Bernard Grua | Media blog

  By Francesca Marino, April 3, 2022, Times of India Make no mistake, what Imran Khan is really trying to do today is convince his puppeteers to give him another chance. As he frantically tries to cling on to power, the contrast is glaring to what he had said during his Azadi March in August 2014: “If people like you had said "Go Imran Go" with such passion I would have resigned and gone to re-election immediately if I am man of honor” said Imran Khan during his Azadi March in August 2014.  But of course, we know from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar what 'men of honor' do and also how they usually end up. Elected in 2018 with what people considered being “the most rigged” elections in Pakistani history Khan, who's political carrier has been boosted by the late General Hamid Gul and other ISI and Army prominent ranks, had been carefully selected and trained for the job, a job he seemed quite happy to do the way he had been told. Imran, unlike other prime ministers,...

Russian Extreme Travels , aka Trekking in Altai , aka Extreme Travels in Russia , is a tourist company doing business in Pakistan. In June 2019, ten years after her first entry into this country, Ms Olga Leonidovna Ozerova , aka Olga Sim (Ольга Сим) , one of its employee/partners, took a key part, as a shadow advisor, in the start-up of a slanderous campaign against the Wakhi community of Northern Pakistan and against its western visitors. Eventually, in January 2021, she openly revealed a plan of filing a claim for terrorism, in Pakistan, against a French citizen, with the help of false witnesses. Such an interference in a third country may cause irrecoverable damages to Russian Extreme Travels business.

Les Wakhis de langue et d'ethnie persanes sont une minorité montagnarde de moins de 100.000 individus écartelée entre quatre pays: le Tadjikistan, la Chine, l'Afghanistan et le Pakistan. Alors que, depuis des temps immémoriaux, ils occupaient un haut lieu de passage et d'échange au carrefour de ce qu'il est convenu d'appeler la "Route de la Soie" , leur univers s'est trouvé fragmenté, clôturé et marginalisé. Atomisé, ce petit peuple arrive néanmoins à garder un sentiment d'appartenance commune en raison de sa religion, de sa langue et de sa co-existence avec d'autres populations lui permettant, paradoxalement, une identification par différence. 

Le Pakistan offre aux influenceuses internationales des opportunités de développement d'audience remarquables, tout en bénéficiant d'un contexte favorable à la production de contenu.   Les institutions ne leurs ménagent par leur soutien a fin d'en faire des outils de promotion touristique, selon une stratégie appuyée sur la puissance des réseaux sociaux. Mais cette symbiose s'établit dans un relatif manquante de transparence. Les risques tant pour les vlogueuses ou les instagrameuses, que pour les visiteurs étrangers et le pays lui-même, semblent insuffisamment pris en compte.

Chinese border at Kunjerab Pass et  4 693 m The Chinese “ Belt and Road Initiative ” (BRI) , also known as the “New Silk Roads” , is a work in progress that raises many questions. Yet in Pakistan, the Karakoram Highway, commissioned in 1979, may provide some answers. Parallel to the challenged sovereignty of the country, it could be observed, until these last months, a religio-patriotic discourse with a questionable consistency and an expensive open or latent state of war seeming to assure a form of national cohesion. However, this discourse and the state of war increased Pakistan's international isolation and strengthened its dependence on China as well as indirectly laid the roots for potential fractures between the north and the south of the territory. This article in  French Maps of Pakistan (source: French MFA) and Karakoram Highway (source: Wikipedia)

This short program is intended for travellers who would like to visit Hunza, around the Karakoram Highway, even if they just have a few days. Though it is adapted for families with children, opportunities for photographers will be developed regarding conditions of light, most scenic spots and local people portraying. It is considered you use a personal car. However, the last chapter presents the possibilities offered by public transportation means. Table of content Immerse yourself in scenic Passu Village Have road breaks at Rakaposhi viewpoints Enjoy worldclass sunset and sunrise at Eagles Nest Relax or do sightseeing in and around Karimabad Stay in high Chapursan Valley at the knot of past empires Go until Kunjerab Pass and China Share Hunza people way of life Monitor costs, transportation and time

At the top of Upper Hunza in an area called Gojal, Zood Khun stretches in Chapursan Valley . It is a village having numerous characteristics in common with other Wakhi settlements of Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and, may be, China (though, not directly observed in this last country). However, its isolation at the very end of a narrow dirt road, coming from Sost, and its altitude of 3,300 m, make it, sometimes, different in term of tradition resilience, scenery, available resources and way of life. The following description will try to show this specificity as to project it into a more general background. May some readers decide to visit this interesting place, to discover its peaceful beauty, and to enjoy the cordial hospitality of its friendly inhabitants. Table of content Part 1 - Zood Khun preserves a scenic and authentic oasis landscape Part 2 - Zood Khun ressources are limited but represent tangible assets Part 3 - Zood Khun sources of past and present religious traditio...

Zood Khun, mountain in front of Pamir Serai at 10:30 PM, early August Remote and isolated Zoodkhun, the high mountain village of Gojal in Gilgit Baltistan, is a remarkable place to observe and to photography night skies. This article is the translation of the French one published by Bernard Grua, from France, on his travel blog: “ Chapursan, quand la nuit de Zoodkhun dévoile l’univers ”. Zood Khun, western ridges, light going down to the Valley at 05:45, early August The gate to another endless world In the Upper Hunza , on the borders of Central Asia, at the end of the narrow Chapursan Valley , Zood Khun is surrounded by the high ranges of Karakoram , Hindu Kush and Pamir . There, by the end of twilight, the observer does not feel himself in a wide space encircled by the lower edges of a celestial vault. He gets nearly the sensation of being in an almost closed environment. However, he soon understands his first impression was wrong. While, looking up, it seems to ...

Traduction en français d'un article initialement rédigé en anglais pour le "Passu Times". This article in English / Traduction en anglais Le texte présenté ci-dessous ne doit pas être considéré comme une étude, même brève, sur le tourisme dans la vallée de la Hunza. Il souhaite plutôt présenter un point vue extérieur résultant d'un voyage, en indépendant, effectué en août 2018, en utilisant les transports en commun d'Islamabad (Pendjab) au col de Khunjerab (poste frontière avec la Chine, altitude, 4 880 m) avec des arrêts dans différents lieux remarquables. Il est également une synthèse de discussions commencées, et poursuivies depuis lors, avec les personnes qui vivent et travaillent dans cette région montagneuse du Nord du Pakistan . Morning view of Hunza peak, 6 270 m, et du Ladyfinger (Bublimating) peak,6 000 m, from Duikar (Eagle's Nest) 

Cet article en Français / French version The text presented below should not be considered as a result of an, even short, study about tourism in Hunza Valley or as a list of recommendations. Its aim is to present an external view resulting from an independent travel, made in August 2018, using public transportations from Islamabad to Khunjerab Pass with stops in different places.  It is also an outcome of discussions hold with the people living and working in this mountainous area of Northern Pakistan. Morning view of Hunza peak, 6 270 m, et du Ladyfinger (Bublimating) peak,6 000 m, from Duikar (Eagle's Nest)