When I was growing up in Karachi, Pakistan in the 1960’s we (surprisingly) had quite a few visitors come through and stay with us. In fact, it often felt like our place was a guest house (something we loved, by the way). If the visitors were from out of the country, we would all pile into our green and white Volkswagen Microbus and my dad would take us on a grand tour of the city.
Our old VW may not be plying the streets of Karachi anymore, but apparently there is a new tour company that organizes bus tours of the city. Here’s the story, as told by Robin Show on a YouTube video:
The Pakistan city of Karachi, infamous for targeted killings and carjackings, ranks in the top 10 of the most violent cities in the world. But one man has decided to show that there is more to Karachi than crime and terror and has started the first ever guided bus tour of the city. It involves armed guards, an itinerary that changes all the time and highly negotiated access to sites where people are worried about coming under attack if they attract too much attention.
If you’ve spent anytime in Karachi, I think you’ll really enjoy this video! And if you haven’t, it’s interesting as well!
(If you receive this post by email, please go here to see the video.)
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This is really great – I wished it were longer, I wanted to see a whole lot more. If I ever get back to Karachi, unlikely at this stage of my life, I would love to do the tour. When we lived in Upper Sindh for so many years, our annual trip to Karachi was a highlight. The best part was when we stayed with the Pittmans. Many sweet memories. Ralph and your Dad were often on a competitive diet – the loser to treat the winner to a meal in a restaurant – Farouk’s and the Chinese Restaurant downtown were two of our favorites.