Pakistan The most hospitable people in the world
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Johan Kruseman
Updated on 22 October 2024
Updated on 22 October 2024
Pakistan surpasses all expectations. Only a good week into my journey, Pakistan and its people have done every effort to make it one of the best (if not the best) places on the globe I ever visited.
Without doing any people I have met before a disservice and realising I haven’t met all Pakistanis yet, I do come to the conclusion that Pakistanis are the most hospitable and friendly people I have ever met anywhere around the globe. It just goes beyond belief what they do. It’s the old man giving his apple away. Or the family man insisting on paying the full dinner for me and my travel buddy, ending up staying in one of his two luxury yurts he rented for his family and now gave to us for the night.
It’s that 15 year old guy in the bus with whom I had cool conversations for 14 hours on my way from Islamabad to the mountains, giving me his last bag of chips and cookies when we said goodbye. Or the so many hitchhikes we received every time and not accepting any compensation for the petrol. Let’s not forget the restaurant owner, us being his only guests that night, who then drives us back after dinner for 15 mins to our hostel. Or even that funny street kid who, when i asked him what he did to get money, said with a big smile he steals from tourists, but then so shocked about his own joke and afraid his big smile wasn’t sufficient to proof his innocence gave me 20 rupees. I literally had to stuff it back in his sweater as he didn’t want it back.
Walking down from a beautiful mountain track we passed two ladies who were working hard to produce apricot oil, stopped their labour to talk to us and at the moment we said bye gave us a full hand of apricots. And that same day we met a photographer from Lahore and we had an interesting talk for ten minutes. To find ourselves surprised and overwhelmed again when we saw the guy at night giving us a 1kg bag of dried apricots.
It’s the people, in combination with the impressive mountain scenery in this northern region in Pakistan which makes this journey one to never forget.
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Traveled route: Islamabad, Gilgit, Hunza Valley, Aliabad, Karimabad, Gulmit, Borith lake, Patundas glacier, Husseini bridge, Passu Cones, Sost, Chapursan Valley, Zuhdkhun, BabaGhundi shrine, Khunjerab Pass, Attabad Lake, Gulkin, Minapin, Rakaposhi Basecamp, Railkor bridge, Fairy Meadows, Nanga Parbat basecamp, Lahore, Walled City, Sunehri mosque, Wazir Khan mosque, Data Darbar, Lahore fort, Haveli restaurant, Badshahi mosque, Shalimar gardens, Wagah border
The most hospitable people in the world
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Photographed by: Johan Kruseman
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Did this story inspire you to go to Pakistan? Read more on what Pakistan has to offer, what the best months are for visiting and check the handy links for backpacking there.