This was coming. You knew it was coming. On my last post I showed you all the beauty of Gilgit Baltistan. But it was only a small region of this heaven on earth. But it didn't come easy. It wasn't like that I woke up and reached there instantaneously. It took me 44 hours of traveling or even more on the road. No stays, no sleep, no rooms, nothing in between this journey. Only, trains, busses, cars, restroom and lunch breaks and alot of cigarettes and snacks on the way.
Sounds tiring right? It was. One of the most tiring journeys of my life, but worth it. Totally worth it. It started from my hometown, Karachi, that is the southern most city of Pakistan and ended in Gilgit, ie, the northern most state of Pakistan. Since we were short on time, we had to be quick.
KARACHI TRAIN STATION
Getting permission for a trip is much more of a hassle for girls compared to boys, but on this one, all of us managed to get it done and it was literally the first time we all were going together on any trip.
Since Karachi is farthest from the northern areas of Pakistan, we had a couple of options for traveling. We chose to travel in train as it would have been an amazing experience and also we'd have more time to spend with each other. I reached train station with my elder brother, who's also a dentist, and was with me on this trip. As we reached the station, we were welcomed by our friends who had already reached there. I met with the families of my friends who had come to see them off. Ofcourse they were worried about their daughters and sons but were also encouraging them for this experience.
The train was to leave at 4 pm but of course it got delayed. I mean, it's quite obvious. Anyway, the train left the station at aeound 7 pm. 3 hours later than the designated time. We waved at our families and hugged them as we boarded the train. Since we were 14 people, we had booked three cubicles of our own so we had quite a lot of space for our stuff and for doing whatever we wanted to do.
KARACHI TO LAHORE
Attaching the route from Karachi to Lahore so that you guys can have a better Insight of the stations in between and the time period required for us to reach there. It was approximately an 18 hour journey, considering the fact that there weren't any more delays enroute.
Anyway, the first major stop (a 20 minute break on this station) was at Rohri Junction, Sukkur. It took us 6 hours to reach Rohri. In these 6 hours we played games in our cubicles, had snacks, smoked some cigarettes, played more games and some even tried to sleep. It was 3 am when the train stopped at Rohri. We all got off to have a much needed fresh tea break.
Macaroni in Train
Quick Tea Session at Rohri Junction
Train's siren went off and we literally had to run back in order to get back on the train. After Rohri, it was all sleep and no fun session lmao. We were extremely tired and all of us except for a couple of people who cant leave while traveling slept their way out of Sindh completely. I woke up at the first break of the day and observed we were moving through farms and villages. This made me realized that we have already entered Punjab and it's only a matter of a couple of hours more and we'll be stepping out in Lahore.
Before an hour of our destination, the girls kicked us out of the cubicles as they wanted to get ready and be more presentable. Well what was after that? We, the boys, waited outside for an hour for their dresses and the make up to be done.
Finally we reached Lahore and to our surprise it was raining. In Lahore, another group had to join us. Oh, in case I forgot to mention all of us are dentists and we were heading up north, Gilgit Baltistan, to set up a free Dental camp for the underprivileged children and students. Anyway the Lahori group that joined us was comprised of dentists as well obviously. From Lahore we had to board another train for Islamabad. Another 6 hour journey on the way.
We had to be extremely swift in boarding the next train. Idk why man, why do we always have to rush? Anyway, we boarded the train and thus started our journey towards Islamabad, another 6 hours from Lahore. Keep in mind, all of us are sleep deprived and also were coming from Karachi after a 20 hour journey.
Enroute Islamabad, I tried my best to sleep but just couldn't. So most of my time was spent in the lobby or on the train's gate smoking cigarettes. Right when we crossed Lahore, there was a malfunction in the train and it abruptly stopped in the middle of nowhere. What did it mean? An extra hour wasted and there was nothing that we could have done about it. Butttt, I know how to make the best out of any situation. Sooo, alongside my couple of besties we got off from the train, on tracks, on God knows what city, which area, and enjoyed the amazing amazing weather.
We finally reached Islamabad after 6 hours, a couple of fights with the Lahori group, loads of singing, devouring on snaps, almost getting fed up with each other but something very special waited for me on Islamabad station. An hour before my arrival I had already called one of my closest friends who happened to be at Islamabad at that time, to bring shit loads of KFC for me and you guessed it right. He had brought shit tons of KFC for me.
Sleep deprived, almost turned us all into zombies and we were in no mood to put up with any shit anymore. We boarded on the buses waiting for us quietly, made ourselves comfortable and finally started the final journey up north. A 20 hour long journey. God it's frightening even writing about it now but we all had to go through it. Imagine the balls on us.
I slept for a straight 10 hours in the bus and when I woke up, It seemed as if I was in heaven. Mind you, I woke up due to the cold weather.
It was 5 in the morning and was time for morning prayers. The mosque in which I offered my prayers has to be the most aesthetically pleasing mosques I have ever been in. Surrounded by mountains on all four sides, it seemed majestic.
At 7 in the morning we had our breakfast at Kaghan. I'll be ending my post at Kaghan as I believe the rest of the places deserve a separate post of their own. Anyway when we reached Kaghan, it was freezing outside and I had to borrow a jacket from a friend of mine. We had omelettes, Parathas, tea, curry, kebabs already waiting for us. I'll post some pictures from Kaghan and you'll understand what it meant to have breakfast at that place.
Well thats it from my post. You've no idea what awaits in the upcoming posts. It's truly magical how beautiful Pakistan is. Will meet you shortly with a new blog of my journey. Till then, take care byeee.
WHO IS HUZAIFANAVEED?
huzaifanaveed hails from Pakistan, who is an aspiring dentist, studying in one of the top notch universities of Pakistan, Jinnah Sindh Medical University.
he loves interacting with new people, making new friends and traveling the world, but most importantly he loves to make a change in this world through his actions and his words. He's an entrepreneur and a philanthropist who's been actively working with different Charitable Organizations in Pakistan.
His goal on Hive is similar, ie, to make a difference. He's here to mark his presence and he'll do it through his words. So lets be a part of his journey and show him support through comments, upvotes and reblogs.
