17 Astonishing Places You Wouldn’t Believe Are In Pakistan
February 17, 2015 1:33 AM   Subscribe

 
Came for the pictures, stayed for the questions.

Did you just open your window in a Khatmandu resort?
Foreigners sidelining along the blue lines of Goa?
Wooden cottages on a lush top in Ireland?
Where are the tourists? This must lead to the Niagara Falls?
Book-cover material. Has to lie in the outskirts of Belgium?
posted by chavenet at 1:46 AM on February 17, 2015 [3 favorites]


OK, I did sort of believe they were in Pakistan. But boy does it make me want to go.
posted by dontjumplarry at 2:07 AM on February 17, 2015 [2 favorites]


These questions are something else.

So are those photos, obviously a very beautiful country.
posted by dominik at 2:15 AM on February 17, 2015 [1 favorite]


Great photos!

Horrible, link-bait title (the article, not the post). Who are they to know what we believe. Next thing they will tell us that we won't believe it's not butter.
posted by greenhornet at 2:18 AM on February 17, 2015 [3 favorites]


Next thing they will tell us that we won't believe it's not butter.

It's not that you won't, it's that you can't.
posted by chavenet at 2:19 AM on February 17, 2015 [9 favorites]


Next thing they will tell us that we won't believe it's not butter.

wait baaaaaack up the truck it's not butter?
posted by Sebmojo at 2:21 AM on February 17, 2015 [4 favorites]


17 Astonishing Places You Wouldn’t Believe Are In Pakistan

Especially the ones in Kashmir!
posted by Joe in Australia at 2:30 AM on February 17, 2015 [8 favorites]


I cannot believe they are not invariably all HDR shots.......oh wait - they are.
posted by numberstation at 2:48 AM on February 17, 2015 [5 favorites]


Completely condescending title for the article. If you look at a map you'll see that Pakistan has mountains, a coastal area, and lots in between, so...

Beautiful pictures, but no surprise if they are in Pakistan
posted by DanCall at 3:26 AM on February 17, 2015 [1 favorite]


Wait, where's the brown dust covered ruin porn? Where's the 3rd world america-fuck-ya hovels? This doesn't look like the ass end of the world everywhere not 'merica is? How dare you make me question my xenophobic ways.
posted by chasles at 3:51 AM on February 17, 2015 [1 favorite]


...unless you are familiar with Pakistan.
posted by rmmcclay at 4:10 AM on February 17, 2015 [3 favorites]


Nice pictures but terrible title. I assumed it was going to be a Clickhole article, and I think that would have been more entertaining.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 4:12 AM on February 17, 2015 [3 favorites]


I assumed it was going to be a Clickhole article, and I think that would have been more entertaining.

It kind of works if you read it that way. The one about Belgium is hilarious.
posted by effbot at 4:16 AM on February 17, 2015 [9 favorites]


4 Astonishing Places You Wouldn't Believe Are In Pakistan!
posted by EndsOfInvention at 4:17 AM on February 17, 2015 [10 favorites]


From now on I'm going to refer to France as the outskirts of Belgium.
posted by sobarel at 4:21 AM on February 17, 2015 [3 favorites]


(this is the highest point in Belgium, btw)
posted by effbot at 4:25 AM on February 17, 2015 [2 favorites]


Argh! Those questions fooled me every single time! I really, really thought that was Narnia.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 4:40 AM on February 17, 2015 [9 favorites]


Is this majestic valley the entrance to Xanadu, legendary realm of gods and goddesses, the most stupendously beautiful everlasting miraculous place in the universe??

Fuggedaboutit! That's just Lou's Tire Repair and Donut Shack off Route 34 in Jersey. Looks can be deceiving.
posted by zardoz at 4:42 AM on February 17, 2015 [8 favorites]


I think these places would be just as beautiful without bumping-up the color saturation levels.
posted by Thorzdad at 5:12 AM on February 17, 2015 [3 favorites]


the karakorum highway is a marvelous feat of engineering connecting some amazing places. i rode an enfield motorbike up to the chinese border in 1999. seeing small villages with icy blue waterfalls and apricot orchards was breathtakingly beautiful. broke my heart to hear about some of the violence occurring in the swat valley more recently.
posted by kinfish at 5:13 AM on February 17, 2015


Oh the mighty Belgian Alps! I don't want to brag, but I've summited all nineteen peaks of the legendary Bruges mountains. With wine even.
posted by thivaia at 5:28 AM on February 17, 2015 [5 favorites]


is it fairlane mall in detroit? - or a new mall in new jersey? no, it's a shopping mall in pakistan!!
posted by pyramid termite at 5:56 AM on February 17, 2015


Yeah the title sucks. Why wouldn't we believe Pakistan has incredible natural beauty? I was expecting a Tokyo-style hypermodern district of Karachi or imitations of an American McMansion suburb, complete with neo-Baptist non-denominational church, fast-food strip malls and 20 screen multiplex. You know, stuff I wouldn't expect to see in Pakistan.
posted by dis_integration at 6:05 AM on February 17, 2015 [2 favorites]


Yeah I was kinda hoping these were all colleges and computer labs and donut shops and stuff. Do they have donuts in Pakistan? This is a question I would possibly be astonished by the answer of which therein such.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 6:07 AM on February 17, 2015


Yeah yeah yeah.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 6:07 AM on February 17, 2015


The title makes perfect sense when you read it as follows:

Places so astonishing you won't believe it AND they are in Pakistan.

I mean, it's poorly written enough that it could mean all kinds of things.
posted by maxsparber at 6:08 AM on February 17, 2015


This would have been so much more lovely if they had framed it differently: Landscapes of Pakistan, with a slideshow and a neat map of where these places are.
posted by mochapickle at 6:13 AM on February 17, 2015 [4 favorites]


I can't believe those places are in Pakistan. It's astonishing, really.
posted by goatdog at 7:36 AM on February 17, 2015 [2 favorites]


Pakistan reminds me of Idaho: incredibly beautiful, but only the people who live there seem to know about it.
posted by Jess the Mess at 7:37 AM on February 17, 2015


Where is this "Idaho" you speak of?
posted by maxsparber at 8:40 AM on February 17, 2015 [1 favorite]


Sidelining?
posted by yoink at 8:41 AM on February 17, 2015


I came in for the Belgium thing too. Stretching the concept of the word further than Douglas Adams ever did!
posted by runincircles at 8:47 AM on February 17, 2015 [1 favorite]


Aside from #14, all of them looked to me like they might be.

I guess I'm just not xenophobic enough for this site.
posted by IAmBroom at 8:48 AM on February 17, 2015


maxsparber: Where is this "Idaho" you speak of?
Just outside Belgium, in Pakistan.
posted by IAmBroom at 8:48 AM on February 17, 2015 [11 favorites]


This reminds of an interesting phase my brother and I have been going through. We are the children of immigrants from Pakistan, but we are as culturally American as one can get. For many, the default non-White American identity is the Black American identity, but recent swells in activism remind me that I cannot purport myself to be a part of black culture when I am merely an observer. Separately, my brother's feelings of "otherness" from his white girlfriend's family have left him hungry for something more.

So we have been inquiring about Pakistani culture with a vigor that excites and confuses our parents, and we continue to have ignorant-Westerner moments of "This place/these people are actually really cool!" I sometimes catch myself feeling like a weeaboo, a wannabe visitor in a culture that is not my own, but then I remind myself that this is my culture. I just haven't engaged it yet.

I'm not sure how this relates to the post other than the pictures remind me of the photos my father showed me of him and his college buddies way back when decked out in 70's attire in front of beautiful scenery much like those shown. I, for one, would have been astonished only a few years ago.
posted by Don Don at 9:11 AM on February 17, 2015 [8 favorites]



Where is this "Idaho" you speak of?


I'd tell you, but it's my own, and it's private.
posted by lalochezia at 9:22 AM on February 17, 2015 [9 favorites]


I'm not sure the author actually knows any lush tops in Ireland. No.11 isn't even close.
posted by kanewai at 9:44 AM on February 17, 2015 [3 favorites]


I have friends who've skied extensively in Pakistan. They have some of the most amazingly scenic resorts in the world- the photos I've seen are unreal. And reportedly a vibrant local ski scene. I'd love to go one day and visit the mountains.
posted by fshgrl at 11:32 AM on February 17, 2015


15 shots you will believe are ruined by amateurish HDR filters! Also, they're in Pakistan!
posted by klangklangston at 12:51 PM on February 17, 2015 [4 favorites]


Such a range of beauty in any one small country astonishes me. Does anyone know how affordable Pakistan is for traveling?
posted by kitcat at 1:07 PM on February 17, 2015


kitkat, I have not been to Pakistan, but I would assume it's much like India, pricewise. You can pay basically any amount, from a few trends of dollars a day upwards. All depends on your standards and expectations, but it can be very cheap. Even more so since their international tourism market has disappeared. However, Pakistan is on my personal danger list, I wouldn't be going there.
posted by wilful at 2:05 PM on February 17, 2015 [1 favorite]


The subtext in the captions about the people there living happy, peaceful or (most of all) ordinary lives is telling.
posted by acb at 2:49 PM on February 17, 2015


When I went through there in 2007, Pakistan was cheaper than India, but doing some of the more touristy things (such as a Khyber Pass excursion) would significantly bump the cost. Most of the places shown in the FPP are in very dangerous areas, and I skipped them. Google Gilgit, Chitral, Swat and Baluchistan. Pakhtunkhwa is the area around the Khyber Pass and is surprisingly safe as long as you keep your wits about you.

I did go to Harappa and Mohenjo-daro, despite the fact that both are in risky areas, because the Indus Valley civilisations have always fascinated me. On my way back from Mohenjo-daro (where I stayed on site in the Dak Bungalow), the Police nabbed me in Larkana and gave me a protective escort to the train station and then put me in the train's mail car to make sure I left town safely. (Because politics and this was when Benazir Bhutto was back in town.) At Harappa the local constable made a point of dropping by and soberly warning me not to leave my room after dark, on fear of my life. (Because muggers.)
posted by Autumn Leaf at 11:50 PM on February 17, 2015 [1 favorite]


One place you wouldn't believe is in Pakistan.
posted by klue at 11:16 AM on February 18, 2015


Heh. A lot of people were linking to that piece on my Facebook feed. Those are terrible pictures. The actual places are much more beautiful. The sad thing is that many of them have become exceedingly dangerous to visit over the past few years.
posted by bardophile at 1:43 PM on March 10, 2015


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