Ed_The_Gypsy
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Some may remember that I am still shackled to the plough. But sometimes something fun comes up.
I have an opportunity to give three day's training on a technical subject I know well, in Islamabad, Pakistan.
Never having been there, I am trying to figure out if this is a good idea or not. (Sidenote: I was in New Delhi when Indira Ghandi was killed. It was interesting, but I survived.)
Several friends who are either from there or have visited on business have said that it would probably be OK. From my personal research, it does not seem too outrageous. I would be accompanied in a city that has good public security, I am told.
However, the State Dept has a Travel Warning out on PK Pakistan due to kidnappings for ransom and so forth. It is a little old but it is impossible to get anything more out of them. No Warden Messages are active at the moment. And I am a very visible Westerner.
It appears that I cannot get travel insurance or life insurance for this trip, perhaps due to the official travel warning. Kidnapping and Ransom Insurance doesn't seem to work very well, either. (You can't buy it your company must. If you know they have it for you, it is invalid. K&R doesn't pay the ransom; your employer does, then the ins co reimburses them. This is a two-man company. That won't work very well.) I would take the risk if I could get a short-term life insurance policy and/or travel insurance for the trip, but PK seems to be excluded. (For a reason?)
So I figured, why not ask here. What do y'all think? Does someone in the forum have recent direct experience with this situation and place? Advice? Comments? Any spooks out there with field knowledge of Islamabad today? I need to decide very soon.
Thanks mucho.
Cheers,
Gypsy
I have an opportunity to give three day's training on a technical subject I know well, in Islamabad, Pakistan.
Never having been there, I am trying to figure out if this is a good idea or not. (Sidenote: I was in New Delhi when Indira Ghandi was killed. It was interesting, but I survived.)
Several friends who are either from there or have visited on business have said that it would probably be OK. From my personal research, it does not seem too outrageous. I would be accompanied in a city that has good public security, I am told.
However, the State Dept has a Travel Warning out on PK Pakistan due to kidnappings for ransom and so forth. It is a little old but it is impossible to get anything more out of them. No Warden Messages are active at the moment. And I am a very visible Westerner.
It appears that I cannot get travel insurance or life insurance for this trip, perhaps due to the official travel warning. Kidnapping and Ransom Insurance doesn't seem to work very well, either. (You can't buy it your company must. If you know they have it for you, it is invalid. K&R doesn't pay the ransom; your employer does, then the ins co reimburses them. This is a two-man company. That won't work very well.) I would take the risk if I could get a short-term life insurance policy and/or travel insurance for the trip, but PK seems to be excluded. (For a reason?)
So I figured, why not ask here. What do y'all think? Does someone in the forum have recent direct experience with this situation and place? Advice? Comments? Any spooks out there with field knowledge of Islamabad today? I need to decide very soon.
Thanks mucho.
Cheers,
Gypsy