Crossing Pakistan

The question was practically inevitable: "Why Pakistan?". Marco Rizzini , a traveler for passion and a spirit of adventure, heard it repeated dozens of times before setting out to discover one of the most unknown countries in the world. In fact, for more than twenty years Pakistan has completely gone off the routes of international tourism. After 11 September and the Twin Towers he ended up on the list of "bad guys" because the notorious Taliban enjoyed hiding places and support in Pakistani territory. Well, Marco Rizzini at one point wanted to see with his own eyes the "bad kingdom", this rogue state ostracized especially in the West, because the Chinese are doing good deals there.

Armed with a backpack, curiosity, ability to adapt and accompanied by his girlfriend Federica and his friend Roberto , he set out to discover a world known mostly through stereotypes, often negative. Thus was born the story of "Pakistan Dreaming" (Ediciclo Editore, 2022, pp. 224), a travel diary and at the same time an encounter with the truest and deepest soul of the Pakistani people.

Let's face it right away, before anyone thinks of booking a plane ticket to Karachi or Islamabad: traveling to Pakistan is not a walk for the unwary and it is good to forget resorts or villages model Dubai or Sharm El-Sheik.

Marco Rizzini and his companions found themselves crossing a territory unaccustomed to tourists for decades, with the exception of the areas not far from the "8000", the highest mountains in the world. They had to deal with roads for goats to travel by car, with the scorching heat of the plains, with the heat and smog of the metropolises and with the freezing temperatures of the mountain areas. At times they felt like strangers, looked at as aliens or, worse, as enemies from the West. In most cases, however, they have been able to count on the legendary hospitality of the Pakistanis, a people who have welcomed Marco, Federica and Roberto on many occasions as guests of honor, to be respected, honored and fondled. As the author says, the inhabitants of Pakistan proved to be " people who opened their hearts to us without compromise ". And in that heart laid bare with simplicity and trust Marco Rizzini saw the testimonies of a people proud of themselves, of their nation - "Pakistan zindabad!", "Long live Pakistan!" is the slogan that makes all Pakistanis gloat - and of their own armed forces, an indispensable bulwark against the ever-present enemy, neighboring India. And in the heart of Pakistanis there is a world where religion is the founding pillar of modern Pakistan and traditions represent the glue of an entire people.

In short, Rizzini tells us about an ancient country and at the same time very young - more than sixty percent of the population is under thirty! - and vital, poised between the modernity of smartphones with which to take selfies at full blast, the song of the muezzins who call to Islamic prayer and the electricity that comes and goes only for certain hours in rural and mountain areas. A country, however, that deserves to be discovered and that Marco Rizzini was able to tell in his book with the humility of a curious explorer : trying as much as possible to leave prejudices aside and letting himself be guided by the desire to confront and listen to a different point of view, almost disconcerting in its cultural diversity compared to Western trappings. In the end - and it is the deepest message of "Pakistan Dreaming" - wherever human beings meet, human curiosity towards each other is encountered. own little world.