Hunza Expedia 2.89

Tourists visit at the Baltit Fort in Karimabad, a town of northern Hunza valley. After a slump in tourism that has lasted more than a decade, the streets of Karimabad in Pakistan’s idyllic northern Hunza Valley are bursting once again with visitors enjoying the city’s sights and sounds — but the locals aren’t happy.

KARIMABAD (AFP) – After a slump in foreign visitors triggered by a deadly attack last year, a new wave of local sightseers has saved tourism in Pakistan’s idyllic northern Hunza Valley — but not everyone is happy.

Though there are no official figures, hotel owners say large numbers of domestic tourists are visiting in unprecedented numbers, heading north to escape the sizzling heat of summer that lasts well into October.

In the Valley’s main town of Karimabad, they snap pictures at the ancient Baltit Fort, a resplendent 1st-century redoubt from where they can take in breathtaking views of lush forests and snow-capped peaks that have attracted the best climbers from around the world.

International tourism once helped shape the Gilgit-Baltistan region but it has slowed to a trickle after the killing of 10 foreign climbers at the base camp of Nanga Parbat mountain last year ended a post 9/11 revival.

In their place have come visitors from eastern Punjab, and the city of Karachi, thanks mainly to a well-publicised TV campaign.

Though their business is both welcome and vital, cultural differences also highlight the growing gap between the religiously conservative south and traditionally secular north, according to observers.

Some complain the local guests can be disrespectful toward the liberal traditions that have long set the area apart from the rest of the country, and are prone to spoiling the region’s natural beauty by littering.

Others say they don’t spend as much as foreign tourists.

“This year there are no foreigners, only Pakistanis and the Pakistanis don’t buy things from here as they don’t need it,” said Saddar Karim, who owns a forlorn-looking trekking shop, adding Pakistanis usually are interested in climbing.