LONDON – Pakistan has been ranked the world’s top travel destinations for2018 by the British Backpacker Society, which described Pakistan as “one ofthe friendliest countries on earth, with mountain scenery that is beyondanyone’s wildest imagination”, reported by Gulf News.link>
The British Backpacker Society announced the results, ranking the world’stop 20 adventure travel link>destinations for2018, which also includes Russia, India, Turkey, Kyrgyzstan and China.
“Pakistan is the clear winner of the British Backpacker Society’s top 20adventure travel link> destinations 2018 and weencourage keen travellers to book a trip now” the backpackers, who havetravelled to over 101 countries, shared on social media.
Talking to Gulf News, Samuel Joynson and Adam Sloper of the BritishBackpacker Society said the amazing hospitality and breathtaking naturalbeauty of link>Pakistanlink> won their hearts.
“Pakistan is one of the friendliest countries on earth. So, prepare to beinvited into people’s homes, take more selfies than you can count, and haveevery preconception that you ever held about this area of the world changedforever,” Samuel said.
Joynson, 26, and Sloper, 25, both from southern England, visitedlink>Pakistanlink> in the summer of 2016, spending a fewdays in Lahore, Rawalpindi and Islamabad, from where they travelled throughthe Kaghan valley to Naran, later heading to Babusar Top to Gilgit. Theycompleted their journey in the tranquil Hunza Valley, where they climbed tothe top of the Hon Pass (4,257m) from Karimabad.
“We chose to climb the Hon Pass as Eric Shipton, one of Britain’s mostfamous mountaineers, described the view from the pass as ‘the ultimatemanifestation of mountain grandeur’, and we wanted to follow in hisfootsteps and experience this spectacle,” Samuel recalled. “The view fromthe Hon Pass was indeed the greatest natural sight that either of us hasever seen, and we would recommend it to anyone with a keen interest inmountaineering.”
Sharing travel link> tips, Sameul says: “Headnorth to the astonishing peaks of the Karakoram along the unforgettableKarakoram Highway. It is beautiful, exciting and culturally interesting,and travellers are rewarded at the journey’s end-point with perhaps themost beautiful natural sight on earth, the Hunza Valley.”
British Backpacker Society inspires people to travellink> to rarely visited destinations in thedeveloping world and is followed by thousands of people online.
Discussing the security concern that lurks in the minds of many foreigntourists, Adam has this advice for travellers: “Our advice would be to putpreconceptions on the security situation inlink>Pakistanlink> to one side, and conduct someindependent research. You should certainly review travellink> advisories from respective governments,but also speak to local Pakistanis about the situation.
“We believe that travel link> is at its bestwhen it changes a visitor’s preconceptions, and few experiences achievethis more than travelling in Pakistan” he implored.
In link>Pakistanlink> , the backpacker duo recommendedtravelling to Hunza Valley, Kaghan Valley and climbing the Rakaposhi(7,788m) and Nanga Parbat (8,126m) peaks as “the mountain scenery wasunimaginably beautiful, and we will remember it forever.” They cherishPakistan’s magnificent mountains more so because there are no such highmountains in Britain.
The adventurists also insisted that tourists should take the KarakoramHighway as the road from Islamabad to the China border on the KhunjerabPass offers “the world’s greatest road-trip”.