A huge thank you to Kiwi.com for covering the flights of this trip
and getting me to Pakistan.
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...
Welcome back to Pakistan.
Here we are at a viewpoint, I'll show you...
We are sitting above the capital city of Islamabad.
Today we're going to explore...
I hope to show you kind of the old and the new.
Because I am so impressed by the city so far.
The infrastructure is insane,
like some places you could be in Europe.
And I never expected to see this in Pakistan,
honestly speaking.
I thought it would be a lot less developed but...
My mind's been blown.
So today I hope to show you a combination of the old and the new...
I'm here again with Shahbaz.
And we meet again...
Hi guys.
We're heading to like some older parts today
and there's some newer parts as well, right?
So we're probably going to a food feed in Rawalpindi.
So, Rawalpindi and Islamabad it's kind of like a...
- You know, twin cities. - Okay.
- So maybe will be going to the older town part.
- And they have a really cool transport system here.
It's basically like a bridge that goes over the top of all the traffic.
- And you call it a metro bus, right? - Yeah.
And it is like the perfect weather to be here.
It's bright, sunny and still not unbearable, you know?
Yes, beautiful weather.
So, yeah... Here is the view.
♪♪♪
So we've come down to this area where there's like food and stalls,
and arts, and crafts, and things...
And lots of families having fun and there's fairground rides in the background.
You know, lots of families, and women and children around.
Really nice quiet atmosphere.
One of the reasons that Islamabad is so much more chilled out than Karachi,
in terms of just, you know...
Mass intense crowds...
Is... The population is significantly smaller.
It's one twentieth of the size of Karachi, so...
I think it's like one to two million people living in Islamabad
whereas twenty million plus down in Karachi, so...
It makes a huge difference and that's a...
Karachi did used to be the capital city but now it's up here
and it's really interesting, there's camels, there's monkeys,
cats...
It's all happening.
♪♪♪
So we just drove down from the lookout point.
We've come to another city...
It's still one city because they both grew and kind of joined.
but this is the more older part and it's called Rawalpindi.
- Hello! - Hello!
// Native language //
- Very good...
So, yes... Definitely you can tell it's a lot less developed
and a bit more similar to Karachi than Islamabad,
and it's got a double the population than Islamabad.
// Native language //
Here is like an old market area...
And then there's a bunch of streets,
lots of street food vendors and everything, so...
We'll have to look around and see what we can find.
♪♪♪
- Nice to meet you. - England?
- New Zealand...
- New Zealand? - Yeah.
This...
- New Zealand have rupees or...? - Oh! Dollar.
// A exchange //
For one rupees...
I have no New Zealand dollar.
I think he's asking for New Zealand Dollars...
Rupees...
// Native language //
He's saying that he's has currency from all over the world.
- Oh... - Of every country, yeah...
- Okay... - He's just collecting it for fun.
Right. I have no New Zealand dollar.
I don't live in New Zealand, so...
// Native language //
He is asking if you want to have some drink with him...
- Yeah, sure... - Yeah?
So that man there just offered to go and buy us tea, as you saw.
So he's going to grab some tea.
I've been offered tea by so many local here, so...
I guess it's the tradition to offer a foreigner some tea.
There's a really interesting looking mosque up here so I'm gonna...
go have and look...
So yeah... I didn't realize...
those little tents there
when I went to that mosque but...
Just saw them when I was filming it and...
You can see a lots of kids here...
Pretty harsh living conditions.
Hello...
// Native language //
I guess they're asking for money...
// Native language //
Oh! Thank you sir.
// Native language //
Thank you.
// Native language //
Okay. So my new friend Hyatt Tula has just brought me a tea.
It's a lovely man.
And we might ask him a few questions.
How long have you been selling bags for?
// Native language //
He's been here for 9-10 years now.
- Wow!
- And it's good business?
// Native language //
- Yeah... - Right, right...
He's saying that selling it's working really well.
- How does he feel in Pakistan?
- Does he feel safe and secure living here?
// Native language //
He's very pretty happy and satisfied and he wants to thank god for that.
- Right...
He's like having a peaceful life here...
Was it always like that? Or was 10 years ago a bit harder?
// Native language //
The situation...
The security situation, every situation was a little bit harder before
but now it's very peaceful and calm,
and the business went really well, yeah.
- Does he think it's safe for tourists to visit?
// Native language //
He's like...
// Native language //
He's like there's no trouble in Pakistan,
and now it's a peaceful place like tourist should come and visit.
- Okay.
- What about the kids living in the corner there?
Are they...?
Like these kids here, they all live in the corner by the mosque,
under like plastic and tents, and things...
Where do they come from?
// Native language //
They are residents of Pakistan
they've been living in Pakistan for long with their parents...
And they kind of feel home here...
So they're kind of decided to stay here.
// Native language //
So, according to him, they have the money to built their own houses somewhere
but they like living in tents
and so they are saving up money
Really? So, do they work or how do they get money?
// Native language //
So, basically, you know... They beg for money.
And that's how they're collecting money
and according to him, they have the money to kind of built their own house...
- So, begging pays reasonably well
because we've seen quite a few beggars as well...
Well, at least while I've been in Pakistan.
// Native language //
They make like a good money,
they even have the money to even have their own houses...
They own them and they gave it on rent...
But they like living here on this part, yeah.
- So they save money by begging
and then buy houses and then rent out the houses?
- And they still here and try to get money, yeah.
- So, they're really good business people then, right?
// Native language //
He's like their business is flourishing and it's...
We sometimes get tense on how we're going to earn profit earned money
but they don't have that kind of tension
because it's flourishing always like...
They're very stable in that sense, according to him, yeah.
// Native language //
♪♪♪
Okay. So we just took a walk down the road,
we've met a woman selling some items here...
And we're gonna ask her a few questions.
- Can you just ask her to...? Like introduce herself.
// Native language //
So, her husband died, she's on her own.
- How is it being a businesswoman here in Pakistan?
Is it easy or are there are limits?
// Native language //
She's like it's hard for me particularly because I'm suffering from a few diseases as well...
- Diseases?
Yeah. But I have to run my house and pay my rent for my home.
- Right.
- Those are limits due to health
but how about limits due to the society?
Is it easy to be a woman and start your own business here?
// Native language //
She doesn't think it will be kind of different for a women to run a business like men are doing.
So they all like working hard to earn money...
// Native language //
Like these people given her this space to run her own things, yeah.
So, women aren't really suppressed here in Pakistan.
// Native language //
She's like the women who don't have anyone to earn money for them,
they are like kind of suppressed, they don't know how to lead their life.
- That's kind of a self-limitation.
What about just the society?
Does she feel comfortable being a woman and doing whatever she wants?
// Native language //
She is like all the men around me
but they kind of support me.
So, she thinks that men here are supportive towards women
who want trying running their own business.
Right, right...
Okay.
// Native language //
- So Shahbaz has just picked up and demolished a bit of street food here...
What do we have?
That's a Roll Paratha.
That's like a fried bread with chicken, with different sauces in it.
That's like kind of really common here.
And it's like comes very handy
when you're walking and just having food
you can have it like... Yeah...
You don't need to specifically sit somewhere to have it.
So you can just walk in and doing your work,
you can just grab it and have it on your way.
- So, it's chicken, mayonnaise and fried bread, right?
And some different spices in it as well.
Probably Ritta...
That's the yogurt mixture with spices and it have it as well, yeah.
We just met a young man called Quram.
Thought it will be interesting to interview a younger gentleman.
Can you just ask him what he's cooking today?
// Native language //
- That's call chicken Tikka. - Okay.
- That's another quite famous dish here, right?
- How old he is he?
// Native language //
- 19 years old. - 19? Right.
Will he study or will he just work here?
// Native language //
He already studied now he is focusing on work.
- What does he like to do for fun?
// Native language //
He likes to rest, so when he is done working he likes to rest.
- Does he work quite long hours?
// Native language //
So he works for 10 hours a day.
10 hours... Okay. Cool.
// Native language //
♪♪♪
- What did you order?
I'm getting some strawberry and banana shake for myself.
- How much does it cost for a juice?
- So, it's just cost me 200 rupees ($1.20 USD). - 200 rupees.
♪♪♪
// Native language //
So we've just come to the metro station
and we're going to show you the...
// Native language //
- This guy... - This guy?
- What about him? - It's nice.
- He's a nice guy? - Nice guy.
Okay.
Happy? Okay...
All right...
Cool. So we're going to jump on the metro.
And the metro is a bit different here.
It's not on a rail, it's a bus...
But everything else is identical.
So, I'll show you the process.
It's a really good idea because to alleviate the crazy traffic
just drive over the top of it.
So it's 30 rupees ($0.20 USD) per token
and that will get you pretty much anywhere
as far as you want to go across the city, so...
It's a lot cheaper than Uber.
Uber is still cheap.
You can get like pretty much all the way across the city for less than 300 rupees ($1.80 USD).
Anyway...
Security here...
Okay...
So, as you can see, that's a really good way to get across the city
if you're in Islamabad
but now we are heading to the biggest shopping mall in Islamabad...?
- Yes... - Yeah...
That's the Centaurus Mall
Centaurus Mall, okay.
And might get some food
and just see what it's like...
Show you guys.
I haven't tried heaps and heaps of Pakistani food but...
So far this is winning the competition.
It's basically mainly chickpeas
with like some onion and a bit of salad and then some like...
kind of hard cracker things
Yeah...
I highly recommend.
It got like a bit of spice kind of sweet...
Can't go wrong with chickpeas.
Okay, so we were just sitting down, having some food
and we were approached by this gentleman here.
- What was your name? - My name is me Meer.
- Meer? I'm Nick - Okay.
And...
So you have a YouTube channel
and you're making a video about what foreigners...
- Yes, I started yesterday. - Okay.
Okay.
And now I have to, inshalla, struggle for my YouTube channel.
Okay.
So you're making videos differences in cultures between Pakistan and foreign countries.
Exactly...
Well, I'll put the YouTube link on the screen.
- What's the name of the channel? - Meer K Vlogs.
- Meer K Vlogs. - Meer K Vlogs, okay.
Hopefully some people watching this will come have a look at your channel.
Can you please suggest the people, your viewers,
- suggest them to subscribe my channel. - Yeah, that's what I'm saying right now, yeah.
- Alright, thank you. - Thank you.
SHOW HIS CHANNEL SOME LOVE
Alright, good luck...
LATER THAT SAME EVENING
You're probably not watching this channel to see shopping malls
but it's cool to show, you know...
Both sides, you know...
The infrastructure here in Islamabad is really...
You know, shocked me in a good way.
Roads are well sealed and painted, and marked.
And the metro system is a really good idea.
Just basically go over the top of the whole city.
Pakistan's definitely an up-and-coming tourist destination,
reinforcing the fact that everybody I have talked to here
and what I've experienced
it's safe to travel as a foreigner.
If you're American, or if you're British,
or if you're Ethiopian, doesn't matter,
if you're a New Zealander like me, you will be accepted here.
Anyway, so in the next video we're going further north.
We're going into some more remote mountain regions.
So I hope that you will come along with me
and join me for that adventure.
I'm sure we'll meet some more characters along the way.
There's so many characters to meet here.
It's just an abundance of characters basically.
So...
Anyway...
In case I don't see you
good afternoon, good evening
and good night.
♪♪♪