00:00Why did you go to Pakistan alone? Were you not scared? How was the experience and why Pakistan?
00:09Hi, I'm Rena Jeminska and I have traveled Pakistan for 40 days completely on my own.
00:17The first time I visited was in 2022 and I fell in love with this country's generosity and culture.
00:24It's here in Lahore, Liberty Market. I have snapped a portrait of a stranger and suddenly it hit me.
00:31I want to come back to this country. I want to make a documentary project about Pakistan.
00:37I want people to discover what this country really feels like.
00:43But I had no idea where this journey would take me. Let me take you back to the very start.
00:57I'm going to Pakistan alone for months and I can't wait for this breathtaking adventure.
01:09Preparation starts with choosing your favorite traditional dress.
01:15I know I would meet many wonderful people along the way so I'm packing souvenirs from Australia.
01:26I'm about to say goodbye to my friends.
01:29So finally, today, tomorrow is the day.
01:33I'm excited for you. I won't miss you, but you have a high five, okay?
01:38I am very concerned about your safety and you are aware of this.
01:43But you promise me that you will be safe and you will be,
01:46uh, keep an eye out and be very conscious of your environment.
01:57I was thinking to myself, where would this journey take me?
02:02Which stories do I get to film? Will anyone see my project?
02:06And how would Pakistan welcome me this time?
02:14Is there any way to get a more epic welcome to Pakistan rather than crossing Vaga border and
02:20seeing the ceremony? People from Pakistan and India shout patriotic slogans across the border to
02:27support their country. Dancing, parading and the feeling of unity is lifting the spirits of an entire crowd.
02:34Pakistan is a nation of proud and passionate people and you can see it immediately once you close the border.
02:57Welcome to Pakistan, a country so underrated by Western media but so breathtaking in reality.
03:02It's hard to contain my excitement about being here in this wonderful place with very good people. Pakistan is in
03:11Dubai.
03:14I was welcomed with open hearts, gifts and generous dinner with the local family.
03:21I love their creative choices and they have accepted my Australian souvenirs.
03:29It's my pleasure. You will come here. Yeah, that's why I do this.
03:38It's got a lot of flavour.
03:41I had 31 days to film nine episodes of documentary style project on culture in Pakistan, which was my huge
03:50passion and initiative. This project was not sponsored by any individual organization except me.
03:58I wanted people to feel and see what Pakistan really feels like and not the dark and dangerous
04:08picture that popular media is painting. So here are my favourite moments from this fascinating journey.
04:15How are you?
04:21Gypsy communities in Pakistan, similarly to other places in the world, live their life by migrating
04:28from one place to another. They mostly do begging and sanitary work.
04:32Today I dare myself to show you around one of the most remote gypsy communities.
04:45We have asked them if there is anyone playing musical instruments and this young man is
04:51bringing his drums to play real gypsy music for us.
05:13Excuse my gypsy dancing, I tried my best to impress.
05:38We filmed a very special episode in Peshava, the heart of Pashtun culture.
05:43My mission was to find children who work on the street, ask them what their dream is and
05:50try my absolute best to make it come true.
05:58We saw a young boy cutting meat on the street.
06:26No child decides to lay on the street and dress a little 13-year-old boy.
06:31He is trying his best to support his family, his father is ill and he comes from a poor
06:37family and that's why it's his choice to come here and work as a butcher.
06:48This feels good to know that a 13-year-old boy who was working as a butcher for a couple
06:54of years and always dreamt about commuting on a bike to his work is about to receive this
06:58bicycle.
07:27The
07:54Thank you, thank you, thank you.
07:59Making a documentary in Pakistan was in no way an easy experience.
08:05I've gotten sick three times and did not have enough time to fully recover because of how tight my schedule
08:13was.
08:21I would say that filming an episode of Sufi shrine being an only woman here alone
08:27It's a bit of a bright decision and it's a really intense experience.
08:33The wild wild ceremony is just about to start.
09:04So, let's do it.
10:06Not spoiled by mass tourism.
10:10It's a place where you're not a tourist.
10:13You are a guest.
10:14And you would be incredibly welcome anywhere you go.
10:27And you would be right back.
10:34And you would be right back.
10:40Not good for hospitality.
10:46This might have been one of the best slussies I have ever tried.
10:49I had a unique opportunity to witness street dentistry on the streets of Ravalpindi.
10:55No proper hygiene techniques were ever used in this budget type of dentistry.
11:02We offered to pay it forward for the current brave heart patient.
11:13He says that he'll do it for free.
11:16He'll do it for free?
11:17For this man?
11:19Really?
11:21Are you sure?
11:25You're a guest for him.
11:27I'm a guest.
11:28Okay.
11:29Okay.
11:37We just saw a beautiful woman watching us record the videos.
11:41And she stopped and said, hey, let's go.
11:45I invite you to my home.
11:47And we are doing exactly that.
12:01I've been given this delicious milk by the mother of the family that came from a desert.
12:09A random invitation to have a freshly squeezed milk, still warm, out of the cow.
12:20Baha'da chaza Vardas.
12:22I only have like maybe two more dies in Pakistan before I leave, before this project finishes.
12:43and I think I'm feeling emotional because being here being able to film this documentary was a
12:53dream and it's a dream that came true and it only came true because of some amazing people who
12:59helped me make it happen and I'm crying because not because it's over but because it happened
13:10and it was the most magical
13:16the most magical experience of my life until now
13:21the secret is in the journey
13:27I traveled here alone to have one of the best experiences of my life to tell this magical
13:33story to you to share my love to Pakistan with you so you feel it through the screen
13:39through those faces through that smell through that energy through the music through the sound
13:47I want you to feel my love to Pakistan a country that made my dream come true and hopefully
13:57it can help your dream to come true too if you love adventure if you love hospitality if you
14:03love going off the beaten track and all that and you don't go to Pakistan you're really
14:11missing out I'm sorry
14:14coming up I'm revealing 10 things I wish I knew before coming to Pakistan I will share
14:21the challenges cultural intricacies and helpful advice for the travelers who want to visit Pakistan
14:27for the first time stay tuned for the final episode of Pakistan discovery series see you on Thursday 5 p
14:37.m. Pakistan time
14:38you
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