English, Spanish & French subtitles available in the CC options
So by now...
I guess most of you know how this works.
I show you some news clips about the country in question.
Breaking news out of Pakistan!
There's a crisis in US / Pakistan relations...
Mixed messaging coming from Pakistan...
Pakistan settle your own problems...
World leaders are urging Pakistan and India to take some deep breaths...
And then I go there...
And see what it's like behind the headlines.
But wait a second,
I think this guy has some things to say...
There's one place once described as the world's most dangerous country
that's offering up a pleasant surprise...
Pakistan.
So should we see if we can find that pleasant surprise this man is talking about?
I'm confident we're going to find something.
♪♪♪
More of the Pakistan that I was expecting to see...
Everyone should come in Pakistan...
There's nothing wrong with it...
Wonderfully peaceful now...
Good morning from Karachi.
One of the biggets cities in the world.
And today I'm getting picked up by Shahbaz,
who you've met in the last videos, local Karachi man here.
And we're heading up the coast
to a place called Gaddani,
one to two-hour drive.
There is something pretty cool there,
a ship graveyard where they take lots of ships from all around the world
and they break them down and use the scrap metal essentially.
There's a similar one in Bangladesh I've been to
but I wasn't able to get up in close there.
I'm hoping I'll be able to get a lot closer here but you never know...
These port areas often strict for security reasons, so...
We'll see if we can get in but on the way and around in the area
we're going to see if we can find some, you know...
Interesting villages and locals, and things.
And get out of this mayhem city,
it's fun to explore but also fun to leave and see other parts of the country.
♪♪♪
Okay, so we've been driving for probably almost an hour now...
And we're still in the city even though we went past signs that said "Goodbye Karachi",
which is kind of funny because we never really left the city, we're still in a city.
And I'm here with our driver, Sultan, for the day.
And just look at this...
They say we'd left Karachi but...
I mean, I think it takes a considerable amount of time to leave a city of
20 to 25+ million people.
- Are you enjoying the drive, Shahbaz? - Yeah.
- What's it like living in one of the biggest cities in the world?
You get to stay busy all the time, you know?
Work, study, work, study, sleep, repeat.
// Native language //
So we've arrived at the ship breaking yard or the ship graveyard.
We got a pretty strong feeling we're gonna get shut down.
All we can do is try.
I'm gonna walk along over here and try, and make our way to the beach.
- Do you think we're gonna have some issues here, Shahbaz?
Probably, yes but I'm excited about it.
- You think that me, some random white guy, just walks in...
Do you think that's going to cause some attention?
For sure.
- All right. Well… - A white guy with a camera, you know...
- Stick out like a sore thumb. - Yeah.
- There's a guy
So we've walked down from the road there
and we're right by the beach.
This is pretty cool.
I'm not sure how long we can stay here before we get kicked out or worse but...
We're just going to see what we can see.
So basically countries from all over the world will send their boats here
and then they'll slowly get broken down or repaired,
and the scrap metal will be used for other things.
So, essentially it's like a huge recycling project,
which is really cool I think it's something to be really proud of.
Yeah. Wow! This is...
Look at this…
♪♪♪
So we come further into the ship graveyard here
and we've met a local man who obviously works here.
- What's happening here exactly?
// Native language //
So they cut broken parts and the defected parts
and just load it and take it away.
- Where do these boats come from?
// Native language //
From all different countries, he is not really...
He can't name any one country but from different countries.
- And how long has Mohammed been working here?
// Native language //
11 to 12 years now.
- Do you mind if we have a look inside or not okay?
// Native language //
- So, it's too dangerous to go inside?
- As long as we stay behind this wall we're okay?
// Native language //
He's like, if you guys are here, this part...
Okay. So we don't go any further,
we're okay here, we're not putting anybody in danger?
// Native language //
- He's like, yeah. - Cool.
- What's he's saying?
So there's a ship out here in the horizon here,
that Mohammed has just mentioned to us that is coming in to get broken down.
Does Mohammed know where this boat is coming from or no?
// Native language //
He's not sure about the country but once it's here he will get to know.
Many people in this part of the world dye their hair orange and...
Would you mind asking Mohammed why he does so?
// Native language //
So he kind of likes this colour.
It goes with his look so he likes to keep it red not white.
// Native language //
So it's white or grey so he's like "I applied this colour.".
- Is it because of the Prophet Mohammed?
// Native language //
So he's like if you apply this color...
// Native language //
- It helps you in your vision. - Okay.
// Native language //
So he's saying as long as you don't go over there then you're okay.
So we've got our man Mohammed looking after us.
- So it's like security guard wars, right? - Yeah.
- It's like two different plots... Right.
- So, different companies. - Yeah.
- So he didn't the prophet Mohammed use to dye his hair orange?
// Native language //
So he's like Prophet Mohammed use to dye his hair red too so that's why.
The metal of the boats, what do they do with that?
// Native language //
So it's like they take it to Karachi or a different city
and where they kind of make, obviously, some doors
or anything they wanna make out of it, yeah.
// Native Language //
Thank you.
♪♪♪
// Native language //
♪♪♪
So we decided to get out of there because, you know...
It's not really 100% okay,
I don't think, to be there.
So we're gonna head back, jump in the car, move on...
But that was really cool to even get that close because when I went to Bangladesh...
When I went to the Bangladesh ship graveyard
you couldn't get anywhere near that close.
It's been a dream of mine to
at least see a bit of what goes on and cool to meet Mohammed there...
Have him, you know...
Explain to us how everything works.
Anyway...
Let's get out of here.
// Native language //
It's hot.
- Cool!
Okay. So we've been hanging out of this little roadside store here
where the locals come and go, and buy snacks, and water, and things...
And we met some local young guys, so...
We're gonna ask them a few questions.
// Native language //
- What's your name, sir?
// Native language //
- Salim? - Salim.
- Okay. Cool.
- And how old are you?
// Native language //
So he's 20 years old.
- What do you like to do for fun?
// Native language //
- Football... - Footbal.
- He plays football, yeah. - Okay.
- And you like living here?
// Native language //
He's like this is my motherland so I love living here.
- What is your favorite part of living in Pakistan?
What do you like about it?
// Native language //
So it's like it's our motherland
So Balochistan is where I was born
- // Native language // - He's like, it's our own...
It's our own place, so I like to be here.
- Is there anything that you don't like?
or you think that would be better if it was improved?
// Native language //
In terms of natural resources, we have natural resources here
but we don't really get it.
- Or we not... - // Native language //
There is no job here.
And in terms of working there is no a stable source of income for them.
// Native language //
It's like people will tell you like all they want to do in their life
and what their desires, and stuff...
But they can't really get it because of the not having stable income...
// Native language //
It's a beautiful place, Balochistan is beautiful...
- So there's a lack of work, there's a lack of jobs...
// Native language //
There's a lack of jobs, yeah.
- So it's like... - // Native language //
Like in other parts of Pakistan,
like in different cities like Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad...
They have many educational institutes like school colleges, universities
there are well learned people but in Balochistan there are not many universities where you can study from
So it's like, yeah...
Obviously literacy rate here is very low
and people are not as educated as other parts of Pakistan.
- And would you like to travel someday to another country?
// Native language //
It's like, yeah I like to travel but I also want to come back.
// Native language //
He doesn't wanna go to any other place permanently but
he wants to live in his motherland but he wants to visit and travel.
- Where would you like to go?
// Native language //
So he's like, I like to visit all the Muslim countries around the world, yeah.
But obviously they lack of sources. So I can't really.
- Any country in particular?
// Native language //
He's like, New Zealand, according to him, New Zealand is a Muslim country, yeah.
- And did he know I was from New Zealand before saying that? Or he just...?
// Native language //
He thought that probably you're from Karachi.
- He thought I was from Karachi?
// Native language //
- Are you happy?
// Native language //
He wants to thank god for it and he's happy.
Okay.
// Native language //
♪♪♪
So hope you enjoyed the trip out there to the ship graveyard,
we are back in Karachi now.
Very lucky to have gotten as close as we did.
As you know, port style areas in this part of the world,
or in many parts of the world, are a bit iffy when it comes to security, for obvious reasons.
Understandable reasons.
So in the next video I'll be covering something that happened to me here in Pakistan
that wasn't, you know... The best situation.
Kind of...
Got a little bit ripped off.
And I want to make a little video about it just to talk about.
You know...
But basically to tell other foreigners to be careful of it.
It's not a huge deal.
It's a one-off incident but it could happen to many tourists coming here
because of where it happened, so...
I'll leave that for the next video.
Otherwise Pakistan has been so great
and it's been one of my most favorite countries that I've traveled to.
I put it up there with Iran in terms of how misunderstood it is, really.
I mean, I feel a 100% safe here.
At least in the regions I travelled to, that's all I can speak for.
// Native language //
See?
Very good.
Right on cue there.
Anyway, in case I don't see you...
Good afternoon, good evening and good night.
Thank you so much for watching.
♪♪♪