While acknowledging that Pakistan’s security situation remains unpredictable, Muneer hopes Intrepid’s new Pakistan tours will help to inspire more international travelers to explore his homeland—which became easier to visit in July this year when Pakistan waived tourist visa fees for 126 countries. “I hope that tourists will share the message that this country is safe, especially the mountains,” Muneer says.
The development of international tourism in Gilgit-Baltistan, one of Pakistan’s poorest regions, could be life-changing for locals, he adds. “Agriculture is the main source of income in Gilgit-Baltistan, but tourism will help to diversify that income.”
With agricultural traditions in Pakistan’s mountainous north—which contains more glacial ice than any country outside the polar regions—increasingly under threat from global warming (in 2022, floods submerged one third of the county), I can appreciate why traditional mountain villages like Yugo, where we pause to enjoy a meal and learn about village life, are slowly embracing tourism.
On our flight from the Karakoram Mountains back to Islamabad, I ask Muneer if his own children—two girls and a boy—aspire to become a guide like him, or perhaps a teacher like their mother, Nasira. “They can do whatever they choose,” he says proudly.
With Muneer in their corner, I have no doubt they will flourish.
