Pakistan

So I uploaded my last blog cutting out the last couple of days of Iran thinking that nothing too exciting would happen! I was a little wrong! Firstly on the day we left Yazd I rode up front in the cab with Greg for the first time, which was great fun. He gave me lotsa little lessons about the truck and how it works and that. It was also nice to have the open road in front of us and as we were going through the desert that’s literally all it was...nothingness for miles and miles! We bopped away to a very eclectic mix of music including Michael Jackson, Kings of Lean, Don’t Stop Believing, Roxanne, Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow (slightly ironic while desert driving) and a bit of club music among lots of others! Probably the most exciting thing that happened on the drive day was the sand storm we went through. We had been noticing little mini twisters all day but then we saw a big haze ahead of us. And as we got closer we realised it was a sand storm. It was pretty cool, kinda like driving in fog but we could actually see the waves of sand drifting across the road.

We arrived at our campsite just outside the city of Bam at about 5 that evening after being on the road since 8 in the morning. We got the tents up and made a start on dinner. We were just finished up with dinner and sorting out all the lockers in the truck when the wind started to pick up a little...and then the sand came. The stupid storm had followed us and while it was enjoyable from the comfort of the truck, being out in it was less enjoyable! Firstly the sand in my eyes was ridiculous...and you’d think the headscarf would have come in handy for once and kept the dust outta my hair...but instead it was just as much of a nuisance as always and kept blowing off!! Then we noticed that all our tents were getting a battering and as we stood there wondering what the hell we were supposed to do I saw one of the tents take flight across the car park! I let a yell and me and Little Kev went running after it. Rachel’s tent was next to go for a little trip but if didn’t get very far, the pegs just popped out and then Greg’s tent looked like it was about to pop too. There were mad dashes from one tent to another with extra pegs and a mallet to put the extra guy ropes in...something most of us had stopped doing after the first week or two cause there was no need for them! I was very happy to see that my little tent stood up to the storm...even if everything in it did get covered in sand...after I had just swept it out and everything! None of us slept great that night purely because of the heat! It was so, so warm and in the tents it was even more uncomfortable!

When we got up the next morning we were driving through the gates of the compound we had camped in when the security guards pulled us over and told us to wait for our escort. The route we were taking to the Pakistan border is the Opium Trail that drug smugglers use and because of that we were getting a guard the whole way to Zahedan, our destination that day. We were waiting around for awhile for the police to arrive so got chatting to the security guards and they asked to take a picture with us. So we hopped off the bus and gathered in. It was weird, one of the guards stood beside me and put his arm around me! Something I was not expecting to happen considering how much we had been warned about male and female contact! He also told Rachel she could put her hand on his shoulder for the picture if she wanted to! After a few pictures were taken the guard that was on a motorbike let us sit on the bike and I also got to wear one of the guy’s hats too!! Was a very random start to the day! Eventually the escort arrived and we hit the road...only for the escort to leave us about 10 minutes later...which was kinda frustrating after we waited so long! We then had to pull over for petrol which was where we drew more attention from the police and Hamid had to give them all our details and we were told once again we were getting an escort. We learned at this stage that the night before there had been a lot of activity from drug smugglers and that was why the police were being so cautious. About 30-40 heavily armed vehicles (including air craft assault rifles on the roofs of the cars) had used the cover of the sandstorm to smuggle drugs through. The army opened fire and managed to stop only the last vehicle in the convoy...and on this vehicle alone they were carrying 160 kilos of drugs! Our escort lead us about 50 km and then pulled over to swap with police at the next station...and this time they got on the truck. So we had 2 Iranian army dudes sitting up the front seats of the truck with their rifles in their hands! We swapped guards again after awhile for some more truck companions. At the next stop there was a very odd occurrence! Keep in mind that we were in the middle of the desert with nothing for miles around...and then take in the fact that the heavens opened with the biggest hailstones I have ever seen!! It was so weird, one minute it was bone dry and the next everything was soaking and there was a river running down the middle of the road!! The desert is a strange place!! The escort from this stop was a vehicle again...with 2 guys riding in the front of a pickup and three more in the back with the rifles on their laps! In all we had 7 different escorts that day, swapping between cars and guys on the truck with us.

When we eventually arrived in Zahedan we got escorted through the town to a hotel where we were supposed to park up and camp for the night....when we got there though Rachel was told that they wanted $150 for us to park the truck in the car park...and for us all to sleep on the truck! So that changed plans slightly and we instead got brought to a police compound to camp...which was quite an experience. We ended up parking right outside the compound as it would have been a tight squeeze for the truck to fit through the gate! We gathered quite the crowd with a gang of kids gathering very quickly! A few of the group pitched their tents and some of us opted to sleep on the truck....I was in the latter group! Dinner that night was sandwiches as none of us were too bothered trying to get the kitchen set up with such a crowd around, plus just as we arrived in Zahedan it started spilling rain and cooking in the rain is never fun!!! It was an interesting evening with the army standing guards the whole night to make sure we were safe.

One thing I forgot to mention about Iran was Iran Tan. You’ve all heard of farmers tan and everyone gets the piss taken out of them for having one...well Iran Tan is even worse!! It’s where your hands, feet and face get a nice colour and the rest of you remains as pasty white as ever! I already had an issue with my hands as, as we were going through Europe the sun was out but it was still quite chilly so we all had our fleeces on. Which resulted in me getting tanned hands and from the wrist up I am white (looks like my hands are always dirty!!). Well being in Iran made it even worse and now my feet also have flip flop tan lines on them!! Quite the tan disaster...and it’s not sun shimmer so I can’t even just wash it off and start again!!!

Another thing that I read about Iran that amused me was how they smuggle drugs sometimes...they use camels!! The camels are literally trained to walk between two points, kind of like homing pigeons, and rewarded for going to the right place by food. Once the camels learn that they will be rewarded when they get to the destination, drugs are then surgically inserted into the camels humps and they are sent off on their walk. The Iranian government invests US$400 million every year in the war against drugs and even with 30,000 soldiers on the Afghan border, electric fences and desert pits still 85% of the drugs smuggled to Europe pass through Iran from Afghanistan and Pakistan. Over 30 years 3,300 soldiers have been killed in battles with heavily armed smugglers.

Anyway onto Pakistan!!

Next morning we were up early to head to the Pakistan border. Again we got escorted and when we got to the border we were ushered through the queues of trucks to the top! Last year the truck spent 4 hours getting through its stuff at the border so Rachel had been warning us of a long day of waiting around....we were just getting ourselves ready for the long wait...when the truck pulled off again after about 5 or 10 minutes! Much less hassle compared to last year for Greg and Rachel! It was then time for us people to go through our border stuff and again we all got ushered through the crowds of people waiting to leave Iran. The locals didn’t look particularly pleased at this group of white people being ushered past them all. Once we had been stamped out we got back on the truck and drove to the Pakistan side of the border. Again we were allowed skip the queues and get ourselves processed as quickly as possible. It was then time to bargain with the money changers and get rid of our Iranian Rials and get ourselves some Pakistani Rupees. Our first pee in Pakistan (and our second too in fact) was in a Pakistani prison! Right at the border in Taftan we were waiting for our escort and asked could we use the loo....we actually walked by cells with people in them which was very, very odd! When our escort did arrive it was one dude....one very old dude! He was with us for a good while til we got back to his town. It was actually pretty cool as we got to drive through a typical Pakistani country village. It was all mud houses and little kids running around in their traditional dress. Throughout the day we had a few escort changes, mostly one guy sitting on the truck with us. Our destination that night was Dalbandan to a hotel thankfully, as it had been one sweltering hot day on the truck for all of us so we knew a shower was at the end of the journey! When we arrived in Dalbandan we were looking around for the hotel when all of a sudden it just lit up right across the road from us! It was almost like they were looking out for us and knew how much we needed a shower so wanted to reveal themselves to us in a dramatic “Alleluia” moment!!! We got rooms sorted and I headed straight to the shower....a nice COLD shower! Then it was time to get some food, which was a lovely chicken dish in a spicy sauce...though truth be told, I probably would have eaten anything at that stage! Then it was time to go back to the sauna that was our room! I was sharing a room with Joe, Derek and Graham...there was no windows in the room and just an old fashioned fan in the centre of the room. Needless to say I did not sleep so well! It was absolutely stifling and I even got up in the middle of the night to have a cold shower...stood there for about 15 minutes...and as soon as I turned off the water the heat just enveloped me again! I dozed off a couple of times and managed to get a few hours in a row from about 4am! When we got up in the morning I had just gone into the bathroom for a shower...when the electricity went...so the shower wasn’t working and the fan turned itself off! The four of us were lying there in absolute stifling heat when a few of the others walked by....after pouncing on them we discovered that all the showers in their rooms were working!! So the four of us headed in 4 different directions for yet another cold shower! Then it was time to get back on the truck to head to Quetta.

There was a slight difference in the escort on our second day as instead of just one old dude sitting amongst us we now had a pickup truck either in front of, or behind us with anything from 3 to 5 guys in it! We stopped off in Nushki, a little village for lunch which was quite an experience. In the hotel in Dalbandan the staff (all men) dealt with the women on the trip (albeit with slightly less enthusiasm and speed than with the guys!!). In Nushki it was a totally different story! I went into one of the little shack huts to buy a cold drink and the guy didn’t even move off his chair to deal with me until one of the lads walked up beside me!! Another experience of Nushki was the armed guard when we went to pee! Our police dude walked with us while we went up over a dirt hill to do our business! Quite funny to walk back with a guy with a rifle over his shoulder walking behind us all!! When we got to just outside of Quetta we had to wait for our city escort which they told us would take about 15 minutes...an hour or so later we were still sitting there!! The guards at the security post were on the truck with us and taking pictures. Some of them try to be subtle about it, others just stick the phone in your face and then there is one or two who will ask can they take a picture! Eventually anyway the escort arrived and in we went to Quetta. It was interesting coming into the city at night and seeing life going on around us. The escort kept us moving though and we got to our hotel...only for the guards not to be satisfied as the truck would have to be parked on the street and they didn’t want that. So we had to move on to another hotel...which is where the fun started. The hotel they were bringing us to was a little outside the city centre...and just after a major road block. We got so far through the road block only to discover the truck wouldn’t fit through the space between the hut and the gate that was beside it! At this stage cars were piling up behind us, so the guards had to move all the road block to let the cars move by us so that we could reverse down a one way street and drive up the other side! This took a bit of time as the cars weren’t very accommodating and when we managed to clear the cars that were in the way any new cars that came, instead of waiting to let us pull out, would scoot in past us!! Eventually we got there though and got into the hotel. At this stage it was coming up to 11 o’clock so I forfeited food and just went straight to bed!!

The roads on our second day were also quite interesting! We could see road works along the way...consisting mostly of old men or young boys doing hard manual labour, did see 3 rollers along the few 100k we did though so at least it’s not all manual labour! There were quite a few craters in the road along the way and we had a few bumps in the back.... with Donald’s head nearly going through the roof at one stage and the floorboards bouncing up! The best thing though about the Pakistan roads is the trucks! They are beautiful! As the drivers spend so much of their time travelling long haul they take as much pride in their trucks as their own home and they are just magnificent. They are painted in bright colours with loads of different designs and pictures and they put chains on them so the jingle as they drive and there is mirrors all over them. They also put flashing lights on them so they light up like disco balls at night! They are just spectacular and we all jump at our cameras when we see one coming...so expect quite a few pictures of them! It’s also interesting to see how much they load up the trucks! They pile things as high and wide as they can...and it’s not unusual to see one of two guys sitting on top of the load, in some cases they much be at least 16 or 17 foot high!!

Next morning we were on the road to head to Sukkur (yes, actually pronounced sucker!!). The temperature was unreal that day, hitting 52 degrees at one stage. You can imagine being stuck on a truck in that heat. We would open the window for some air only to feel like there was someone blowing a hairdryer in our faces! And it was impossibly sticky! No matter what I touched off I would start sweating...bend my elbow, elbow would leak...my feet just lying there on the ground doing nothing got a glisten on them after awhile...and you know that feeling where you stand up and think, Crap, did I just sit in a wet patch....well it took a couple of times for me to cop on after getting this sensation that I WAS the bloody wet patch!!! Considering it was a fairly long drive day I didn’t even notice the time going by as I was concentrating so much on NOT moving and trying to get myself as comfortable and cool as possible! We did stop in a lovely spot for lunch though. We were mountain driving that day and it was all rocks and cliffs that we were going past. We spotted a little river at one stage and Greg pulled over and we started making up a fruit salad...something that was totally welcome and helped cool us down a little in the heat! As we got closer to Sukkur the sun started to set and it was absolutely gorgeous. I just sat at the window watching it for ages. I’ve never seen a sunset like it! It was the first time I was actually able to look directly at the sun without it hurting my eyes, it was a perfect circle and such a rich gold just suspended in midair, absolutely amazing. Once we got to the hotel we got some lovely dinner...and god do they give big portions in Pakistan! I got chicken Biryani and it came out in a huge portion...but after skipping dinner the night before I had absolutely no problem in eating the whole thing!! Then it was bed time again after another day!

Sukkur to Bahawalpur was our next journey. That day we entered the Punjab region which meant our escort changed from normal police and army to the Punjabi Elite Force...otherwise known as No Fear!! Yes they actually have that printed on the back of their t-shirts!! And they meant business!! When we first swapped to them they asked Greg 3 questions; 1) Did we need lunch (no), 2) Did we need fuel (no), 3) What is your maximum speed (90k)!!! And with that they hopped in their truck and put their foot down!! They took no shit off anyone on the road! Our other escorts were great but these guys could get people to move in double time...and if the cars or trucks didn’t move out of the way quick enough, when they eventually did pull over or move out of the way the Elite Force would slow down and stare in at the driver giving him the biggest don’t f*** with us look ever!! That’s one thing that has been quite amusing on the Pakistani roads. You know the way at home if you hear a siren you start looking from which direction it is coming from and pull over or out of the way. Over here they are in no rush to get out of the way! They will continue to pull out in front of a sirening vehicle to try get past the car or truck in front of them! They don’t hurry up, especially the trucks; they just keep going at their merry little pace!! It’s actually quite funny and totally different to home! No one moves out of the way for anyone, especially the auto rickshaw drivers! They reckon cause they are small they don’t have to move or hurry up, they can just scoot along and keep up and everyone else should move for them!! We didn’t even notice the escort change overs with the No Fear guys, they did rolling takeovers so we never had to stop, we just kept moving constantly. We got to the hotel in Bahawalpur and again got a huge feed...after waiting nearly 2 hours for it!! We were all pretty famished by the time the food did actually come out at ten to ten!! So we ate and then slept...our usual routine for the week!!

Next morning it was time to go to Lahore. Again we had the No Fear guys escorting us and it was plain sailing all the way thankfully. There was a slight difference in the weather compared to the previous couple of days, it was quite hazy with dust and not quite so hot but very humid. We got a couple of specs of rain throughout the day and as we drove closer to Lahore the haze started to lift for a bit. But it was nice to be able to sit on the truck and not feel like I was in an oven for the day! We could tell the difference in the temperature straight away as we didn’t go through half as much water as we had the previous few days! It was also on the way to Lahore that I had my first balcony drive experience! We have a little balcony out the front on the truck and when we are on quietish roads if we want we can sit out there while we are driving...it was so much fun!! Because we were on our way into a city there was quite a lot of traffic around and they were puzzled when they saw the truck being escorted in and the fact they were all being all hooshed out of the way...and then they looked slightly bemused to see myself, Rhona and Sally sitting up at the front! I’ve never felt like royalty before but I can imagine that’s what it feels like with everyone waving and having to wave back!! The drive into the city was great; it was nice to see a city rather than just the little rural villages we had been going through. They had big fancy office blocks and rush hour traffic like you wouldn’t believe!! We got escorted right to the hotel...and had to negotiate doing a U turn in the middle of a massive junction that didn’t go down too well with the locals as we were getting in their way with our police escort stopping all the traffic! Once we were set up in the hotel it was then time for dinner...and again we got a massive feed. And we didn’t have to wait half as long as the previous day...and we ate it at a normal dinner time hour!! It was then time to get the laptop out and I got on Skype and managed to make a few surprise phone calls!

Next morning we all got up early enough to get some breakfast and discuss what to do for the day...the only problem was that half of the group had come down with a stomach bug and couldn’t move too far from the hotel. Luckily enough I was ok so didn’t have to suffer, and there was a few others that were feeling fine too. Some felt well enough to go out and explore the city and then there were the few poor bastards who couldn’t move out of the rooms as they needed a toilet within running distance. Those of us who felt up for it left the hotel at 10 to go find the Old City...we thought it would be a quick enough walk, half hour tops maybe...2 hours later we were still walking around in the hottest heat of the day! Eventually someone told us we were close but that it would be another 5k walk to get to the right entrance to the Old City...so we said screw that for a biscuit and hopped in a rickshaw! When we did get there it was totally worth it. Lahore Fort was gorgeous with lots of different parts of the palaces still standing and in pretty good shape. The Fort started being built in 1566 and had TWELVE massive gates! The Fort was built by the emperor at the time Jalaluddin Muhammad Akbar (how’s that for a name!!) but every succeeding emperor or ruling nation, including the British, added a pavilion, palace or gate of some sort to the Fort. There was a lot to see within the Fort including the Hall of Public Audience, the Hall of Private Audience,  sleeping chambers, royal kitchen, bathhouses, Ladies Courtyard, and by far the most impressive part, the Palace of Mirrors. Everything within the Fort was amazing and very well preserved but the Palace of Mirrors was immaculate. It was called this as the mosaic work was all done with tiny mirror tiles. So it looked as though it was made of silver but as I got closer I could see the reflection of everything. It was also from this palace that we got a lovely view of the Badshahi Mosque and the Independence Momument.

We also went to the Badshahi  Mosque, which was huge. It was built in 1674 in only 2 and a half years. It was the largest outdoor prayer area in the world. The 4 minarets in each corner are 54 metres high and 20 metres in circumference....so you can imagine that the place is pretty bloody massive!! It was pretty hot by the time we got to the Mosque and to go in we of course, had to take our shoes off. Luckily the clever Pakistani people had a carpet running around the edge of the prayer area so people could walk to the Mosque without burning the feet off themselves...but us tourists had to be awkward and wanted a picture in the idle of the courtyard standing in front of the Mosque....cue a quick dash and pose followed by a full pelt run back to the carpet!! Check out the picture I’m talking about and you will actually see that I’m hopping on the ground!!! The Mosque was beautiful though and the mosaic work on the inside was gorgeous though far less colourful than the other mosques we had visited. Usually they use blue, green or yellow tiles, whereas this one used white and silver which gave it a very simple but elegant feel.

By far the most amusing thing that day was how many pictures we were in! Our little group of 7 was quite the oddity and we had people coming up to us left right and centre asking to take our picture. Again some of them didn’t ask and subtly, or not so subtly, took pictures on camera phones, but a few came right over and asked...and once one did they all did!! I was standing at the stairs up to the Mosque waiting for the other guys when an old man came over and started talking to me...next thing I knew there was about 15 or 20 people standing around us looking at me! A group of school boys came up and called me Ma’am at another point in the day and asked to take my picture...and when we saw them again awhile later they asked again except this time they wanted to be in the picture with me! One other guy got a picture with me and when it was done he shook my hand to say thanks...except he didn’t let my hand go and got his friend to take a picture of us shaking hands too!! Another time in the Palace I was sitting at a pavilion in the shade waiting for the others to finish taking their pictures. There was no one around me when I sat down. Then there were a couple of people milling around and then the rest of my group arrived. We all sat for a minute or two in the shade talking and then looked up and saw the crowd we had drawn. They were circling us with cameras and sitting at the edge of our group getting their friends to take pictures of them sitting beside us!! It was quite amusing but got a bit creepy after awhile! I was kinda surprised that this was happening in Lahore. It didn’t surprise me in all the villages and small towns we went through but in my head I figured city people would probably be used to foreigners...but I was majorly wrong! We are just as much a rareity in the big cities as we are in the tiny rural villages!! The other really weird picture moment came when one of the guys who worked in the hotel knocked on the bedroom door with his camera phone in his hand and asked could he take a picture! Not exactly professionalism at its best!!

When we were finished our little tourist thing we headed for lunch and then back to the hotel to chill out for the rest of the evening. The following morning myself, Rhona, Derek and Graham decided to make the most of the few hours we had and decided to head to the Bazaar. We got in an autorickshaw and got him to bring us to the Bazaar we wanted to see...only to get there and the dude looked at us and said here it is...but its closed until 10!! I asked him why he didn’t tell us that before we got in the tuk tuk...and got a big smile in return...cheeky bastard!! We decided to make the best of a bad situation though and walked around for awhile. It was a bit of an experience. It wasn’t like the other bazaars we were used to as it was made up of streets more so than indoor alleys. We saw a pile of chicken feet abandoned in a gutter...a goat in a doorway...and a lot of men in their shops making something that we never quite managed to work out what it was! They were basically holding what looked like an old sock filled to the brim with something that they were sweating off, then gathering whatever was oozing out of it and making flat little, brown, sticky things!! We headed back to the hotel then and got ready to once again head for another border!

Once again me, Rhona, Sally and Graham sat up the fron taking everything in and enjoying the breeze. We were close to the border when we had our only scare in Pakistan! Everyone knows that Pakistan can be a dangerous place and there are risks involved in going there...we had a very smooth ride the whole way through, with no problems of any kind. Our hearts did go a little when this incident occurred. We were driving along and the next thing there was a massive bang and a flash of light! We were still sitting up front at this stage and I immediately started to try to figure out what I was supposed to do! See I had seen exactly what had happened but the others had just heard that bang! A truck had been driving in front of us and it was pretty tall. It clipped an electrical cable and pulled it clean out of the transformer box. The box blew up, the cable did too so all I saw was the cable flash and then smoke, followed by the bang...and then it slowly started to drift down towards our truck! In my head I was thinking...electric cable coming straight for me...can’t go up can’t go down what do I do!! Luckily the cable dropped enough and it ran along the windscreen...though I don’t think Greg and Rachel enjoyed the experience too much as it was still sparking...and it left a scorch mark across the windscreen! So that was our excitement on our last day in Pakistan! We got to the border then with little other drama. We all had to pile off the truck at the border...we managed to convince the border security not to make us take ALL the bags off the truck for a check so they randomly selected 3 bags of the whole truck...one of which of course had to be mine!! Then it was back on the truck to drive a few yards to India...but that’s a story for next time!!

Observations about Pakistan...their roads are freakin mental!! It is a free for all and when it’s in a city it’s a whole different story! It’s not just cars, there’s trucks, buses, mini buses, auto rickshaws, motor bikes, donkey and carts, horse and carts, pedestrians!! I’d like to say it was a survival of the biggest or loudest like Iran but being in a big orange truck with a police escort didn’t mean that we always won! It’s basically a survival of the ballsiest...usually the rickshaw drivers! On the day we were in Lahore we got a rickshaw from the old city to KFC for lunch (yes we went to a western restaurant...we just needed normal food...especially with all the sick stomachs!! And it was a deaf KFC too so all the staff were speaking sign language which was kinda cool!!). Anyway there was 4 of us in one rickshaw and 3 in the other. Me and Bui were sitting in the back of one which meant we were sitting backwards looking out at the traffic behind us. The dude was MENTAL!!! I reckon he should have had his tuk tuk set up so that when he turned on the engine his horn automatically started cause the dude did not stop pressing on it!! We were weaving in between horses and carts and motorbikes and trucks and police jeeps!! He didn’t even stop for them or move out of their way, the way he saw it he had people to get somewhere and he was going to do it in the quickest time possible. We also provided some amusement for the locals as me and Bui had a few shocked looks on our face every now and then when we realised how close some of the other traffic was. The 2 drivers also stuck together so we got some pretty cool pictures of each other in the tuk tuks with a plethora of emotions on our faces!

Throughout the week we also saw amusing things across the country...such as carts being pulled by donkeys, then horses and mules (didn’t think I knew the difference between a donkey and mule but I did once I saw an actual mule!!). Then the carts were being pulled by big ass oxen (or water buffalo I’m not sure which!!) and the most unusual and amusing one was when we passed a cart being pulled by a camel!! We also saw herds of goats, horses, cattle, oxen (again could be buffalo!!) and camels being moved along the side of the road with their herders.

The food is really nice...it was nice not to have to choose between kebab, kebab and kebab for food!! The chicken Biryani is really nice. They also serve a lot of Chinese food which is nice, so we were able to get chicken fried rice and sweet and sour chicken, chowmein and a couple other things that people had been craving over the last couple weeks. The sizes they serve are massive though. It is definitely a culture of order your food and share it with everyone at the table! Like the Iranians they also have a big sweet tooth and love their bakeries and sweet shops...though we didn’t really get to try these out like we did in Iran cause we were on the truck so much!

They are also very friendly people and are completely mesmerised by foreigners and will just stand there staring at you. Most of them have English because of the history of the country so it’s good to be able to talk to them. And of course their favourite question is what do you think of the country. Which we inevitably answer that we love it and it is beautiful...and it’s not one word of a lie!

Just a word on the history of Pakistan, I didn’t realise this but it has only been an independent country since around 1940. Before that it was part of British India. Then they decided to make it independent but because of the mix of religions they basically drew a line down the territory and had one half with Muslims and the other half with Hindu. The only problem with this was that there was a Muslim population in the west and the east so India was in the middle of East Pakistan and West Pakistan. After a number of years they realised having one country split in the middle by another country, governed by different laws and rules and West Pakistan being ruled from far away wasn’t going to work. Which is why East Pakistan was then made an independent country, which is now Bangladesh!  This whole process was known as Partition and is something that Pakistanis are very proud of after becoming independent. There is still a lot of fighting in the Kashmir region as both India and Pakistan want to call it their own. I believe at the moment it is in India and is unlikely to change but it is a cause of unrest in the area. According to the Lonely Planet, people from Kashmir are so sick of the situation most of them would just prefer to come independent themselves to stop all the unrest.

And so that was Pakistan! Again a country that I will probably never be in again but definitely enjoyed the experience of it! Was great to see the country side and the different scenery such as the desert and then the contrasting mountains...but by far the most enlightening part of the trip was being in Lahore and getting to talk to locals....though I’m still not quite comfortable with the staring and picture taking!!

Ps...Dad this is just for you!! I was reading the Lonely Planet when I came across a phrase that I knew you would approve of and would justify a number of comments you have made in the past!! You know the way you love to use the word “festering” in relation to things that generally don’t fester in the terms that we think of the word in? Well when reading about Lahore they said “over the years Lahore has burgeoned into a bustling and increasingly polluted metropolis with festering undercurrents”. So there ya go...definitely something that made me think of you!! J xx