RanaOnRoad
Pakistan is a land of 230 million people. It is blessed with all kinds of terrain. From a beautiful coastline to deserts to rivers, forests, and mountains, Pakistan has it all. I was born in Pakistan and have traveled the length and breadth of my country. Pakistan is home to some indigenous tribes. So, come and embark on a journey of discovery with me. I am Shahid Jameel Rana, a passionate traveler and a wanderer at heart. I have formed a company called, Last Tribes Pakistan, a Destination Management Company.
I have been associated with traveling and the tourism industry for almost 4 decades. I started my career in 1984 as a freelance travel coordinator with a reputed travel company. I became a guide for tourists in that year and conducted 2 groups of tourists. I realized that I had the skills to speak Japanese but my Japanese needed improvement. For this, I enrolled in a Japanese-speaking class for 6 months. This interest of mine to speak Japanese took me to Japan as well. Once I was done with that I started as a full-fledged Japanese-speaking guide in 1989. That was the real beginning of my tourism career.
This lasted till 1993. There was a mission to achieve as far as I was concerned. Since my childhood, I had to go through a struggle of sorts. My school was 5 km away from home and similarly, my college was 6 km from home. This made me spend a considerable time out in the open, practically on the road. This time spent outside made me learn a lot of things, both as a guide and as a human being too.
One thing led me to another and in 1993, I ended up establishing a handicrafts shop in one of the PTDC (Pakistan Tourism Development Company) motels. This lasted for a considerable time and when Pakistan went nuclear in 1999, the tourism graph went down, and finally, when 9/11 happened it actually curtailed the flow of tourists to Pakistan from abroad.
In 2003, it started to pick-up back again but times were difficult as Pakistan witnessed a major earthquake in 2005. This went on for almost a decade and in 2016, with the aid of the Pakistan Rangers as well as the local police in Karachi, an operation was conducted and Pakistan become relatively peaceful and ready to welcome tourists once again.
My close friends encouraged me to move out of the house once again and I embarked on a peace mission of sorts on the motorbike. This was labeled as “Rana on road.” The glimpses of that mission are available on a Facebook page by the same name. I put up boxes and storage areas on my motorcycle and decorated it, which enabled people to see, recognize, and acknowledge me wherever I went. My idea of promoting peace and the soft image of Pakistan through tourism was my main aim. The main aim was to meet people, make new friends, and attain inner peace.
When you meet new people frequently, you end up developing a welcoming personality and are open to talking about things that are encouraging and happy. This was the real beginning of my love affair with tourism.
I have formed a company called, “The last tribes of Pakistan”. We are a Destination Management Company and I welcome all to come to Pakistan and see my wonderful country. Pakistan is ready to welcome the world.
THE LAST TRIBES OF PAKISTAN
Pakistan is home to some of the oldest civilizations in the world. To go with these, we are also home to some of the indigenous tribes that have been in Pakistan for centuries. Some of these tribes are the Mallah people of Manchchar Lake, a tribe that lives on boats on the largest lake in Pakistan, the people of Kailash, a pagan tribe that is centuries old, the Koochi people of Baluchistan, as well as the Markrani people, a tribe with roots in Africa that got settled on the Makran coastline.