Glacier Breeze Restaurant Passu Hunza

Backpacking in Pakistan is a one of a kind adventure; this is a country which will raise many an eyebrow and steal many a heart. The only danger with backpacking in Pakistan is not wanting to leave. Before I went backpacking in Pakistan, I was unsure what to expect. Pakistan travel advice from my government is basically one gigantic red X. The media has painted the country in an unfortunate light, a fact most Pakistanis are painfully aware of. Wherever I went, I was greeted by friendly faces and incredibly helpful people. Combine that with relatively cheap travel costs, plentiful treks and truly stunning mountains and you have one hell of a great backpacking destination. The security situation in Pakistan is currently under control and, with the exception of the Afghanistan border regions; most of the country is perfectly safe to visit. On some occasions, you will be assigned a free police escort – read about my experience trekking with mine – to keep an eye on you but the...

Meet Mohammed and his brother. These dudes work at a hotel in Mansehra, and are the sweetest security guards north of Islamabad. Maybe it was the beard bondage, but by the way I was greeted, I could have been some age old friend walking into that hotel. Yeah it wasn’t all grand gestures, but doesn’t everyone rave on about the little things? At the sawmill with Esan Ali Meet Esan Ali of Nagar. After letting Matty and I roam his sawmill without a fuss, we were then invited back to his tailor shop for tea. We got to know him and he got to know us over some hot milky tea. Esan Ali told us about the the trees of Nagar, and the culture of the areas to the north and south. His sons were studying in London and Italy while he carried on with life back home. Pakistan’s Flash Gordon aka the saviour Meet the saviour. Out of patches for the tubes, we managed to stop in a small village outside Becham. This bloke appeared out of nowhere and without a word had Matty’s tube p...