Swat in Pakistan...

Known as Heaven on Earth. I went here in April this year and OMG its breathtaking.....

Here some pictures..

That picture of the waterfall......stunning.

Nora have you got family there ?

Yeah Moz my Moms family is from here. But to be honest although the place is beautiful and the women their lives are very sad. People are poor here and Swat has become known for the selling of the women.

As the women are so beautiful they are sold by their parents to rich merchants and men. I mean in a way its a escape for the women as they get to live in better homes etc, but sometimes they are sold really young and are abused.

My Great Grandparents left Swat because of this, they disliked this tradition. They moved to Peshawer where my Dads family lived.

My Dads family do originate from Afghanistan but since the War the few that were left there came to Pakistan too.

Nice set of pictures Nora. It look really tranquel.

Its amazing Cruiser. I use to get up and just stare at this all morning taking pictures etc, the people there thought I was on Drugs

It looks really beautiful. What did they make of you?

Truthy wrote:

What did they make of you?

Thankfully they didn't make a casserole.

Truthy they made me into a Casserole... Who would have thought

Oh I just saw Dayus message

I was on about what the locals made of you as a westerner with roots in the area.

Nora wrote:

Oh I just saw Dayus message

Hahahaha.

Nora, It looks beautiful and it reminds me of the mountains in murree I looked on line for some photo's and saw someones blog of a beautiful hotel in the middle of the swaat valley, what a place

Thanks for the pictures,Nora,I would love to visit,Im interested to hear about the culture of the country and your experience of it

Truthy wrote:

I was on about what the locals made of you as a westerner with roots in the area.

Basically Truthy the view of Westerners is the same around most of Pakistan.

Firstly they think you are flithy rich. We use to get so many people coming up to us BEGGING for money. I mean they wanted "Pounds" not "Rupees"

The Guys think that us Western Women are "Jackpots" You get the Girl, the Passport the Life.

With me is I was raised with both Western culture but also my Parents Culture. But a lot of young westerners go to Pakistan and act a little snobish. I dont know why, I mean Look at the pictures they have the beautiful scenry.

I got on with most people, But I am really outspoken and so did speak up about how it was wrong that they sold their daughters. I dont think they liked this. But it had to be said.

Besides this they did think I was a little loopy, I loved walking, where as they love riding in cars etc, I loved the scenry, they just saw it as Mountains and Green, I loved living in the Villages, they loved the City. I loved the arts and crafts and ornaments, they loved money.

But you do get treated like royalty when you go shopping. They think your rich so they offer you a seat and drinks etc. Was nice.

I loved it, It was just a shame that we couldnt travel to Afghan as it was dangerous crossing the border.