It’s not just the beautiful valleys, breathtakingly beautiful mountain ranges, and diverse culture that urges explorers to come to Pakistan. The young nation has so much more to offer with its rich and varied history spanning a period of over 9000 years. This assorted history makes it unique in terms of presence of ancient cultures and archaeology. It was this passion to walk through the remains of ancient civilizations that brought Andrea Angelucci to Pakistan.
Andrea Angelucci is a Rome-based tour guide and archeologist. He loves traveling and exploring new places. What makes him unique is before he goes off to a place, he reads about it, makes notes and draw a sketch. When he reaches his destination, he already knows about it in and out and can just enjoy it.
But what made him come to Pakistan? We asked him this question. According to him:
As much fun as traveling is, there is always a fear of the unknown, a mild sadness of leaving home. How does he cope up with it?
This urge to know took him to Sirkap, Taxila, which “portrays the union of two completely different worlds; the west and the east. The two worlds were united in 326 BC by Alexander the Great. I was so excited just by looking at the Corinthian column which is proof of the molding of western culture with eastern beliefs.”
How did he feel to visit places that he only read about in books? Well! he was fascinated.
“It was like being an ancient archaeologist or explorer, especially when it comes to non-tourist places. There is something infinitely romantic about this, in this era when the world seems to be small and everything seems to have already been discovered. It’s then to appreciate what others ignore or do not understand, and then try to sensitize people about the value of those sites. For me, it’s a kind of mission, and I hope to be able to achieve this purpose.”
Andrea not only connects with places but also culture and languages. Before he came to Pakistan, he picked a few words of Urdu that he’d use during his traveling. How was his experience of traveling through Pakistan? Well! he loved it. According to him:
Through his drawings and photographs, Andrea is making an effort to paint a more peaceful picture of Pakistan and we love him for doing that.
If you’d like to ask anything from him, comment below.
