Travel Tips

So, I went skiing in the North Western Frontier Province, mostly known (stereotypically known?) for its gun-smuggling, gun-toting, drug-smuggling population?at least these are some of the images I have in mind when I think of NWFP. One of my favorite Pakistanis is a Patan (homeland: NWFP and areas of Afghanistan) so I'd better watch my mouth ;o) I hope after spending two years in Pakistan, my stereo-typical images will become less superficial!

Over the Muslim Feast of Sacrifice (Eid al-Adha) a bunch of friends and I borrowed a Pajero 4X4 and headed up to Mallem Jabbar (gotta get back to you on the spelling here).

We spent one night in the Swat Serena Hotel, quite laid back and luxurious at the same time before heading further into higher altitudes the next morning. Now I?ve lived in a Muslim country before (Palestine ? I like to be optimistic and I like pushing the boundaries, so it might not be a registered ?fact? but one day there will be an official Palestine) but never had I seen such a display of dead carcasses lining the streets, throngs of family men chopping up newly slaughtered sacrificial goats, cows, what have you.

Freshly, slaughtered meat; Steaming intestines and newly-removed hides strewn about on the streets, the rivers, the rocks, the patios.

The surrounding physical landscape was gloriously juxtaposed with the blood baths we saw around us. Red water ran through the rivers.

I?m not a vegetarian but I considered becoming one! It was a fascinating look into a different cultural/religious celebration from mine, that?s for sure!

We arrived in the evening at the ski resort?the conditions weren?t luxurious?

Mallam Jabba in Swat Valley (they call it the Swiss Alps of Asia, a worthy name, I should think!) now has a government run resort hotel. Pretty basic but comfortable...really my only complaint was the poor heating arrangements. The mountain is quite steep with one advanced slope and a bunny hill....two lifts accordingly.. DIRT CHEAP of course...the bunny hill was great...

I'm a beginner/intermediate skier so I challenged myself to ski down the bigger slope- BIG MISTAKE...it's like going off-piste cuz they don't work with the snow...ie. plowing it or whatever...all powder fresh snow...many feet deep, even the advanced skiers were tumbling down the mountain practically...plus I went up on the lift by myself which I later regretted...when I got off the lift I was confronted by 75 ogling Patans ;)

So, kept falling over, getting stuck, couldn't get up all the while being harassed and accosted by all these men! I tried to keep a straight face and ignore them...even had a few snowballs thrown at me! Oh well, I guess that's the price I had to pay for going up on my own...I did complain to the manager though - you can't expect to attract foreigners here with these kinds of mobs :(

I kept rationalizing: after all, what else could I expect given how I was dressed, a lone women zipping down a mountain (or trying to!), they are not used to seeing liberated women, so of course they will react like that vs. f!$% ?em, I?m a free woman, can do what I want, don?t care about what is culturally appropriate etc. etc?

But overall, it was great fun and now I can say I went skiing in Pakistan!

November 18, 2003

Today I received a comment that made me quite upset really. I've erased it. I was accused of stereotyping the people of NWFP and of being a rash and insane traveler! I wrote about my ski trip to Swat Valley nearly two years ago and re-reading it again, I can see that my impression of Pakistan has most definitely changed.

Why do we stereo-type people? I think this happens when we haven't had a chance go do beyond having a superficial understanding of a people, culture etc. And maybe my description above can be considered a bit insensitive, but I certainly don't proclaim to be able to judge a culture after being exposed to it only one day, in the superficial way that I was. I just jotted down my impressions then. I could re-write it all based on my many experiences since with this area but why should I? This is how I truly felt and this is how I made my observations then.

I try not to judge people and I try to be careful not to offend people. I try to be as open-minded as possible. It's a challenge really isn't it?

I just got back from the Kaghan Valley - another beautiful and mountainous area of NWFP. It was all about hiking - nature, the sun, the sky, the clouds and lots of crows. So can't make any comments about people this time. Except that the hotel staff (we were the only visitors at the Pine and Park Resort) were super-nice and hospitable.

Hmmm, now I wish I hadn't deleted this person's comment. Oh well :o)