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I had the chance to spend the last three days in Gwadar and Ormara, along with 35 women, men, and elders. We were told that we should take groups to different parts of the world, and Pakistan is also beautiful and deserves to be explored. They asked why we don’t take our groups to different parts of the country. We had considered this and started local tours last year. There were three main reasons for this adventure. Firstly, we wanted to bring groups from the outside world to Pakistan, so we are also checking the system and facilities. Secondly, 95% of our population has not seen their country, people still haven’t gone to cities like Karachi, Quetta, Hyderabad, Islamabad, Lahore, and Peshawar. We want to show these people our country. Thirdly, it is not convenient for our women, young girls, and elders to travel within the country. It is their right to see the country and experience different cultures. Therefore, we started this series last year. We visited Chitral, Kalash, Hunza, Skardu, and this year, we started from Gwadar. Our journey began from Islamabad, and we flew into Karachi. We spent one night in Karachi. Our first Hotel was not good, we were offered a lower standard hotel as we couldn’t afford a 5-star hotel. In the world, tourism companies get tax-free and concessional hotel rates. We went to Baku, and there the government gives special benefits to travel companies. They sometimes give free rooms to local companies and offer very reasonable rates for transport and other tourist facilities which is boosting tourism economy in Azerbaijan. While in Pakistan, things are the other way around. The workload on tourist companies is too much, and five-star hotels are not available for entire groups. We ran into many issues such as the unpleasant smell in rooms, showers, and washrooms. But it is the government’s responsibility. The government has still not provided any facilities for the hotels, they grant licenses but never inspect the hotels. We did not enjoy our stay in one hotel, the facilities were not up to standard, and we were misled by the hotel’s management. We faced annoyance and discomfort throughout our residency. On the second day, we went to Gwadar, expecting a scenic drive on the Coastal Highway. General Pervez Musharraf built this beautiful highway in 2004, and the government had claimed it to be the most beautiful coastal drive in the world. Better facilities should be provided so that the country can keep moving. If people don’t come to Baluchistan, then the Baluchis will be most affected. We can understand this from the tragedy point of view.
The facilities in the Bolan resort in Ormara were quite basic, making for an uncomfortable stay, necessitating improvements and training in the resort management. Admittedly, our quality of life was compromised. The location and archit-ecture are excellent, but the lack of basic facilities in the rooms is concerning. The beach bungalows, bathrooms, and beds were not up to standard, and there was dust on the bed and a lack of cleanliness. The government needs to invest in providing travel facilities for the people and improve the working and standard of the facility management, allowing for cleansing and training to make the country keep moving. This tragedy was from the point of view of their management and a lack of cooperation from the staff. Furthermore, the quality of the food, which we had brought from Karachi, was not up to standard. Due to a disorganized management, there was a delay in serving the meal, and this was unacceptable. We placed an order and paid for our food facility from Karachi, which the resort management failed to honor. While the location and architecture of the resort were remarkable, the lack of cooperation from the management was concerning. We had to wait a long time for the meal, which was substandard, and we were unable to maintain the meal’s standard. Finally, the restaurant and tea houses could not meet the required standard. Everyone took part in the function at the youth club. The youth club was booked, so we had to stay in Bolan resort. We spent the evening and night in discomfort and distress.