His story will leave you feeling proud to be Pakistani

In the Western world, Pakistan is mostly seen as a terrorist ridden country that is unstable, full of thieves and dangerous people ready to blow you up.

But we including people from the Western world know that Pakistan isn’t as bad as the mainstream media makes it sound like.

One dude from Australia who likes to call himself Dutch D’reckless decided to prove his peers wrong by traveling terrorist ridden countries like Pakistan.

I wanted to prove on this trip to everyone I know, and all the armchair experts of the world, (you know the type, the ones that read the paper and believe anything the media says) that travelling ‘Terrorist-ridden’ countries such as Morocco, Iran or Pakistan can be a wholesome and happy experience.

Meet Mr.D.reckless and listen to his tale of traveling to Pakistan. With his trip to Pakistan, he wanted to prove that Pakistan wasn’t a dangerous place to visit. He tried to break stereotypical thoughts like ‘terrorists will kill him immediately’, ‘they would rob him’ and that there was nothing to see there.

I don’t recall having to run away from a long bearded bloke brandishing rocket launchers, although I did do some running away from a few wild dogs who didn’t appreciate the sound of a triple cylinder motor.

D’reckless recalls how he read in newspapers that visiting Pakistan for a foreigner would mean getting into the dangers of beheading, kidnapping or bombing.

It’s dangerous they said. Avoid travelling Pakistan they said. Sure, the driving here is total rubbish and you’d be lucky not to be sideswiped or rear ended at least once every five minutes, but that’s about as dangerous as it feels for me personally thus far.

He recalls how he was given a free cream cake at a becham cake shop. When he tried to give him money, the owner refused.

While in a Becham cake shop, the owner was giving Matty and I free samples, and refused any money. A cake terrorist who killed with us kindness. And cream cakes.

As far as beheading goes, D’reckless only came across chickens being beheaded on the side of Karakoram Highway.

Only one living thing that ended up getting beheaded was a white chicken on the Karakoram Highway. Everyone else seems to have their heads attached to their shoulders judging by the number of curious looks and smiles I’ve drawn in the last two months.

And for his friends, family and the guys in the media who told him he would be kidnapped as soon as he would step in Pakistan, D’reckless sure did got kidnapped, but at the hands of cheeky old blokes who sat in the corner of the street and played cards.

Yeah I got kidnapped alright… and loved it too. Everybody wants to hang out. Especially those cheeky old blokes that smoke cigarettes and play cards in the street corner hidden from their wives.

And for those who said you’d get robbed at the first sight, he had only one message for them:

I ended up robbing Pakistan more then it robbed me.

D’reckless recalls that Pakistani people offered him services for free. Whenever he tried to offer them money, they would run away from it. Moreover, no matter who he met, where he met, he was always given a cup of tea with a packet of biscuits.

They invite me into their home and offer me tea and the good biscuits. Bloody hell, even my own mum won’t pull out the good biscuits for me.

On his trip, D’reckless travelled to the north and south of Pakistan, discovering everything he could on his trip. He also visited Balochistan, the continent of Pakistan that is most nutorious when it comes to ‘danger areas’.

Geographically speaking, northern Pakistan is wedged between the Karakoram, the Hindu Kush and the Himalayas. That means thousands of awe inspiring mountains. Towering, razor sharp and striving to pierce the sky. They’re the kind one dreams about except one can’t comprehend the size nor the beauty until it is seen in person.

As far as Balochistan goes, he proved everyone wrong who said that ‘there wasn’t anything to see there’.

To the east, the reach of Balochistan ends and small rivers form up between slender rushes in northern Sindh and Punjab. Water buffalo wander through hip high water into green fields, snuffing water from their broad noses. Trees set enough shade for pop up fruitstalls off the back of jingle trucks, while sugar cane litters the road all the way northwards. Imperfectly perfect.

Apart from mentioning its positive points, D’reckless also admitted that there are things wrong with Pakistan.

One minute you’re facebooking and the next minute you’re looking for the torch so you can have a wee without missing the bullseye.

Throughout his journey, he met amazing people and saw some of the nature’s best offerings that are untouched by the rest of the world. He also believes that Pakistan does need change and the only people who are going to change that is the young generation.

If anyone is going to change the country, it’s the younger generation coming through. They are well informed and quite involved in political matters, which new social media channels are helping out exceptionally well with. This generation of young people are trying hard to change the common misconstructed views of their home, and relay the truth of what lies in this corner of the world – that Pakistan, well, it really is awesome

Be sure to check his complete story on his blog at atthehandlebars.com or follow his adventures on his Facebook https://www.facebook.com/atthehandlebars/

His posts about his trip are beautiful to read and have some great photos!