, I think.
I would give you a summary of where we have been but I think I'll leave that for him to post since he's good at re-telling it all. If you heard it from me, it would be simply a list.
Muzna, The post from Ibrahim will be much appreciated.
To be honest, I came up with this topic after reading your thread on Barcelona.
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And please please please, whenever you travel, write a diary at the end of the day or when you are on a train from one city to another... I know it is hard to keep log of things in our hectic daily routines but trust me, travelogues are so much fun to write and the real reward is reading them a few years later.
Well, you learn something new every day. I didn’t know that Prophet Mohammad was a Pakistani.
Do you mean to say that Pakistanis don’t travel much outside of their country? Well, it is because they are not a rich people, nor are they nomadic people like the Bedouins, and also because they are not sea-people like the Greeks. They are pretty much settled people, with not much need to travel or venture. But those who travel, do travel. Sometimes people get bogged down with their daily life, that travelling is not possible.
By the way, read Ibn Battuta, and try to have an open mind. No, he was not Pakistani.
And also if your definition of traveling is “spending a week in New Zealand”, you need to grow up a bit.
While I won't generalize and presume to speak for all Pakistanis, I can only express my own experiences.
Since our childhood, its true that most summer vacations will be spent visiting our nani, nana and other assorted relatives in Karachi (we were in Lahore), but the fact is the for most other vacations will be spent exploring the Northern Areas in Pakistan. My father is an avid tourist, and a combination of good luck, right friends and the abundance of beauty in the north of Pakistan meant our family spent a lot of time to explore many areas there. Many times we will have our whole extended family invited up to some place in the North of Pakistan for a fun-filled week of vacations.
Typically we will just wait for a slightly extended weekend, 3-4 days max, to gather our stuff and head out of Lahore. In Pakistan, many holdays are dependent on moon sighting, so I remember that usually most of our trips will just be spontaneous plan. After the usual tourist spots of Muree, Nathia Gali and Swat, we discovered the elegance of Abbotabad. Abbothabad itself is just a decent sized city, but it provides a lot of opportunities to travel out to the North and acts as a sort of base-camp. We went all the way to Naraan/Kaghan/Saif-ul-Malook and liked that place so much that went back 5-6 times in a 3 year period. We also explored areas like Kalaam, and had plans to take the Shahrah-e-Resham all the way to China but that never materialized.
In addition to Northern Pakistan, we also travelled to interior Sindh and Balochistan, just to experience and enjoy the life-style there. I have also travelled extensively in the Seraiki belt and the areas around Multan and Muzaffargarh.
International travel does require a fair bit of expense, but as long as I had the opportunity I did explore many parts in the middle east and far east. Even in States, we do manage to travel every once in a while, although with young kids it requires a lot more planning.
Travelling to new and interesting places is really quite fun.
Personally, my family consists of travel freaks. Childhood holidays consisted of travelling from England to Canada, America and Western Europe. I have not been to Pakistan since I was 4, so that is actually a place I really want to go...to see the country, culture, etc.
At the moment, I'm content with seeing the rest of Europe and perhaps venture south down to Brazil some time in the future....inshallah!!
Fungo, if your idea of travelling is taking a plane to Rio, and coming back in 4 days with lots of duty free liquor, then, as I suggested, you need to read up a bit. That’s why I recommended to you Ibn-Battuta. People spend their lives to discover and enrich knowledge. By insinuating that Pakistanis “have no concept of travelling”, you have no clue what you said.
You are confusing business travel and tourism with adventure travel – two totally different concepts.
Did anyone else feel that I was confusing business and leisure travel in my opening post?. Please be honest.
NYAhmedi, You are ONLY assuming stuff about me. I have read Ibn-e-batoota, Rick Steves, Mustansar Hussain Tarrar, Ata-ul-Haq Qasmi and Fodor's and many others. As a matter of fact had you rightly understood the purpose of my post, you would be thinking totally differently. I am not tying a time factor to travel but more of exploring different cultures and cities. I know it is IMPOSSIBLE to explore in a week or a month or even a lifetime... all I am saying is that MOST Pakistanis don't travel as much as they should. And I am not saying that all travel MUST be international. It can be as local as your own province.
That's all.
Let's not make this thread a dialogue between you and me. We can take this into private if you like.
And the rest of you, Thanks for your accounts. I would love to hear more details... what cities or cultures you liked most and where would you like to go back for a second time.
Fungo, didn’t I say that I took no offense, so why are you so constipated? If you could ever figure out the reference to Homer (some people have celestial need to travel vis-a-vis some other people – hence the settled ones – as opposed to the nomads). I think you are either too slow to get the point, or just plain stupid. Let me say it again, I didn’t take no offense, no need to apologize. And dawhling, we are still waiting for you to tell us your adventures of the amazon.
If you want to make some signature out of what I said, here’s a better one for you:
“Some jackass are so hungup about their stupidity that everyone else seems effulgent to them” NYA, circa 2002.
