Story: Tribal Tours in Pakistan's Wild Wild West

Tribal Tours in Pakistan’s Wild West

The Federally Administered Tribal Areas in Pakistan stretches for about 700 kilometers with Afghanistan. It is the home of the biggest autonomous tribal society in the world, the Pashtuns. A very independent, proud and hospital people. About 25 percent of the FATA is inaccessible, politically as well as administratively. These areas are called Agencies, inside these Agencies Pakistan has no authority.

In Peshawar a special tribal tour is offered for visitors. We travelled to this border city and checked in to the excellent Rose Hotel. As soon as we put our bags down in the room we heard a know on the door. A young man introduced himself; “Hello, my name
is Hussein, would you like to go to the tribal area’s? I am offering a tour for twenty five dollars. By the way, if you want to go to Afghanistan, this can be arranged as well”. We were not interested in his Afghanistan offer but the tribal tour was the reason we travelled to Peshawar. We arranged to meet the next morning.

The next day, after a cup of green tea, we were ready to go. A car was waiting for us and we drove to the outskirts of Peshawar where Pakistan authority stops and the Tribal Area begins. First stop on the tour was a visit to the Khyber Chief, the strong man in the area. The office of the Chief is located in the Smugglers Bazaar. Smugglers from Afghanistan sell their goods here under the protection of the tribe without being bordered with Pakistani law. Electronics, cosmetics and food is traded here as well as opium, hashish, fake money and alcohol.

The Chief’s office is a spacious building with a courtyard here meetings are held and business is done. Next to these building there was a field with some ruins standing. According to our guide the buildings were knocked down by the police after a dispute. Unfortunately the Chief was not in, we waited a while and drank some tea and had a little chat with the guards. Some pretty hard looking guys…

We entered a shop inside the bazaar and were, first of all, offered a nice cup of green tea. After that it was down to business; “ Would you like to buy some hashish or opium?” The very stoned shopkeeper asked? It was also possible to buy fake money or a pengun.

A fake hundred dollar bill was about 15 dollar, better quality is sold for 20 dollar. The money looked genuine enough, the watermark was in there. But if you put it next to a authentic bill you could see the differences. I was not tempted to buy the local drugs but a beer was offered as well. I could not resist this and bought a can of Heineken for about 5 dollar.

Next stop on the tour was a arms facory. Owning a gun is a status symbol in Pashtun culture creating a big demand for firearms. We visited a small factory that produces all kinds of guns. The gunsmiths can duplicate any gun within 10 days. As soon as the first copy is made, it takes 2 to 3 days to make another. Handguns are a bit more difficult so that takes longer. It is no problem to buy a M16 or a AK47 here.

After the gun factory the tour tour took us to a Afghan refugee camp and a truck workshop. All in all a very busy day. You rarely have the opportunity to meet drug lords and arms dealers and live to write about it. Well worth our 25 dollar and the trip to Peshawar.