[swipe ⬅️for more border crossing content and read the captions!]
Saturday, 17th of June
Bordercrossing! I’m entering Pakistan on foot via the so-called Rimdan border. A bordercrossing that is not very well known or popular among travelers since it’s only been operating for 3 years and is not passable for „overlanders“ with their vans and motorbikes. According to this friendly border officer that’s the reason why I am the very first Austrian to ever cross this border. As a reward I get a personal guard and a 15-hour forced bus ride to Karachi, including some friendly visitors „to keep me safe“. (See bonuspictures) that doesn’t stop me from being quite proud of this achievement.
Sunday, 18th of June
I arrive in Karachi at 5am and thanks to the amazing @couchsurfing community here (see bonus picture) I find a couple of great hosts. Karachi is wild. It’s the most populated city in the country. The official numbers of the last census are anything but accurate. NGOs estimate that the city might have up to 45 Million inhabitants. It’s huge, it’s vibrant and it’s an extreme change to anything I have experienced in the previous 4 months of this trip. Especially the extreme poverty is something that I have to get used to again. It reminds me of my immense privilege again. And it makes me feel guilty. Again.
Monday, 19th of June
One thing that hasn’t changed in Pakistan is the kindness and hospitality of the people. Doesn’t matter if it’s the rickshaw driver who gets so excited to drive a foreigner that he offers to waive my fair or the colleagues of my new Couchsurfing host @adilahmed_official works as a civil servant for the Sindhi government and their Film Censors section among other things (See Bonus Video). It’s very interesting to get a glimpse of how administration works in different countries.
