16 days of exploring Pakistan by Vietnamese female guests

Bui Viet Ha, born in 1985, an architect living in Ho Chi Minh City, came to Pakistan like a charm.

Three years ago in 28 day journey Exploring India alone, Ha visited the city of Amritsar in the northwestern state of Punjab, bordering Pakistan. Here, Ha attended the flag lowering ceremony at the Wahga border gate between the two countries. Since then, she has been curious about Pakistan, tracing history to be fascinated by Pakistani culture and people with their connections to India, Afghanistan and China. Ha is also interested in knowing the intersection of the three most majestic mountain ranges in the world, including the Himalayas. Pakistan is always on the priority list and right after the epidemic, in the early days of April, Ha left.

Ha’s trip is divided into two stages. The first leg of 8 days, she joined a group of Vietnamese guests to visit places in Pakistan that are famous for tourism. It is the dreamlike Hunza valley, the “8th wonder of the world” Karakoram, the highest border gate in the world Khunjerab… Stage two, she rented a car to discover the special, little known things in Shimshal, the pass. Shandur, Kalash and Peshawar.

A special feature of Ha’s journey to discover Pakistan is the predestined relationship with Vietnamese brides in Pakistan. When intending to go to Pakistan, Ha learned that Huyen, a friend, was going to Pakistan to hold a wedding ceremony in the spring. That is also the motivation for Ha to make the trip soon, rather than waiting for the fall as originally planned.

When learning about landtour and car rental services, Ha had the opportunity to know Ta Lien, the first Vietnamese bride in the Hunza valley. Both of them gave Ha a lot of inspiration, explaining to Ha about the customs and habits of the people in the land that Hunza is honored as longest living tribe The world has never had cancer in 900 years. According to Ha, peace of mind and goodness are the core to help Hunza people live a long life.

Ha experienced the Shimshal valley as one of the most dangerous roads in the world. “If the previous journey to the Spiti valley in India, I had experienced the most spectacular road in the world, the way to Shimshal village was spectacularly elevated. The faint of heart certainly cannot open their eyes. Come out and see,” Ha said. Only Zeeps and SUVs can run on narrow roads, craggy cliffs when below is a steep abyss with a rolling river.

Coming to Shimshal, Ha also felt the life and beauty in the village isolated from the outside world, which she assessed as “majestic and magical, different from the charming beauty like paradise in Hunza”. Here, she met the first person of Shimshal to conquer K2, the highest mountain in Pakistan and the second in the world, while the danger and difficulty of conquering far exceeded Everest.

Ha continued to move to the Kalash valley, the area of ​​​​famous people with mysterious origins. The anthropometry of the Kalash people is different from other Pakistani ethnic groups. “They are said to be descendants of warriors under Alexander the Great,” Ha shared. On the way here, she passed through Shandur Pass, surprised with the winter-like beauty in the movie “War of Thrones”. This is also the area of ​​the highest polo playing field (bridge code) in the world.

She also went to Peshawar, Pakistan’s oldest city, a famous stop on the ancient Silk Road. “The city with friendly people but is often known to the world as the capital of the Taliban,” Ha said. A few days before Ha’s journey in this area, there was a bomb attack that killed more than 60 people. Song Ha still went to the night market, mingled with many friendly Pashtuns on the first evening, was led to try the delicious and long-known soda dish of this region that tourists know little about.

Everything changed the next morning when the police stood in front of Ha’s hotel. She can’t go anywhere without the monitor and protect theirs, always accompanied by guns. Not afraid, Ha also feels grateful for the way Pakistanis always want to protect each visitor.

Deciding to come to Pakistan to discover the mysteries according to Ha is not reckless but true to her curious nature. “The places I go through people can judge dangerous, but I have enough skills to learn and choose the best way to go to the places I want to go. I spend my time in places less known by tourists. to receive memorable “wow” for the journey”, Ha confided. “Actually, I haven’t been in any danger yet.”

After two years of epidemic, Pakistan has opened its doors with an open policy and welcomes international visitors. Ha said that the visa application is convenient. Some limitations are that the means of public transport are not many and convenient enough for individual and self-sufficient travelers. There are many police stops, sometimes the long travel is not due to the long distance, but because the car has to stop for the police to check the papers too many times. “Those who have not learned much about Pakistan and go in groups of 8-10 people should find a landtour. For those with more experience, you can rent a car and driver for the whole trip,” Ha shared her experience. As a famous travel blogger with solo trips, Ha still decides to rent a car for the journey because women are backpackers. alone In Pakistan, it will be difficult to travel by public transport and find accommodation.

“Just go and come, boldly step through the safe zone to see the surprise ahead” is Ha’s share after the trip to Pakistan. A country that is stereotyped as unstable and dangerous, but if that’s the case, you have to come and feel it yourself. In Ha’s eyes, Pakistan is a wonderful country in terms of scenery to explore, from majestic mountain ranges cascading in front of you, beautiful valleys in the afternoon sun regardless of the season, or deserts, geological parks that make Tourists think they are lost in another planet.

“But the biggest thing that I came here to know and understand: Muslims are one of the most benevolent people on the planet. If you doubt what I say, I hope you can set foot in this country once. someday,” Ha confided.

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Image: Ha is strange