http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Pakistan/Lahore/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Asia , Pakistan , Lahore en-us Fri, 05 Dec 2008 03:46:12 UTC Fri, 05 Dec 2008 03:46:12 UTC Hello allThanks for all the messageswe still dont have internet at the farm but we mansge to get o Lahore every so often and have the pleasure of your comunications then.What newswell we have an electric fire but no plug buthey lets just push the bare wires into the extention lead that is held together with string We have HOT WATER Bliss but the other people on the farm have realised this http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Pakistan/Lahore/blog-351185.html Letter from some where near well 2 hours drive Lahore.Life has changed dramatically for us since we arrived at our final destination in PakistanSyden Walla Farm where we are working with the teachers and teacher trainers in 6 local schools.It is a very rural area and the village of Syden Walla is as it must have been for centuries There are a few modern touches are provided by the farm which i http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Pakistan/Lahore/blog-347408.html Dear AllThanks for your messages It is so great to hear from peopleJust a quick note to say still having internett problems but hope to get to good Wi FI cafe this evening and have time and means to do photies and everythingIt is getting chilly at night and in the morning here now and I have sercumed to the dreaded cardi over the shalwar chemise thingThe farm is great went wild boar huntin http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Pakistan/Lahore/blog-347395.html The first night in Lahore was fun. We went to Pizza hut for Sinead's birthday and after Happy Birthday and For She's A Jolly Good Fellow Australians seem to love this song we sang Jibey Pakistan the speeling is pure guesswork which translates as Long Live Pakistan. The locals loved it the waiters and a lot of the diners joined in which I can't imagine happening to a bunch of foreigners sing http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Pakistan/Lahore/blog-345786.html Dear AllHere in Kot Radha Kishen a town near Lahore in a very tatty internet place Having trouble with Hot Mail but this is OKApart from this problem we are fine and really enjoying this whole new experience And it is newI still cant believe the variety of transport from posh new cars to horses and carrigges that wouldnt look out of place in a Jane Austen film of EmmaThere are things that http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Pakistan/Lahore/blog-345206.html Our next destination was Islamabad. We hadn't enough time in England to apply for visas to India so we decided to pick them up en route in Islamabad.Our last day in Gilgit October10th was one of packing and farewells. We had a right royal send off preceded by a lovely dinner courtesy of the Madina ownermanager Yaqoob. He is a saintly man who each Christmas sends a greetings card to each a http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Pakistan/Lahore/blog-342197.html Still in the throws of packing and sorting between this life and the next. Feel very odd. Good luck to those of you going back to CoundonJust to let you know that hopefully this will be the beginning of an interesting blog http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Pakistan/Lahore/blog-317168.html Hello Pakistan.I haven't taken all the photos I've wanted to. Some people are very sensitive about cameras here and I am also sensitive about taking pictures. Thus this is only the tiniest visual slice of things happening. Nonetheless enjoy. http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Pakistan/Lahore/blog-306585.html Here's a load more photos http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Pakistan/Lahore/blog-284393.html MONDAY 2nd June.At 1700 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 sillywalks whilst the audiences on both sides shout encouragement. On the Indian side the Sergeant Major shouts Hindustan and the aud http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Pakistan/Lahore/blog-284368.html Tuesday 3 JuneCrossed 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 http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Pakistan/Lahore/blog-283643.html 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 pu http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Pakistan/Lahore/blog-279512.html 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 http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Pakistan/Lahore/blog-234557.html 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 be http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Pakistan/Lahore/blog-234292.html 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 http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Pakistan/Lahore/blog-231286.html The border crossing into pakistan went super smoothalthough 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 vib http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Pakistan/Lahore/blog-214260.html Pakistan turned out to be not an easy time for us for many reasons some so called ldquooutsiderdquo ones and some coming from ldquoinsiderdquo of us. Our biggest mistake was hoping that people will leave us alone sooner or laterhellip they never didhellip Lack of peace of mind was the major negative impact on our perception of PakistanhellipWhen we were setting off on this trip we http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Pakistan/Lahore/blog-194701.html SORRY UNABLE TO UPLOAD PHOTOS AT THIS TIMEThe 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 http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Pakistan/Lahore/blog-191274.html Lahore was a birthday treat 2 colleagues and I stayed at the Avari Hotel Lahore highly recommed itMurray beer very nice and especially nice as it is really forbidden in Pakistanso relaxed and easy to walk about the citylads playing cricket straddling main roads every open space cricketWaga is the place to visit the border crossing between India and Pakistan http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Pakistan/Lahore/blog-90907.html