Activities

With some of the most magnificent mountain terrain in the world, Pakistan is naturally enough a trekkers rave. There are all types of trekking available, from those organized by overseas companies to Pakistan-based outfits. You can also make your own arrangements, which will be cheaper but also more demanding. Popular trekking routes that can stretch from a day to a month are found mostly in Gilgit, Nanga Parbat, Balistan (from where treks leave to K2) and Hunza, all in the country's north. For something a little less demanding there are good one-day hikes in the Ziarat Valley, near Quetta. Other activities include cycling along the Karakoram Highway (from Rawalpindi to the Khunjerab Pass), Potwar Plateau (Islamabad to Peshawar) and the Margalla and Murree Hills (north of Islamabad), mountain biking from Gilgit to Chitral, and white-water rafting along the Hunza, Gilgit and Indus rivers.

Culture

The pleasures of Pakistan are old: Buddhist monuments, Hindu temples, Islamic palaces, tombs and pleasure grounds, and widely spaced Anglo-Mogul Gothic mansions - some in a state of dereliction which makes their grandeur even more emphatic. Sculpture is dominated by Graeco-Buddhist friezes, and crafts by ceramics, jewelry, silk goods and engraved woodwork and metalwork. Even Pakistan's flotillas of vintage Bedford buses and trucks, mirror-buffed and chrome-sequinned, are dazzling works of art. Traditional dances are vigorous; music is either classical, folk or devotional; and the most patronized literature is a mix of the scholastic and poetic. Cricket is Pakistan's greatest sports obsession and national players are awarded hero status.

Religion

Nearly all Pakistanis are Muslim and Islam is the state religion. Reminders of their devotion are many: the muezzin's call to prayer from the mosques; men sprawled in prayer in fields, shops and airports; and veiled women in the streets. Christians are the largest minority, followed by Hindus and Parsees, descendants of Persian Zoroastrians.