Safety in Pakistan

Society Travel & Tourism
1

Salaam,

After marriage, my wife and I want to go for a short tour of pakistan, which shall include the major cities Islamabad and Lahore. I will be booking the hotels etc soon, I just want to overcome one concern.

Is it safe to tour these cities without a pakistani resident (relative, cousin) accompanying us?

2

Re: Safety in Pakistan

Islamabad is pretty safe , LAhore karachi is NOT !

better go to northen areas if you have no relatives / freinds in big cities

want to go to cities then book good hotel and always use rent a car for visiting places

Tauba meri ja dholna mai nai bolna
3

Re: Safety in Pakistan

Lahore, Karachi & Islamabad are all safe places if u can fluently speak Urdu. Make sure u dont behave like you are foreigner & no one will bother you. Just keep ur eyes open thats it.

Avoid un-necessary places, e.g Northern areas or remote places. All 4 / 5 * hotels provide rent a car (even with driver if needed).

4

Re: Safety in Pakistan

Would you put AMER Hotel Lahore and Envoy Continental or Continental House Islamabad under the category of ‘good hotels’?

I don’t think I could drive in Lahore (too much congestion) don’t know about Islamabad though. Car rental with driver might be a good option.

Is it safe to travel by train from pindi to lahore or by Daewoo Bus Service?

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Re: Safety in Pakistan

Thanks for the good advice. :k:

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Re: Safety in Pakistan

coolmunda,

This is the website usually recommended by my company to visitors visiting Pakistan for hotel & price guide.

Have a look.

I’d suggest using Daewoo Bus service if u are travelling from ISB to Lahore or vice versa.

7

Re: Safety in Pakistan

sunfort lahore is quite decent hotel in lahore + it is in Liberty… shoping and resturants (M M Alam Road) are nearby

Go for Daewoo :k: peace of mind and comfort level is high. Although traveling by train is exciting for me but not recommended for you

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Re: Safety in Pakistan

Is it reasonably cheap? do they have a website?

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Re: Safety in Pakistan

Cool munda,
just make sure one thing, conceal your foreign visitor status as best as you could. People will always know, but still, try appearing as local and aware of local trends/current affairs (including prices etc) as possible. rent a car with a driver.
and Cody is right about Daewoo. Trains are fun but a bit hard core :D

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Re: Safety in Pakistan

It is there in the link pasted by najim here
http://www.southtravels.com/asia/pakistan/sunfortlahore/index.html

I dont know what is cheap according to your standard :konfusedL

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Re: Safety in Pakistan

^3000-4000 pkr

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Re: Safety in Pakistan

is it safe for a young woman to stay alone at a 3 or 4 star hotel in Liberty area in Lahore?? for maybe 4-5 days?

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Re: Safety in Pakistan

Do you understand mugging ?

It is quite common in urban America, same way it is common in urban pakistan.

If you can tolerate being robbed at gun point then there is not much to fear about :slight_smile:

Dont want to scare you people off ,but one should know the ground realities. We locals face these situation so it is better safe than sorry.

few precaution, while roaming in the city.

  1. keep a basic/ cheap mobile phone with you with disposible (local) sim . ( but do keep a mobile phone with you )
  2. keep minimum cash while travelling, use credit/debit card mostly.( but do keep some cash handy )
  3. use rent a car with driver, preferabley throgh hotel.
  4. keep important documents in hotel room.

If you (unfortunatey ) come across a robber, give him the stuff you have (mobile, cash ) etc. and relax ! it happens here with everyone, once in a while so you are not the odd one out :slight_smile:

if there were important documents in that stuff, then lodge a complaint in police station. otherwise no need to bother, chill :smokin:

Barey barey deshoon main aisi choti choti batain hoti rehti hain :wink:

ps. no. I am not a part time robber, FYKI :stuck_out_tongue:

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Re: Safety in Pakistan

Code_REd, so r u saying that one is just as likely to get mugged in broad day light than you are in the evening/night?

aunties and their questions!!!!!!!!!!
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Re: Safety in Pakistan

u’ve already done it :slight_smile:

Are u sure? :hoonh:

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Re: Safety in Pakistan

Excellent tips Cody :k: :smiley:

Chameli, I wouldnt quite think so. but Cody may give you a more accurate opinion.

And about robberies. Everyone should also take note of the fact that if a single armed robber aproaches you and you by any chance end up deciding that you could through some Bruce Lee technique take him/her down because you for some reason think either;

  1. He’s/She’s shorter, thinner, smaller, younger than you
  2. He’s alone and you’d punch/kick him and make noise and ‘everyone’ will be alreted and hence come to your rescue and scare the robber away
  3. You’ve got a weapon/contacts or very imp stuff you just can’t part with
  4. You’ve got to take charge of the way things are getting and feel an urgent need to be the long awaited revolutionary hero the nation’s been longing for

Know that;

  1. A tiny robber with a pistol, even if it appears fake to you, is most often accompanied by concealed armed partners guarding his flanks. You push him, they attack/shoot you and flee with or without what they had come for
  2. ‘Everyone’ around you won’t give a darn.
  3. Nothing works in messy situations. Avoid complications. Nothing’s more valuable than life, health and peace of mind.
  4. You’re not Nic Cage, Sanjay Dutt nor Che Guevara or William Wallace. The first two are alive because they do it all on camera. The other two great men who indeed brought about lot of change eventually got killed. Inspite of playing as smart as they could have. For you today though there are smarter ways of bringing about a revolution and ‘doing something about it’ than taking on an armed robber on the street.

Just some precautionary advice :slight_smile:
Not to scare but to secure :smiley:
Such stuff happens but doesn’t happen every moment. So there’s no need to panic.

May Allah protect, guard and guide everyone.

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Re: Safety in Pakistan

^ thanks for the great advice guys.

It's a real shame that we have to doubt the safety in pakistan. I wish one day we can stroll in pakistan feeling secure and comfortable.