‘I had misconceptions about Pakistan’, says Australian tourist after visiting Buner
She said that the media had painted a different image of Pakistan.
Natasha from Australia is utterly awestruck by Pakistan’s beauty. Hailing from Melbourne, she decided to visit Pakistan herself to see if the country is actually as ‘dangerous’ as the international media portrays it to be.
After a UK-based magazine termed Pakistan as ‘the best destination for tourists,’ she decided to take a trip herself. The reality, to her surprise, is entirely different.
‘One of my friends in Buner talked so much about the beauty of his village that I finally decided to visit the area when I come to Pakistan. Now that a UK-based magazine has termed Pakistan the best destination for tourists, I have come here. It is becoming difficult for me to go back from this lovely place,’ Natasha said while speaking to a KP-based internet news agency.
Natasha had many misconceptions about Pakistan and the security situation here until she became friends with Irshad Khan. Irshad, who belongs to KP’s Buner, is settled in Australia. He changed her perception of Pakistan and Natasha pointed out Pakistan is completely different from the image that the media portrays.
‘In love with Buner’
Natasha is impressed by the lifestyle in Buner. She said that life there is simple and peaceful. She is also learning to speak Pushto by interacting with the locals.
She spends her day with grazing goats and sheep with the village children, milking cows and collecting firewood. Contrary to what she previously believed, she found Pakistanis and Pashtuns to be extremely peace-loving people.
‘No waste bin in the whole area.’
Natasha said that pollution is destroying Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s beauty. She saw no waste bins in the entire area, which is why tourists end up throwing garbage everywhere.
She further stressed the need for proper roads so that foreign tourists could travel and explore without any discomfort. If the government provides appropriate facilities, Natasha believes Pakistan holds the potential to attract more tourists than Switzerland.
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