GILGIT (Pakistan), April 1 -- The harsh days of winter are over in Pakistan's high north and while snow still tops the towering peaks that dominate the landscape, spring has arrived in the foothills.

But this year, visitors who have come to witness the region's cherry and apricot blossoms see it as the perfect tonic to the war in the Middle East and its knock-on effects.

"There's war going on all over the world right now. It's petrol crisis, this and that, everything has become more expensive, everyone is in a depression," Hatib, 27, from Pakistan's biggest city, Karachi, told AFP.

"But to get out of depression, you need to step outside, go out somewhere for a bit, see places, explore, and relax the mind," he said.

The blossoms that t...