Manchester to Pakistan on PIA

[turbotraker]

Better late than never, here is my trip to Lahore and the Himalayas on Pakistan's nation airline:

I decided that this year my annual trip to PK would be by the national airline. After a not so good experience with Etihad last year and a really bad trip with Emirates the year before, it was time for a change.

For the first time, I pushed out the boat and opted for business class, first time for everything? Booked my ticket for the 7th May.

Upon arriving at Manchester Airport T2, realised this was going to be a very quiet and under booked flight. In the back of my mind I was hoping that I would be flying on AP-BID, PIA's newest addition.

Checkin was smooth. Made my way to the 'Gazelle' lounge for some refreshments. The not so young lady at reception welcomed me in and said, PIA will call me when it is boarding time and I will notify you.

Must say the lounge was on the small side, got bored with it very quickly.

My call came through, arrived at the gate to find people had boarded already. That's when I saw through the window and realised it was AP-BID.

As I sat down, I was greeted very warmly by the cabin crew. I was to to make myself comfortable anywhere as I was the only one in Business class today.

I proceeded to get my camera out to grab a few shots before departure. Only to be met by the cabin crew and told 'sorry there is no photography allowed on board'. Quick as a flash :uhoh: I explained to him that I was going to do a review of this flight for website and needed photos to illustrate my trip. He soon warmed to the idea when I showed him some photos of PIA's 747's. He gave me the OK.


[photoid=6252574]

taken whilst I was on the flight:

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Take off was on time and very smooth. We quickly reached our cruising altitude, that's when the waft of the Pakistani cuisine started to drift through the cabin. Was looking forward to the food. The stewardess gave me a hot towel followed by a clear veg soup.
Then came 3 tier trolley with 9 dishes. She said you may sample any or all of the dishes.
From what I can remember there was, beef Karahi, Chicken Karahi, veg curry, fish karahi, fish curry, medley of veg, keema kebabs in tomato sauce and another veg dish.

This was my choice:

http://img258.imageshack.us/img258/3871/inflightmealbt6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Not long after eating, I fell asleep, woke up around an hour before landing. The seats very very comfortable.

One of my favorite photos taken in Lahore. I was stood on the rooftops trying to photograph any incoming to Lahore when i spotting this young lad enjoying himself:

http://img258.imageshack.us/img258/5721/lahkidip8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

I managed to talk my two cousins into flying into the mountains of Pakistan, after not so much persuasion, they agreed. They had never flown before.

I rang PIA's call center and booked 3 tickets to Gilgit (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilgit), located just off the Karakoram highway (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karakoram_Highway), the highest paved international road in the world!!!

I didn't like the rules of the fare but had to adhere to them: We had to travel to the capital Islamabad and be at the PIA office in the centre at least 24 hours before your flight. We did that and were told the flight for the day after was confirmed. We paid, spent the night at a friends and proceeded to the Islamabad's Airport on the morning of 22nd May. Upon arriving at the airport the we were advised that the Gilgit flight had been canceled due to bad weather.

I immediately re-booked our flights to another mountain town of Skardu. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skardu)
It was a very nervous 1hour wait for confirmation.

Caught this at Islamabad b4 takeoff:

http://img266.imageshack.us/img266/3478/mg1091dt1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

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Some scenic in flight photos

http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/1676/apbcfmountainsmt4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/4545/apbcfmountains3da1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img384.imageshack.us/img384/7811/apbcfmountains2er2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

My two cousins were pretty frightened at first, especially when they realised we were above the clouds...

Anyway.....

Arriving at Skardu, I caught:

[photoid=6317627]

A few photos of the holiday complex where we stayed:

The Shangrila hotel resort

http://img370.imageshack.us/img370/169/shangrilarpc2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img370.imageshack.us/img370/9179/shangrilaresortaz8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

This is a cafe (http://www.flickr.com/photos/mbukhari/47680503/) made from an aircraft that crashed in a Skardu valley:

http://img370.imageshack.us/img370/1889/paaforientca8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Some photos of mountains/stream/lakes/rivers:



http://img75.imageshack.us/img75/469/mountainviewbo7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img211.imageshack.us/img211/4403/manfishingfortroutnp2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/4896/img8195x2ro1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img56.imageshack.us/img56/4814/riverrt9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img370.imageshack.us/img370/4375/mountaineditedao0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

This is Lake Satpara a 'little oasis in the mountains'. Unfortunately this little Eden will disappear within the next 2 years as this whole valley will be flooded to provide much needed electricity for Pakistan.

http://img266.imageshack.us/img266/5264/lakesatparaju9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img370.imageshack.us/img370/2264/satparade8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img266.imageshack.us/img266/9815/satpara2oq8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

After a day or so of rest, we moved on by road further up into the mountains to wards a small village called Khaplu. Some of the locals we met. The people of this village were very shy and didn't want to be on camera, we managed to bribe the children with sweets to get some shots. The two elderly gentlemen agreed after some persuasions:

http://img266.imageshack.us/img266/4571/2oldmenvf5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img266.imageshack.us/img266/8085/3littlegirlsnr1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img384.imageshack.us/img384/6758/littlegirlsam0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img384.imageshack.us/img384/6130/youngboysweetsjr8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Unfortunately the time and weather beat us from traveling further the the Kalash Valleys, but I managed to photograph this beautiful picture in our Hotel:

http://img56.imageshack.us/img56/9527/kalashgirlvi0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Our PTDC hotel:

http://img266.imageshack.us/img266/1933/ptdchotelzh3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

A couple of rickety bridges we had to cross, I opted to walk across and let the jeep follow after I had crossed...

http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/9549/img8193qv9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img266.imageshack.us/img266/4008/bridgesx7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img56.imageshack.us/img56/7008/crookybrigewe7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Our return air trip was also canceled for 4 days!! We had to look for alternatives modes of transport. The only one we found was a 30 seat minibus, and get this, a 27 hour drive through winding mountain roads. I was too shit scared to take any photos as I was too busy clinging onto anything I could.

All too soon my holiday was over, I flew back on AP-BHV

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http://img354.imageshack.us/img354/6756/apbhvyl4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

I hope your happy with this Chris, told you I would finally get round to doing it.

Please enjoy!!

[RingwaySam]

Great review mate - It looks like an amazing place. Food looks good aswell!

[turbotraker]

Great review mate - It looks like an amazing place. Food looks good aswell!

Cheers Sam, it was great. Fortunately there are places in Northern Pakistan where the extremist have not taken over. Hopefully places like Skardu will still welcome visitors for decades to come.

Will be off on my next jaunt in January 2009, expect another review sometime after.

Thanks for reading

[uy707]

Nice report and delightful pictures :clap::clap: Trailing behind you was a pleasure.

About the DC.3, I read again recently a report published by Propeliner, the British quartely focusing on classic propeller driven airliners and transports.
Got some more in
http://www.pbase.com/image/3910661

[BoeingKing77]

Nice trip report;was that all the food you got on the flight?

[scottkin]

Fantastic pictures. Some of the best I've seen on a trip report. Great job!!

[turbotraker]

Thank you all for the comments.

Nice trip report;was that all the food you got on the flight?

No it wasn't but I think I had already started to tuck b4 I rembered to take photos :shakehea:. Iam sure I got some more pics somewhere, will have a look.


About the DC.3, I read again recently a report published by Propeliner, the British quartely focusing on classic propeller driven airliners and transports.

Got some more in

http://www.pbase.com/image/3910661

Cheers for link Alain, you have reminded me that I did promise the lads on Historyofpia.com (http://www.historyofpia.com/) that I would do them a trip report aswell.

[turbotraker]

More photos:

http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/7025/inflightmeal2bk4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img116.imageshack.us/img116/7432/inflightmealrx2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img116.imageshack.us/img116/1767/cabinvc0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

On our approach to Skardu Airport:

http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/9051/wingshotqk2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[BoeingKing77]

Ok yeah I was gonna say........

[uy707]

My pleasure

Those late-comers are worth the wait, thanks for adding them.

[z740]

I hope your happy with this Chris, told you I would finally get round to doing it.

Well I can most definitely say that it was well worth the wait. Sounds like you had an excellent trip to your home country. An excellent TR indeed! :clap: :D

-Chris

[Foxtrot]

Great flight review and supplementary photos, I enjoyed reading it.

[turbotraker]

Great flight review and supplementary photos, I enjoyed reading it.

Thanks for reading it. Look out for another report in the new year!

[jid]

An excellent report indeed Murtaza, well worth the read and good images.

Jid

[turbotraker]

An excellent report indeed Murtaza, well worth the read and good images.

Jid

Thank you for reading my report.:smile:

[trooper]

Thoroughly enjoyed it! Not a part of the world I'm ever likely to get to... :nonono:

Had to chuckle a bit at the C-130.... all camouflage - except for the tail!:-D

[turbotraker]

Thoroughly enjoyed it! Not a part of the world I'm ever likely to get to... :nonono:

Had to chuckle a bit at the C-130.... all camouflage - except for the tail!:-D

Lol, I think that tail is part of a thank you to the world for help during the devastating earthquake in northern Pakistan a few years ago. Glad they have kept it.

Thanks for reading. Maybe one day Pakistan will be safe for all visitors, maybe. :-)

[Crunk415balla]

Great report and pics, loved reading it. Exciting approaches it looks like.

Bad flight with EK? That surprises me, most people rave about them. What happened?

[turbotraker]

Great report and pics, loved reading it. Exciting approaches it looks like.

Bad flight with EK? That surprises me, most people rave about them. What happened?

Booked my ticket through an agent. Baggage allowance for MAN to Lahore is 30kilos on all 4 legs. My ticket e-ticket printed 20kilos. I went back to agent and queried it with him. He said, yes that it is a mistake and that is should be 30kilos. He phoned through to Emirates in London to have the correct baggage allowance issued. Emirates replied 'there will be a £35 ticket change fee to be paid first'. So the agent said to me I would have the pay the fee b4 the ticket was changed.
I tried to explain that this was NOT MY MISTAKE, and that it was Emirates/agent mistake. He was having non of it. I ended up emailing Emirates corporate. They stated that to change the ticket, a fee would have to be paid. BUT as it wasn't not my fault, they will do the necessary changes.

I am Vegetarian, I made sure the booking agent was aware of that when I booked my flight. On my e-ticket it mentioned to provide a veggie meal on all 4 legs of my journey.

On my outward leg from MAN to Dubai, there was no Veggie meal. I explained that I had pre-ordered it. The stewardess accused me of making a mistake at booking. When I showed her my e-ticket, she was somewhat embarrassed. She went on the defensive and said here is the food, move the chicken to the side and eat the rice!!! I asked her to take it away.

So on the outward leg (6.30hrs) all I had was a little bun and tea/biscuit.

Return was OK as I made sure I went to Emirates in Lahore.

I decided to try Etihad last year, that's another long story..........

Will by flying PIA again in January.

Thanks for reading my report.