پاکستانی Stories and treasures from Pakistan
Ride the Pakistanee Express from the Karachi coast to the apricot orchards of Hunza. At every stop we tell you the story of something made there, how it is made and how Pakistanis live with it, then point you to a trusted seller who ships to your door.
دیکھ مگر پیار سے“Look, but with love.” Painted on trucks all over Pakistan.
The route · Karachi to Hunza
Scroll to drive north. Each stop is a town where something wonderful is made. Tap anything to hear its story.
In Punjab, many villages were laid out in numbered blocks when the canal colonies were settled from the 1880s, so they have numbers instead of names: Chak 5, Chak 47/GB. Pakistanis still say them that way. We number our stops the same way, and our truck stops at every one.
End of the road · Khunjerab Pass, 4,693 m
Featured story · Sindh
Ajrak is cotton block-printed by hand and dyed with indigo and madder. Scroll to follow one cloth through the workshop.
Stage 1 of 5
Raw cotton is soaked in a mix that traditionally includes camel dung, oil and soda ash, then rinsed and beaten on stones so it takes dye evenly.
Stage 2 of 5
Carved wooden blocks are dipped in a paste of gum and lime and pressed down in rhythm. Wherever paste lands, the next dye cannot reach.
Stage 3 of 5
The cloth goes into the indigo vat. It comes out green and turns blue as it meets the air.
Stage 4 of 5
Alum is printed where red is wanted, then the cloth is boiled with madder root. Only the mordanted shapes turn red.
Stage 5 of 5
Repeated washing in running water and drying in the sun brighten the colours. As many as sixteen stages in all.
Browse by region
Every region page groups what we have found by town, so it stays easy to browse as the collection grows.
From the bazaar
Hand-painted metal kettle
The painting on Pakistan’s trucks, shrunk to fit a kitchen shelf.
Pakistani spice mixes, one dish per box
Biryani, nihari and karahi from a Karachi box, with the recipe printed on the back.
Green ice cream soda
Karachi’s bright green ice cream soda.
Glass bangles, sold by the dozen
Glass rings in every colour, from the city that makes them for all of Pakistan.
Block-printed cotton shawl
Indigo and madder, stamped by hand on both sides of the cloth.
Hand-embroidered dress and panels
Needlework so dense the cloth underneath almost disappears.
Pakistan’s famous summer mangoes
Sweet, fibre-free and fragrant: the mango Pakistanis argue is the best in the world.
Hand-painted glazed ceramics
Cobalt and turquoise on white, the colours of Multan’s shrines.
What Pakistan drinks
From Pakola with biryani to Rooh Afza at the end of a Ramadan fast, these are the drinks every Pakistani grew up with.
Green ice cream soda
Karachi’s bright green ice cream soda.
Rose and herb syrup for cold drinks
The ruby-red syrup that opens the fast in every Pakistani home.
Strong black tea for milky Pakistani chai
The strong, granular tea behind Pakistan’s milky, sugary doodh patti.
Green tea with cardamom
Green tea with cardamom, poured in Peshawar’s Storytellers’ Bazaar.
How buying works
Pakistanee is a guide, not a shop. We never hold your money or your parcel.
Step 1
We trace each object to the town and the people who make it, and we tell you what the genuine version looks like so you can spot a copy.
Step 2
Every seller we point to already ships internationally, has a public track record, and sells the genuine article, not a factory lookalike.
Step 3
Checkout happens on the seller’s own site or platform, with their buyer protection. Some links earn us a small commission. Your price stays the same.
If you buy through this link, the platform may pay us a small fee. It never changes your price.
We earn nothing from these. They have no affiliate program, and we list them because they belong here.
From the blog
Gifts & guides
What to bring back from Pakistan, what to send to someone who misses it, and what to order if you have never been. Twenty-eight gifts, from a two-dollar box of spices to an heirloom quilt.
Food & drink
The pink salt in kitchens from Texas to Tokyo is dug out of one range of hills in Punjab. Here is the mine, the 600-million-year-old sea behind it, and what the label leaves out.
Craft & culture
Peacocks, flying horses, eyes against envy and a line of poetry on the tailgate. How Pakistan’s working trucks became the country’s most famous folk art.
For makers in Pakistan
If you already sell abroad, on Etsy, Amazon, your own shop or Instagram, we would like to tell your story. Listing is free.
Newsletter
One story from Pakistan each month, with where to find the thing it is about.
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