I spent 4 weeks in April 2006 in Pakistan. What a great country to travel, it is a bit like India, but without all the hassle. and I have never met such nice and hospitable people before.

thank you for your comments and votes


some travel tips for budget travellers, the situation from April 2006

The country is very safe to travel, there are very few tourists. Most of the days I didn't see any tourists. There are no beggars almost at all, a big difference comparing to India. People are extremely friendly and hospitable. They like to talk to you - I had to answer "What's your name?" and "What is your country?" questions hundreds of times - it is tiring after some time. I was invited for a cup of tea and offered a cold drink lots of time. Once in a restaurant a man I have never seen paid for my meal.
A tourist is a big attraction there and draws a lot of attention most of the time, children stared at me with eyes wide open. People like to be photographed, I was very often asked "One photo please".

I used buses to travel between cities. Most of the roads are very good, there is a new motorway from Karachi to Peshawar, so travel from Lahore to Islamabad for example took 5 hours on a nice bus. Travelling in Kashmir was slow and difficult because of windy roads which were destoyed in many places by the earthquake.

Lahore - I stayed in Regale Internet Inn on The Mall road. Almost all backpackers visiting Lahore stay there, the atmosphere is very nice and the owner mr Malik is a very interesting and friendly person. There are two floors with rooms and 3 computers with access to the Internet. But the rooms are very basic, most of the rooms are dormitories, there are only 2 double rooms with big beds, one of them on the top floor is extremely hot. There is a good supermarket nearby with a good variety of food, including western stuff. Another place where I stayed is in Anarkali bazaar, very near to the old city. There are several hotels, one is mentioned in the LP, but it is very run down, terrible. I stayed in Garden Hotel, which was ok, rooms are from 400rupees for a single, deluxe duble room was 650, VIP room was 750.
Islamabad and Rawalpindi - all the budget hotels are located in Sitara Market in G7, there are at least 10 hotels, with singles for about 450 rupees. Another place to find accomodation is Aapbara Market in G6. To go to Rawalpindi take a minibus from Aapbara market, or on the main road south of Sitara Market, it costs around 10 rupees and takes around 30mins to get to Rajah Market.
Peshawar - I stayed in Park Inn hotel near the Old City, on the same crossroad as Rose Hotel (recommended in Lonely Planet - extremely noisy place), I paid 400rupees for a nice room with TV. The old city is very beautiful, it has got a special oriental character, you feel like in Iran or Afghanistan sometimes. Lots of kids and young guys were rude and insolent, it seemed like everybody wanted something from me, taking pictures was very stressful and unpleasant - I left the city after two days with a bad impression about its people. (it was a complete surprise, people in other cities were absolutely woderful, especially in Lahore)
Muzaffarabad - most of the hotels mentioned in the LP are destroyed. There are several good budget hotels off the Bank Road, near the Old City.
Balakot - I think there are no hotels in the city at the moment, all of the hotels were destroyed or damaged. I stayed in a tent provided by a brother's family of a person working for an NGO that was helping me with the story. There is no running water in the city, the electricity works ok. There are several local restaurants near the market.