TravelPak – Discovering Pakistan

Thursday 2 February

Regularly in the news for all the wrong reasons. But would you like to know what it’s really like? Did you know it is home to some of the most unexplored and isolated places on Earth, an adventure playground hosting the junction of the three greatest mountain ranges in the world: The Himalaya, the Karakoram and the Hindu Kush? Giving rise to the highest concentration of mountains over 7000m and the longest glaciers outside of the Polar regions, it’s a trekkers paradise. Sometimes you might just get to read about this.

But wait, there’s more. Charged with a cultural history dating back over six thousand years, it has been the backdrop of the world’s four major religions? Awe-inspiring Mughal architecture, mystical sufi shrines and the ancient archaeological sites of the oldest civilization known to man.

TravelPak was set by British Pakistanis who had rediscovered Pakistan after many years of visiting with family and not really experiencing the depth and variety of history, culture and adventure that was on offer. This was particularly important to them with all the negative publicity that Pakistan was and is still receiving. It reinforced their roots and made them invest in Pakistan in a way they had not thought possible.   

Their aim was to not only show people the real Pakistan but to also look after them in terms of managing their entire trip from leaving their homes to arriving back with memories of a lifetime.

Their unique selling point is that you are accompanied by one of them, a British Pakistani for the duration of your trip so you can relax and let all the organising be carried out by someone else. Sarah Baxter, Deputy Editor of Wanderlust magazine said of this,

“Sohail was a brilliant conduit between the Western world and the Pakistani culture – I felt safe but also included in local life due to his language skills and evident passion for his roots.”

All the trips are flexible in terms of length and can be tailored to requirements in terms of what and where you will go. TravelPak can of course suggest and advise from the years of experience that they have. If it's trekking that you're after then you are completely spoilt for choice and aside from the popular K2 base camp trek, you will hardly see anyone else on your adventure. Pakistan's unique geography gives rise to a fact that it has more mountains over 7500m than anywhere else on the planet which in turn means the trekking possibilities are endless. They can tag on any number of days trekking in conjunction with a trip up the Karakoram Highway to the fabled Hunza Valley or perhaps to the pagan Kalash tribes and valleys of Chitral. The choice is yours.

New for 2012 will be a range of special interest tours that tap into the areas that makes Pakistan a draw for enthusiasts:

Archaeological Tours led by archaeologists and other experts in their field

Eco tourism tours in conjunction with The World Wildlife Fund (Pakistan)

Religious Tours including the annual Sikh Pilgrimage to Pakistan

Photography Tours

And last but not least… Shopping Tours!  

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