Every now and then the lady wife gets it into her head that we, as a family, have become a bunch of insular city-slickers and need to get out of town. As an obedient and duly terrified husband I tend to quickly agree.

So a few weeks back she found a local tour company organising day trips to Kund Malir beach, located a few hours’ drive from Karachi. Since we’d been down this road before, literally and figuratively, it gave me the opportunity to act like a wise guide for the rest of the passengers. “Yes, the Princess of Hope is nice, but further along are rock formations that will blow your mind.” “No, those aren’t hieroglyphics, that’s just wind erosion.”

Read: Travel: Under the Balochistan sun

When we finally got to Kund Malir we were greeted by a white sand beach and clear, calm water surrounded by mountains. There was also a small restaurant selling simple fare along with cold drinks and such. For the ladies who were part of our tour group relief came in the form of a wall painting showing a burqa-clad lady with a sign indicating that this was a washroom.

At this point one should note that this was the only real washroom we had seen since we passed a Rangers checkpoint several hours back.

On a closer look one found that it really wasn’t usable, but to be honest our noses warned us of this long before, and the smell of raw human waste provided ample clues as to how visitors to this beach relieved themselves.

Other evidences of human visitation were provided by the ‘shoppers’, half-buried in the sand, that will no doubt be our lasting legacy on this planet. There wasn’t a single dustbin in sight.

Informal tour companies are springing up but can only do so much.

After a while we decided to take refuge from the sun under one of two concrete umbrellas, which did provide shade but also hosted small mountains of trash and cigarette butts from previous visitors. In no time at all, we were warned rather rudely by a local that if we wanted to sit there we would have to pay Rs1,000 for the privilege. “Is the garbage for free or will there be an added cost?” one of us asked, only to be met with a blank stare and a shrug that said, ‘take it or leave it’. We left it.

The owners of the umbrellas had also built a guest house, renting out rooms for people wanting to stay the night.

Watch photos: Hingol national park

That sounded lovely so I asked for a phone number one could contact them on (driving five hours to find no rooms available would be a drag) only to be informed, again rather curtly, that the number was scrawled on the wall.

And no, you couldn’t check out the rooms because the man with the key was missing in action.

Some years back, we drove all the way to Gwadar as part of the WWF’s eco-tourism programme. En route we got to see Ormara beach which puts even Kund Malir to shame. That one is literally picture-postcard perfect, with white sand and palm trees. Venturing into the water, we were welcomed by a whole school of dolphins jumping out not 20 feet from us. But again, that beauty was marred by the same trash we saw at Kund Malir.

According to the WWF representatives we were with, they had placed garbage cans on the beach but locals had taken those away to use in their homes. If you wanted, say, a bottle of water you were out of luck, as no one had taken the initiative to set up even a small shop.

Much further down the road is another jewel, and that’s Astola Island. Now that’s a sight to be seen indeed … coral reefs, schools of fish … the works. It’s an amazing destination, if you can actually make it there. Few do. There aren’t very many tour companies that organise such visits, and going it alone means you know what you’re doing and what you need (everything from food to tents and basic supplies).

That’s a problem that you’ll face to one degree or another whenever you try to get to any of the hundreds of beautiful and historic sites that dot this country.

Even when it comes to more popular destinations such as Fairy Meadows, you’ll only really know what you need when you get there, by which time it’s too late.

Some progress is being made though, informal tour companies are springing up and some even conduct city tours, showing even long-time city slickers what they’ve missed in their own backyards. But they can only do so much.

Here one isn’t asking the government to launch any major projects but simply to facilitate existing operators and provide some basic services en route.

In addition to that, a simple online portal linking all these various tour operators together will work just fine. And then all you need to do is remember to pack your towel and a sense of adventure.

The writer is a member of staff.

Twitter: @zarrarkhuhro

Published in Dawn, April 20th, 2015

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