Blogs from Lahore, Pakistan, Asia

It’s not on everyone’s travel list. In the West, the word alone conjures up images of military coups and political assassinations – Benazir Bhutto’s may be the most recent and most famous, but Pakistan’s been at this since it was four years old. Then there’s Abbottabad, the last refuge of Osama bin Laden; support for the Afghan Taliban; the on/off nuclear standoff with India; the ongoing dispute over Kashmir. And it wasn’t really on my list either until I met Barb in Oman a few years’ ago and heard tales of her month-long trip there earlier that autumn. Until I saw her pictures. “Spiky mountains,” said my brother dismissively, pushing me for a reason for my latest trip. “Haven’t you had your fill of spiky mountains?” Clearly not. On my return, there were the usual questions, ... read more

Every evening since 1959 (except for a brief period when they were at war) India and Pakistan have undertaken a nightly border closing ceremony at the Wagah crossing. It has become infamous for being a strange spectacle of overt nationalism, and involving very tall men from the Border Security Force on the Indian side and the Pakistan Rangers on the other, doing some serious goose stepping. It was wickedly hot as we left the hotel and negotiated with an auto-rickshaw driver to take us on the 50 minutes journey. When we arrived at 3:30pm the queues were massive. Everything we’d read said there are thousands that attend on the India side but only hundreds on the Pakistani side. We’d gone on a Sunday, and this definitely wasn’t the case. We joined the women’s queue and made ... read more

Border crossing days aka clean top days (it always helps to look half presentable when asking to enter a country) are always a mix of excitement and nerves about the unknown. We love crossing borders, nothing beats walking into a new country with the locals. Despite having a lot in common, India and Pakistan’s relations have been difficult since partition. When the two divided they did so along religious lines; Hindus went to India and Muslims to Pakistan. It was one of the largest human migrations ever seen, and sparked riots and violence across the region. This was followed by the Kashmir conflict and numerous other military conflicts fought between the two. They still regularly take pot shots at each other over the border. Overall their relationship has been plagued by hostility and suspicion. Since their ... read more

One of big tourist interest is the border with India near Lahore, where the flag ceromony is a good spectator event, how these two super powers treat their neighbour. From 'Pindi to Lahore is a 300km run on GNR (great north road) or N5 dual carriageway, bikes banned from motorways in Pakistan. Was quite hot during day so could be an idea to travel in cooler evening. No police escorts required, 300km do in 4hrs, 4..8pm. Think Road Safety is a bit risky on this dual carriageway, numerous central crossings & few central barriers, with many unlit vehicles from small bikes with no lights, farm vehicles, & dogs move any way they like, finally black bison would be hard to see. Lower speed limit 90..100kph is sensible. But front tyre had a slow puncture, much more ... read more

One technique the AIOU Computer Science department uses to transmit knowledge to the provinces is video conferencing. I decided to try it out Friday morning. I spoke in front of a small local audience and a large monitor that showed in one window an audience in D.G. Kahn and in another an audience in Umerkot, both distant dusty villages in the badlands of Pakistan. All three audiences seemed equally perplexed by my lecture on NetLogo, a computer language that models complex systems as virtual turtles swimming in a virtual pond. Fortunately, a van was waiting outside the door for my planned visit to Lahore, so I was able to make a quick escape before their perplexity turned to rage. Inside the van I was chagrined to see that my entourage had expanded to six, including my ... read more