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partialbirthabortion · 1 year

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Hey! Where did you visit in Pakistan? I'm going to live in Turkey for a few months next year and I have family friends visiting Karachi at the same time.. they invited me to fly there to meet up with them (they're originally from Karachi so familiar and can show me around) so I was thinking about doing that + being solo there for a bit. But I'm not very familiar culturally, I'm in my mid 20s and female, and my family friends were happy to invite me but sort of perplexed by my wanting to and essentially said it would be really challenging for any US tourist. I've been India before and that point will have also lived in Morocco for a few months.. but they have me feeling hesitant about it.. just wondering what your experience was like

Hey! This trip I was in Karachi, Islamabad and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa near the Afghan border, but I've also done Lahore, Mohenja-daro, Balochistan and also to Wagah for the border ceremony! Gilgit and Hunza Valley are on my list. I lived in Karachi for several years and graduated high school there, and my parents still live and work there, so I'm very culturally competent and my listening comprehension for Urdu is, like, passable enough especially once I've been back in the country for a few days; all this to say, my experience there is definitely different than yours will be! If you have spent significant time in Muslim-majority countries like Turkey and Morocco, and also have been to India, I think you are more likely to have a comfortable time than most. You'll frankly probably land and think, yeah this feels like South Asia but Muslim, and you'll have a good grasp pretty much right away.

Many people will stare at you. Many people will talk about you openly. Many people will ask for pictures with you or take pictures of you WITHOUT asking (for the record, I say yes to women and children and no to men without women or children around, because men will touch you in ways I KNOW are culturally taboo while taking a photo). There's no queuing culture and can be a lot of shoving. Traffic will feel tremendously hazardous. There are not very many women out and about in most places, especially outside of cities. Pakistan is very poor and petty theft is very common. You have probably experienced all of these things before and will be totally fine! People are very genuinely excited to meet you and are hugely hospitable. It can be a lot of fun and a really wonderful experience depending on your own risk tolerance.

I will say, having lived there, there just isn't a ton to do in Karachi besides eat. It's a desert on the ocean. It's incredibly hot, it's dirty, it's infrastructure is old and during monsoon sewage washes back onto the street. It's not a tourist city at all. If your family friends live in Defense, it will feel wealthier and more westernized, and if they live in KDA or Clifton, it will feel a little less so.

In Karachi I would suggest: The Mohatta Palace Museum, Empress Market (for the bazaar experience), one of those good barbecue places on the beach, Jinnah's tomb, renting a beach hut on one of the semi-private beaches for a day (and riding a camel or convincing a performer to let you hold a mongoose), Javed Nihari and if you do absolutely no other street food (which will often make you sick tbf), you HAVE to go to Yusuf Kebab and get a bun kebab special.

In Karachi I would AVOID: going to the public beach. Do NOT do this, if your family friends are Pakistani they might not guess how bad it gets, but do NOT go to the public beach as a foreign woman. I have been three times and was sexually assaulted all three times, and have never had it happen to me anywhere else in Pakistan. You draw an immediate big crowd and it gets really dodgy.

As for solo traveling, I have solo traveled in Lahore and it was great! It's feels like a grand Mughal city, a beautiful blend of architecture, historical sites, good food, and juuust enough tourist infrastructure to be accessible. I stayed in a hostel and had an amazing time, never felt unsafe, and liked some of my roommates so much we went out together several times. Islamabad is beautiful and very safe (crawling with foreigners) but it doesn't feel like the rest of Pakistan at all, and it can be really expensive. It's the only place I would suggest going into the mountains as a solo traveler (The Monal is an amazing mountain top restaurant) although I hear Hunza Valley can be okay during tourist season. Mohenja-daro would be totally fine but I don't know if they're open since the flooding earlier this year. You could do Wagah as a day trip from Lahore but it's a big time suck and there's nothing to do besides the very short border ceremony. I would definitely NOT go to KPK or Balochistan as a solo female.

#probably much longer than you wanted but I hope if you go you have a good time!!

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danwhobrowses · 3 years

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One Piece Chapter 1026 - Initial Thoughts

And we return The weeks always feel longer without it but One Piece is back from its big 3-part colour spread and a well-earned rest for Oda

But now we return to the Dragon Action, taking it by the ball Z Or something along those lines

Spoilers for the Chapter, Support the Official Release as Well

A sweet Nami cover this time, making a fashion line with Leo in the style of Bell-mere's Sunflower/Lion design - which tbf could've been Thousand Sunny foreshadowing now that I think about it

Man, the Flower Capital is just a big bowl for Onigashima isn't it? I wonder if Onigashima was originally where the Flower Capital was, and when it was thrown into the ocean they built the Flower Capital from the remains

Hitetsu's worrying about Tama, even though he could've easily been competent enough to fight, but I guess someone has to look after Toko - where's Onimaru btw?

Even more ominous is that Onigashima isn't too far from the Flower Capital now

One of the eye print spies who can broadcast seems to be at the scene of the dragons, able to confirm that there are two dragons, one's being rode by Luffy and Yamato has been fighting Kaido

Luffy does want to encourage Momo to do Dragon Things but he's still being unsure about himself, deciding to dodge the Blast Breath rather than fire one of his own

Quietly, Luffy tells Momo to do something, something he's not entirely sure about, but Luffy's already off to hammer down a Gear Third Elephant Gun

Bite Kaido!? That's a Luffy and a Goku move there, when in doubt bite your enemy

Momo's reluctant, but then memories of Oden Castle steel his nerves

Crazy sonofabitch did it, Kozuki Momonosuke just bit the Yonko Kaido, and boy did Kaido not see that coming

Though it's not doing as much damage as hoped, but when Kaido stares him down Momo stares right back

Yamato looks to come rescue Momo but Luffy's back with the conqueror's punch

Ah shit, the dragons have clouded up the Moon again, meaning that Inu and Neko have been pushed back to their normal forms at the mercy of Perospero and Jack

Oh man Jack's hybrid form just keeps looking worse, he has a whole mammoth's ass

Pero you should really not gloat about having luck

Carrot honey you need to contribute more in this fight please, it hurts to see you go to waste

The performance floor still is getting the broadcast from the transmission guy, where Momo's name is clearly heard to identify the safety of the young lord to the allies

Luffy got a point, if Momo can bite a Yonko what's he scared of now

Yamato is just enjoying the ride at this point

As Luffy encourages Momo to stop Onigashima, Zoro and Sanji show disbelief that they're talking about Momo

Once more Luffy stands his ground, declaring he will defeat Kaido

I wonder if BM lowkey respects Luffy at this point, or if she's just laughing it all off

Kid's 'fuckin' better' gets me though XD dude went from wanting to take Kaido's head to letting Luffy do it

Law too just pulling his passive aggressive comments

For the rest of the alliance, spirits are high, mainly out of relief that Momo and Luffy are indeed alive

Kaido though is back in his hybrid form, ready to challenge Luffy once again

Apt that Luffy says 'anything can happen' because the two Conqueror's clash parts the skies just like WB/Shanks and Kaido/BM did, the transmission guy is KO'd and the clash parts the heavens, letting the moon shine in

I'd say Perospero is about to eat his words but with that fatass tongue of his it's a surprise he can eat anything

Citing Oden Nitoryu, though clearly not using Nitoryu, Inu and Neko defeat Pero and Jack. I think Pero's candy arm has shattered too

Orochi get your bitch ass out of hiding so we can finish that last head off!

So we're back to Luffy vs Kaido now, which is great, I'm curious though what Yamato will now do though, maybe help Momo with stopping Onigashima from falling? Dunno how but it could work out.

Luffy definitely should get props for sparking confidence in Momo, telling him to bite Kaido was childish on the surface but it also served as a motivation for Momo to act his newfound age.

While I'm not surprised that Inu and Neko won, I am still let down that Carrot doesn't get the final blow on Perospero, since she was most affected by witnessing Pedro's death. I dunno I think I just want more from her, especially since I think she'd be cool in the Nakama. Considering that in Whole Cake she successfully outwitted and defeated 3 of BM's children including Daifuku, plus Randolph a high ranking Homie also plus any of Kaido's gifters during their skirmish at Zou, she deserves some props.

Orochi's return to the field could spell bad things for Inu though, I still think he's gonna die but it's gonna suck if it's thanks to Orochi rather than in combat. At the moment though he seems to want to keep his distance, probably looking for a safe way off the island, but we should definitely be wary of him for the time being.

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