News Desk |
Marsha Jean, 21, a female Chinese traveller is currently on her visit to Pakistan to explore the cultural heritage and scenic landscape of Pakistan. Hailing from Hong Kong, Marsha Jean also hold Australian citizenship as well. Jean, is on the mission to travel and photograph Pakistan through hitchhiking and cycling.
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Talking to a local news outlet, she stated that she has travelled to several countries of the world in the same way. Jean, had first travelled to Australia when she was 18, where she worked in the hotel and save enough money to travel across the world.
Read more: Pakistan’s image building & tourism go hand in hand
“When I was 18, I travelled to Australia on my pocket money. My original plan was to travel for only two months but as I journeyed across and met other travellers, I realised how easy it was for me to travel.”
Before coming to Pakistan, she has travelled across South-east Asia, Nepal, Iran, Iraqi Kurdistan and Turkey, Morocco and Central Asian states of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. From Turkey, she reached Greece where while working as a volunteer for refugee organization she heard about Pakistan. Crossing the Balkans all the way from Greece, she reached France and from there she flew to the United Kingdom.
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Marsha Jean stated that she visited the United Kingdom to apply visa for Pakistan.
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“In Greece, I heard about Pakistan and how amazing it was as a travel destination… hence I decided to fulfill my dream,” she says. She entered Pakistan in October 2018, went to the north first and then cycled her way through to the south.
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Jean, initially decided to stay 45 days in Pakistan but is now planning to extend her stay to six-months due to immense hospitality given to her by the people of Pakistan.
“I have enjoyed my time in Pakistan so far, it has been four months now and I have cycled all around northern areas and visited places such as Malam Jabba, Peshawar, Taxila, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Naltar Ski Tournament, Jhelum, Lahore to Multan, Bahawalpur and the Cholistan desert jeep rally,” Marsha says.. “I’m invited and taken care of by locals, almost everywhere I went.”
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“The people of Karachi are a special breed… open-minded and have a lot of drive for life. I have visited the beaches, walked through old town Saddar and even cycled to Lyari.”
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She has always visited the Hingol National Park, Balochistan and Rani Kot Fort in Sindh.
Marsha Jeans said that her visit to Pakistan has greatly altered her perceptions about the country that is otherwise assumed as a highly war-torn country.
Read more: Safaa In Transit – Travelling Pakistan and Beyond
“After meeting other Pakistanis on the streets, I got to know that they are friendly, and the country has such a rich culture… archaeological sites, including the Buddhist monasteries of Taxila in Punjab and Takht-i-Bahi in Mardan, the Hindu monastery of Tilla Jogian that used to be home to the yogis (gypsies) before partition.”
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She also appreciated the visa relaxation policy by the current government. She says she is thinking to return to Pakistan by the end of this year.