24hrs in Lahore
Trip Start
Jul 02, 2004
1
4
15
Trip End
Sep 10, 2004
Lahore,
Pakistan
Saturday, July 10, 2004
Lahorian's are very nice people, extremely hospitable and friendly. The most common question I've encountered is "Where you from?" that came from nearly all the people I've met here so far.
I was picked up from the airport at 3am after my flight arrived in from Dubai and taken in a ramshackle, clapped out old Ford that struggled to do 40mph. The driver went through every red light on the roads, although later experiences showed that Pakistani's don't pay much attention to traffic lights here.
The hotel is tremendous and very hospitable. Another Holiday Inn but I am fortunate to have been put up in one of the executive suites by the IEE
1. A street in Lahore
. But I didn't come to Lahore to stay in hotels and one of the guys from the IEE took me out around town. What I saw was unbelievable! Traffic is madness
Traffic here flows, there are very few traffic jams but the rate at which the traffic flows is incredible. Cars, buses, 50cc motorcycles, rickshaws, bicycles, and people all compete for a share of the road with a constant tune of beeping, honking and shouting. For the first half hour of driving, I was gripping the edge of my seat in fear that something would hit the car but nothing happened. I saw no accidents yet if the traffic was the same in London, there would be accidents all the time!
Drivers in Lahore are skilled, it takes concentration to drive a vehicle in and out of the traffic, dodging object and the Police. Yet everything seems to go with the flow. Left turns, right turns, junctions, nothing is patience, people just charge across junctions in the hope that a driver will slow down to give them way!
Dodgy belly
I was warned about this by everyone who has knowledge of this place and it happened...upset stomach, loss of appetite and food poisoning in general
2. Lahore driving
. I don't think any westerner who comes here can avoid this unless they maintain stringent, standards of hygiene but where's the fun in that?! But seriously, I have to be careful. I was warned not to eat beef and stick to chicken and mutton.Hospitality
It's amazing just how hospitable people are here, the most common question I get asked is
"Where you from?", answering "London" greets them with a lot of surprise and welcome. Shaking hands is commonplace here and regarded as a necessity, rather than optional... so with each group I meet, there is a requirement to shake all the hands of the people there. However, it isn't considered polite to shake hands with a woman unless you related to her by family or marriage.
Lahore Museum
I visited the Lahore Museum with some people from the IEE. Far from being the simplest and hottest museum I've ever visited (air conditioning is not present here), it's decorated with artefacts from the Mughal empire (that used to rule Lahore and the Punjab, of which Lahore is the capital), Chinese, Arabic and British civilisations that have influenced the charter of Lahore as early as 3500BC in some cases
3. Lahore driving
. Lahore was the capital of the Mughal Empire that spanned the eastern front of the middle-east to the eastern boarder of India and as far south as Mumbai. Many remnants of the Mughals still exist such as the Lahore fort and much of the British architecture during the time in which the Punjab was under British rule, is based on Mughal design.
Sadly, much of the fort and old buildings are falling apart and the gardens that used to decorate the base of the walls are in disrepair, used as a rubbish tip and wasteland. Many people in Lahore can't understand how a country that spends so much on its defence budget can not afford to preserve its national heritage.
