Serene Saiful Malook lures tourists
ISLAMABAD, : “I stood in disbelief as I watched Lake Saiful Malook. It was a stunning beauty. I had to be present there and see it for myself to believe it — I could not even imagine that I would ever witness such a captivating scene in my life” said Dilshad Bakhtawar, a British national of Pakistani origin. She recently made a maiden trip to fabulous Saiful Malook Lake perched at an altitude of 3,224-metre above the sea level.Serene Saiful Malook is a treasure waiting to be discovered, a place that should have been known to all and a potential that should have been tapped since long. It is located at the northern end of the Kaghan Valley near Naran, Pakistan.
The crystal clear water comes from the multiple glaciers around the high basin, which feed the lake. High altitude and fresh water lakes are something very rare in the world.
“I saw pictures and description about Saiful Malook on PTDC website and decided to go there,” she said, but was too excited to express her feelings about Saiful Malook.
“It’s really hard for me to describe its beauty in words, but I just want to say that God has put a piece of Paradise on the Earth,” she said when asked how she would compare Saif-ul-Malook with other lakes in the world.
The folk tales about Prince Saiful Malook after whom the lake has been named and Princes Badru Jamal may appear illogical to many, but not to Dilshad at least.
Since she was not good at Urdu, she requested her Pakistani guide to translate into English for her benefit those interesting stories as told by the natives about Prince and the Princes.
She was disappointed to see so many left-over items:
plastic bags, tin packs, papers, bottles etc. irresponsibly thrown by the visitors around the lake that marred its beauty.
She said Pakistan was a gem of the world in the sector of tourism.
“If managed and marketed effectively your tourism could earn a huge revenue…look at Maldives, Sri Lanka, Tanzania and many other countries including Europeans which are simply nothing when compared with Pakistan in terms of tourism potential.”
She said if those countries had attained great success why Pakistan could not do it.
Pakistan’s rich tourism industry is confronted with two major challenges: financial and security. A very small amount of money is earmarked for tourism in the national budget. It is not possible for Tourism Ministry to make both ends meet in such a situation.
Promotion, campaign, efforts etc. all need money which is not being provided. Besides this, active participation of private sector is also crucial if the government desires to develop tourism.
The government cannot do it all alone.
Yet, all these efforts would go in vain if law and order at home continued to threaten peace and stability. Unrest in remote areas of the country over the last couple of years has caused great losses to the tourism sector in Pakistan.
“I was strictly advised by friends and family not to visit Pakistan. Some even showed media reports suggesting Pakistan was not a safe place. But, I found many, almost 90 percent of those reports incorrect, fabricated and exaggerated,” she said.
Dilshah said Pakistan needed to be portrayed correctly. It is not being properly represented by international media.
She firmly said that she would approach various news’ organisations back home and request them to show Pakistan’s mountains, lakes, rivers, deserts and diverse culture. “It is for sure media would get immense feedback even if they informed the people only on Saiful Malook.”
She said “Western media is always very quick to report anything that occurs far away in remote areas of Pakistan. It takes no time to present negative picture of Pakistan. But, why it is not able to see Pakistan’s hospitable people, scenic sites, serene valleys, gushing rivers, five mountain peaks each with the height of over 8000 metres vast deserts and archaeological heritage is a question that has not been answered by the Western media.
Westerners love to travel; they religiously enjoy holidays and they could come here in large numbers if told that they would stay safe in Pakistan,” she said.
The current season is remarkable for tourism with tourist attraction sites hosting unprecedented number of nature lovers both local and foreigners.
Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation is making strenuous efforts to promote tourism.
It annouces some packages to motivate the countrymen to explore their beautiful country.
“Presently, we are trying to boost domestic tourism as we believe its domestic tourism that trigger foreign tourism,” Mukhtyar, Deputy Manager Media said.
He said PTDC has taken a number of steps to present a positive
picture of the country at international level.
He, however, urged the national media to support PTDC efforts to promote spectacular sites of Pakistan and also counter propaganda being hatched by the Western media.
He said media’s role would be instrumental in encouraging people to go out for recreation.
“I saw pictures and description about Saiful Malook on PTDC website and decided to go there,” she said, but was too excited to express her feelings about Saiful Malook.
“It’s really hard for me to describe its beauty in words, but I just want to say that God has put a piece of Paradise on the Earth,” she said when asked how she would compare Saif-ul-Malook with other lakes in the world.
The folk tales about Prince Saiful Malook after whom the lake has been named and Princes Badru Jamal may appear illogical to many, but not to Dilshad at least.
Since she was not good at Urdu, she requested her Pakistani guide to translate into English for her benefit those interesting stories as told by the natives about Prince and the Princes.
She was disappointed to see so many left-over items:
plastic bags, tin packs, papers, bottles etc. irresponsibly thrown by the visitors around the lake that marred its beauty.
She said Pakistan was a gem of the world in the sector of tourism.
“If managed and marketed effectively your tourism could earn a huge revenue…look at Maldives, Sri Lanka, Tanzania and many other countries including Europeans which are simply nothing when compared with Pakistan in terms of tourism potential.”
She said if those countries had attained great success why Pakistan could not do it.
Pakistan’s rich tourism industry is confronted with two major challenges: financial and security. A very small amount of money is earmarked for tourism in the national budget. It is not possible for Tourism Ministry to make both ends meet in such a situation.
Promotion, campaign, efforts etc. all need money which is not being provided. Besides this, active participation of private sector is also crucial if the government desires to develop tourism.
The government cannot do it all alone.
Yet, all these efforts would go in vain if law and order at home continued to threaten peace and stability. Unrest in remote areas of the country over the last couple of years has caused great losses to the tourism sector in Pakistan.
“I was strictly advised by friends and family not to visit Pakistan. Some even showed media reports suggesting Pakistan was not a safe place. But, I found many, almost 90 percent of those reports incorrect, fabricated and exaggerated,” she said.
Dilshah said Pakistan needed to be portrayed correctly. It is not being properly represented by international media.
She firmly said that she would approach various news’ organisations back home and request them to show Pakistan’s mountains, lakes, rivers, deserts and diverse culture. “It is for sure media would get immense feedback even if they informed the people only on Saiful Malook.”
She said “Western media is always very quick to report anything that occurs far away in remote areas of Pakistan. It takes no time to present negative picture of Pakistan. But, why it is not able to see Pakistan’s hospitable people, scenic sites, serene valleys, gushing rivers, five mountain peaks each with the height of over 8000 metres vast deserts and archaeological heritage is a question that has not been answered by the Western media.
Westerners love to travel; they religiously enjoy holidays and they could come here in large numbers if told that they would stay safe in Pakistan,” she said.
The current season is remarkable for tourism with tourist attraction sites hosting unprecedented number of nature lovers both local and foreigners.
Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation is making strenuous efforts to promote tourism.
It annouces some packages to motivate the countrymen to explore their beautiful country.
“Presently, we are trying to boost domestic tourism as we believe its domestic tourism that trigger foreign tourism,” Mukhtyar, Deputy Manager Media said.
He said PTDC has taken a number of steps to present a positive
picture of the country at international level.
He, however, urged the national media to support PTDC efforts to promote spectacular sites of Pakistan and also counter propaganda being hatched by the Western media.
He said media’s role would be instrumental in encouraging people to go out for recreation.
Great article, great review! I’m so glad that in a mean world like this one, sometimes we can relax in the nature…