I Visited The World's MOST HOSPITABLE Country
There is a country that many have heard of yet truly known by few a country that tells a story of faith, nature and the energy in which defines the daily lives of locals. Famous in its name yet mysterious in its truth. This is Pakistan [Music]. A country once defined by its past struggles now standing at the crossroads of ancient culture and modern ambition. Yet, beyond these headlines there is a deeper meaning of what Pakistan really means, a nation that is mostly misunderstood. Existing in the shadows of these larger narratives. I've had the privilege of visiting Pakistan three times
previously in my life and I've learned so much about this amazing and often miss misunderstood country. "You like Pakistan?" "Love Pakistan" "Pakistan Zindabad". As an American spending time roaming the streets of Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad [__] and so many more places it has given me the opportunity to meet so many different Pakistanis from all different walks of life. "We're very happy to see you here". I'm very happy to be here brother. It has not only been eye opening but it's also exposed me to their seemingly limitless amount of hospitality. They are gifting me with another shirt here.
This hospitality is truly truly next level. That literally makes it hard to pay for your own meals but on this trip to Pakistan I am ready to see a new side of the country one that I have yet to experience. I feel like there is still a story that is yet to be told, a story which nearly a quarter billion people share defining the pride of their homeland. Over the next 7 days I have set out on a journey to go much further into the culture and lives of Pakistani people. Apparently this is going to be full of so many surprises I don't know too much of what's going to happen. To try and find
what this deeper meaning of Pakistan truly is? What we will encounter will bring us to regions in the country I never thought were even possible to visit! We get to meet the Prime Minister! This spiritual journey into the heartbeat of the country will leave you wondering, how a place so misunderstood can actually exist in a way you could have never imagined. But first, let's hit rewind to where it all started. The start of a 7-Day journey is beginning now where I'm going to be flying from here in Abu Dhabi over to Pakistan. So our Taxi Driver he's actually
from Pakistan. [___] Ayaz, Muhammad Ayaz. Nice to meet you, Ayaz. So what do we say when we get to Pakistan, brother? "Pakistan Zindabad" "Zindabad, baby" Here we go we are back thank you so much. all right bye bye we are going to be departing here from zad international airport right in Abu Dhabi so look at this crazy airport. Let's head in and start the adventure all right I think I see us right there Lahore, checkin open and the journey to Pakistan begins now. Lahore here we
come just a couple hour flight and we will be in Pakistan. Lahore it has been a while "Asalaam Walikum" Thank you very much. All right guys this is the beginning of my fourth trip to Pakistan and we're going to be finding some things that I've never experienced in Pakistan [Music]. Pakistan we are back it has been a while fourth time here in Pakistan and get ready we're going to have some crazy adventures over the next 6 days. Welcome back to Lahore. All right and here we
are the Nishat Hotel. So, this is number one hotel in all of Lahore right? Yes! and what makes it number one the ranking uh because the man celebrities staying here and the cricketers even though you can see right there there's a international cricketer oh we got International cricketers right there all right so we're in the Nishat Hotel here and check this Lobby out there. "Shaan", nice to meet you, brother! All right welcome sir please after to you oh thank you oh what do we have here, turn on that on oh let's go Pakistan it feels great to be back give you guys a little room tour here got the bathroom "Salaam Walikum, brother" A nice rain down shower with some soaps time for bed. It was my first morning back in Pakistan and my mind was flooding with all of the memories from the last time I had visited the city of Lahore. For me it's the city sounds, constant busyness and chaotic moments. Oh you see him just catch that ride right there that remind me of what makes this country's heartbeat no matter what you were doing there is always a possibility to meet some locals and trust me I mean at any moment like now, Heey! "Asalaam Walikum, Bhaijan" we don't want to crash there my boy almost said. From US. You're from Lahore? Very great City. Lahore is one of Pakistan's larger cities with
a population of nearly 14 million people and it has a hybrid lifestyle of ancient heritage mixed with modern Pakistani energy known as the city of gardens, Lahore sits along the Ravi River just a short distance from the Wagah Border with India. Making it one of the most strategically significant cities in South Asia. Lahore is famous for it's walled city, fast-paced bazaars, seemingly limitless food streets and vast number of religious sites. It's a city where Pakistani pride
and identity are deeply rooted. So today we're stepping into the streets of Lahore to experience it first hand. We're heading over to the Delhi gate here in Lahore. As you can see we're getting lucky the sun is coming out and the busyness is starting to pick up here this is why I love Pakistan there's so much going on we've even got a guy going the wrong way you're going the wrong way boss [__] Pakistan zindabad brother let's go let's go we finally reached what we navigated the chaotic streets for. The "Walled City" of Lahore. Historically enclosed by towering defensive walls parts of which still stand today. This district stretches across several square kilometers preserving centuries of history and inside there's a maze of narrow alleyways, traditional bazaars and Grand mosques that feel like a portal into the past. So we have made it to the Delhi gate. Hello, [__] nice to meet you. My name is Adil. Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you as well and this is
Adil Pakistan's most energetic tour guide that knows more about Lahore than the ones who built the city and he's going to show us some things that I never would have expected to experience in Pakistan. It's a pleasure we have a very interesting place places to visit here. All right! [__] food along the way? Of course! Let's do this do this. One more thing, one more thing "Pakistan Zindabad" I can tell you the energy is high the place is booming in the sun came out so let's do some exploration but first we have one more person to meet you are welcome to Pakistan and most welcome to the historic city of Lahore oh very kind of you this is Suhail Warraich a Pakistani celebrity TV host known for his in-depth interviews and sharp yet balanced commentary with his signature phrase [__] has offered to show me around Lahore and to be honest I did not actually realize how much of a celebrity he was but I was about to find out real soon. Second time here and I can't wait to be here
oh very nice you know do a little bit as well I had visited the Walled City before but this is the first time I have had some locals showing me which I think will make this day pretty insane whether would you like [__] whether you would like [__] whether you would like uh good chapati a little bit of everything yes and Lahore is a really old city we're talking thousands of years old right 3,000 years sensitively wow they were the city of the Hindus it was a very Cosmopolitan City it did not take me long to remember how funny Pakistani people are you know about the hookah it's little no no no no shisha is a new one but they have a very old style of tobacco look at that thing we can smoke a whole back no way spark That Thing Up Get let's get this thing going so very hot very hot inhale look holy [ __ ] that thing and is a rush there pickles you want try? Fresh pickles picky pickles all right well let's it's a very organic pickle that thing looks like a [__] we got a nice little spice going on nice spice if you have a no tissue use this one your hair that's white clean your hair that's a laor that's a la way of doing it all right we just you got the sauce in the hair Mr Cande you are a great influencer you have visited so many countries is so special in you that uh your vlogs and your talk is so popular what special things you do so that we can learn from you I think the number one thing is just looking at every single person you meet and knowing that they have a story and taking the time to meet them and get to know them and I try and do that in all my videos whether on my way here I was hanging out of my car window saying [__] to a Pakistanis driving by or someone I meet on the street I just asked them learn about their stories and I think that big part about connecting with humans is the most important factor I want to show you how much is [__] Street the go [__] yes yes let's go well there's a famous saying about Lahore a person who didn't see not to be born yet exact so you are going to be reborn now I've been born today all right [__] all right we can almost we're barely fitting through here this is just the thing about Pakistan there's always something happening from walking through these cool little tight passageways to [__] someone pops out to say hello then all of a sudden Lahore's next biggest kid star pops up and offers to sing to us we want to hear you singing yes who wow bravo bravo oh you dropped that yeah very very nice job Mac my is picture of nice meet you hop in here brother yeah you do if you had to describe lore in one word what would it be lore is a is a reason to smile a reason to smile I like that so you know it's a Chinese saying you have no smile in your face you don't have right to open the shop the first lesson actually you have to be a smile in your face but this is actually you know the real life of Lahore a narrow streets we have the Arches we have a wall of kindness wall of kind if you have extra stuff in your home you can hang out over there and people can get it really it's a wall of kindness so it's a beauty of the Sufism yeah yeah yeah the Sufism actually teach these ways that if you have extra [_] from the even amidst the chaos my mind slows just for a moment to take it all in the sounds the faces the energy I start to wonder what was it like to grow up here what does Sufism truly mean to them how do things that feel so foreign to me shape their everyday lives it's in these moments when you fully immerse yourself that the world starts to make sense in ways you never imagined before as we were walking to the mosque a young man who we met earlier wanted to come and gift me something right here this is just another example of amazing Pakistani Hospitality our good man here just came gifted me a ring so shukria brother I really appreciate that these special moments where people come and gifted me something didn't happen just once or twice it was all throughout the trip so I want to keep track of every gift we get and by the end of this video Pakistan's Hospitality will have spoken for itself thank you bro alav like I said when I was talking before if I had to explained Pakistan with one word it's hospitality right right brother so look at there this Mosque is belongs to such a Mughal Emperor who built the Taj Mahal in India it's the name of Shah Jahan. so Shah Jahan is a Persian word I was actually just in Iran recently so this this looks just like Iranian architect actually can you imagine that the official language of Lahore in the Mughal time was Persian really [__] you know that [Laughter] brother oh I know speak this [__] yeah wa so actually uh it's a small gift from my side it's a cap oh let's go so I'm going to represent the culture of no way like so now you looks like a Pashtun whatever that look that is fresh I am a Pashtun now guys let's go let Pakistan [Music] [Applause] [Music] as we walked through the Wazir Khan mosque and experienced what made this place so special Adil explained that there is a strong connection to Sufism here as it is home to the tomb of Miran Badshah who is a Sufi Saint from the 14th century Lahore is the city of Sufis we are very connected with the sufis in Walled City of Lahore inside the 12 gates we have a lot of Sherin of the sufis here so it's actually a ritual and it's a culture when you enter to any grave of the Sufi you have to be bow your head forcefully you might be asking yourself the same question I did before arriving to Pakistan what is Sufism essentially it's a branch of Islam commonly referred as mystical in which it emphasizes spiritual connection love and Devotion to God through practices like meditation poetry and music worshippers would describe their beliefs and Views in the sense that they're promoting inner peace tolerance and unity often expressed through Qawwali which is devotional singing whirling dervishes and spiritual Gatherings at shrines so these are one of the preachers who get the knowledge from the House of Wisdom books actually and spreading the Islam without any fight without any War he just sit here and said go for the good things he is one of them who actually taught the people that what actually the Quran said that's why we call them the Islamic preachers so that's why the Sufism connected the people so we like to listen beautiful yeah [Music] [Music] you have been to many countries how do you compare Pakistan's architecture Pakistan's living and Pakistan's atmosphere liberal atmosphere how would you compare it with the other countries when they meet a guest coming into their country they're super hospitable they want to show you around they want to take you to explore some of the best landmarks and I find this to be something that is really unique both to Pakistan as well as some of the surrounding countries here in terms of the architecture Pakistan's got a vast difference of architecture when you think of the architecture up in Hanza or Skardu and then you think of Karachi you have your modern developments in certain areas around Karachi, Lahore and then you have some of your really traditional architecture here and this is just a small taste of what Lahore has to offer right you have the experience of the Richa oh is convertible time yeah that looks epic oh what do we welcome sir welcome welcome at he's saying that the people living around us could not be our friends but you have come so far and you have become so close to us thank you so much brother I really appreciate that the amount of spontaneous moments that would happen like this one did was surreal it is a welcoming to a place that few other places on the planet can compete with [__] my friends to how and I down the Rick Shaw and cruised the streets of the Walled city until we made it back over to the Delhi gate where we parted way meet you again it's been a pleasure see you in a bit we picked up our Squad here guys I love the guys I love the craziness in Pakistan here things are just non-stop happening everywhere we've got all the boys here we're cruising over to the next spot to get ourselves some mother cow right here in the city a quick little teleport ation and boom it's lunch time oh is that chapati up there yeah it's not chapati it's [__] you want to try yourself you can experience the Lahori food how the people love to eat it look that looks very delish all right traditional laori way you can press up press it yeah and then you can do that yeah all right come on beat that beat that up yes it's sticking I think probably cuz my hands are wet it's good all right toss it in yeah yeah oh oh slow sorry all right this is going to be tasty I can sense it of course you made it is a tasty look at your [__] that's it right there custom made oh that thing is hot all right here we go amazing [__] let's go to Party very good let's go to party now you see the the special thing I did with mine we got a little American Pakistani Italian style amazing all right [_] and as the local say Lahore, Lahori we are back on the streets here cruising on the Tuk and heading to another spot where we're actually going to be getting all of our meals for free now how is this possible let's go find out. So this is we call them Data the Langar people consider it's a blessing we will sit with the common people and enjoy the food [__] we arrived to a Sufi Shrine that has a langar which is a free meal service open to literally anyone that comes this Madar oh yeah that is mazadar and this one's the is that chipati chipati yeah yeah chipati bread free for all free for everyone so for example you could come here every day for your entire life and eat free who provides all of this food is it through donations from wealthier people or or donations and then the comment is also involved at the Langar I said among strangers sharing a meal prepared by hands that didn't ask for anything in return and it made me think in a world driven by transactions where everything has a price this experience was proof that some of the most profound exchanges require no currency at all as I finished my meal and went to another area in the shrine I was handed a scarf and flowers this is a respect and honor this is basically a gift from datas oh thank you so much you can keep it it at your place gifts given without reason nor expectation these weren't just objects they were symbols of respect of Welcome or of maybe something deeper perhaps an unspoken understanding that we are all travelers on the same path Sufism teaches that true wealth isn't in what you own but in what you give away I realize that generosity isn't just about material things it's about presence kindness and willingness to make someone else feel seen maybe that's the real essence of Sufism the belief that we are all connected and in giving to others we enrich ourselves so we are arriving right now to the train station we're going to be going on the orange line which is a form of Transportation that's going to help us skip so much of the lore traffic it's my first time riding the Lahore 's Metro System so Pakistan fourth time in Pakistan first time on the lore Metro yeah uh amazing so far I only arrived one day ago so for compliment they really boosting up yeah Lahore all the board all right guys all thank you thank you very much we're here in Pakistan on the Metro I think we're probably the first group to come like this filming in the Metro everyone's probably wondering what's going onam alikum and you can cruise through here at Sunset and see views of the entire city and it's really modern when I came to lore last time I don't think I ever hopped on the Metro so I didn't get to see this more developed side of it we've got a lot more coming up on this trip so get ready so we're arriving to wahat which means one in Arabic first experience on the train that was great really impressive it's a nice infrastructure and are they going to be expanding that to more lines future they have a plan appreciate it thank you brother thank you all right we're to later in the evening we arrived to the Baba sha Jamal Shrine and noticed a couple guys sitting on the ground outside these are the local Nomads so this is the place for like the people who are the follow of the Sufi so they have their own style to [__] or whatever that [_] and this is the community of the local [__] we sat down and [__] with the nomads for a while and we learned that they have been there since they were kids they decided at an early age to make this their Sacred Space so they could live in devotion and simplicity sustained by the generosity of visitors and the rhythm of Sufi life so it's it's a blessings of these Saint Sufi saint that we are here we are going to be serve our life to them oh wow this is the respect so look they have our Stones as well so they collect this stuff from the different count oh yeah check that out that's a nice looking one this looks like this froms the Pakistani Mountain all Pakistani Mountain all the stes over at first I thought they wanted me to take a picture with their jewelry but the kind gentleman insisted multiple times to keep the ring and the ring as all the They [__] to you keep it up over there so much the interactions we had were some of the most special moments of this trip next we stepped inside Baba sha Jamal's Shrine so we eat too much oh yeah and definitely we need to be the digest our food I think there's only one way to do it do a little dancing what do you think of course this is where the fun begins extreme dancing unlike anything I've ever seen but before that there's actually a ritual very peaceful for being inside of the city yeah very not too many sounds we were led to the Saint's grave where we placed flowers the blessings you can get it you get the blessing from from the grave one more suria had a silent prayer and a moment of Stillness until the drum started the peaceful energy shifted one by one devotees surrendered to the Rhythm lost in the trance of dama but this wasn't just any dance it was raw intense and deeply spiritual and I knew I had to join in this is a natural high right now right here this is insane Welcome to the and welcome to [Music] sum that is a workout [Music] nice meeting you great performer great performer thank you very much amazing dancer Shuka okay okay okay Pakistan zind we are entering into the Jewelry Factory we're going to be meeting one of the co owners of this place who are going to take us in to experience what it's like making jewelry in Pakistan how are you nice to meet you Sam here welcome to Pakistan this is Maria who is the owner of Aura a local jewelry manufacturing company that offered to show us what it is like to create handmade jewelry a lot of people know Pakistan has World fifth largest resources of minerals and mines however there wasn't a single gemstone processing facility and my father had a vision for over a decade that he wanted a place place where Pakistani gemstones are processed in Pakistan by Pakistani Artisans we are importing all the raw material from from outside so I started thinking what Pakistani material we can use you in 2010 me and my brother we set up in fulfilling his vision his dream of setting up this facility she took me around to see these beautiful gemstones in their raw State as procured from the mines right here in Pakistan and as someone who is conc concerned about changing perceptions of the world it was interesting to hear her motivation behind processing these stones for me the favorite one I would say is uh nef Jade this comes from a region called uh district bajour and the reason I love it is because it's beautiful it's considered an emperor Stone in China because of its history because that's what the you know the Emperors used to wear and they believe that this brings good luck and money but most importantly is that this comes from region where people have a very negative perception I want to make and process this gemstone so I can change a perception of that region and whenever I make products I make sure that I write down the name of that region uh so people can kind of associate positive meaning and positive words with that area that's amazing well hopefully now that I touched it that'll be some good luck for us then after feeling like a million bucks thanks to the emperor's Stone we headed off to the main part of the process where all the cutting and polish in [Music] happens we had three sections here the first one being where all of the bigger pieces of gemstones are cut into smaller ones this made use of heavy machinery and so the workers had to use earplugs against all the noise after the rough cuts the stones are then shaped drilled and moved to the last stage which is putting them in jewelry form so this person this is a mother of P from gab that I was showing you and this individual is doing his anti uh ancient technique called f Dura wow where gemstones are being inlaid in metal and then we make jewelry out of it this is ISA she makes these bead bracelets so what is your uh specialty in in the jewelry making uh I think uh tree making casting I do uh like very so much how much time does one of those pieces take you to make 2 and 3 minutes 2 or 3 minutes wow so super quick then yes very nice well it's beautiful nice to meet you thank you when I came back from UK and so I working setting up this facility I noticed how females were missing from the manufacturing section or the factories and especially when it came to the senior position so one of the things that you would notice at Aura Jews is how the senior the females are the ones who are taking care of the senior positions and kind of manufacturing so we've gotten to see the process from the stones in their raw State and then we got to see the whole team working hard to create these incredible pieces now it is time to see the final product so for me my favorite one is this necklace which has gemstones from all the regions of Pakistan like I was saying we sourcing gemstones from balistan SKU hunza and you find all these various gemstones all hand inlaid and this silver necklace of my favorite look at all these colors and these are all from Pakistan that is just absolutely mindblowing for me this is this is beautiful I think this is one of my favorites too thank you and we make these bracelets out of them and this is a little small gift from us to you from to remind you of the hunza and the SKU in the laor and how we're all connected thank you so much and it matches my outfit did you plan that no the Pakistani Hospitality strikes again with first a gift for me and then later right when we were leaving one for my fiance which we didn't get on camera this is amazing thank you so so much much we're so happy to have you here and if someone wants to purchase one of these and they don't live inside of Pakistan is there a way to do that yes we do we have uh our brand name Ora Jews and we have a website and they can reach us and buy these beautiful Pakistani G stores that's amazing I'll put the information down in the description below so you guys can check them out and thank you so much for this uh time showing me the entire process lovely meeting I appreciate it thank you very much it was time to venture 2 hours outside of laor to experience the birthplace of one of the world's most influential religions [Applause] we have just made it over to nanah appreciate it the G Janam aan America from you guys are from here yeah just coming from right now from food Capital yeah yeah thank you thank you very nice you speak t nice me you're from America Chicago Chicago nice big fan YouTube do you have just to subscribe world no no y nice to meet you Allah all right so we are entering in after an hour drive and we're going to be meeting the gentleman here how are you sir good and you oh shukria thank you very much thank you look at this guys Pakistani Hospitality immediately when arrive they deliver flowers that's that's incredible thank you so much you're welcome to the bir place of G Mar we will describe the whole G definitions so come thank you so much let's do it when you first walk in it just gives this feeling of brightness we have Gardens on one side and you look back on the other side you can see all of these white pillars British style architecture it is absolutely beautiful this is a about 550 yeah Circle 550 years with the teachings of Guru nanak it was constructed uh in the era of Maharaja Ranjit Singh after that uh it was dominated with with the passage of time and now you can see it's the new look of gurara wow very beautiful our goal is to have these two gentlemen help us find a deeper meaning in the seek religion in the past I had visited the Golden Temple in Amritsar so I was already familiar with the process of entering a gara and it began with removing my shoes and socks washing my hands walking through a small water pool to cleanse my feet and then bowing before entering where I received a head covering as a sign of respect it's compulsory whenever you will enter the Gara your head should be covered okay you can see this is the history of all garas situated in man there are seven G as you visited this is the holy place the birth place of after walking through the hallway in the Gara you enter the Darbar sah which is the main prayer Hall where the guru Grand sahib or they seek Holy scripture is placed on a raised platform and the book which was reading we have 10 gurus the 10th Guru declared that after me there will no guru will be coming so our 11th Guru is Guru granai G mahaj so as we accept that the time the Guru at that time present time is gurug gr and we obing all the teachings of gurai and we try to practice these all in our life worshippers stand or sit listening to Kuran devotional hymns or a reaction from the guru Grant sahib led by the granti who serves as the scripture reader and caretaker what is this one right here that we're EA this is bashad bashad pad means something holy for your soul and for your body ha basically [Music] safe we heard some music echoing through the G so we decided to go see where it was coming from close your eyes yeah that was honestly like being in some sort of deep meditation it was beautiful just sitting there and hearing the different instruments being played some that I don't know if I've ever seen before and the sounds were just they put me in a Zone while I was walking around I was curious how many of these people that are visiting the Gara are actually practicing Sikhism or if they're from another religion Muslim how is it being Muslim and coming and enjoying the SE religion what are his thoughts about the two religions living amongst each other they have heard a lot about this place so they came here to just visit uh and feel the vibe of this place first time here first time first time here n he wanted to visit so he came all the way from to to visit and for the first time he took him two decades he came here just to visit grandfather was 120 years old he used to tell him that he was a great person he was very good with Muslims so as s so as other religion the significance of NASA was amazing so everyone including Muslims really respect him you guys heard it from some of the locals this is just a beautiful example of how multiple religions are here inside of Pakistan if you're not familiar and you think about the Pakistani flag there's green and white on it so the green represents the Islamic culture and then the white represent present all of the minorities so there's quite a few minorities all across Pakistan there was one last incredible thing to experience here at the GED but first we had this really kind gentleman who gifted me this orange scarf this is longer Hall longer hall right longer Hall is very important very important important Place very important place so as you guys can see right over here the lar has begun all the children over there are having themselves a nice meal today we are at a seek longar and yesterday we were at a Sufi longar in which the focus was on spiritual devotion through shared meals and Di or remembrance of God while today at the seik longar the emphasis is on equality and selfless service with a structured tradition of communal cooking and eating open to all at First Look it is very similar from that perspective except at this longar we are sitting on the floor and yesterday's we were sitting in chairs together but they both have one shared purpose which they offered free food food to anyone from any religion that comes many people coming from Pakistan no Protocol no protocol any religion any Rel any religion so Christian Islam Christian Muslim sik Hindu no protocol wow that's amazing shukria thank you for welcoming me here they bring out these silver plates that you eat on and the community here takes care delicious and you can get a belly real quick here so it's great my honest truth is that I've always been a little reserved when visiting religious places around the world this is one of those small worries simply because you don't want to accidentally do something wrong in someone else's holy place but today was different today I fully immersed myself in these same spiritual moments that these seeks find peace joy and prosperity within and it helped bring me closer to their way of life a feeling you can only experience when you walk the ground of their sacred [Music] lands there was just one last thing I had to do in lore before heading out to some places I never expected to be able to visit sh my friends we are going to our next place here in Pakistan and if you've seen my videos from a couple years back you'll know it is not my first time here I've actually been here before and we're at the LA 4 [Music] for the night is beginning now we're heading over to do what's called as history by night so apparently this is going to be full of so many surprises I don't know too much of what's going to happen but I can tell you it's going to give us a full Taste of Pakistani culture the atmosphere was very Lively we could see tourists all over the place from different parts of the world visiting the lore Fort is arguably the number one best thing to do in lore interestingly the place we currently stand used to be a red light district historically known as Hira Mandy this place was made Popular by The tafs Who were masters of classical music dance and poetry as such it wasn't uncommon for elite families to send their children to learn from them during the M eras and the emperor time they used to send their children like to to learn manners from them and this would be like prostitutes uh yes you can say them but they would like we don't call them prostitutes we used to call them dancing girls dancing girls but they would like uh do stuff behind the curtains oh you can't you can't say that openly guys that's problem turned out I had been assigned to a tour Group which was going to be a bit of a challenge for the purposes of this video but I planned on making lemonade out of the situation anyways we are getting to the fun part open the [Music] gates the lore Fort is one of the most iconic historical sites in Pakistan with centuries of History reflecting the Mughal seek and British rule with a wall spanning 420 M the fort is located in the heart of Lort near the famous badshai mosque it is a UNESCO world heritage site known for its stunning architectures and Rich history thank you incredible b shukria b shukria for you guys shukria sometimes I just stop and take a moment I look out and I can't believe the place that I'm in and we're just surrounded by so much right now this fort has so many different colors the lighting the trees the gardening and I just sometimes think for a second I'm like so blessed to be able to experience a place like this and get closer to the Pakistani culture because it's really just helped me to understand different cultures and appreciate all of these moments when I'm [Music] traveling Full Speed Ahead guys this is this is insane I thought I had been to this place the last time I was in laora a couple years ago but this is a whole new side of it I mean we're looking at this insane Fort that is probably five times larger than I had imagined it to be and it's lit up with this mood lighting and since we waited for the last car to go we feel like we're the only ones here after going off the beaten path I was able to find a guy who happened to be a tour guy just by chance and he gave us a proper tour of the fort can we do a private tour with you fantastic so our new friend has took us on a more Uncharted way to experience the fort at night but before we could do that we came across the British Barracks where we met a flute player called belal who offered to play his flute for [Music] us incredible very very well done very well done brother really appreciate you uh doing a special performance just for us thank you very much and uh I saw you drop this when you were walking thank you very much thank you welcome after being absolutely serated by below we still had plenty more of the Pakistani culture to dive into so we rushed over to see a very unique performance yeah this is insane King is coming coming the king is coming yeah the king is coming [Music] king and queen to be honest I was not expecting such a grand portrayal with Emperor Akbar of the Mogul period and a kathak dance which is the art of telling a story through dancing this is phenomenal I didn't not know what we were going to be expecting tonight but to see this dancing I feel like I'm understanding the Pakistani culture so much more and it is like I swear to God it is like a teleportation back 400 years ago yeah thank you thank you [Music] every just as we thought the night was over it wasn't just yet as we had one more place to go I was thinking last night was going to be our only chance to experience the wild Sufi dancing but luck was in our favor and we were back in the midst of it this was one of the most beautiful things we have seen which is getting us closer to the Sufism culture we've gone to a few different places shrines learned a bit about Sufism but tonight inside of the lore Fort we got to see it live here learn a little bit of the dance dance moves there come on brother don't be shy don't be shy show me how these dance moves go oh yeah you know how to do them no no I don't like pce but you can all right all right well next time next time we'll get him on it but um yeah really we want to say thank you so much for uh for giving us a tour around and we shall do it finally bringing the night to a close we hopped on a tuuk and made our way out of the fort Pakistan make way for the king yeah make way for the Shaw and just like that that was a nice tour at night here in lore see you tomorrow holy [ __ ] that [Music] wake the day has come where we're finishing up saying lore lore because we're leaving the amazing city of lore but that's our all right we're going to be heading over to the next place in gorp did I say that right karport all right all we're going to get that pronunciation by the time we get there let's begin this road trip for the next 3 and 1 half hourss chal chal bans after 3 and 1/2 hours we have made it to kartarpur and this place is very interesting for a lot of reason reasons and we're about to go inside and find out karur sits on the Indian Pakistan border and is home to one of the most significant seik pilgrimage sites in the world the gar Darbar sahib this is where Guru nanak the founder of sism spent the last years of his life and the Gara holds deep spiritual meaning for siks many of whom long to visit but are separated by the border however in 2019 the karur corridor changed everything this visa-free passageway connects the gar to Der Baba nanak in India allowing seek pilgrims to visit without needing a Pakistani Visa it's a rare Bridge of Peace between the two nations with a complicated history and since its opening it has gradually increased the number of visitors per day with sometimes up to 400 people crossing what was once nearly an impossible border to cross if you're Pakistani or Indian and so let's head inside and see what Kar is like [Applause] [Music] and so we are entering into the gerara and this place is magnificent it also happens to be more than twice the size of the gerara we visited in nanan sahib the gwara Darbar sahib is one of the holiest sites in seism as it marks the final resting place of Guru nanak Dev G who founded the seek faith and spent his last 18 years spreading his teachings here so we're going to walk up towards what looks to be kind of like a sword or dagger so what's the significance of this in 2019 Imran Khan prime minister of Pakistan at that time open it for Indian people the sidu the minister who's also ex cricketer the minister of uh the siik community gave this kpan the sword to Imran Khan so Imran Khan actually put it as a token of position whenever I travel I always try and stop for a few moments and simply observe how people live as I found when you keep an open mind and view the world through a lens of curiosity and Beauty you begin to notice how different things bring happiness to different people yet at the same time you realize that we're all more similar than we might think and I think moments like these are when it's time to step out of your comfort zone and just go and sit with complete [Music] strangers where you from Brother Pakistani no from America from America uh first no fourth time in Pakistan first time this first time [Music] here meet nice to meet you too maybe these guys knew each other maybe they had just met but one thing I know for sure is that the joy was Universal ival around the world people find meaning in completely different things different goals beliefs cultures but love friendship and family are constants no matter where you go these are the things that connect us [Music] [Music] all we had started the day driving 3 hours up to cartar PO and we would finish off the day driving another four all the way up to mangla Dam the day began at Mangler Resort where I had a nice little morning coffee looking over the dam to prepare myself for what was to come today the journey is beginning we're going to do some Adventures out here as you can tell we are far outside of laor now we had an insanely good breakfast right over one of the largest dams here in Pakistan we're going to be bringing you closer to the culture the experiences and what you can find in this part of Pakistan Pakistan zindabad baby let's [Music] go after a short drive we made it over to meur the city is considered as little London in Pakistan but more on that later for now say hello to mangla Dam oh my God right now we are on the top of the dam right now this is absolutely insane so I've been to the Hoover Dam before in um Las Vegas and that was the first time I ever went to a dam and apparently this dam is bigger you just can't even imagine how much work it takes to build something this big the amount of Earth you must move is absolutely mind-blowing manga Dam located in jamu and Kashmir Pakistan is one of the largest earthfill dams in the world completed back in 1967 on the jeam river it was built to support the Indus Waters treaty by providing water storage and hydroelectric power the dam plays a crucial role in Pakistan's irrigation system and energy production with a power generation capacity exceeding 1,000 megaw yeah dams have always been something that absolutely have blown my mind mainly for the reason being that to be able to stop this much water blows my mind that humans are able to do this built on this dam is the manga Fort which is an ancient fortification that holds historical and strategic significance due to its location on the banks of the jum River all the pakistanis that I've been chatting with have been telling me this is a pretty fascinating Place Alum and we're going to be meeting our good friend here assistant director tourism it's a pleasure to meet you and we would love to know a little bit about this place some uh brief history for it this fort was built back in 16 century and main purpose for the um to defend and protect uh this area and and control the trade and administrative setup for that time when this was built how did the whole process even work to stop the water a lot of Technology was exported from the UK and from the Europe just to build this thing and now it is in front of you the local manga Community was nice enough to put up an event where they brought in local performers welcome to cashmir oh my God looks like we're going to be in for quite a wild time here in cashmir and invited to share some food and spend some time to get to know more about the kmir culture as usual the hospitality and kindness of the people were evident contrary to what the media would have led you to believe about the region of jamu and Kashmir we decided to make one more stop inside the city of mirpur which is a city in the Pakistani administered region of jamu and Kashmir known for its unique blend of Kashmir culture and British influences thanks to its deep ties with the UK through Decades of migration often this place is referred to as little England miror is packed with British products and some shops even accept the pound sterling it sits near the banks of the manga Lake and the city has transformed from a quiet Town into one of the most developed areas in the region which is fueled by remittances from its massive overseas Community despite its modern infrastructure and booming real estate mirpur still holds on to its roots with bustling bizar traditional Kashmir Cuisine and a rich cultural identity shaped by both local Heritage and its diaspora now after years of travel I've learned the best way to truly understand a place its culture and customs is by heading straight into the streets and talking to locals we got a little Louis Vuitton right there custom made custom made nice to meet you Max hello my name is Mac nice to meet you so yeah could you uh tell us a little bit about your culture it's very common that people say kashmir's are very hospital but what I would say uh you should try kashmiri food like wwan mazadar food uh yeah it's very Mazar oh perfect this is now becoming a common uh you know Common culture people buying this a they're wear wearing this with along with the pants Jeans oh yes so mix of West and Kashmir culture mix of that a fusion so I'm but I'm not wearing a fion it's a whole traditional St and uh you said you also run a channel uh YouTube uh it's uh a small production of young people we are working on very sensitive topics like human trafficking and all those things people don't talk about usually and in our culture it is very uncommon for young people to talk about something very sensitive so we are working on those things I guess I hope we get a kick and we get something very good out of thank you so much hey what's going on brother how are you good to see you how you been not bad man welcome to me yeah really appreciate it it's called the mini London mini London mini England you you know it is what it is the city in the past I would say 15 20 years has completely transformed really like people used to go out of town to do shopping now they don't just stay here other people from around and surrounding areas come here now you can tell you see all the kind of vibrant colors in here through it's it's a Vibe oh it is and you know thing about aad Kashmir it's different from Pakistan Pakistan we love it's in our blood but aad Kashmir has his own Vibe has his own personality has it own people its own level of hospitality and you'll enjoy uh stay here but the best thing about Mur is our dam oh that Dam blew my mind so when it's empty you get to see the actual rout where meur actually originated from cuz that what what you see in the dam that was used to be a city right that's it that's exactly where my parents that's where they lived first there's a temple in the dam from British India so that's how that's that's what I mean this land has so much history so much you'll enjoy it you know it's good meeting you man so great meeting you too brother thank you so much for you know looks after you here yeah it's been been so good hospitality is 10 out of 10 so I can do anything for you even though I'm from the UK let me know if you want to eat food together drink tea whatever let's go I'm down for it this right here is Kashmir Hospitality even when he's only what 50/50 cashmir SL uh English and Kashmir exactly yeah after speaking to some of the locals and thinking about how I can be more like a local myself it was time to buy myself a sh War cames and help blend right in all right let's try try one of those black ones on what do we think 10 out of 10 fit this side is good you think that's good all right all right so Kina for this one 5,000 only 5,000 all right what about if we walk away with it for uh what 4,000 two less two less all right so what 4,200 okay all right we got ourselves a deal inshah we meet again byan proud new owner step number three in the market complete chal Chalo ban that was a quick stop in the city and we've got a 6-hour drive up to the capital city of Kashmir also known as mafraad and once we arrived we checked in at the Pearl Continental Hotel this is a really really fascinating Place guys take a look down here let's have you look at this I think we're going to be having a good time check this place out let's go check out one of the rooms and uh we can see where we're going to be spending the night oh baby baby we are home this looks like such a Vibe oh look at those views we can see the bridge the river yeah so the cool part about Pakistan you can stay for really inexpensive at places or you can get more luxurious style experiences and I think you can even find alcohol in these if you're a foreigner don't tell anybody what do we got down here oh yeah little snack sodas candies Refreshments all right this looks great last but not least let's check out the bathroom oh yes all right check this out guys we've got a full shower in here and a bathtub over here fantastic [Music] it was a beautiful morning in mufrad Kashmir and we started off the day with a quick breakfast overlooking the mountains which are high enough where we actually reached snow but our Focus today was going to be insane as very soon we would be meeting the Prime Minister and good morning my friends as you can see we got our traditional dress on and I'm feeling great now that we're in mafraad which is the capital city here in jamu and Kashmir it is a place that is surrounded by mountains with a population in the greater area of roughly 700,000 people the city is strategically located near the line of control between India and Pakistan despite its stunning Landscapes Dee rooted history and proximity to places like the Nim Valley and pier chinasi mafraad and jamu and Kashmir as a whole rarely make headlines for anything other than ongoing tensions that makes it difficult to truly understand what life here is like beyond the geopolitical narratives so we're going to go inside this place and find out what it's really like here is Kashmir a place that you'll want to visit and just a quick note anyone featured in this video is shared to show their perspective it doesn't necessarily mean I agree nor disagree with with their perspective this is purely about understanding life here from a traveler's lens but before we meet the Prime Minister we had one other stop to make first over at the kashmiri Day Festival hello asalam Alum visit the Kashmir culture here the background noise was a little loud but the two ladies had welcomed me to Kashmir day and shared with me their experience of what Kashmir culture means to them hospitality is our culture it's Kashmir culture to show the solidarity with Kashmir ma'am has organized this big event for the ladies and kids where kids would be performing national anthems and they'll be playing Tableau there'll be competitions here and they arranged all this stuff to be displayed here so people would know about our culture on specifically on this day thank you very much for visiting us and I would say that we love to take this opportunity to um spread our word and spread the beauty and peace of Kashmir and right when I was about to leave the team surprised me with the most amazing gift that is Hospitality here in Kashmir it's unbelievable every single place everyone's been so welcoming so kind even asked if I had a wife to GI her a gift [Music] you can expect that anything will happen in Pakistan and today the unexpected happened where we get to meet the Prime Minister let's head inside this is exciting alaykum you're welome you're Mac I'm MAC y I will say the unfortunate part is we were not able to bring our camera crew in but we got a couple clips from their staff and so how this meeting went was we sat down with the prime minister of aad jamu and Kashmir shaori an hak and his team along with British YouTuber Carrie patelis and I the PM and his team welcomed us with tea and some snacks while sharing their experiences vision and insight as to why the region is a fast progressing tourism hotspot I was also positively surprised to find out that foreigners no longer need a permit to visit the region but anyways a massive thank you to the Prime Minister and his team for taking the time to introduce us to the region of Aza jamu and Kashmir see thank you uh May Pakistani Pakistani May American nice to meet you so we just finished up having a meeting with the Prime Minister and all of his team right here in jamu Kashmir they were so nice to welcome us for a quick 25 30 minute tea snacks and time to talk about what life is like here in Kashmir and they shared a bunch of really fascinating stuff as someone who is from outside of the country I always thought it was super hard hard to visit the Kashmir Province and so I never did on my three other visits to Pakistan and finally on this time I had an opportunity to come up here and visit and so we asked them what are the requirements for a foreigner to be able to come here and apparently recently they have changed the rules where you can actually visit here just like you could anywhere else in Pakistan if you have the standard Visa so I was really excited to hear that and when I asked them is the region of cashmir even more beautiful than skardu and they said very much yes my time in Kashmir ended far too quickly but no doubt this region will be one of the next places I come and spend more time in in my future visits to Pakistan 11 people with no expectation of getting something in return had gifted me something to Simply welcome me as a traveler visiting Pakistan leaving me with one final message these last 6 days in Pakistan reaffirmed even more what I've experienced each time since my first visit Pakistan is nothing like the misconceptions often portrayed in the media once in a while when something negative happens the entire country and population of nearly a qu billion people are commonly mislabeled as a whole the way the media works is the media finds top stories to cover everyone learns about those top stories and those top stories always often hide the culture yet many fail to see past that an entire civilization exists and thrives here there are many ways to describe Pakistan but the main things that come to mind is the hospitality diversity and kindness of its people which I've experienced through this trip and every trip before if you've seen my videos in this country the number one thing that I always share whenever I leave and throughout it is the amazing Pakistani hospitality and yet again it has proved a completely different experience than what one would imagine I witnessed many sides of this country during my previous combined two months in Pakistan yet on this trip it was a whole new layer I was able to get closer to some of the minority groups and understand how people who practice both sism and Sufism live their lives from the Sufism spiritual devotion in lore to the greater understanding of seism and the Landscapes like no other in Kashmir I could not have asked for a more eye openening trip and appreciation for their ways of life if there's one last take away from this trip it would be this travel is all about human connections and Pakistan is a place that will make you feel so welcomed that you feel at home from the second you step foot into the country [Music] Pakistan if you enjoyed this video you're going to love this one
2025-04-06 00:26
