Blogs from Pakistan, Asia - page 26

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 out the curtain. The landscape flitters in and out of consciousness, goat herds, orchards, rice paddies, red faced mountains. A young woman in a black kameez and head scarf wearing purple eye shadow offers each ... read more

Aboard the red eye from Kansai to Bangkok passengers are served onigiri, rice balls and an omelette at breakfast eaten with chopsticks if you so choose. The midday flight to Islamabad serves curry. The young man was upset with the attendant. He had failed to order a 'special meal'. His meat must be hilal, prepared by a muslim. Most passengers on the flight are Muslim but don't seem in such a quandry. My neighbor in the aisle seat is from PeSHAwar. He studies accounting in Guandong. How many muslim chefs are there in Guandong? I'm in the toilet when the plane experiences turbulence. I am surprised by my good aim. We are descending on the edge of an electrical storm. Between white fluffy clouds, the plane shakes and I spy verdent hillsides, meandering chai brown streams ... read more

That's right, we're in Pakistan - or rather were, having just left after the thick end of three weeks travelling down the spine of the country. And before you start to panic Mum and Dad, don't worry: this was not the land of mujaheddin and fundamentalist madrassas that the English media makes it out to be (not the bits we were in, at any rate). I'd go as far as to say that northern Pakistan is right up there in terms of the countries we've visited, with perhaps the most spectacular scenery of them all. And the journey down the Karakoram Highway, which snakes a tortuous course between the world's three highest mountain ranges, was the perfect way to conclude our year of hoofing it around the world. Whoever said that travelling is not about ... read more

Salam everyone! My 1st official day in Pakistan and I just had lunch, so my driver suggested me to use the internet for an hour before we head off to the open air Air Force Museum. It's blistering hot out there, and fortunately, I do not have to don long sleeved here in Karachi! Would have suffocated from the heat! The roads are sooo dusty and the streets are very dirty. In a way, Karachi is like no other cities I have been to. I was quite shocked to see the state of the roads and the condition of the buildings here. There are lots of rubble lying everywhere, as well as piles of rubbish congregated on roadside corners. A combination of Yangon(which isn't as dusty), Mandalay(which is dirty but also not as dusty), Phnom Penh(the ... read more

LAHORE Arriviamo alla stazione di Lahore che e' mattina presto, stanchi ed affamati, ci fermiamo quindi qualche minuto prima della "caccia alla guest house", giusto il tempo per un buon chay che qui e' proprio il caso di dire che ti rimettono al mondo! Grazie ai consigli di una simpatica ragazza giapponese incontrata a Yazd (Iran) riusciamo a muoverci con destrezza prendendo al volo il bus n.3 per scendere alla fermata di Regal Chowk, dove a pochi metri troviamo la nostra "Regal Internet Inn Guest House". Si respira India gia' da qui, nella cucina, nell'abbigliamento delle persone, nelle strade. La prima cosa che ci colpisce salendo sull'autobus e' che e' diviso in due zone: 1/3 riservato alle donne (davanti) e 2/3 per gli uomini, ben separati da una grata di ferro, dalla quale solo al controllore ... read more