Discover Pakistan

Pakistan is the fifth most populous country in the world, with over 241 million people and the second-largest Muslim population, and it is three countries in one: the northern highlands, where Gilgit-Baltistan holds five of the world's fourteen 8,000-metre peaks including K2 and more than fifty above 7,000; the Indus plain of Pakistani Punjab and Sindh, where the cities are and where Mohenjo-daro was one of the world's first; and the Balochistan plateau, which both the British and Canadian governments tell their citizens not to enter at all. Islamabad, a planned city established in 1967 under the Margalla Hills, is the capital; Karachi, over 20 million people on the Arabian Sea, is the largest city and was the first capital.

What a visitor comes for is the north and the Mughal cities. The Karakoram Highway climbs to 4,714 metres near the Khunjerab pass into China, past the Hunza valley at 2,438 metres, Rakaposhi at 7,788 and the turquoise Attabad lake that a landslide made in 2010; Skardu is the gateway to the eight-thousanders and to the Deosai plateau, the second-highest in the world. Lahore was the Mughal capital under Akbar and holds the Badshahi mosque, the largest in the world for three hundred years, and a fort inscribed by UNESCO in 1981; Mohenjo-daro, built around 2500 BC, was the first World Heritage Site in South Asia.

The advisories draw the map. Both governments advise against all travel to Balochistan, most of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa including Peshawar and Swat, the Afghan border zone and the Line of Control, and against travelling the Karakoram Highway between Mansehra and Chilas; Canada says not to reach Gilgit-Baltistan by road at all and to avoid non-essential travel to most of Karachi. A visa in advance, an entry stamp, photo ID at all times, modest dress, no photographs of anything military, and Pakistan's blasphemy and alcohol laws are the terms of entry. The country is extraordinary, and it is not casual.

Is it safe to visit Pakistan?

Parts of it, with care. Both the British and Canadian governments advise against all travel to Balochistan, most of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the border zones, and Canada against road travel to Gilgit-Baltistan and non-essential travel to most of Karachi; Lahore, Islamabad and the northern valleys reached by air are where visitors go, under a high degree of caution.

Do I need a visa?

Yes, applied for in advance; the passport must be valid six months beyond the application date and must be stamped on entry. Since 2019 online visas have been available to 175 nationalities and visa on arrival to 50, according to the encyclopaedia; the portal did not answer.

How do I get to K2 and Hunza?

Fly to Skardu for K2 and Concordia, or to Gilgit for Hunza; the advisories say not to reach the north by road, and the Karakoram Highway between Mansehra and Chilas is closed to travel by both. North of Chilas the highway to the Khunjerab pass is open under caution.

What are the emergency numbers?

Police 15, medical 115 or 1122, fire 16.

What are the rules I must not break?

No photographs of anything military or of infrastructure; carry ID; dress modestly; nothing that could be read as disrespect for religion, which is a capital offence in law; no alcohol without a licence for non-Muslims; nothing in public in daylight during Ramadan.

When is the best time?

September to October for the north, November to February for Lahore, Sindh and Karachi; the plains reach 38 degrees in June and the monsoon runs late June to late September.