Pakistan is its people: bright smiles on wrinkled faces, chai tea on every table and a proud curiosity. It is a golden wheat field and a snowfall, both seen in the space of a day. It is the lack of globalisation, yet you’re welcome wherever you go with spicy and colourful food; reflecting Pakistan’s vibrant culture.
It is the God that exists through people and their dark soulful eyes who feel him at any moment of the day. It is a great country. Albeit a very cultured and beautiful one.
I’ve been travelling mostly through the north of the country, visiting several regions and going past through the cities of Lahore, Islamabad, Ayubia, Nathia Gali, Abbottabad and Mansehra.
My Italian passport was seen as a pass of freedom, a magic wand they desired with wonder and imagination; a key to other worlds that someone stole from them. It made me sad, but at the same time, I realized that it might be a blessing too.
Off from the lust and dust of western countries, Pakistan not only seems to have kept its beliefs, social structures and traditions for decades, but continuously strive to be better.
Words and photography by Andrea Ricca using Zenit122 Camera.
