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Tourists killed by gunmen near Gilgit, Pakistan off the KKH Tourists killed by gunmen near Gilgit, Pakistan off the KKH
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Travellers' Advisories, Safety and Security on the Road Recent News, political or military events, which may affect trip plans or routes. Personal and vehicle security, tips and questions.
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  #1  
Old 24 Jun 2013
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no, I've done the KKH, what I mean is that when you are rolling up to a check point you are not sure if they are genuine or not.. whether you get a friendly greeting or a shot in the head.

Not long before I passed through, a group of pilgrims were hauled off a bus by a 'military' checkpoint, and then shot.

At least 20 Shias pulled off bus, shot dead in northern Pakistan - DAWN.COM

Who can you trust?

I can't exactly ask 'are you the real thing or a terrorist'?
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  #2  
Old 24 Jun 2013
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Fern View Post
no, I've done the KKH, what I mean is that when you are rolling up to a check point you are not sure if they are genuine or not.. whether you get a friendly greeting or a shot in the head.

Not long before I passed through, a group of pilgrims were hauled off a bus by a 'military' checkpoint, and then shot.

At least 20 Shias pulled off bus, shot dead in northern Pakistan - DAWN.COM

Who can you trust?

I can't exactly ask 'are you the real thing or a terrorist'?
You confirm my point; you are/were "in or around the wrong place" and who knows how close you have come to being "at the wrong time" as well.
You can only make a judgement based on all the factors, at that specific time and space continuum.

This other thread on the same subject asked about the perpetrators:-
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...tourists-70963

The group mentioned in your own link claimed responsibility yesterday (I have already forgotten the name attributed to them), along with a separate claim of responsibility from the so-called Pakistani Taliban.
Hereafter, it is a case of yet another day, so there will be little further notice paid to this particular event, except by those who are directly affected.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Fern View Post
Who can you trust?
On some days, no one!
Not the politicians, not the religious leaders, not the religious zealots, not even your own riding partner, on a really bad day.
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Dave
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  #3  
Old 23 Jul 2013
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Who to trust?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fern View Post
no, I've done the KKH, what I mean is that when you are rolling up to a check point you are not sure if they are genuine or not.. whether you get a friendly greeting or a shot in the head.

Not long before I passed through, a group of pilgrims were hauled off a bus by a 'military' checkpoint, and then shot.

At least 20 Shias pulled off bus, shot dead in northern Pakistan - DAWN.COM

Who can you trust?

I can't exactly ask 'are you the real thing or a terrorist'?

Obviously nobody and why in the world would anyone go to Pakistan and Afganistan today? There are enough oter places to visit in the world not to challenge fate. If you absolutely refuse to stay away, then expect to be shot.
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  #4  
Old 24 Jul 2013
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Originally Posted by SKPhoto13 View Post
Obviously nobody and why in the world would anyone go to Pakistan and Afganistan today? There are enough oter places to visit in the world not to challenge fate. If you absolutely refuse to stay away, then expect to be shot.

Because Pakistan is incomparably gorgeous. Despite these unfortunate happenings, still it is much safer than many popular tourist destinations. I would avoid taking names here.

You wanted to know who would visit Pakistan? Me for instance, came back home and now living with 180 million fantastic people enjoying every moment here.

FOX News appears to have made strange impression on a few simple and gullible people.

Omar
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  #5  
Old 25 Jul 2013
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Originally Posted by Omie View Post
Because Pakistan is incomparably gorgeous. Despite these unfortunate happenings, still it is much safer than many popular tourist destinations. I would avoid taking names here.
*****
FOX News appears to have made strange impression on a few simple and gullible people.
I'm sure that there are very beautiful parts of Pakistan, but as I've said, there are many beautiful places around the world. And I have no doubt that it has many wonderful people, but the same is also true of many countries.

I have little doubt that Pakistan is safer than media reports would lead one to believe, but it is a bit much to suggest that such reports are only from Fox News, or that anyone who doesn't dash down to Pakistan for their next vacation is simple and gullible. The incident that sparked this thread is an example--foreign tourists in a previously totally safe area suddenly subjected to an act of deliberate and random violence.
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  #6  
Old 24 Jul 2013
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Originally Posted by SKPhoto13 View Post
Obviously nobody and why in the world would anyone go to Pakistan and Afganistan today? There are enough oter places to visit in the world not to challenge fate. If you absolutely refuse to stay away, then expect to be shot.
Well, if you want to go overland between Europe and India, then Pakistan is hard to skip. This is why I went there in 2007, and I did not stay long, because I was a little bit nervous (there was a martial law put in place just a couple of weeks before I crossed the border from Iran). But I never had one single problem there. Everyone I met, was extremely friendly. In fact I later thought, was there any real reason to be nervous at all. Sure, there are some unsafe areas, but the police take good care of tourists, and you don´t end up in those areas, unless you do something stupid yourself. (And I think I was about 1000 times more likely to be killed in local traffic, than by some jihadists - in fact traffic was often really terrible!)

One thing I was really amazed of, is how different both Iran and Pakistan felt to me, compared to the view, that I´d built of these countries in my imagination (and it was mostly from what the Western media provides). I´m not saying governments, politics or extremist groups aren´t real, but they are definitely not the whole story.
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