Tourism in Pakistan's Disputed Region 🇵🇰

[00:00:00]This right here, ladies and gentlemen, is permission to enter the restricted region of Kashmir. I pulled a lot of strings to get these pieces of paper.

[00:00:08]And today, we're finally going to Kashmir here in Pakistan, a place that has a ton of history, a ton of conflict, and we're going to go and see what it's all about. We're going to be very close to India. There was a little bit of a war last year between the two countries.

[00:00:23]A few shellings, a few bombings going on in the region. But we're going to go and see what Kashmir is like here in Pakistan. So let's make our way there.

[00:00:32]But first, let's give a little bit of history about why this region has so much conflict. In 1947, when Britain divided the Indian subcontinent, the princely state of Kashmir was left in limbo. with a Hindu ruler governing a majority Muslim population bordering both India and Pakistan. He couldn't decide whether to join India or Pakistan. War broke out and he ultimately signed a session to India.

[00:00:56]Pakistan never accepted it. The result, a line drawn through the mountains called the line of control, separating Indian administered Kashmir from this side, Azad Kashmir, administered by Pakistan. And 75 years later, both countries still claim it all.

[00:01:11]Alamikum brother.

[00:01:13]>> How are you, bro? Good.

[00:01:14]>> Aka aa very very good.

[00:01:19]So we go to Kashmir.

[00:01:21]>> Yes.

[00:01:21]>> It's about a 3 and 1/2 hour drive to get to the main city of Kashmir. What is the name? Muz Muzafur. Muzaf. Muzurbad. So that's the main city there. Once we're there, then we'll be able to explore.

[00:01:36]We'll be able to see what it is. First we have to get out of the very secure Serena Hotel. It's like a compound in here.

[00:01:46]>> Welcome to Kashmir.

[00:01:50]Our first police checkpoint. This is where the paperwork comes in handy.

[00:01:53]Everyone, >> how are you?

[00:01:57]>> I'm good. How are you?

[00:02:00]>> Thank you.

[00:02:01]>> N ticket. All good.

[00:02:04]>> You are married. Unmarried?

[00:02:06]>> Single.

[00:02:07]>> Single. Unfortunately, inshallah.

[00:02:09]Inshallah. But I want to find Pakistani wife. Where do I find her?

[00:02:14]>> Inshah.

[00:02:14]>> Maybe in Kashmir I find Pakistani wife.

[00:02:17]>> Yes. Yes. In part.

[00:02:18]>> Okay. People all done. Obviously this region super volatile. You know a lot of things going on on the outskirts of Pakistan's borders with their neighbors.

[00:02:30]You know Kashmir is an interesting place I want to learn a lot more about. But it kind of is an autonomous zone. It is to an extent self-governing and they do from my understanding want independence from the country. Uh whether they'll get that we will see but we are officially in Azad Kashmir and I actually haven't said the word Azad yet which means Azad or Azad.

[00:02:55]>> Azad Kashmir >> Azad. Azad means free right?

[00:02:58]>> Yes free.

[00:02:59]>> So uh the free Kashmir. We are now in Kashmir everyone.

[00:03:12]We have made it to Mazafabad. That's a that's a tongue twister. Mazaf Mazafarabad. But this is the biggest city in Kashmir, I believe. And it's very mountainous. The good thing is we are a little bit higher than is Lumbod where we started this journey.

[00:03:29]I guess it's going the wrong way. And that means it's a little bit cooler. I really hope today we can actually meet a lot of people and ask questions because I have a lot of questions about the history of this place. Why are India and Pakistan fighting for this land? A lot of questions about the people of Kashmir. What is life like here? What do people of Kashmir like want? Do you want to be like independent? I'm interested in hearing what the people here in Kashmir have to say. I've not met a whole lot of Kashmiris in my life. So, I'm sure now that we're here in Kashmir that is going to change. So, let's get to the hotel and then we'll go out and explore a little bit the streets.

[00:04:02]How are you?

[00:04:03]>> I'm good. What about you?

[00:04:04]>> I'm good. I'm good. I have a reservation for one night.

[00:04:06]>> All right. With the name of >> Luke.

[00:04:08]>> So, how was your journey?

[00:04:09]>> Very good. Are you from Kashmir?

[00:04:11]>> Yeah, I'm from Kashmir.

[00:04:12]>> Is life good here?

[00:04:13]>> Yeah.

[00:04:13]>> It's like nice in the mountains.

[00:04:16]>> Very good.

[00:04:16]>> Would you like to have some drinks, please?

[00:04:19]>> Thank you. What is it?

[00:04:20]>> Apple juice.

[00:04:21]>> Apple juice.

[00:04:24]>> Right.

[00:04:26]>> Wow. Very, very good. It's like actual fresh apple juice.

[00:04:31]How are we going?

[00:04:32]>> Good, good. My name is Abas. I'm the hotel manager.

[00:04:35]>> Amazing. Nice to meet you.

[00:04:36]>> It's nice to meet you as well. It's good to have you.

[00:04:40]Hashim.

[00:04:42]>> Hashim.

[00:04:43]>> Oh, that's you.

[00:04:45]>> Hashim is our chief security officer.

[00:04:47]>> Wow. Nice.

[00:04:47]>> And he looks after the security operations.

[00:04:51]>> So, it's excellent. It's good to have you. I understand that uh >> uh you've been around and we'd love to hear some honest feedback. Yeah, we'll see. Once I once I stay, we'll we'll see how it goes. And you can get some honest feedback.

[00:05:04]>> So, once you're done with the check in, I'll be happy to take you.

[00:05:07]>> Amazing. All right. I appreciate it all.

[00:05:09]So, nice to meet you guys.

[00:05:11]>> Okay.

[00:05:13]>> And 416.

[00:05:17]>> Okay. Amazing.

[00:05:17]>> Thank you so much.

[00:05:18]>> Thank you. Byebye.

[00:05:21]>> So, 416 we are at. This is our room. Uh, it's a lot hotter here in Muzaf Far Arabad. I think that's a tough a tongue twister, I'm telling you. But it's a lot hotter here than I expected. But this kind of hotel is like sat on top of a mountain, which is pretty cool. You can see the mountains over there. But we are 416.

[00:05:45]There's 412. It's a beautiful design. A lot of like wood being used here, which is pretty cool. Look at this. Very, very >> cool.

[00:05:55]415 416A All right.

[00:06:03]>> 41 418 41.

[00:06:09]>> Is it working?

[00:06:10]>> Yes.

[00:06:10]>> Which way master card?

[00:06:20]Okay.

[00:06:22]Thank you. Thank you. Little bit of a technical difficulty everyone. But this is my room now. I paid $140 Australian around $100 USD for this up here in Kashmir. It's kind of cool saying I am in Kashmir. This hotel was built in 2007 or at least that's when it opened because there's a huge earthquake here in Kashmir and it was really bad. I'm not sure exactly what the magnitude was.

[00:06:49]and put it up on the screen, but it destroyed a lot of things and the structural integrity of this hotel also got impacted and they had to do a few new designs to make sure that it wouldn't fall down because we're on a mountain. Anywh who, let's show you guys the room that we're in. We got the bathroom in here. Very, very nice. Split into two different areas for the shower and the toilet. We got a bath right there. We got a nice sink. Little bit small, but very cozy. And you have everything you need. video. What are you going to do apart from shower and bath in the bathroom? Let's see what the bum gun is doing.

[00:07:26]All right. All right. Bum gun could have some uh extra pressure. Now, one thing I have learned is that you can actually usually dictate the pressure sometimes down here. Sometimes there's little knobs you can press to actually get a stronger uh amount of water volume coming through. Anyway, bathtub there.

[00:07:45]Oh, this is actually cool. You can uh open this up. Hey, that's actually sick.

[00:07:50]So, if you're here with your boyfriend or your girlfriend, you can uh get them to watch you while you have a bath or you have a shower. I don't know, maybe some people have that kind of fetish in this world. But you probably saw a little sneak peek of the view and the room. But this is the rest of the room.

[00:08:04]Got a huge king bed, like ginormous. And we got the couch and the desk. Most importantly, this is the view that we have. So, where do we come from? I think it was that direction. I think we did go across that bridge and then we came up.

[00:08:18]But we really are just sat on top of a mountain like we are defending the fort up here. Ooh, we got some little goodies. Some little chocolates. Yes, please. What is this? Just lime. We got fruit. Look at these little goodies that we got. Can I eat these? Yes, I can.

[00:08:38]M.

[00:08:40]Wow. I'm telling you everyone, a little slot for chocolate.

[00:08:51]Nom nom nom nom nom. Final thing here before we head out and get a little bit of cashmere into our veins. Let's do a bed test here at the Pearl Continental in Kashmir. Muzafurabad. Is that how you pronounce it? Let's have a little check.

[00:09:06]Muzafurabad.

[00:09:07]Super interesting name. What does muzzafabad mean? I don't know. We'll find out today. Please bey soft.

[00:09:15]Ah, very, very good. Not the softest bed I've ever had, but it is definitely more soft than a classic Pakistani bed because a lot of people here decide that they want to sleep on beds that are as hard as concrete. But we're going to head out. We are going to go and explore Kashmir. I can't believe I'm in Kashmir, everyone. Seriously, never in my life did I think I'd be able to say that I'm in Kashmir. And as I said at the start of this video, I had to pull a lot of strings to get here. Uh so let's make sure that it's worth it. Let's go out and explore a little bit and see what Muzraad, that is a tongue twister. Let's see what Muzraad has to offer. Before continuing with the video, guys, I wanted to talk to you about Revolute. Revolute is a global financial app with over 75 million customers worldwide. And I use it when I want to save on currency conversion fees because they offer competitive rates for over 30 currencies. I've been using Revolute for a few years now as it's super handy when traveling, especially for taking out cash because it lets me use my home currency account anywhere I go without worrying about exchange rates or currency conversions. You simply put your card into the ATM, choose how much you want to withdraw, and Revolute automatically converts your home currency into the local currency. With Revolute, you also get access to single-use cards, which are incredibly useful when shopping on questionable websites. They work by generating a card that's valid for just one transaction.

[00:10:39]And once the payment is complete, the card details are automatically deleted, meaning they can't be reused or stolen.

[00:10:46]And if you set yourself up with one of their paid plans, like me, as you can see, I have the Metal Plan card, you get access to a bunch of other cool things.

[00:10:54]The most useful one for me is the travel insurance as it covers for flight delays, cancellations, and more when you purchase your flights using Revolute.

[00:11:02]And having a paid plan also gives you access to a lot of perks, too, like class pass credits I can use to hit the gym when I travel or Tinder Gold to meet people. You can actually set up a Revolute account in minutes. And you don't even have to wait for the physical card to arrive because you can use your virtual card for contactless payments straight away. And as of right now, if you download the Revolute app, you can get $40 Australian. Just scan the QR code on the screen or check the link in the description below. Use your card for the very first time and you'll get the money straight into your Revolute account. Now, back to the video.

[00:11:38]>> Thank you, bro. Where are you from?

[00:11:40]Kashmir. Uh, >> no. I'm from Came here. A very good enjoy. Where where are you going now?

[00:11:50]I want >> where?

[00:11:54]>> Down.

[00:11:54]>> Down. Can I come in?

[00:11:58]Up.

[00:11:59]>> Hassan.

[00:12:00]>> Hassan. So, you guys are from Islamabad?

[00:12:02]>> Yes.

[00:12:03]>> Aa. Very, very good. So, how long you spend in Kashmir?

[00:12:08]>> Uh, we are here for a week.

[00:12:10]>> A week?

[00:12:11]>> Yes.

[00:12:11]>> It's very beautiful. No.

[00:12:13]>> Yes.

[00:12:13]>> Look at all the views that we have. Is this your driver or your friend or >> Oh, your car's in. Not sure.

[00:12:20]>> Here is actually Okay. I can get out here. Is that fine, >> Chica?

[00:12:25]>> Not sure.

[00:12:26]>> All right, guys. I appreciate the lift.

[00:12:28]>> Thank you so much.

[00:12:31]Look at these things. What?

[00:12:34]>> Oh, yeah.

[00:12:39]All right. Shuk guys little side quest. I love Kashmir man. It's actually just so cool the fact that I'm in Kashmir right now.

[00:12:52]>> Beautiful. Beautiful place.

[00:12:56]>> How are you going?

[00:12:57]>> I'm good. How are you?

[00:12:58]>> I'm good. I'm good.

[00:12:59]>> Uh where are you from?

[00:13:00]>> Australia.

[00:13:00]>> Australia. Okay. So you are here alone?

[00:13:03]>> Yeah. Yeah. I'm just staying at my uh my hotel. I'm trying to figure out how where's the main market? Uh, what do you want to buy?

[00:13:10]>> I just want to look at the shops. Is a Medina market?

[00:13:13]>> Yeah, Medina market.

[00:13:14]>> But is there multiple or is there one?

[00:13:16]>> There's one market. It's a whole market.

[00:13:18]It's a big place. You can go there.

[00:13:20]>> How far away is it from here?

[00:13:21]>> You want to go there?

[00:13:22]>> Yeah.

[00:13:22]>> Should I drop you?

[00:13:23]>> Which car do you have? Rick Shaw.

[00:13:25]>> You want to come? Let's do it.

[00:13:28]>> Let's go. What's your name?

[00:13:30]>> My name is Hammanu.

[00:13:31]>> Sorry.

[00:13:32]>> Hanu.

[00:13:32]>> Hmanu. Very good. Thank you. Are you from Kashmir?

[00:13:37]>> Yeah, I'm from here. Nice man.

[00:13:40]>> I work with the government.

[00:13:42]>> Ah.

[00:13:43]>> And uh I live here nearby.

[00:13:47]>> Cool. You speak really good English.

[00:13:49]Where did you learn?

[00:13:51]>> Uh two courses and two different programs I attended around the world.

[00:13:58]>> Yeah. In the winter time. Is it snowing here? Not in the city, but like up in the mountains.

[00:14:03]>> Yeah. Up in the mountains.

[00:14:04]>> We are We are a valley here. You can see all around they're all mountains.

[00:14:09]>> Yeah, >> that's field streets in AI >> the most. Have you been to slambad?

[00:14:14]>> Yeah, I just came.

[00:14:17]>> Uh like uh there was Bunal or >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:14:22]>> Like Yeah. The funny thing with these mountains, villages and cities everyone is they work in like tiered systems.

[00:14:29]Obviously this whole city's built in a valley. So you have homes and houses that go all the way up. And I think the part that we're going to now is like the upper bit of this city.

[00:14:40]>> All the pink buildings you will see on the right.

[00:14:42]>> Yeah.

[00:14:43]>> They were built by the Turkish uh prime ministry.

[00:14:46]>> Really?

[00:14:46]>> In after the earthquake.

[00:14:48]>> Oh yeah. So what >> this is a uh a sik guru here.

[00:14:54]>> It's built in 1800.

[00:14:56]>> Wow.

[00:14:57]>> Now this is >> because the Sikhs used to have this land like hundreds of years ago, right?

[00:15:02]>> Yes. Yes.

[00:15:04]All the ping buildings they are built by they are government offices. They were built after the earthquake in 2005.

[00:15:10]>> And how how long ago was the earthquake?

[00:15:12]What year?

[00:15:14]>> 2005.

[00:15:15]>> Were you here when >> No, I was in Islamad.

[00:15:18]>> You could feel it in Islamad. You felt >> Islamad. He felt it. Uh or 6.7 or 8 over there. There were a lot of over there as well.

[00:15:27]>> I lost my sister and my brother's wife came home. Sorry in in my village. We were in my village. My village is Raakur. That's so sad. Sorry.

[00:15:39]>> Look at this guy. He's got his little arch doorway arch he's carrying on the back of his friend's motorbike. This is Medina market.

[00:15:48]>> Nice.

[00:15:52]I have to >> but I'll refresh you first and then I'll Thank you. Thank you.

[00:15:59]>> What a great guy. Juice.

[00:16:02]>> The juices are good here.

[00:16:03]>> Yeah.

[00:16:05]>> What kind of juices are there?

[00:16:07]>> Uh, you can have milkshake. You can have juice, banana, apple, pineapple, mango, strawberry.

[00:16:16]>> Maybe mango. Mango is good. Yeah, mango.

[00:16:20]You get mango as well. I'll have mine with no ice. That's okay.

[00:16:27]>> Don't want to get the good old food poisoning, you know.

[00:16:30]No, no, no, no, >> no. It's I guess.

[00:16:33]>> Thank you so much.

[00:16:34]>> I can't let you pay. Whole Pakistan will blame you.

[00:16:39]>> Veryospitable. Thank you. This place has really cool uh notes. Look, they got Kenyon shillings. What else is there?

[00:16:45]There's the uh the 500 note. I saw over here the 75 note.

[00:16:51]Philippines.

[00:16:53]I wonder if I have any that I can donate. What do I have in here?

[00:16:58]Unfortunately, only Pakistani rupees, which they have plenty of. So, what else do they have at this little shop there?

[00:17:04]All the juices. So, they range from 160 to 350. I think that was like 200 or so.

[00:17:10]It's like less than 1 USD for nice little bit of mango juice. They got all kinds of things here, everyone. They got the uh the French fries, they got the biryani samosa, you got fried chicken there as well. And behind here is the the juice stand. The juice stand. So, I'm going to go I mean I don't really want to get sick if I'm being completely honest but they do look very very appetizing. So what is like Kashmir known for? What would you say Kashmir is known for?

[00:17:40]>> The beauty the beauty like the mountains the lakes.

[00:17:44]>> Yeah.

[00:17:45]>> How far away from this city do you have to go to see like nice lakes?

[00:17:51]4 hours.

[00:17:52]>> 4 hours to the Nan site.

[00:17:54]>> Nan Nan Valley is the most beautiful place here.

[00:17:59]>> And you can go to Tati Lake. There are four or five hidden lakes over there as well.

[00:18:04]>> Yeah. Perfecto. Mango juice on a hot day here in Kashmir.

[00:18:12]>> The mangoes are not that good.

[00:18:14]>> Man, it's still so good though.

[00:18:17]>> Oh man, so refreshing. So nice.

[00:18:22]I've noticed here compared to other parts of Pakistan, the women are very like conservative here. Like they're all wearing headcuffers a lot.

[00:18:30]>> Yeah. The people in Kashmir are very conservative, right?

[00:18:35]>> And that's good for a tradition as well.

[00:18:38]>> You can't copy west by living in Pakistan.

[00:18:41]>> Exactly. But yeah, compared to other places, maybe the only other places I've mentioned that's more covered up is like uh the show.

[00:18:51]>> You can ask for Apar.

[00:18:52]>> Yeah. Yeah.

[00:18:53]>> Upper.

[00:18:55]>> These are the food stalls and everything. You can go to there after it.

[00:19:00]>> Okay. Amazing.

[00:19:01]>> So, I'll take a leave.

[00:19:03]>> Yeah. I text you on WhatsApp. So, nice to meet you. I appreciate a lot. Thank you.

[00:19:08]>> What a wonderful gentleman.

[00:19:11]When he first came, I'm not going to lie, I thought it was ISI. You know, being in this region, I probably am being followed. Got to keep my my wits out about me. Not that we're up to any funny business to everyone. We're just a civilian, you know, coming to Kashmir. There's freaking camels. Look at this. A baby camel and a mama camel.

[00:19:33]This is crazy.

[00:19:36]Oh, there's a third camel. Another one.

[00:19:39]That's crazy. the fourth one.

[00:19:42]Well, then there's a fifth there's a fifth camel. The city that I'm in right now, Muzafur, finally been able to pronounce Mustafa because I realized when I'm walking around the market, there's a ton of Mustafa baddies around.

[00:19:55]Uh, but we finally got the pronunciation of the city right now. This is an extremely important place because the battle of Muzafurabad happened here in 1947.

[00:20:06]Muzafurabad was ground zero for the 1947 war. When the Maharaja was still stalling, Pakistanbacked tribal fighters swept in and seized the city, making it the first major move in the Kashmir conflict. It was this invasion that panicked the Maharaja into finally signing a session to India, triggering the Indian army to deploy. The ceasefire line that followed essentially froze where each side stood and Muzaf Farabad ended up as the capital of Pakistani administered Kashmir, which is exactly where we are now. Alam. How are you? I'm >> fine.

[00:20:37]>> Where are you from?

[00:20:37]>> I'm from Australia.

[00:20:41]>> From here from Kashmir.

[00:20:42]>> Yes. Yes.

[00:20:43]>> Nice.

[00:20:43]>> What is life like here?

[00:20:45]>> Very good.

[00:20:46]>> Very good.

[00:20:46]>> Yeah. Summer is coming. Coming.

[00:20:49]>> Summer is good. Do you like winter or summer more?

[00:20:51]>> Winter. Winter.

[00:20:52]>> Why?

[00:20:52]>> Snow falls. Snow falls on the top of the mountain.

[00:20:54]>> Yeah. It looks more Looks more beautiful.

[00:20:59]>> Are you going to missing the place?

[00:21:01]>> No, I'm just walking around the market.

[00:21:02]See what's going on.

[00:21:04]But uh yeah, I don't really know much about Kashmir or this region.

[00:21:08]>> Yes, >> it's very important place. There's lots of history.

[00:21:12]>> Yes. Yes. This is the capital of Zakraad. And if you go away from there, Nami.

[00:21:18]>> Yeah. A lot of people say Nam Valley is very beautiful since partition in uh >> 1947.

[00:21:24]>> 1947 was partition right?

[00:21:26]>> And then so India or Pakistan had this land in 1947.

[00:21:29]>> India have also part of Kashmir.

[00:21:31]>> Yeah. on the like shinagar side but they dispute like Pakistan wants that and India wants this tea let's have tea >> chalam very good what's your name >> Mosen Luke nice to meet you >> what's your general name >> Luke Damant >> how old are you >> 19 19 years.

[00:22:02]>> And you're studying here?

[00:22:03]>> Yes. Your second year paper.

[00:22:05]>> Uhhuh. What do you study?

[00:22:06]>> CS. CS. Computer science.

[00:22:08]>> Uh-huh. Do you know a lot about the history here?

[00:22:10]>> History? I don't know a lot. But you can say that at the time of partition in 1947, India had captured that city and Pakistan had captured. Pakistan got the another part but India did not give and started. Then the UN come in between both of them and stop that war. But India does not want anything about Kashmir. Last year war also had been started in Pakistan. No issue is coming.

[00:22:38]>> When was the war? Most recently like >> Yes. Yes sir. in >> ah it's like one year ago.

[00:22:43]>> Yes. Yes. One year ago.

[00:22:44]>> And were they bombing in the city as well?

[00:22:45]>> Yes. in this city Aabad really similar cities they they >> Trump negotiated the peace deal as he always does except he can't with Israel and Iran because he uh he's in BB's pocket. But that's really interesting.

[00:23:10]Yeah. A lot of history. A lot of different people have conquered this land and and all that and it continues to go on. Can I stay on this side? It's okay.

[00:23:17]>> Okay.

[00:23:18]>> Just the the lighting is better. Should be. Thank you.

[00:23:23]>> This is famous known as kja only found in Kashmir.

[00:23:26]>> Oh, wait. What is this?

[00:23:27]>> Ga.

[00:23:28]>> Gja.

[00:23:29]>> Is it like a biscuit? Yes.

[00:23:35]>> It smells amazing. Then you have to become soft and you can eat it.

[00:23:51]Salt and sweet those same hu very interesting. What are you doing today? You're just walking around the market. Are you shopping?

[00:23:59]>> I had I had just given my paper of second year.

[00:24:01]>> Ah sure.

[00:24:03]>> And I'm going to home and I saw you.

[00:24:05]>> Yeah. Oh, awesome.

[00:24:08]>> Well, thank you for inviting me for tea.

[00:24:11]>> Very hospitable. People in Kashmir are very friendly so far.

[00:24:16]>> All of Pakistan. But so far in Kashmir, a lot of people have been super friendly.

[00:24:22]It's like a ginger gingery taste like an Anzac bio.

[00:24:31]Got to soak that in, you know, get it nice and dissolved.

[00:24:37]And this biscuit makes it.

[00:24:42]>> Oh, maybe.

[00:24:44]>> So, do you see many foreigners here?

[00:24:46]>> No.

[00:24:47]>> How many have you seen before?

[00:24:49]>> Three or four? One. And you and and a group also come here on the top of the kitchen. I had seen a group of people.

[00:24:55]>> They from England.

[00:24:57]>> That's all you've seen?

[00:24:58]>> Yes. Only >> in 19 years?

[00:25:01]>> Yes.

[00:25:02]>> Wow. It's very hard for us to get here.

[00:25:04]We have to get like lots of permission.

[00:25:06]>> Usually don't come to they come Kashmir for going to >> so not many foreigners come here and stay in honesty.

[00:25:18]>> How are you? Alhamdulillah.

[00:25:24]>> Little little to >> Yeah, it's very very hard to get to this region of the world. And uh it's very very hard to get into this part of Pakistan.

[00:25:38]Honestly, I'm surprised we haven't been pulled up yet. We're walking around with a camera. I'm clearly a foreigner. I'm surprised the uh the good old hasn't come and had a few questions with me. You know, we're up to any naughty business.

[00:26:01]>> Very very good. How much is it?

[00:26:05]>> Oh, you paid already. Really?

[00:26:09]Bro, thank you. Thank you so much.

[00:26:14]>> Okay. So nice to meet you. I really appreciate you inviting me for tea.

[00:26:19]>> Dude, the people here are so friendly.

[00:26:22]You just like they just go on a little side quest. Oh, let's just go have tea.

[00:26:27]And then as soon as soon as you're done, they just dip out. Just a quick 10-minute meeting. Pretty good. And it was getting hot in there. Let's have a little walk this way. There are bikes.

[00:26:37]There's everything. There's camels.

[00:26:38]There's people with boxes coming around.

[00:26:41]The estimated death toll from the 2005 earthquake here is between 80,000 to 100,000 people. There also 1400 deaths on the Indian side. And as the gentleman that dropped us off here just said, he was in his he felt it there. And even sadly, some of his family members had passed away. Truly sad. Oh, these are the biscuits that we just had. Guys, I was changing my battery. I found the camels again. I found the camels. Look at all the camels.

[00:27:08]This is hilarious.

[00:27:11]How many are there? Do they kick? I feel like with horses, you don't go behind them cuz they can kick. I don't know if camels can kick.

[00:27:19]How are you?

[00:27:21]>> Are you good?

[00:27:22]>> Very good. Very good.

[00:27:29]Man, I don't think I've ever seen a baby camel in my life.

[00:27:35]>> Whoa.

[00:27:38]>> He squirted out.

[00:27:41]>> This is crazy.

[00:27:51]>> Your camels.

[00:27:55]I did not know candles have milk.

[00:27:57]Everyone, you learn something new every day.

[00:28:01]>> Age dean month age six.

[00:28:14]Five.

[00:28:15]>> Five.

[00:28:19]Wow. Six.

[00:28:23]Punch should be here by halavis.

[00:28:26]Halavis. That's crazy. They just come around. Oh, it smells very milky.

[00:28:33]They just go around selling camel milk on the streets here in Kashmir, man. Crazy.

[00:28:41]Your bike bike.

[00:28:42]>> Yeah.

[00:28:42]>> I need to go the cricket cricket stadium.

[00:28:49]Deans are >> where am I? I am here in Muzaf. Where are you from?

[00:28:58]>> Thank you.

[00:29:00]>> City Kashmir.

[00:29:04]>> What up, bro? You guys good?

[00:29:07]>> Nice.

[00:29:09]>> Oh, that's a cool little area. All right, so 300 rupees, $1 US to get to this cricket ground. Look, when in doubt, go to a cricket stadium.

[00:29:17]Something fun is bound to happen. I'm telling you.

[00:29:20]>> Hey, what's good?

[00:29:22]>> Thank you. Appreciate it.

[00:29:26]>> Yeah. I didn't know how many people out here in Kashmir that watch the videos.

[00:29:30]Getting recognized a fair bit.

[00:29:32]>> What's your YouTube channel?

[00:29:33]>> Does your friend know my YouTube channel?

[00:29:35]>> I don't know.

[00:29:36]>> Didn't he say he's a big fan?

[00:29:38]>> Yeah, he's a big fan.

[00:29:38]>> Shorts.

[00:29:40]>> Shorts. Ah, Luke Deand.

[00:29:43]Look how cool the staggered villages are. goes up the mountain. Getting up there, you know, there's this tiny little roads that barely even a small car can fit. And look, we have Harry Jagard here with us in Kashmir.

[00:29:56]Everyone, he's decided to make the trip up as well. You guys want to take this?

[00:30:01]>> Yes. Yes.

[00:30:03]>> Do it on that side.

[00:30:10]>> We did get >> Yeah. 3,000.

[00:30:14]>> 3,000. Yeah.

[00:30:16]Hello.

[00:30:17]>> All right, we'll take it back.

[00:30:18]>> Thank you.

[00:30:20]>> All right.

[00:30:22]>> See you.

[00:30:24]>> So, we're actually very close to the city of Abdabad, which I was at a few years ago when I was visiting Bin Laden's compound.

[00:30:31]And I almost justing joined Bin Laden in heaven up there. Uh, but heaven or hell, I don't know. These vehicles here are called Suzukis. And I didn't know that they had them here in Kashmir, but I've seen a lot of the people catching transport in the back of these, or at least that's what it's called in Abdabad or in KPK, the Suzuki here. They may have a different name.

[00:30:55]>> Nam Suzuki.

[00:30:56]>> Aa rickshaw. Haha.

[00:31:02]>> Do you speak Erdu or Kashmir?

[00:31:05]>> Do you know Kashmir?

[00:31:07]>> No. No. No.

[00:31:08]>> Do people speak Kashmir here?

[00:31:09]>> No. Odu to Odu only.

[00:31:13]>> Is Kashmir even a language or maybe >> Kashmir? Occupied Kashmir total Kashmir total >> occupied Kashmir.

[00:31:21]>> Uh-huh.

[00:31:21]>> Total Kashmir.

[00:31:22]>> Hi. Is that built by Turkey?

[00:31:26]>> Turkish.

[00:31:26]>> Turkish.

[00:31:28]>> After earthquake they built.

[00:31:32]>> Wow. So it seems like Turkey was a huge part of sending aid and giving funding after the earthquake here in 2005. They built that mosque there.

[00:31:40]>> Prime Minister House >> Prime Minister's house.

[00:31:43]>> Prime Minister House.

[00:31:44]>> Sure.

[00:31:44]>> Yes.

[00:31:46]>> Wow.

[00:31:48]>> The Kashmiri prime minister.

[00:31:49]>> Yes.

[00:31:51]>> What's his name?

[00:31:53]Zah. Mohammed Z.

[00:31:59]>> Oh wow. It's actually like a full full size pitch.

[00:32:08]Oh, it's a proper pitch actually.

[00:32:11]Grass wicket as well. It's covered up.

[00:32:14]Who plays here? International.

[00:32:17]>> Yes.

[00:32:17]>> Huh?

[00:32:18]>> Yes.

[00:32:19]>> Or local like Pak Pakistani team or international?

[00:32:22]>> No, no, no, no. Uh uh something leagues, >> KPL, Premier League, IPL.

[00:32:32]paper league.

[00:32:32]>> Uh P uh PSL >> PSL aure.

[00:32:37]>> Wow. Cool. It's really cool having a sick view. Look at the mountains and the >> inside hockey stadium.

[00:32:44]>> Oh, hockey stadium in Pakistan. Hockey is very popular.

[00:32:49]>> Yes. Yes. Yes, >> man. But the mountains are beautiful.

[00:32:52]>> PCO.

[00:32:54]>> That's PC.

[00:32:55]>> Oh, yes.

[00:32:56]>> Oh, that's where I'm staying.

[00:32:59]All right. All right. Well, I thought there was going to be more action here.

[00:33:00]I thought that there was going to be uh some game of some sort or at least some kids playing cricket. What we'll do, we're going to go to the hotel. We're going to wait an hour or two and then for sunset we're going to go to one of these mountains up here in Wizer Fabad.

[00:33:15]Can we go? We go I'll pay you extra. Can we go to PC? PC. I give more uh more money. Should be all right. All right, we got a game little little game going on outside the cricket stadium.

[00:33:30]>> Ro stadium road.

[00:33:32]>> No study cricket.

[00:33:40]>> We need to get this guy some WD40. My ears are literally hurting from the squealing of the brakes.

[00:33:46]>> Supreme Court.

[00:33:48]>> Wow.

[00:33:48]>> Supreme Court.

[00:33:50]>> Oh, Supreme Court.

[00:33:50]>> Oh, yeah.

[00:33:51]>> The Supreme Court of Azamu and Kashm.

[00:33:53]But it's so interesting.

[00:33:56]>> So many different names for it. Like azit means free inu. Then there's also like jamu and kashmir. Like >> what's the jamu part? I know we're in the kashmir part. Like where's jamu?

[00:34:07]>> Bro, where is Jamu?

[00:34:09]>> Are we in Jammu?

[00:34:10]>> Occupied Kashmir.

[00:34:11]>> Occupied >> like Indian side.

[00:34:13]>> Oh yeah.

[00:34:13]>> So that's Jamu.

[00:34:14]>> Yes.

[00:34:15]>> And Pakistan side is Kashmir.

[00:34:16]>> Kashmir. Aad Kashmir. Azad Kashmir.

[00:34:19]>> Azad. Kashmir. And Azad means free.

[00:34:21]Free. in Odu.

[00:34:23]>> Oh, yes. In free in Odu.

[00:34:29]>> Okay.

[00:34:32]Ah, very very nice. Thank you so much.

[00:34:34]>> You're welcome.

[00:34:36]>> I give you 5K. It's okay.

[00:34:38]>> Thank you.

[00:34:38]>> Allah. Thank you so much.

[00:34:40]>> Have a good day.

[00:34:42]>> Thank you.

[00:34:52]Alamikum.

[00:34:55]Salam allayikum.

[00:34:57]Hello. What is your name?

[00:35:00]Well, after about an hour drive everyone, we are well up into the mountains here in Kashmir. We met Usuzman and Faizel who are local Kashmiris and uh I think they're going to be the perfect people to ask some questions to about this region because I'm not entirely sure about the situation here. I'm not entirely sure what it is that the Kashmir people want and what life is actually like up here.

[00:35:23]I can tell you right now what life is like up here at this point in time.

[00:35:27]Extremely peaceful because look at the view they have. Incredible.

[00:35:32]Wouldn't you agree, Mr. Greg? Is your name Greg the goat? I think I know you.

[00:35:38]Do I know you from somewhere? Did you migrate here from Hanza five or six years ago?

[00:35:45]You're actually a chill goat. Usually like not so freaking chill.

[00:35:51]What are you doing doing? Just just eating.

[00:35:54]Eating, huh? What are you chewing?

[00:35:58]Chewing some bettnut, I guess.

[00:36:02]>> No. So, Muzur Fabad was 700 or so meters above sea level. Right now, we're at 2850. It's almost 3,000 m above sea level, but we're here with the boys. So, Usman and Fisel, you guys are from this area. We are >> born and born and bred here.

[00:36:20]>> I was born here, but I moved from here to United States now.

[00:36:23]>> Mhm. And you were born here in Muzraad?

[00:36:25]>> Yeah. No, I'm born in Ki.

[00:36:28]>> I move here for the job.

[00:36:29]>> Oh, okay. Okay. I feel like I'm in a Windows screen saver. Look, if I turn the camera around, this is like what the Windows screen saver is like. Oh, what if I get the sun in there as that is a window screen saver right there.

[00:36:44]That is sick, dude. This is crazy. This is actually insane. Look at the sun.

[00:36:50]Wow. Mah.

[00:36:53]So, in the winter time, this is all covered in snow and this is actually inaccessible. So, for 2 to 3 months of the year, the roads here are completely snowed out. There are little homes that we visited on the way up here that uh they basically have to bunker down for a few months. They have no road access.

[00:37:09]They have to buy all the food that they're going to survive on in the winter. And also, the animals that they have, they have to buy all the food and store it until basically the snow melts and they can access the city again. So, it's a pretty tough life up here. But there's even like all the way in the distance over there, there's tiny little homes. Not sure if you can see them.

[00:37:28]like that is the middle of nowhere. Even during summertime, they're hard to hard to access. And then behind me, you can see the barbed wire in that building.

[00:37:37]That is actually the Pakistani Air Force. So, they have a lot of the good positions in the valley. Now, obviously, this region is highly contested. India thinks it's theirs. Pakistan is controlling this part of it. And it's super interesting just hearing about the different conflict here. A year ago, Muzafar Rabad where we actually were was shelled by India and Pakistan shot their own uh shellings and rockets over to the other side. Yeah, that's why it's so heavily secure. All these places that the Pakistan army are defending.

[00:38:17]See, >> wait. So, Fisel, can I ask some questions about Kashmir? So who used to control this land?

[00:38:26]>> This land is under the control of Pakistan.

[00:38:29]>> Uh-huh.

[00:38:29]>> And uh it's uh almost uh 30% land area of Kashmir of the whole of the Kashmir and maximum area is under the control of India. Indian occupied Kashmir and the people of Kashmir they are ethnically they are linguistically and they are genetically attached with the Pakistan >> not with the India in all aspects.

[00:38:50]>> Then there's also Jamu right? Yeah. Jamu and Jammu and >> India controls all of Jamu.

[00:38:55]>> Almost all of it.

[00:38:56]>> Uhhuh. Uhhuh. Why are India and Pakistan fighting for this land?

[00:38:59]>> The board of fighting is long be we can go behind the history of the Kashmir.

[00:39:04]Kashmir is the was the princely state since the decades and the only state you know a lot of invaders came here in subcontinent because subcontinent was a rich of resources and only Kashmir is the only state no inmator can occupy the Kashmir from Ba and when the British rule came to an end on 40 1947 the decision was made that all the states will decide their future India immediately enter their army inside Kashmir to occupy this. But the rulers of Kashmir wanted to stay remain with the Pakistan >> and Indian army approached from this south side and from north side Pakistan and the place where the both armies uh collapse that remained the line of control. Okay.

[00:39:50]>> And become divided.

[00:39:51]>> And so when did the line of control get established?

[00:39:54]>> It was established in 1947. Okay. And it was declared by the United Nations more than three resolution of United Nations on Kashmir. UN mission for India and Pakistan were established in 1948 >> and they decided that both the Pakistan India will mutually withdraw their armies from Kashmir under the leadership of that UN mission. But India still has not uh uh satisfied or uh accepted the UN resolutions to evacuate their armies from here in Pakistan.

[00:40:29]>> Okay.

[00:40:29]>> And the target is that the uh after the evacuation of the army then there will be a pleb pleit the people will decide people will vote whether they will be in favor of Pakistan or in India. Yeah.

[00:40:42]Kashmir on like the Pakistan side is it autonomous or it's like cuz it doesn't have the full >> No, it's autonomous. Okay Mr. because our majorly our currency is belongs to Pakistan or foreign affair foreign affairs is with Pakistan and especially Pakistan army is controlling and they are giving shelter they are protecting us from the invaders >> and uh foreign security and currency are with Pakistan and we can use our own resources we can collect our taxes and all the revenue and utilize here in Kashmir >> and you still get Pakistan passport here.

[00:41:20]>> Yeah, passport and identity card are Pakistan.

[00:41:23]>> See, I see. Okay.

[00:41:25]>> And then my final question is like what do people of Kashmir like want? Do you want to be like independent or do you want to be part of Pakistan or do you want to be part of India? Like what is like >> there are what do the people want? There are two school of thought here in before the partition people wanted to remain independent because the it was the biggest princely state ever in the subcontinent and remained separate from both subcontinent states and after uh the war of and partition of 1947 maximum people of Kashmir wanted to remain with Pakistan.

[00:41:56]>> Yeah. Yeah. Because Pakistan was the only country in the world that was created that were established in the name of religion on the name of Islam for the Muslims and maximum population of Kashmir is Muslims that's why they have ethnic they have religious sentiments with Pakistan and they wanted to mar with Pakistan.

[00:42:16]>> Yeah. Okay. And then on the Jamu side most people are Muslim or what religion?

[00:42:21]Jamu population 40 to 45% Hindus non non-Muslim only Hindus not any other religion and remaining 55 to 60% are Muslims in sirinagar and valley of Kashmir 100% Muslims inshallah Kashmir will be a part of a Pakistan in the coming future >> well it is damn beautiful that is 100% >> it's a heaven earth >> heaven on earth they say >> we call it heaven or earth >> I think they may be right >> look look at the red on the up.

[00:42:51]>> Oh yeah.

[00:42:52]>> Catches if any that saves the air defense.

[00:42:54]>> That's like the save is any Indian drones coming in.

[00:42:57]>> This is a air defense system and they can detect the uh movement of Indian air force and the place to 100 miles this time.

[00:43:05]>> Really?

[00:43:06]>> Yeah. They can detect me.

[00:43:07]>> How are you?

[00:43:10]>> You a tourist police?

[00:43:11]>> Yes. Yes.

[00:43:13]>> How many tourists do you see per day?

[00:43:15]>> Uh today come here.

[00:43:17]>> Oh like foreign foreign tourists.

[00:43:20]Foreign no small small foreigner no problem >> only foreigner problem about border area 10 km not allowed >> so how far away is the line of control from here >> line of control >> this side this side >> how far how many like kilome 30 km >> 30 oh that's quite close 30 km from a war zone everyone but no it does uh feel extremely safe and I'm not being paid to say that just saying absolute facts.

[00:43:52]>> No way. Was that the goat?

[00:43:54]>> Yeah, the one you just said.

[00:43:55]>> The one I just said hi to.

[00:43:56]>> Yeah.

[00:43:57]>> No way.

[00:43:58]>> They took him away.

[00:44:00]>> No way. I wanted to say hi to my friend. His head is gone.

[00:44:09]>> No, he was so chill. He was such a great guy. Oh my god.

[00:44:22]Look, go look over there.

[00:44:24]>> Where?

[00:44:25]>> Yeah. Yeah. Poor.

[00:44:26]>> Oh, this poor.

[00:44:30]>> Oh, poor guy.

[00:44:32]>> Why?

[00:44:33]>> Oh.

[00:44:40]>> No way. I actually cannot believe he's dead.

[00:44:44]All right, gentlemen.

[00:44:47]You have good mut mutton biryani. Good mutton biryani or what? What do you make of it?

[00:44:53]>> Mutton palao. Make some kebabs.

[00:44:56]>> Kebab.

[00:44:58]All right. Very good.

[00:45:01]>> This is the This is the uncle who has a shop here.

[00:45:07]>> Very good. What a what a sad day.

[00:45:12]Sometimes you just become emotionally bonded to goats. Unfortunately, now papa's in heaven.

[00:45:25]>> Well, everyone, it's the next morning.

[00:45:26]I'm back with aamkum.

[00:45:30]This trip was very spontaneous. It was only ever going to be a very quick one.

[00:45:34]So, I don't think I've done the Kashmir region justice. So, I'm definitely going to have to come back up here at some point in the future. I actually go outside of the cities because that is where the beauty is. So, understandably, a lot of people may be pissed off that I've only been to the main city here.

[00:45:48]Very rightfully pissed off if you guys are. Uh, but we will come back, I promise. But very, very friendly people and even last night when we were at the viewpoint, extremely beautiful views, seeing the valley, seeing the sunset, seeing the greenery and uh that was that was pretty incredible. So definitely have to come back here at some point in the future. But for now, I'm driving 4 hours to Islamad. I'm flying back to the dump of a city that we know called Karach. Love hate relationship with that place, but we're flying back there. Ch.