I always hear news about this part of the world, especially the bad news about strikes, wars, assassination, extremists…etc but I never heard about its beauty and potential of growth… From my experience in Pakistan I can tell you my impressions and notices about the country in the following few paragraphs…This country is the land of promises… it is a promising land for future business… potential for growth is there, with some twist of the rules and regulations, this country will be just the right country to invest and take the business to the next level.
Illiteracy rate is relatively high; almost 30%; however, the other part is very well educated, they spend a lot on educating their children.
Pakistanis happen to be naturally born technology oriented people, and they have this attention to details, and they remember things… they have this computer mind inside their brains…
however they have this systematic way of thinking… different than the way a 3rd world country will do… Like you should always translate what you say to their sequence of thinking, or what is called “within the systematic frame way of thinking’, so that you can get your communication through…Women in Pakistan are beautiful and very well groomed, with their national dress and their sandals on, you can see their well groomed half covered hair, their beautiful well manicured hands and feet, as well as their nice fine jewelry that show over their shawls.
Food here is delicious, with lots of spices from this part of the world, and of course chili… you can always ask for less chili version of the food served to you… it is worth trying, in fact it is more delicious than most of the world’s cuisines…This country is the country of the five senses… it nurtures your soul and stimulates your brain through using them… you just need to go with the flow…
I hope my experience was useful to you… it is really worth visiting…
Here is my experience in details...
When I heard I was going to Pakistan for a work-related visit… I was shocked… I thought I am going to the land of hell… as I heard in the news, it is not safe, full of strikes and political problems, that might threaten any foreigner…
I took my chances and started in the procedures of preparing for my trip, started my trip with a stop over in Dubai, where I had a full day there for a meeting – and of course shopping JJ, then headed to Islamabad…
The flight was an over night flight, reached Islamabad very early in the morning, very tired as I did not sleep, and very reluctant to go…
My first experience in Islamabad was the airport, which was not that pleasant, but incomparable to what you can get as treatment if you go to Europe or America.Anyway, the moment I stepped out of the airport, I was received by the driver who was waiting for me to take me to the hotel; an old, luxurious and posh Serena hotel.
My room was not ready, but I was welcomed in a very nice way… they offered me breakfast and drinks till my room gets ready.
Went to my room; which turned out to be a suite; in the fourth floor, changed and went down for my working day. Oh my God… what I am seeing is different than what I expected… my perception about Pakistan is that it is a desert country, like most of the gulf area or the Middle East countries… Unlike what I expected, Islamabad is GREEN… greenery everywhere, with amazing landscapes and green mountains, very well maintained paved wide roads and streets, very organized traffic, and on the sides of the roads, you can see lucrative villas and housings. All buildings are one, two or three storey’s…
After my working day, I went back to the hotel to change and go out with some friends who live in Islamabad; they took me to the mountain, where I had dinner in Monal restaurant; an authentic Pakistani cuisine restaurant. The food was excellent, with its spices that gives the strong flavor to the palate and awakens your senses with its chili effect; complemented with the view of the whole city from the top of the mountain…As Pakistan is considered as Islamic country, no alcohol is served with food… only few places; may be in hotels only; can serve you alcohol, if and only if you are a foreigner, but locals are not allowed to be served alcohol…
My second day was a full working day, however, I had the chance to go for shopping, especially for Pashmina; a very good quality scarves and shawl made of fine wool, very expensive to get from anywhere else than Pakistan; and some leather items.
Also I took nice pictures of the scenery and the green areas on my way back to the hotel. This day my friends took me to have a nice dinner at the Thai restaurant of the Marriott, called the Royal Elephant…
My third day in Islamabad was purely work… after I finished my working day, I had to take the flight to Lahore; another city in Pakistan, mainly in Punjab province…The first thing that stroke me when I went out of Lahore airport was the humidity… the weather is humid, but rainy in the same time… it is more likely to be tropical…
Lahore is known to be the city of culture… history everywhere you go, starting from old buildings, to mosques and forts….
I only had to stay for one full day… work team of Lahore took me to have lunch in a French bistro cuisine restaurant in the main luxurious part of the city, then we went for a city tour, where we had the chance to visit the fort and Badshahi mosque…
And like any other mosque, you need to take off your shoes while going inside, and hand it to the person in charge of keeping the shoes… they usually give you a number for that…
The visit was worth the time spent there, but when we went out of the mosque and asked for our shoes, the guy who keeps them was bargaining to get 100 USD from us… we laughed, because even if you want to buy a shoes, it will not cost you that amount of money… then we ended up giving him 30 RPS. Which is equivalent to ½ a dollar.
I went back to the hotel; which was not the best experience for me as I really did not like it; had dinner in one of the restaurants, where there was an Indian dancer performing during dinner time… had my last meal in Pakistan… then went to my room to pack and go… On our way to the airport, it was raining like never before… as I’ve never seen such a rain in my entire life… non-stop very heavy strong rain, and the weather was sooo warm… as I said before it is a tropical weather.
Until my next blog… wishing you an enjoyable and safe trip….
