Visiting Pakistan was one of my main travel highlights of last year. A country not often seen in the top charts, it is packed with tourism potential. A special place that may attract a crowd in the foreseen future is the Swat Valley in northwest Pakistan. A volatile security situation so far has kept most visitors away, but 2019 might mark the start of a brighter future.
While in Lahore I was told the best way to get to the valley is to travel to Peshawar, and from there take a bus to Mingora. For reasons that I will explain later in this article, there would be several army checkpoints on the way. I knew I might needed to carry a special permit to get through, but info on how to get such a permit was vague. I took the ‘risk’ of going without one and just talk my way through. Here is how it went.
About two hours into the journey from Peshawar the bus hit the first checkpoint, a large one. As the only foreigner on board I had to get out and hand over my passport to an officer at a desk. The driver of the bus followed me to assist, keen to proceed quickly because I was holding up all the other passengers. The two exchanged some words and after 5 minutes or so we were told to continue our journey.
The second checkpoint came about an hour later. An armed commando got on the bus, checked everyone and halted when he saw me. Again I was told to leave the bus, directed to sit down at a table in a small office and have my details written down in a large book. This time I could see I was the only registered foreigner in the last 1 or 2 weeks.
The officials on the other side were relaxed and attempted to engage me in a broken-words conversation. Not sure if I should be concerned for what would lay ahead (and for not having a permit), I explained them I am just a tourist heading to Swat. To my surprise the officers smiled and proposed to take a picture together. After an initial moment of hesitation, I took this opportunity and posed with the security forces. I thanked them for their kind welcoming service and minutes later we were back on our way.
