I relied on Kayak and then Skyscanner before purchasing my tickets. You could fly Malindo from KL all the way to Lahore but I wasn’t keen on flying that airlines. You could also fly Emirates and Qatar to Pakistan. I decided to fly Thai Airways as it was the most economical but I wasn’t impressed with the airline. Smooth as silk? Hmph! I also searched the airlines to get from Lahore to Karachi and found there are three: PIA, Serene and Air Blue. Again, I settled on PIA mainly because it was the most economical and also because of the more favourable the timing.
Malaysians need visa to enter Pakistan. I got confused at first as I wasn’t sure if I also needed a Letter of Introduction and finally rang the High Commission in KL. They are not the most efficient people when it comes to picking up phone calls and finally I told myself I would just hang on until someone picked up and someone finally did at long last. She asked me some questions and if I were travelling with a group or on tour and when I said I was alone, she said I didn’t need any Letter of Introduction. The same day, I ran into a colleague who travelled to Pakistan in August and he told me I needed the Letter of Introduction and that I might even be interviewed. So the same afternoon, I rang the High Commission again to ask and was again informed that I didn’t need it. I would have to fill up the visa application form so I Googled and downloaded the form. The visa application submission is from 09:30 to 12:00 and collection is from 16:00 to 17:00. You also need two passport-sized photos for the visa so I had to take some photo and of course, no shop sells a set of two photos so like it or not, you have to pay for a set of six photos.
At the same time, I also rang up a travel agency and ask if they could help me with the visa application. They were not too sure about it but said they charged RM30 and that I would still have to go to the High Commission in person. When I rang, the person at the High Commission told me there was no charge for the visa so I thought I might as well apply for the visa myself. I spent an hour on Sunday preparing the visa form. There is a section that asked for the countries visited in the past two years and I had to rely on my blog to list down the countries. You can also apply for visa online and on arrival but I saw the part about uploading photo and recalled the problem I had when trying to apply for Indian visa online so I decided to do it in person. I would be arriving Islamabad late in the evening and hence did not fancy applying for visa upon arrival (although I did this for Bangladeshi visa).
I also searched the bus operators for the Islamabad-Lahore route and then the Daewoo schedules for the trip to Mardan and Jhelum (turned out there was no 09:00 bus to the former anyway) and the accommodation. Shaj had advised me to stay in Defence Housing Authority (DHA) area in Islamabad as it is safer but in the end, I chose Khyber Lodge 2 in Islamabad as it was the nearest to the airport (I was arriving late at night anyway) and Daewoo Express Bus Terminal. I chose MaryLeena Hotel Gulberg in Lahore as it had good reviews from previous guests (!) and Karachi Motel 1 as it is the nearest to Karachi Airport.
I purposely chose to visit Islamabad/Rawalpindi, Lahore and Karachi (and the side trips) instead of Swat Valley or Peshawar because it was winter. I would love to return one day and visit the mountains and rivers but probably in spring or autumn. I also managed to visit five out of Pakistan's six UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Alhamdulillah.
I brought USD to Pakistan. I found that I could purchase PKR in KL but when I calculated, I would get less Rupees compared to bringing USD and purchasing PKR when I was there. I didn’t notice money changers there except at the airports but then again, I hardly went to Islamabad and Lahore downtown.
I had heard of people getting diarrhoea over there so I brought some anti-diarrhoea medication, ORS, carbon pills and paracetamol in addition to my supplements. I brought some cereal drink but there was no kettle provided in the hotel rooms. My mate even got diarrhoea from eating in a hotel (they mixed any unfinished drink back into the bottle/jug so if you buy water over there, make sure it’s an unsealed bottle) because the food hygiene awareness over there is still low. I brought over some food to tide me over. Thankfully I didn’t get endlessly hungry when I was there and could survive on little food. I just didn’t to purchase food there, heck, I even had food poisoning in London OK! So yes, I must admit to not sampling the local fare after knowing how low the food hygiene awareness is over there. I’ve had bad food poisoning episodes when travelling - Myanmar, Jakarta, London - so I wasn’t keen to add to that.
Pakistan is a poor country which is a shame as the country obtained independence at the same time as India. It was founded in violence and chaos and the situation didn’t look to have improved much. I had expected friendlier people - I had read some locals would offer foreigners to stay with them at no charge and that they would be offering to buy you tea but apart from a few men offering to buy me tea, I didn’t find the locals all that friendly. Sure, I did manage to get help from some locals after boldly approaching them (this is not something I’m comfortable with, I really had to step out of my comfort zone) but most times, I had to approach them instead of people coming up to offer to help (except when it was for paid service like tuktuk or taxi rides). I think Bangladeshis were much friendlier (Pakistan may be poor but it is still richer than Bangladesh). I was also surprised to find that not as many people speak English as I expected and in Lahore (Punjab), not many do even the younger people. And how flexible is shalwar kameez?? I saw men in shalwar kameez playing cricket, building houses, working in their fields, etc! I didn’t manage to buy a pair for myself though. And I just realised that shalwar (the trousers) and kameez (the top/tunic) probably share the same root word as seluar and kemeja (trousers and shirt in Malay) .
I would love to return to Pakistan and explore its breathtaking mountains, lakes and rivers. Although I’m sure these places being remote, would have fewer facilities or if there are, less maintained facilities. And the locals would likely speak less English, heck, I even had problems talking to the locals in Lahore. And oh, I would so love to visit Mohenjo-daro.
Malaysians need visa to enter Pakistan. I got confused at first as I wasn’t sure if I also needed a Letter of Introduction and finally rang the High Commission in KL. They are not the most efficient people when it comes to picking up phone calls and finally I told myself I would just hang on until someone picked up and someone finally did at long last. She asked me some questions and if I were travelling with a group or on tour and when I said I was alone, she said I didn’t need any Letter of Introduction. The same day, I ran into a colleague who travelled to Pakistan in August and he told me I needed the Letter of Introduction and that I might even be interviewed. So the same afternoon, I rang the High Commission again to ask and was again informed that I didn’t need it. I would have to fill up the visa application form so I Googled and downloaded the form. The visa application submission is from 09:30 to 12:00 and collection is from 16:00 to 17:00. You also need two passport-sized photos for the visa so I had to take some photo and of course, no shop sells a set of two photos so like it or not, you have to pay for a set of six photos.
At the same time, I also rang up a travel agency and ask if they could help me with the visa application. They were not too sure about it but said they charged RM30 and that I would still have to go to the High Commission in person. When I rang, the person at the High Commission told me there was no charge for the visa so I thought I might as well apply for the visa myself. I spent an hour on Sunday preparing the visa form. There is a section that asked for the countries visited in the past two years and I had to rely on my blog to list down the countries. You can also apply for visa online and on arrival but I saw the part about uploading photo and recalled the problem I had when trying to apply for Indian visa online so I decided to do it in person. I would be arriving Islamabad late in the evening and hence did not fancy applying for visa upon arrival (although I did this for Bangladeshi visa).
I also searched the bus operators for the Islamabad-Lahore route and then the Daewoo schedules for the trip to Mardan and Jhelum (turned out there was no 09:00 bus to the former anyway) and the accommodation. Shaj had advised me to stay in Defence Housing Authority (DHA) area in Islamabad as it is safer but in the end, I chose Khyber Lodge 2 in Islamabad as it was the nearest to the airport (I was arriving late at night anyway) and Daewoo Express Bus Terminal. I chose MaryLeena Hotel Gulberg in Lahore as it had good reviews from previous guests (!) and Karachi Motel 1 as it is the nearest to Karachi Airport.
I purposely chose to visit Islamabad/Rawalpindi, Lahore and Karachi (and the side trips) instead of Swat Valley or Peshawar because it was winter. I would love to return one day and visit the mountains and rivers but probably in spring or autumn. I also managed to visit five out of Pakistan's six UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Alhamdulillah.
I brought USD to Pakistan. I found that I could purchase PKR in KL but when I calculated, I would get less Rupees compared to bringing USD and purchasing PKR when I was there. I didn’t notice money changers there except at the airports but then again, I hardly went to Islamabad and Lahore downtown.
I had heard of people getting diarrhoea over there so I brought some anti-diarrhoea medication, ORS, carbon pills and paracetamol in addition to my supplements. I brought some cereal drink but there was no kettle provided in the hotel rooms. My mate even got diarrhoea from eating in a hotel (they mixed any unfinished drink back into the bottle/jug so if you buy water over there, make sure it’s an unsealed bottle) because the food hygiene awareness over there is still low. I brought over some food to tide me over. Thankfully I didn’t get endlessly hungry when I was there and could survive on little food. I just didn’t to purchase food there, heck, I even had food poisoning in London OK! So yes, I must admit to not sampling the local fare after knowing how low the food hygiene awareness is over there. I’ve had bad food poisoning episodes when travelling - Myanmar, Jakarta, London - so I wasn’t keen to add to that.
Pakistan is a poor country which is a shame as the country obtained independence at the same time as India. It was founded in violence and chaos and the situation didn’t look to have improved much. I had expected friendlier people - I had read some locals would offer foreigners to stay with them at no charge and that they would be offering to buy you tea but apart from a few men offering to buy me tea, I didn’t find the locals all that friendly. Sure, I did manage to get help from some locals after boldly approaching them (this is not something I’m comfortable with, I really had to step out of my comfort zone) but most times, I had to approach them instead of people coming up to offer to help (except when it was for paid service like tuktuk or taxi rides). I think Bangladeshis were much friendlier (Pakistan may be poor but it is still richer than Bangladesh). I was also surprised to find that not as many people speak English as I expected and in Lahore (Punjab), not many do even the younger people. And how flexible is shalwar kameez?? I saw men in shalwar kameez playing cricket, building houses, working in their fields, etc! I didn’t manage to buy a pair for myself though. And I just realised that shalwar (the trousers) and kameez (the top/tunic) probably share the same root word as seluar and kemeja (trousers and shirt in Malay) .
I would love to return to Pakistan and explore its breathtaking mountains, lakes and rivers. Although I’m sure these places being remote, would have fewer facilities or if there are, less maintained facilities. And the locals would likely speak less English, heck, I even had problems talking to the locals in Lahore. And oh, I would so love to visit Mohenjo-daro.
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