Foothills of the Himalaya - a 6-week trip.

Asia » Pakistan » Lahore
June 6th 2008

Published: June 6th 2008

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 rate, and finally are lowered in harmony. Before this ceremony, at least on the Indian side, is dancing performed enthusiastically by ladies in saris, and children on the road leading to the border. It seems to be a very joyous occasion. We are all seated on tiers of seats; there must have been 10,000 on the Indian side; perhaps, 2,000 on the Pakistani side. The Indian soldiers were resplendent in red hats with red fans on top; the Pakistani soldiers had boring old black hats with black fans!
TUESDAY 3rd June.
We left Amritsar for the border, and Pakistan at 09:00. We must have walked half a mile from the border gates through the various buildings from India to Pakistan. We needed porters from both sides - they carried our luggage on their heads, at great expense to us!
Once through all the formalities we were met straight away by our Guide in Pakistan: Nasir Hussein. He proved to be a very courteous, well-spoken in English, and informative guide. He works for the Karakoum Travel Agency that operates in Pakistan. The car we were travelling in, unfortunately, had no seatbelts for the rear passengers, and entry to mosques etc. were not paid for prior to the trip by Audley. Otherwise, the service we received from Nasir, and the Driver, Nazir, was excellent. We visited all the places we had been told about, and a few more. Nothing seemed to be too much for these two guys!
Lahore is the second largest city of Pakistan, and has a population of about 8 million.
Travelling round the shrines and mosques, one gets the distinct feeling that the whole blooming population is there at the one time! Lahore is a very clean city but the huge number of motorised rickshaws cause an awful lot of pollution; indeed, I do not recall a city so far that is so polluted with traffic fumes.
I was really surprised at the friendliness of the people in the streets. We had been told by Karakoum, not to venture in the streets without an escort In the event, I have never shaken so many hands; kids and men wanting to shake my hand. In Varanassi, I had a lesson in shaking hands at one of the ghats as it ended up with me having an expensive massage in public. Nonetheless, I threw caution out of the window, and I felt like royalty! Also, various males, and some fathers wanted photos of there loved ones with me; for what reason I don't know but I didn't charge them for the privilege!
It soon became apperent that a lot of the young ladies in Lahore must be really ugly! They insisted on walking around with their faces all covered up And before Kishwar Sultana can complain about this ?joke, I have never been stared at so much in all my life by ladies, men and kids. I felt like an exhibit in the zoo; how these folk knew I was a foreigner, I don't know as I have tried my hardest to become as dark brown as my Greenock colleague, Dr. Majumder, and he hails from Calcutta! Nontheless, I have been surprised and elated by the reception we have had in Pakistan.
Another surprise was to see the tall men of the north of Pakistan. One of the hotel doormen is called Baboo. He is 7 feet tall, and there is a second one just as big, both with huge hands, feet and, for all I know, third legs too! Some of the Armed Forces have these huge specimens too - they look like cases of Marfan's but they aren't, and can live till old age!
Later in the day we visited a mosque, and then toured round a bazaar where Alison ordered material for a baggy shirt + trousers + shawl. That cost 3 pounds, and a further 2 to have it made up within 24 hours. Women!
We are staying at the Pearl Continental which is a real classy joint! Unfortunately, it is breakfast only but the dinners despite being excellent buffets, are ridiculously cheap at 8 pounds per head!
Alison has been using their expensive Internet services to get a steal on me! She pays 500 P Rs per hour, I insist on paying the equivalent in PRs of 60 per hour when back in Amritsar! These women think that money grows on trees!
The bathroom at the Pearl is lined by these horrible mirrors that allow you to see all sides of you that normally - thank God - remain unbeknown to you. So now I have had it confirmed: I have a big arse and pot-belly! Mind you, I had suspected this after my obligatory videorecording of my consultations!
Life's a bitch!
WEDNESDAY 4th June.
I thought I'd got sweaty going round the Old Town yesterday but that was nowt compared to today when we walked miles round Lahore Fort and the attached, Badshahi Mosque at midday. Of course, you have to wear a shirt and trousers whilst in public in Pakistan. Net result: I was absolutely soaked; might as wll have gone into the shower with all my clothes on! But the buildings have all been remarkably renovated over the years. The fort is very old but the mosque only dates from the 1670s! It could have been built yesterday it's so immaculate, and huge as well covering acres.
We returned in the evening to the mosque as it was supposed to be all lit up at 20:00. In the event the lights didn't come on till 21:30 but we had climbed to the 3rd floor of Cooco's Den for the view. This is the in-place for "fashionable Lahoris" according to the blurb. Highlight on the menu is "lamb brain masala." As I wasn't too keen on getting scrapie, I had a generous lassi - sweet yoggie minus brains!
THURSDAY 5th June.
Only 18 more days in India; then 5 days in Dubai getting over the effects of India; and then back to the Big Smoke! I'm going to be really busy in July and August which is just as well as I have to pay for this holiday plus an expensive wedding! I had suggested to Catriona that to get married in a nice red sari with gold would have been more practical that her needing an expensive conventional wedding dress that is only worn once; at least the sari could have been worn again or made in to settee covers! Women!
So, this morning we trudged round yet more boring bazaars! The highlight of the stalls, to my mind, was the butchers! Some of them had very savoury looking lambs' heads - all black and covered in flies: just the thing for brain masala!
We visted a shrine in Lahore in the evening to hear the chanting and singing, and we were once again the centre of attraction; they don't get many Caucasians here - at least not many that seem to be as unusual as me, anyway! Nonetheless, the experience was very enjoyable! On the way back to the hotel, we stopped to get photos of Zam-zammah; a huge cannon opposite the Lahore Museum. It was there in Rudyard Kipling's time when he wrote 'Kim,' which I am reading at present. The legend goes that whoever owns Zam, owns the Punjab; recent events have put paid to that since the Punjab is now half in India, and half in Pakistan.
Along with all the traffic in Lahore there are an awful lot of carts pulled by a motley selection of horses, ponies, mules, oxen and water buffalo. Some of ther ponies and mules are so scraggy, your heart bleeds for them!
Nasir, our Guide, has recommended a trip to the Hunza Valley in North Pakistan; the peolpe there live to a very old age, so perhaps there is hope for me yet if we go there! That'll upset a lot of people if I live for a lot longer! We may consider this next year.

Foothills of the Himalaya - a 6-week trip.

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