PAKISTAN AND CLARE BRETT SMITH

MEN AND BOYS, WOMEN AND CHILDREN, PAKISTAN 1979 is a book which is a combo of portfolio and travelouge written by Clare B. Smith while visiting Pakistan some 30 years ago. This book was published in 2010 and according to the author, "The photographs look as though they were taken two hundred years ago, not thirty years. Today it is one of the world’s most dangerous spots, bordering Afghanistan, it’s a tribal land and never, I think, very peaceful."

Some of the excerpts from her memoirs that interest me and make sense within the Pakistani context include her explaination of how being a 'middle -aged' woman gave her the liberty to do and go anywhere...

Her narrative of the trip to Gilgit, Hunza and Yasin is the most intersting because it touches my heart too and because I have  personally lived in Giglit and travelled ( a few placesz) in this region in 1980s. The friendliness of the local people and their smiling faces was one thing that I personally experienced some 20 years ago...I have heard that a lot has changed in Gilgit and Baltistan, I hope that in their case: this change is a positive one.

Anyhow, Ms. Smith further wrote that her desire to further see the great mountains such as  K2, Nanga Parbat and Rakaposhi - thousands of feet above them and the orchards so far below, made their strenuous journey up the KKH exhilarating.

This book is a good read and fantastic photographs of Pakistan and Pakistanies some 30 years ago give us an idea about how things have or have not changed at all.