friendly traveller

Hi Everyone,iam very keen to travel to Islamabad to get to understand the people,culture and religion, only i dont know how safe i would be it is just my wife and i that would be traveling any help and advise about what to do when to go and where not to travel.Thanks in advance for any help

risc

Generally speaking Pakistanis are very hospitable. Provided you respect their culture and religious values you should not come across any problems.

I would advise:

1) Be appropriately dressed. In accordance with sharia law. For men that means dressed upto bottom of knees, sleeves upto elbows. For woman legs, arms fully covered and a scarf or something to cover hair in more conservative areas. Basically dont go out the hotel wearing shorts or alike - some will see this as disrespectful.

2) Avoid undue travel at night. Within city is fair enough but I would avoid travelling to and from other cities/town at night. Many places notorious for road robberies.

3) Try to keep in places with a large number of people. This provides security. Being next to a large number of police might be a bad idea with the recent attacks on them.

4) Avoid drinks/food from strangers. Might be spiked, you get robbed. Refusing tea can be seen by your guests as an insult. Provided it is drawn from the same tea pot as everyone else I see no reason to refuse it.

Along with rest of the usual be aware of tourist cons.

cadet018

I really dont think thts a big deal these days
especially in big cities ......
U may often see guyz in shorts and gals in Jeans-Tshirts (shorts for galz are still Unacceptable here)
I guess by night, u meant 1-2 am of night


he cant stay at hotel all the time
:biggthumb

malhot

If you are interested in going on a holiday with your wife to understand the culture & people.

I would suggest you go and stay with a pakistani family there, you could advertise for home stay and offer to pay say USD 50 to 100 per day). Check up at the local mosques in England. See if there are any advice available there. Sometimes some Guppies here may offer a helping hand.

Alternatively - only stay in 5 star hotels (USD 100 to 250 per night), its not safe staying in ordinary hotels. (my advice is based on my experience in India, but I am sure the same applies in Pakistan)

TeenDabbyWala

Best advice: Don't go at all. The country and its tourist areas are not setup to handle foreign tourists, especially the demanding Western ones. Local tourists aren't demanding at all. Also, most places do not serve beer or wine, which is a deal breaker for most foreign tourists.

And staying at 5 star hotels and just going to the expensive restaurants and hangouts will teach you nothing about Pakistan or its culture.

mama ki dua

TeenDabbaywala: they do sell alcohol in Islamabad, there's a huge store in Blue Area which i heard about.

HSK

TeenDabby, you'll be surprised to know that foreigners are not the drunks you make them out to be. You'll also be surprised to know how far and wide foreign tourists have hitch hiked throughout Pakistan just to avoid five star hotels and expensive restaurants. Most tourists will have discovered more about your country in week than you'll discover in your lifetime.

In conclusion TeenDabby knows nothing of what he/she's talking about. TeenDabby thus lives in a Tin Dabba.

friendly traveller

Thanks for all your help so far,what do you think of a two city stay maybe going to rawpindi by Train ?
Regards
Friendl traveller

risc

Not an issue at all. I would also highly recommend a visit to Lahore too. Trains are ok, another option is the Daewoo coaches. Basically good quality coaches where AC does work. Run a "express" service between major cities. You dont get people hustling you around, on the downside you miss the view from train.

teggy

FT: You should visit all major cities. You'd get a different flavor and a cultural feel unique to each city/province. People are hospitable and you'll have no issues.

Do avoid unknown areas. If possible, have pakistani companion(s), it helps, but it is not necessary.

Overall, i wish you all the best. I hope you have a really good time.

Najim

You can also go through a Government of Pakistan promotional website & find some useful information there.

http://www.tourism.gov.pk/Index.html

I am sure since you are planning the trip you may have gone through the

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourism_in_Pakistan

already, nevertheless I thought if u havent its may be another starting point.

Unless hotel is a five star, or a local pakistani companion is with you, try only to stay in a hotel that is approved by PTDC. (my two cents)

friendly traveller

once again everyone a big thank you the help is invaluable any further tips please feel free to post i will let you know how my adventure goes.
Thanks again

WiseGuy

^ and please do share your experience with us when you return from Pakistan.

Alnoooor

islamabad is not full of hallaghulla so try lahore that is mush better option

One American Tourist very well said about islamabad "islamabad is half of the Army(newyark army) graveyard and double the DEAD"

WitchDr

FT, it is difficult to understand the culture of Pakistan by traveling to Islamabad. It is more of a culture-less city.

I don't think there is any area in Islamabad which is unsafe and that you need to avoid. Even at night it is pretty safe, apart from the wild boar families appearing in front of your car out of nowhere.

The best place to visit in Islamabad will be Lok Virsa (Folklore) village. It has a decent-sized museum depicting various cultures of the country. You need a good few hours to complete the tour and you will definitely not get bored. You might get lucky and find some festival going on around there.

If you are interested in arts, pick up newspaper "The NEWS" - Islamabad edition. On page 2, columns on the left side will tell you what exhibitions and activities are taking place in the city that day.

You can have a good overview of the city by either going to Shakar Parian or Pir Suhawa in the Margalla mountain ranges. You can have delicious BBQ on these hilltops. From Islamabad F6 area, you can take the beautiful trekking route to climb up to Pir Suhawa. However, these hills are habitat of some big cats (I don't remember anyone being attacked by these though).

There are plenty of places to eat out in Islamabad. Try Abpara Food Park.

There are a bunch of other places to close to Islamabad.

Here is a link to the city website.

http://www.visitislamabad.net/islama...?var=cityguide

WitchDr

I must add one more thing. At the moment, massive road widening project is underway in Islamabad and there are a few traffic issues because of that.