As I write this in April 2022, Pakistan’s democracy has come under attack. I won’t bore you with the details, but it essentially boils down to this. The country’s people want their Prime Minister Imran Khan to stay, whilst the elected officials want him gone.

Their reasons, well, all to reinstate the previous Prime Minister, who was due to go on trial on corruption charges in the coming days. That will now be forgotten, and the millions of pounds he and his family have stolen from the Pakistani people will now not matter.

Take from that the face value, and you will understand the crux of the matter unfolding in Pakistan, a wonderful country that deserves better. The people have taken to the streets to protest, but it won’t achieve anything; the corrupt politicians decide people’s fate.

Pakistan deserves better. Pakistan deserves Imran Khan. 

The growth of Pakistan Tourism became possible because of him. 

Now, you may wonder why am I talking about Pakistani politics on a travel vlog? It’s actually very simple. 

Throughout the Pakistan travel series, we have seen the positive changes that Imran Khan and his party implemented in Pakistan. We are, of course, talking about renewable energies, which we have witnessed in abundance if you’ve been following the vlogs!

We are talking about Imran Khans’ reforestation program, again, a recurring theme throughout our trip to Pakistan and finally, education! Education is high atop Imran Khans’ list of priorities, and this, too, we have witnessed aplenty. We stumbled across many remote regions of Pakistan, where they have houses, a tuck shop and a school. The kids all have a school uniform and school bags; they’ll even be able to hitchhike to school if necessary! This infrastructure is all down to Imran Khan, I assure you.

This may not sound like a huge deal, but it is. Kids even have glasses! Again, not a big deal coming from western standards but in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by Pine trees, mountains and dust, to have schools and to provide education to every child, equipping them with the resources they need to prosper is a fantastic feat and one that should be celebrated. 

I can only hope that the politicians will not destroy his great work after Imran Khans’ removal.

The audio cut off at the start of this one, so let me set the scene. We were driving up to a place called Machlu Valley, which is home to the Masherbum mountain peak. A glorious sight on a clear day in Pakistan, which, unfortunately, was not today. As it was still an hour’s drive away, with the rain coming down and the mist creeping in, blocking any views, we decided to turn back. Sensing our disappointment, our driver, Abbas, mentioned that there was a nearby school he takes visitors to on rainy days, so we were like, awesome. Let’s take this opportunity to see a school in Pakistan and witness Imran Khans’ dedication to improving education in Pakistan first-hand. 

It’s always a little bit awkward whenever you’re asked to speak to students in English. Usually, they are timid but giddy and excited at the same time. It can be quite a contrast at the best of times, but we did this in Pemba Island, Tanzania, Africa, just six months prior, and that was a wonderful experience despite the awkwardness. 

We met the headmaster and janitor, who showed us around the school. We met students and tried to converse with them in Urdu and English. It was awkward, but we tried to have a laugh with it, but the kids were pretty silent upon our first encounter.

One element which did surprise me was how creative the classrooms were. There were drawings and paintings by the students of each class proudly displayed around their classrooms. We had pictures of the stars, solar systems, animals, Deosai plains (Google it, it’s beautiful) and famous landmarks from around the world. We were both in awe; here are these kids aged 8 to 13, and they all have such fabulous creativity. 

They don’t have access to an array of computers or fibre-optic broadband, many don’t own TVs, and not even one has the latest phone, but their creativity was off the charts. I have to credit Pakistan’s educational system and Imran Khan; we saw that the kids could express themselves through art and were brilliant at it! They were very good at it!

We didn’t test their math skills, but we repeatedly enquired as to who their favourite teachers were and one kept coming up, a Mrs Jannat. Our conversation with her was enlightening; the kids all had a powerful female role model, one they all adored, and she adored them. 

I can’t be sure that this wasn’t all a roués by the Pakistani government to ‘look promising, but I will say that’s unlikely. Pakistan was in good hands with Imran Khan, InshaAllah, Pakistan will again belong to the people. Insha’Allah

USEFUL TIPS FOR BACKPACKING PAKISTAN:

This sounds like it would be a complicated journey, but in truth, it’s pretty simple. As is the norm in this area of Pakistan, you will first need to head to Skardu, Pakistan. Skardu will be the central point for a lot of your excursions. Skardu certainly was for us, as you can tell from the numerous videos we have filmed there. We documented our flight from Islamabad to Skardu, showing you how to make that journey.

Once in Skardu, ask your hotel for the bus to Khaplu, and they will tell you where to go. We cannot give you a pinpoint location because there isn’t a bus station for departures going to Khaplu. You won’t find any schedules online, nor will you find an actual bus station. The buses depart for Khaplu on the edge of town, and your hotel will direct you there.

Tickets to Khaplu from Skardu will cost 300PKR per person for the minibus with a food break after an hour or so, and if you’re lucky, your bus won’t break down as ours did. Trust us, take the bus and enjoy the most amazing Pakistani food on route to Khaplu. You’ll have a chance to visit the colourful teeny tiny village of Gol, which serves up some of the best food in Pakistan!

Once in Khaplu, your accommodation will be able to sort you with a driver for the day. To go around Khaplu, 1,000 PKR is more than a fair price, and for the drive back to Skardu, it should be around 6,000PKR with stops at Machlu Valley, Sogha Lake, Saling and Manthoka waterfall. I wouldn’t recommend you miss any of them, it takes a lot to get into this area, and those four areas are well worth visiting.

Enjoy! and don’t forget to tag Calamity Travels on Instagram. We’d love to see if you enjoyed backpacking Pakistan as much as we did!