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Islamabad Travel Blogs

Background: The separation in 1947 of British India into the Muslim state of Pakistan (with two sections West and East) and largely Hindu India was never satisfactorily resolved, and India and Pakistan have fought two wars - in 1947-48 and 1965 - over the disputed Kashmir territory. A third war between these countries in 1971 - in which India capitalized on Islamabad's marginalization of Bengalis in Pakistani politics - resulted in East Pakistan becoming the separate nation of Bangladesh. In response to Indian nuclear weapons testing, Pakistan conducted its own tests in 1998. The dispute over the state of Kashmir is ongoing, but recent discussions and confidence-building measures may be a start toward lessened tensions.

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By Mim
April 13th 2009

On the Road to Murree Asia » Pakistan » Islamabad

Pakistani Painted Truck
Slow moving on tight curvy roads.

Adventures on the Road to Murree from Islamabad! So, the steep, narrow, curvy, and perilous mountain road leading up from Islamabad to the cool mountain-top town of Murree is, well, steep, narrow, and perilous. The road to Murree is also filled with large commercial trucks that are rolling folk art, wonderfully painted, and dazzlingly decorated. They are also often old and tired. Metal chains dangle and clang as the trucks struggle and strain to go up hills. If you are behind one of them, the people in your rear-view window become increasingly agitated if you don't pass them. T [View Full Entry]

By travellers2
November 18th 2008

The end of the road Asia » Pakistan » Islamabad

Saudi Pak Tower BLock
tower block and tent. Islamabad

In relaying our experiences of Pakistan, certain aspects of daily life got overlooked, simply because they became so commonplace. Power cuts became increasingly frequent, and by the time we reached Lahore 'load shedding' was every other hour, on the hour, across the country. Whilst this was an inconvenience for us, for residents and businesses it must have been a nightmare. Thankfully, at the time of writing, normal service has been resumed. There were also the incidents that we heard about and read about in the paper of the barbaric justice meted out to those having sexual relationships outs [View Full Entry]

By Stoyles blog
November 7th 2008

islamabad 2 Asia » Pakistan » Islamabad

Lorry
See these everywhere often driving straight at you

Letter from Islamabad 02/11/2008 End of the first week and are now half way through our training. Have attended Urdu lessons for two hours every morning and know more about my own language construction than I was teached in school in England. Our teacher has given us both the basic structure and the history of his language. We have learned some basic sayings parrot fashion but has encouraged us to develop our own phrases based on the structure S O V (subject object verb). Have learned a lot about Islam and cultural matters through a range of workshops and discussion sessions. [View Full Entry]

By Stoyles blog
October 28th 2008

here at last Asia » Pakistan » Islamabad

islamabad varanda
our new friends

MONDAY 27th OCTOBER Hello from sunny Pakistan! Made it here at last after many months waiting and planning. We are in Islamabad for 2 weeks having our in-country training which involves 2hours of Urdu each day, As-salam alaikum to all, then briefings on security, cultural adaptation and etiquette etc,etc. There are 7 of us new vols and a very mixed bunch we are, which makes for interesting conversations. It is good to be making friends with people who will be based in different areas of Pakistan as we will be able to visit and see different aspects of this country. We [View Full Entry]

By sapere18
August 1st 2008

Subcontinental Drift: Chapter Twenty - The Karakoram Highway Asia » Pakistan » Islamabad

Rakaposhi
Always peering over shoulders...

A wildness about Pakistan is evident in the name of the regions over which the government has teetering control. Provinces such as Sindh and Balochistan may be one thing. But when added to the likes of the more lawless sounding Northwest Frontier Province, you’d expect scenes out of the Wild West. In many cases, that’s exactly what takes place! My favorite region of Pakistan by title alone is the Northern Areas, leaving the foreigner with the impression that its inhabitants are a part of the nation when it suits them, but do not wholly buy into Pakistani integration. I met t [View Full Entry]

By Smith
July 2nd 2008

Arrival Pakistan Asia » Pakistan » Islamabad

Rawalpindi
Vendor

“Killer Mountain, Nanga Parbat - naked mountain - is the ninth highest peak (8125 meters) in the world and second highest in Pakistan, situated on the western tip of great Himalayan. Its south face, known as Rupal Face rises over 5000 meters from the valley floor to the summit. After a German climber Hurman Bhul scaled it in 1953, many climbers have stepped on the majestic peak and many have lost their lives in their pursuits.” After a mercifully uneventful flight, we landed in a somewhat dusty, noisy, hot Rawalpindi (locals call it Pindi) and our senses were immediately bombard [View Full Entry]

By old swat
April 3rd 2008

Seagulls and bare midriffs Asia » Pakistan » Islamabad

Sail with the wind

Seagulls and bare midriffs. I’ve made many mistakes in my life. The latest one was based on the assumption that the weather in Holland and England would be mild since the temperature was going up in Pakistan. That proved to be a wrong assumption. When in September 2006 we started our trip towards the East in the revamped Land Rover, we left behind our “European” camper, the Renault master we had bought the year before. It was a good car although underpowered with too little ground clearance to risk roads in underdeveloped countries. We left it in a garage in Holland [View Full Entry]

By old swat
February 23rd 2008

Good bye Nepal Asia » Pakistan » Islamabad

a smile to conquer the world

February 24, Islamabad It’s after the elections and after the results have been published. Only 30 to 40 % took part and scores of women were prevented from voting, although that is their constitutional right. It seems that in other parts of the country not everything went as peacefully as it did here, but even with that as a consideration it all went a lot less problematic than expected. Of course, in a country like this trouble lurks always around the corner because democracy is a word that has a foreign ring to it, like in South Africa. There the opposition [View Full Entry]

By Travelling Priestess
January 3rd 2008

Ramblings from Islamabad: the return of normality Asia » Pakistan » Islamabad

Jandial Temple, Taxila

Things are settling down in Pakistan, and life has been inching towards normality in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi over the last few days. The 'miscreants', 'mischief-mongers' and 'anti-social elements', as the newspapers call them, have mainly been refraining from creating civil unrest. The shops and markets are open again, public transport has been re-instated, petrol is available, and the people have come out of their houses. The PPP flags are still flying high, the debates about the now postponed election and the cause of BB's death rage on, but life inevitably goes on. I [View Full Entry]

By Travelling Priestess
December 29th 2007

Light in the darkness of Pakistan Asia » Pakistan » Islamabad

In this morning's newspaper, I read that foreign travellers in Pakistan are advised to stay in their lodgings for the moment until the situation becomes clear. As Islamabad is relatively quiet, I venture out to test the waters two days after the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. The streets are more lively than yesterday - there are some taxis whose drivers try to get my attention by slowing down and calling to me, and there is a long queue of cars, blocking half of College Road, trying to get into the petrol station - there was a petrol strike yesterday. Armed policemen [View Full Entry]

Travel Blog » Asia » Pakistan » Islamabad