MONDAY 2nd June. At 17:00 we left Amritsar for Wagha to observe the Ceremony of the Border Closure. Just before the Indian and Pakistani Armies conduct this amazing spectacle of national pride, the squads of soldiers parade up and down with much posturing and silly-walks, whilst the audiences on both sides shout encouragement. On the Indian side, the Sergeant Major shouts "Hindustan," and the audiencece replies with some other undeciphered shout. The opposing Pakistan SM shouts "Pakistan," and similarly gets a retort from the crowd. This goes on for ages! Both the Indian and Pakistan flags are lowered at the same [View Full Entry]

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Here's a load more photos: [View Full Entry]

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Tuesday 3 June Crossed over from India to Pakistan at Wagha. It looks quite different this morning so quiet without the crowds. It is a bit of a palaver getting passports checked, filling out departure forms, going through customs before walking across the border to get passports checked again & go through customs etc. At least there were no queues. We were driven to our hotel in Lahore, The Pearl-Continental. It is a large hotel with a huge atrium where you can see right up past all the levels to the roof. The sound of music being played in the foyer [View Full Entry]

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Pakistan Zindabad (Long live Pakistan) we all chanted as the Pakistani border guards marched back and forth swinging their feet up to touch their hats and then stamping them down with a loud slap on the pavement, all the while glaring at their Indian counterparts on the other side of the border gate. These guys are picked for their height and strength and look very intimidating marching around purposefully with AK's slung over their shoulders. After watching the "show" from both sides of the border I have to say that I felt prouder to cheer from the Pakistani side! The atmosphere [View Full Entry]

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The morning starts quietly enough. Silvery fog spreads like a gossamer veil over Lahore, giving the leafy trees in front of my hotel a mysterious edge. I have breakfast, go back to my room, call Nafiz and arrange to meet him a little later as planned to watch the qawwali (islamic devotional) singing at the Shrine of Data Ganj Baksh Hajveri. At about 12.30, I am just about to leave my room, when my mobile rings. 'Tiziana, where are you?', a manic Nafiz shouts into the telephone. 'In my hotel, why?' 'Stay where you are, there's been a bomb blast at [View Full Entry]

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Over the past six days or so, I've been trying hard to make friends with Lahore, the 'heart and soul of Pakistan'. So far, I have failed miserably. Maybe I'm just not in the right space to enjoy the madness and chaos that is Lahore: yes, the city is a cultural hub and undoubtedly very interesting, but it's also loud, polluted, congested and dirty. The constant drab weather and the rain that has been transforming the roads into muddy rivers haven't exactly helped to endear the place to me. In addition, I caught another tummy bug, and right now, I'm wondering [View Full Entry]

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I can't possibly email all of the (very few) people who may be curious as to my safety... but in case you care, I'm OK, I was in a restaurant when the stuff hit the fan, and we sat tight for a couple of hours (turned off the lights, shut the doors and pulled down the shutters).. then walked back to the hotel, where we stayed in on the 28th (when the entire city was shut down and you couldn't even find a taxi to take you to the border), and the situation was a bit better today although definitely not [View Full Entry]

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The border crossing into pakistan went super smooth,although there was nobody else around which felt super weird it was a complete no mans land.we hung around at the border for the closing of the border ceremonywhich was pretty cool with pakistan rangers somehow managing to kick there hats off!! there was a massive crowd with pakistani songs being played over loud halers and the crowds were so vibrant and colourfull. once the ceremony had finished we headed to Lahore with a million and one other passengers on a tiny bus,it was boiling and we both had to sit in seperate gender [View Full Entry]

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SORRY, UNABLE TO UPLOAD PHOTOS AT THIS TIME The alarm screams at six o'clock. I have spent most of the night on the toilet. I pack my bag and fetch a hydration solution. Gabby, my friend's driver pulls up in the BMW. I am lifted to Pir Wadhai, a bus depot located in a slum midway between Pindi and Islamabad. Young children wake from mudbrick homes to a hazy morning sky. I find my seat at the front of the coach and close my eyes. The curtain is closed and I recline. I sip soda and from time to time peer [View Full Entry]

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Pakistan turned out to be not an easy time for us for many reasons: some so called “outside” ones, and some coming from “inside” of us. Our biggest mistake was hoping that people will leave us alone sooner or later… they never did… Lack of peace of mind was the major negative impact on our perception of Pakistan…When we were setting off on this trip, we were looking forward to meeting new people, but in order to do so, there need to be agreement between two parties… Unfortunately we havent found this agreement here… at least not all the time, our [View Full Entry]

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