Facts at a Glance
Full country name: Islamic Republic of Pakistan
Area: 887,700 sq km (550,374 sq mi)
Population: 124.8 million
Capital city: Islamabad
People: 56% Punjabi (also Pathans, Baluch, Mohajir, Sindhis)
Language: Urdu (also Punjabi, English, Sindhi, and regional dialects)
Religion: 97% Muslim, 3% Christian and Hindu
Government: Democracy
Prime Minister: Nawaz Sharif
Pakistan's neighbours are an eclectic and ornery bunch: Iran to the south-west; Afghanistan to the west and north; China to the north-east; and India stretching down its eastern side. The southern coast abuts the Arabian Sea. The country is composed of towering peaks in the north (including the second-highest mountain in the world, 8611m/28,245ft K2), dry and scrubby mountains in the west, an inhospitable plateau in the south-west, barren deserts in the south-east and alluvial plains everywhere else. These plains, constituting about a third of the country, are Pakistan's `heart', where most of its people live and most of its food is grown. Coursing through all this tumult is the Indus River, which falls from Tibet then travels 2500km (1550mi) south before emptying through an immense delta into the Arabian Sea.
Natural fauna in Pakistan's lowlands is patchy - mostly scattered clumps of grass and stunted woodlands. However, as the landscape rises, there are quite large coniferous forests and carpeted slopes of multicoloured flowers in the northern mountains. Fauna includes bear, snow leopard, deer and jackal. Pakistan's 800km (500mi) of coastline teems with shark, shellfish and sea turtle, while the Indus delta is home to the marsh crocodile.
Pakistan has three seasons: cool (October through February); hot (March through June); and wet (July through September). There are, however, big regional variations. In the south, the cool season brings dry days and cool nights, while the northern mountains get drizzle and plummeting night-time temperatures. The hot season means suffocatingly hot and humid conditions in the south but pleasant temperatures northwards. During the wet season, the tail end of the monsoon dumps steady rain mostly in the narrow belt of the Punjab from Lahore to Islamabad. But further north, the high mountains block all but the most determined clouds, which means relatively little rain falls there (budding trekkers please take note).
The first inhabitants of Pakistan were Stone-Age peoples in the Potwar Plateau (north-west Punjab). They were followed by the sophisticated Indus Valley (or Harappan) civilisation which flourished between the 23rd to 18th centuries BC. Semi-nomadic peoples then arrived, settled down, and by the 9th century BC were blanketed across northern Pakistan-India. Their Vedic religion was the precursor of Hinduism, and their rigid division of labour an early caste system.
In 327 BC Alexander the Great came over the Hindu Kush to finish off the remnants of the defeated Persian empire. Although his visit was short, some tribes tell picturesque legends in which they claim to be descended from Alexander and his troops. Later came the heyday of the Silk Route, a period of lucrative trade between China, India and the Roman empire. The Kushans were at the centre of the silk trade and established the capital of their Gandhara kingdom at Peshawar. By the 2nd century AD they had reached the height of their power, with an empire that stretched from eastern Iran to the Chinese frontier and south to the Ganges River. The Kushans were Buddhist and under King Kanishka built thousands of monasteries and stupas. Soon Gandhara became both a place of trade and of religious study and pilgrimage - the Buddhist `holy' land.
The Kushan empire had unravelled by the 4th century and was subsequently absorbed by the Persian Sassanians, the Gupta dynasty, Hephthalites from Central Asia, and Turkic and Hindu Shahi dynasties. The next strong central power was the Moghuls who reigned during the 16th and 17th centuries. A succession of rulers introduced sweeping reforms, ended Islam's supremacy as a state religion, encourged the arts, built fanciful houses and, in a complete volte-face, returned the state to Islam once again.
In 1799 a young and crafty Sikh named Ranjit Singh was granted governorship of Lahore. He proceeded over the next few decades to parlay this into a small empire, fashioning a religious brotherhood of `holy brothers' into the most formidable army on the subcontinent. In the course of his rule, Ranjit had agreed to stay out of British territory - roughly south-east of the Sutlej River - if they in turn left him alone. But his death in 1839 and his successor's violation of the treaty plunged the Sikhs into war. The British duly triumphed, annexed Kashmir, Ladakh, Baltistan and Gilgit and renamed them the State of Jammu and Kashmir. Thus, they created a buffer state to Russian expansionism in the north-west and, unwittingly, what would transpire to be the subcontinent's most unmanageable curse. A second war against the British in 1849 brought the empire to an end, and the annexation of the Punjab and the Sind in the 1850s; these were ceded to the British Raj in 1857.
National self-awareness began growing in British India in the latter stages of the 19th century. In 1906 the Muslim League was founded to demand an independent Muslim state but it wasn't until 24 years later that a totally separate Muslim homeland was proposed. Around the same time, a group of England-based Muslim exiles coined the name Pakistan, meaning `Land of the Pure'. After violence escalated between Hindus and Muslims in the mid-1940s, the British were forced to admit that a separate Muslim state was unavoidable. The new viceroy, Lord Louis Mountbatten, announced that independence would come by June 1948.
British India was dutifully carved up into a central, largely Hindu region retaining the name India, and a Muslim East (present-day Bangladesh) and West Pakistan. The announcement of the boundaries sparked widespread killings and one of the largest migrations of people in history. Kashmir (properly The State of Jammu and Kashmir), though, wanted no part of India or Pakistan. When India and Pakistan sent troops into the recalcitrant state, war erupted between the two countries. In 1949 a UN-brokered cease-fire gave each country a piece of Kashmir to administer but who will ultimately control it still remains unclear.
Mohammed Ali Jinnah, a prime mover of Muslim independence, became Pakistan's first governor general but died barely a year into his new country's independence. His deputy and friend Liaqat Ali Khan replaced him but was assassinated three years later. What followed was a muddle of quarelling governor generals and prime ministers and a severe economic slump. In 1956 Pakistan finally produced a constitution and became an Islamic republic. West Pakistan's provinces were amalgamated into a single entity similar to that in East Pakistan. Two years later President Iskander Mirza - fed up with the bickering and opportunism that pervaded Pakistani politics - abrogated the constitution, banned political parties and declared martial law, a state Pakistan has been in, in one form or another, ever since.
The next two decades saw Pakistan racked by further war with India over Kashmir, civil war between the east and west, and the declaration of Bangladeshi independence, another war with India, and the execution of one of its most charismatic prime ministers, Z A Bhutto. In 1977 Bhutto's chief of staff, General Muhammad Zia ul-Haq, took control, insinuated himself successfully with the USA (thereby gaining valuable foreign aid) and was widely feted as a hero of the free world. His death in an air crash in 1988 opened the way for Bhutto's daughter, Benazir to claim victory in the next election, the first elected woman to head a Muslim country. She was toppled soon after but was voted back into power in 1993.
Benazir Bhutto travelled widely, trumpeting Pakistan's investment potential and casting herself, and her country, as role models for the modern Muslim state. Her place in the hearts of her own people though was endangered by a culture of official corruption. She was dismissed as Prime Minister in November 1996 by the president Farooq Leghari. Elections held in early 1997 returned her opponent Nawaz Sharif. After India conducted nuclear tests in May 1998, Pakistan responded in kind two weeks later, detonating five nuclear devices in south-western Baluchistan. International condemnation was widespread, and sanctions are expected to put intense strain on the country's economy.
GDP: US$282 billion
GDP per head: US$434
Annual growth: 4.7%
Inflation: 12.2%
Major industries: agriculture, textiles, cement, fertilisers and steel
Major trading partners: Japan, USA, Germany and UK
The pleasures of Pakistan are old: Buddhist monuments, Hindu temples, Islamic palaces, tombs and pleasure grounds, and widely spaced Anglo-Mogul Gothic mansions - some in a state of dereliction which makes their grandeur even more emphatic. Scuplture is dominated by Graeco-Buddhist friezes, and crafts by ceramics, jewellery, silk goods and engraved woodwork and metalwork.
Shrine of Bibi Jawindi, Uch Sharif (15K)
Even Pakistan's flotillas of vintage Bedford buses and trucks, mirror-buffed and chrome-sequinned, are dazzling works of art. Traditional dances are lusty and vigorous; music is either classical, folk or devotional; and the most patronised literature is a mix of the scholastic and poetic. Cricket is Pakistan's greatest sports obsession and national players are afforded hero status - unless, of course, they proselytise young and wealthy English women, then marry them.
Decorated Karachi bus (24K)
Cinema billboards, Karachi (23K)
Nearly all Pakistanis are Muslim and Islam is the state religion. Reminders of their devotion are many: the muezzin's call to prayer from the mosques; men sprawled in prayer in fields, shops and airports; and veiled women in the streets. Christians are the largest minority, followed by Hindus and Parsees, descendants of Persian Zoroastrians. Note that dress codes are strictly enforced - to avoid offence invest in a shalwar qamiz - a long, loose, non-revealing garment worn by both men and women.
Faces of Pakistan (20K)
Pakistani food is similar to that of northern India, with a dollop of Middle Eastern influence thrown in for good measure. This means menus peppered with baked and deep-fried breads (roti, chapattis, puri, halwa and nan), meat curries, lentil mush (dhal), spicy spinach, cabbage, peas and rice. Street snacks - samosas and tikkas (spiced and barbecued beef, mutton or chicken) - are delicious, while a range of desserts will satisfy any sweet tooth. The most common sweet is barfi (it pays to overlook the name), which is made of dried milk solids and comes in a variety of flavours. Though Pakistan is officially `dry', it does brew its own beer and spirits which can be bought (as well as imported alcohol) from specially designated bars and top-end hotels.
Nationwide celebrations include Ramadan, a month of sunrise-to-sunset fasting which changes dates every year (as the Islamic calendar differs from the Gregorian one); Eid-ul-Fitr, two to three days of feasting and goodwill that marks the end of Ramadan; Eid-ul-Azha, when animals are slaughtered and the meat shared between relatives and the needy; and Eid-Milad-un-Nabi, which celebrates Mohammad's birthday.
Visas: Visas are required by nationals from most European and English-speaking countries. A Pakistan visa allows you to enter the country up to six months from the date you get it, and stay up to three months from the date you enter. However, if you stay longer than 30 days you are required to register at a foreigners' registration office; these are in the larger towns and cities.
Health risks: dengue fever, hepatitis A, malaria and, in rural areas, Japanese encephalitis.
Time: GMT/UTC plus five hours
Electricity: 220V, 50 Hz
Weights & measures: metric (see the conversion table.)
Tourism: 424,000 visitors
Currency: Pakistani rupee
Relative costs:
By staying in hostels or dorms and eating like a local you can get by on as little as US$10-15 a day. If,however, you were looking for a moderate touch of luxury you could spend as much as $30-40 a day which could get you accommodation that included a satellite T.V., a desk, a balcony, and a spotlessly clean bathroom. As in any place you can spend as much as you like to live in the lap of luxury and stay in swanky hotels. It's worth noting that rooms and food are cheaper in the north than in the south.
Both travellers cheques and cash are easy to change throughout the country, but commissions on cheques can be high. Apart from top-end hotels most places won't accept credit cards as payment although you can often use them for cash advances at western banks. Facilities for validation seem better for Visa then Mastercard. Occasionally a tattered note will be firmly refused as legal tender, and often in the smaller towns the appearance of a 1000 or 500 rupee note will cause consternation and an inability to provide change so make sure you get some smaller notes when buying your rupees.
Baksheesh isn't so much a bribe as a way of life in Pakistan. It can apply to any situation and is capable of opening all sorts of doors, both literal and metaphorical. Anything from a signature on a document to fixing a leaking tap can be acquired through the magic of baksheesh. Most top-end hotels will automatically add a 5-10% service charge to your bill so any extra tipping is entirely up to you. Taxi drivers routinely expect 10% of the fare, and railway porters charge an officially-set Rs 7. The only time that a gratuity might not be welcome is in the rural areas where it runs counter to Islamic obligation to be hospitable.
If baksheesh is a way of life, bargaining is a matter of style, particularly in the many Pakistani bazaars. Unlike the western hesitancy for bargaining, shopkeepers in Pakistani love to bargain as long as it's done with style and panache. Bargaining usually begins with an invitation to step inside for a cup of tea followed by a little bit of small talk, a casually expressed interest by yourself in a particular item, a way-too-high price mentioned by the seller, a way-too-low counter offer by yourself and eventually, after much comic rolling of eyes, a handshake and mutual satisfaction for both parties. Bargaining should always be accompanied by smiles, good humour and an ability not to get fixated on driving the price into the ground.
The best time for travelling to Pakistan depends on which part of the country you intend to visit. Generally speaking the southern parts of Pakistan including Sind, Baluchistan, Punjab and southern NWFP are best visited in the cooler months between November and April. After that it gets uncomfortably hot. The northern areas like Azad Jammu Kashmir, and northern NWFP are best seen during May to October before the area becomes snowbound. The weather may be a little stormy during this time but the mountain districts are usually still accessible.
Try and avoid Pakistan during Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting which, usually occurs sometime during the months of December to early January. This is because a fasting Muslim is an understandably cranky Muslim, and you may find yourself involuntary joining in the fast because activity is kept to a minimum and food is hard to find during daylight hours.
The security situation in Pakistan deteriorated through 1997, with areas previously considered safe experiencing the same sort of violence and crime as in the long-troubled Sind region. As well as the danger of being caught up in sectarian skirmishes, travellers have been the specific target of violence in Karachi and Lahore.
Sind, the region in the south of Pakistan which includes Karachi, was known as the `Unhappy Valley' or the `Land of Uncertainties' by ancient travellers. Switch to the present day and news of curfews, foreign kidnappings and atrocities between the two main ethnic groups - Sindhis, the province's indigenous inhabitants, and the Mohajir, Muslim refugees from India - suggests its former name is still not out of place. With robbery, smuggling and gun-running amongst Sind's biggest industries, the province remains a highly dangerous place to visit.
Travel to Sind as well as to the North-West Frontier Province, Punjab and Baluchistan should be undertaken with caution and only after consulting a national foreign affairs department prior to departure or a consulate in Karachi for current information.
Karachi
Pakistan's commercial centre and largest city is a sprawling place of bazaars, hi-tech electronic shops, scurf-infested older buildings and modish new hotels. Its sights are spread far and wide so a taxi or rickshaw is necessary to travel between them.
A good place to start is the Quaid-i-Azam Mausoleum, a monument to Pakistan's founder Mohammed Ali Jinnah which can be charitably described as distinctive. More impressive is the remarkable white-marbled Defence Housing Society Mosque. The single dome, claimed to be the largest of its kind in the world, will make your gum cleave to the roof of your mouth. Above the mosque is Honeymoon Lodge, birthplace of the Aga Khan. Other sights include the Holy Trinity Cathedral and St Andrew's Church (both good examples of Anglo-Indian architecture), the city's zoo, and the Zoroastrian Towers of Silence, hills where the dead are traditionally exposed to vultures. South of the city is Clifton, a former British hangout and now an exclusive coastal corner for the local wealthy, the popular but rather drab Clifton Beach, and Manora Island, a less-crowded beach resort.
Hawkers, Clifton Beach, Karachi (17K)
Saddar, the city centre, is the main shopping area with thriving markets selling carpets, fur coats, leather jackets, snake-skin purses, silk scarves and the country's biggest range of handicrafts. It also has a number of food stalls and cheap restaurants and the majority of budget hotels. Nightlife in Karachi is an oxymoron.
If travel outside of Karachi is possible, then the archaeological site of Moenjodaro - once a city of an Indus Valley civilisation - and the Chaukundi tombs are well worth a visit.
Chaukundi tombs (11K)
The capital of Punjab is Pakistan's cultural, educational and artistic centre and easily the most visited city in the country. With its refuge of shady parks and gardens, its clash of Moghul and colonial architecture, and the exotic thrill of its congested streets and bazaars, it's not hard to see why. A collection of some of the city's attractions include: The Mall, an area of parks and buildings with a decidedly British bent; Lahore Museum, the best and biggest museum in the country; Kim's Gun, the cannon immortalised in Kipling's classic Kim; Aitchison College, an achingly beautiful public school that boasts Imran Khan as a former pupil; Lahore Fort, filled with stately palaces, halls and gardens; and the Old City, where a procession of rickshaws, pony carts, hawkers and veiled women fill the narrow lanes. The city has too many tombs, mosques and mausoleums too mention.
Badshahi Mosque, Lahore (10K)
Punjab is Pakistan's most fertile province, rich in both agriculture and ancient history. It's also one of the more stable of the country's regions, and travellers should have few of the problems that are faced further south and in the north.
The prosperous and hospitable town of Bahawalpur is a gentle introduction to the area. From here you can journey into Cholistan - a sandy wasteland dotted with nomadic communities and wind-swept forts - or the Lal Suhanra National Park, an important wildlife reserve. Further north is Harappa which is, after Moenjodaro, the second most important site of the Indus Valley civilisation.
Rajah Bazaar Bus Stand, Rawalpindi (13K)
Street food seller (13K)
Rawalpindi and the country's capital, Islamabad, are twin cities. The former is a patchwork of bustling bazaars while the latter is subdued, suburban and still being built (construction of the new capital didn't begin until 1961). From here you can visit Taxila, an archaeological repository, and Hasan Abdul, a place of holy pilgrimmage.
The capital and only place of any size in the parched, barren province of Baluchistan may be light on ancient monuments but it's fit to bursting with a vigorous blend of peoples, wide tree-lined boulevards and sterling British architecture. Even more compelling, Quetta has a dramatic setting, with a mountainous backdrop on all sides. And unlike Karachi, most sights can be easily walked in a day. Don't miss the impressive Archaeological Museum of Baluchistan, the fort or the city's many colourful bazaars - great places to pick up marble, onyx and some of the finest carpets in Pakistan.
Just outside Quetta are the postcard-perfect Hanna Lake, plenty of picnic spots in Urak Valley, and the protected Hazarganji Chiltan National Park. Also near Quetta is the refreshingly cool hill station of Ziarat, which is both a restful destination and a good base for walking or mountaineering.
The main asset of the disputed territories of Jammu and Kashmir is their natural beauty - unfortunately, Pakistan's 16km (10mi) security zone means most of the truly scenic parts are now off limits. What's left is Neelum Valley, famous for fishing and trekking, Jhelum Valley, site of hill stations and more good walks, and forested highlands to the south. However, even these areas may be out of bounds, depending on the political climate at the time; make sure to check restrictions before you travel.
North-West Frontier Province
Impenetrable mountains, intractable people, and impossibly romantic cities are just some of the reasons why the North-Western Frontier Province is perhaps the most memorable of Pakistan's destinations.
Most visits begin in Peshawar, the rough and ready provincial capital. The highlight here is the Old City - a brawl of vendors selling everything from tribal jewellery to leather pistol holsters. Clopping horse-drawn tongas choke the streets which are thick with fearsome-looking Pashtuns - members of a vast tribal society - Afghans and Chitrali. A short distance outside Peshawar (but a million miles away) is the Smugglers Bazaar. It's definitely not what you'd expect: turbanned merchants in tents have been replaced by Westernised malls stocking the latest TVs, VCRs and refrigerators. There's even a shop flogging Marks & Spencer's merchandise. The fabled Khyber Pass, sprinkled with tiny army forts, is nearby.
Peshawar cityscape (13K)
North of Peshawar is the district of Swat, reckoned to have the loveliest scenery in Pakistan's northern valleys, and Chitral, a relatively unspoilt area of lush valleys, hot springs and great walks. Vertigo sufferers should steer clear of Indus Koshitan to the west, a land of colossal peaks and bottomless canyons with more good walks.
Off the record: Guncrazy
The Northern Areas see few travellers but those that brave the unruly terrain normally end up in Gilgit, the capital. There's not much in the city, save a bazaar that's full of Central Asian traders, but it's an excellent base for alpine walks, trout fishing and pottering about for historical ruins in the countryside. Baltistan, once an unexplored dead end, is now privvy to world-class mountaineering, fine treks and lovely scenery. More accessible and just as striking - check out the irrigated terraces rippling down the slopes - is the region of Hunza, Nagar & Gojal towards the Chinese border.
Shepherd's huts & Ultar Glacier, Hunza (19K)
Little-visited Multan, in the lower Punjab, is claimed to be the oldest surviving city on the subcontinent, dating back some 4000 years. Once an important centre of Islam, it has since attracted more mystics, holy men and saints than you can shake a shalwar qamiz at. Today Multan is dominated by their tombs and shrines, a fort that affords superlative views over the city, and one of the best bazaars in Pakistan - those not converted by Anita Roddick might like to snap up the skin potion, made from lizards, which is said to be an excellent revitaliser.
Missionaries, anthropolgists and Duddley Do-rights come to the Kalash Valleys, south of Chitral, for one thing - to gawp at a non-Muslim tribe (yes, you read correctly) that lives there. The people refer to themselves as Kalasha, live in solid houses made of wood, stone and mud, and quietly go about their pastoral lives raising grains and herding the odd goat. Amazingly, they seem unfussed by all the attention and seem to welcome interested Western observers.
The Nanga Parbat massif (the name means `Naked Mountain' in Kashmiri), in the southernmost part of the Northern Areas, has a 4500m (14,760ft) wall that is so steep even snow refuses to stick. The same can be said of a large number of climbers - they've been dropping from the scene for years. Beside it is a stomach-churning track that climbs up a valley and then over a pass. It regularly claimed jeeps over the side until the route was improved in 1987. Undaunted? Last one to the top is a rotten egg.
With some of the most magnificent mountain terrain in the world, Pakistan is naturally enough a trekkers rave. There are all types of trekking available, from those organised by overseas companies to Pakistan-based outfits. You can also make your own arrangements, which will be cheaper but also more demanding. Popular trekking routes which can stretch from a day to a month are found mostly in Gilgit, Nanga Parbat, Balistan (from where treks leave to K2) and Hunza, all in the country's north. For something a little less demanding there are good one-day hikes in the Ziarat Valley, near Quetta.
Resting up, Swat River valley, near Mingora (19K)
Other activities include cycling along the Karakoram Highway (from Rawalpindi to the Khunjerab Pass), Potwar Plateau (Islamabad to Peshawar) and the Margalla and Murree Hills (north of Islamabad), mountain biking from Gilgit to Chitral, and white-water rafting along the Hunza, Gilgit and Indus rivers.
Most flights from European and Asian centres arrive in Karachi, though a few also go to Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar, Quetta and Gwadar (Baluchistan). Much more interesting is taking an overland route. A railway links Lahore with the Indian railway system through Amritsar, and another from Quetta crosses briefly into Iran. After the Grand Trunk Road, the most famous road into Pakistan is the Karakoram Highway, over the 4730m (15,514ft) Khunjerab Pass from Kashgar in China; roads also run from India and Iran. A bus service between Delhi and Lahore, operating four times a week, is now up and running. Sea passage is a possibility with cargo ships calling at Karachi from either the Middle East or Bombay.
Getting around Pakistan is not always comfortable but it's incredibly cheap. The state-owned Pakistan International Airlines (PIA, sometimes referred to as `Prayers in Air') has regular flights to 35 domestic terminals and daily connections between the major centres. One of the bonuses of flying is that some of the air routes, especially to the northern areas and Chitral, are spectacular. Buses go anywhere (the true meaning of the term Inshallah - God willing - will soon become apparent along some of the treacherous mountain roads), anytime. Vans, wagons, pick-ups and jeeps are also a popular form of road transport. Train travel is slower and easier on the nerves but, unfortunately, there are no routes into the mountains. If you're fit and unafraid of feverish traffic, cycling is a particularly good way to see the country. City transport is dominated by buses, taxis, auto-rickshaws and two-wheeled, horse-drawn tongas.
- Brief but descriptive odysseys through Pakistan can be found in The Great Railway Bazaar by Paul Theroux and Danziger's Travels by Nick Danziger. Other good travel narratives include The Golden Peak: Travels in Northern Pakistan by Kathleen Jamie, To the Frontier by Geoffrey Moorhouse and Full Tilt by Dervla Murphy.
- Pakistan's historical and cultural traditions get a good going over in the excellent Every Rock, Every Hill: A Plain Tale of the North-West Frontier & Afghanistan by Victoria Schofield and Words For My Brother by John Staley.
- Less recent histories and more in the `Gripping Yarns' vein are John Keay's When Men & Mountains Meet, Sir George Robertson's Chitral, The Story of a Minor Siege and Derek Waller's The Pundits.
- For fiction, don't ignore Shame, Salman Rushdie's engrossing tragi-comic fantasy about Z A Bhutto and General Ziaul-Haq. Kipling's The Man Who Would Be King and Kim provide a British colonial perspective and a romping good read.
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