Hotel Elites Lahore

... said "Full!" and turned us back toward the main seating section.

The stadium was packed. We climbed up to the top level and had a good view of the India main station. We could see them departing toward the gate and returning, but could not see the Pakistanis. We were amazed at how many people showed up for this event. Apparently people come from all across India to see this spectacle. The Indian side was packed to overflowing, yet the Pakistan side ...

... Dubai from Kish Island I got busy working the travel agency counters in the airport for the first flight to Lahore, if there was one available. Out of sheer luck I managed to snag a direct flight that was leaving in about one hour. After a mad dash of paying, checking in and going through security I made it on board only to be delayed on the tarmac for almost one hour with no AC. Not only was I the sole Westerner on that Pakistani Air flight but me thinks it will also go down ...

... the news and I kept in touch with my friends across Pakistan. I'm still amazed that there be such evil, cold blooded people in a country where the majority of people are so kind, friendly, welcoming and peaceful - more so that any other country I have visited. I just don't understand what a man has in his mind to do these things. I heard of other bad news from elsewhere in the country, it was a horrible and very sad day. When I ...

... MA, who'd been my companion from Chitral to Peshawar. He traveled all the way from Peshawar to Lahore to say goodbye to me and give me some gifts - special sweets, face masks (for the pollution), notepad and bracelet. When M returned to work, I took up J's offer to stay with his family for a few days, and it was nice to spend some time as part of the family. I also met up with S, another friend I'd made on my first visit to Lahore.

As I've mentioned before, LUMS is not Lahore. It's very insulated from the rest of the Punjabi world. The main campus is very quiet, with subtle, graceful architecture and well-tended gardens. The Academic block, where Adnan has his office, is a case in point. Look at the calligraphy. At the central courtyard, where they have festivals, and ...

... beggars,beggars,beggars. To get around, Adnan has hired a car and driver for us. Nice guy (Anwar), who opens and closes the doors for us, and stands guard outside the car when I'm in there by myself. A white girl with a car and driver is an even stronger beggar magnet. People come up to the car when we're stuck in traffic and tap on the windows. Incessantly ...

... that is given to the poor. I also visited on a Thursday afternoon when they have Qawwali music (Islamic devotional singing) in the basement. Various groups play while men collect money and spray rose water into the watching crowd as we sit in organized rows on the floor. The Royal Baths Mosque of Wazir Khan - the most beautiful of all the Lahore mosques with amazing decoration. Jehangir's tomb, tomb of Asif Khan, and Nur Jahan's tomb - beautiful mosaics and ...

... been hard here. The distances between big cities are enormous, making it essential to get a ride with a truck all the way. The journeying itself is a nightmare. The roads are terrible and it takes about twice as long to get anywhere here as it did in Iran. Rather fed up of our illness and eager to move on to India, we were chuffed to be offered a ride from Quetta all the way to Lahore (1200kms away!) and spontaneously decided to opt out of both the country's capital ...

... the casting director will choose Cher to play me or maybe they'd be really hateful and make it Shelly Duvall, which would clealry be uncalled for. Or perhaps a undarned sockpuppet with those red wax Halloween lips, which would actually hurt my feelings, if truth be told. Then the contact high washes over me further and I'm thinking that this would make a damn fine musical, along the lines of Bollywood Dreams only we'd call it Taliban Nightmare because I feel pretty damn ...

... so guests could arrive on elephants --those balconies are where the musicians played and these balconies were where the dancing ladies showered the guest with flower petalsfrom above --fahntastic, yes?" Terrific! So-Called snapped at him, snatched my camera away from him just as he was taking my picture --"You dun know photographee -- no good." Hateful --I posed and smiled while they plotted to kill each other. I'd just about had it and told So-Called it was ...