LAHORE: Already wary of non-professional tourist guides, touts and the ever-deteriorating law and order situation in Pakistan, members of reputed international travel forums like Couch Surfing, Hospitality Club, Virtual Tourist and the Thorn Tree Lonely Planet etc have reported that following the killing of foreign trekkers near Gilgit late on Saturday night, the local police had not allowed vehicles carrying foreigners to proceed up the Karakoram Highway (KKH) from the checkpoint near Dubair, about 20 minutes north of Bisham, after 4 pm on Sunday.
The KKH, dubbed as the eighth wonder of the world due to its high elevation, is the highest paved international road in the world. It connects China’s Xinjiang region with Pakistan’s Gilgit–Baltistan across the Karakoram mountain range through the Khunjerab Pass, at an elevation of 4,693 metres.
A recent “Thorn Tree Lonely Planet” post states: The police captured seven Taliban between the Sangla Pass and Bisham and after 4 pm Sunday, convoys were formed to leave at 6 am the following morning (Monday). Security has been tightened in the area and travel has become difficult. Baltistan is still peaceful, but the road to get there is not so secure unfortunately. Almost 50 other climbers may still be on the mountain.”
The “Thorn Tree Lonely Planet” was once owned by BBC Worldwide, which bought it in 2007 and had then sold it in 2013 to American billionaire Brad Kelley’s Messrs NC2 Media for $75 million.
An American traveler on this prestigious travel forum has asked as to why the guards, Pakistan Army and other security personnel did not stop the gunmen from carrying out the carnage?
An Australian travel enthusiast viewed that this incident had enough potential to kill off the little tourism that still existed in the Northern Areas despite all odds, though they wanted the government of Pakistan to cancel the registration of the local guides and only permit them to assist foreign tourists after passing them through a thorough process of scrutiny.
It is imperative to note that a travel guide had married a French woman tourist a few years ago and after visiting Paris on her sponsorship papers, had divorced her.The French lady did raise hue and cry, but was allegedly threatened with dire consequences by the Chitral travel guide.
Stories of foreigners being ripped off, groped and of being charged arbitrarily— are of course— as common as they are in countries like India.Many intending travelers said on the “Thorn Tree Lonely Planet” that they had changed their itineraries for their upcoming trekking trips to Pakistan after this gory Gilgit incident, asserting the terrorists had attacked the most unlikely group of people at the most unlikeliest of places.
A Dutch traveler said: “I was seriously considering a trip to Northern Pakistan as well....I guess…. I’ll have to put it off by a few years now.”Another had remarked: “Bali (Indonesia) certainly suffered for a long time, but then again it bounced back dramatically and is now selling more magic mushrooms. But Pakistan is different in the sense that the attackers were not outsiders.”
Another 63-year old Australian traveler, Steve Campbell, had responded to the above post by saying: “Sad for those who lost their lives and for their families. It is sad for the locals who depend on tourism to support their families. The reality is that these religious zealots, who want to turn the clock back 1400 years, have flourished in Pakistan owing to the weakness of the state and the complicity of some elements of the state. People have made reference to Bali. It’s worth recording that the Bali Bombing brought Indonesian and Australian anti-terrorist agencies together and ushered in a level of unprecedented cooperation.”
The Aussie travel enthusiast, who claims to have been travelling over a long period of time, mostly in Indonesia and SE Asia, had gone on the write: “Terrorists have been hunted down ruthlessly - Hambali, Dulmatin, Nur Mohammed Top, Iman Patek, all captured or killed, Jemiah Islamia effectively castrated, it’s ethnically Arab leader Abu Bakar Bashir jailed for 15 years. It is a total contrast with Pakistan, where Osama bin Laden had been living for years in Abbottabad, a stone’s throw from a major military base. Draw your own conclusions. The doctor who helped locate bin Laden jailed for treason, I believe. It’s hard to believe, isn’t it?”
A British traveler had written on the forum wall: “I am planning to trek to K2 Base camp this summer. Am I mad to contemplate going now?”A traveler from New Zealand was skeptical: “I am due to leave shortly and don’t know what to do either. I just called tour operator in Pakistan who told me not to worry, but how can you not? There are military checkpoints to get to K2 trek so for what I know it’s probably the safest trek to do and you need lots of supplies and time to get there and back, much more than to Nanga Parbat, not conducive to an easy attack.”
A local traveler had opined: “This is the first-ever attack on foreign tourists in the province of Gilgit-Baltistan and obviously the motive is to further harm the image of the country and to instil fear in the hearts of future tourists. I have been telling prospective foreign tourists not to worry because while travelling in the northern areas, tourists are not targeted and it is relatively safe to travel. But I will not say that anymore.”
According to John Mock and Kimberley O’Neil, award-winning guidebook authors and consultants who have reconnoitered new trekking routes and crossed dozens of major passes and glaciers during the past 30 years in both Pakistan and Afghanistan—-thereby logging more than 10,000 kilometers, 60 passes, and 50 glacier traverses—- the Pakistani Tourism Division does not keep statistics on trekking fatalities.
They have stated: “A few such incidents occur each year and typically have one common element - the trekkers were alone and unaccompanied by a local guide or porter. Frequently, such trekkers literally disappeared - probably by falling into a crevasse. Two glaciers are particularly dangerous for unaccompanied trekkers - the Biafo Glacier (to Snow Lake) in Baltistan and the Passu Glacier (between Passu village and Patundas) in Gojal.”
John Mock and Kimberley O’Neil, who have coauthored and contributed to numerous travel guidebooks for Lonely Planet Publications, and consulted on tourism development and promotion, ecotourism, protected area management and wildlife conservation for the Wildlife Conservation Society, Aga Khan Foundation (Afghanistan), Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit (Germany), the World Conservation Union (ICUN) and the Snow Leopard Conservancy, have further stated: “We advise all trekkers not to travel alone, even in open zones and even when not crossing glaciers. Other objective dangers, such as rockfall, high water on river crossings, and snow avalanche are always present throughout northern Pakistan.”John and Kimberley have co-authored a book “Trekking in the Karakoram & Hindukush,” which has been published by the Lonely Planet Publications in Australia
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