RAWALPINDI: As Pakistan reopened its tourist destinations earlier this week, visitors from across the country have been heading to its northern areas to escape from steamy summer temperatures and city noise.
With coronavirus figures steadily declining, the government decided to lift restrictions on the hospitality sector on conditions that its players follow safety precautions. Driving up north to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan has since been the top choice for Pakistanis from the country’s urban centers.
“It was nice to get away and to escape from not only the city but from the constant stress of the coronavirus,” Shahryar Khan from Islamabad told Arab News over the phone, as with a group of friends he headed to Gilgit-Baltistan to enjoy the scenic landscapes of Skardu Valley and Deosai Plains on the boundary of Karakoram and the western Himalayas.
Shahryar Khan visits Satpara Lake in Skardu Valley on Aug. 6, 2020. (Photo courtesy of Shahryar Khan via AN)
The strain of long months of social distancing amid the pandemic has been great, so the opportunity to reconnect with friends and nature is “like a 2020 reset,” Lahore-based stylist Mehek Saeed said during a call from Hunza Valley.
“We have been social distancing for months now and finally worked out a way to comfortably and safely travel to the north, so friends from Lahore and Karachi got together to make the trip out here,” she said.
Others took this opportunity to go hiking. Ameena Chaudhry who moved to Pakistan from Canada this year said she could finally visit the scenic hill stations of Doonga Gali and Nathia Gali located at an altitude of 2,500 meters in Abbottabad district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and climb Miranjani, the region’s highest peak.
Ameena Chaudhry takes in the view on Nathia Gali's famous hiking trail of Miranjani on Aug. 10, 2020. (Photo courtesy of Ameena Chaudhry via AN)
“It felt so good because I hike in Canada all summer and I love using my legs and connecting with trees and nature with my dog,” she said, “We drove up there ourselves, and felt safe.”
The tourism industry in northern Pakistan, which is the most popular domestic destination during the summer season, has greatly suffered due to the pandemic, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Tourism Minister Atif Khan told Arab News.
“From the start, right from the prime minister, (resuming tourism) was a priority of the federal government and provincial governments,” he said, “These three summer months are the most important for tourism and, unfortunately, it was these months that were COVID-19 impacted.”
The province reopened the hospitality sector with strict guidelines to be enforced by hotels and tourist sites. They include temperature scans of visitors, providing hand sanitizer, and crowd controls to keep tourists at a safe distance from each other.
In Gilgit-Baltistan, however, where livelihoods depend on tourism, industry players say they were confused ahead of the reopening on how to adapt to the new normal.
The owner of the Mountain Story resort in Hunza, Atif Khan, said they were getting “mixed messages.”
“The local authorities would confirm we would open and that SOPs were going to come out — but we never received them. It was a bit patchy and confused.”
