Dil Dil Pakistan
Trip Start
Aug 10, 2008
1
41
59
Trip End
Ongoing
Lahore,
Pakistan
Saturday, January 10, 2009
On the train on the way to the border there was a report in the paper about bombings in Lahore - my initial destination. There were other tourists on my train but they were only going as far as Amristsar - on the Indian side of the border. My confidence grew though, because I seemed to establish myself as the foreign expert on the trains! There were some other backpackers onboard and they were confused about where to get on, where to get off, who the strange men in dresses were and what they could eat - it was only my 3rd journey but I was able to help them with everything they needed to know and it felt good to be the more experienced one for a change - I no longer feel like a 'newbie' traveler. As for my journey, although I'd left Delhi in the early hours I was cutting it fine to get to the border - I could stay in Amritsar for a night or I could make a dash to get to the border before it closed...well I was itching to get there to discover what it was like so I coolly negotiated with some taxi drivers (the bus wouldn't get there in time) and speed off to Attari and the border.
I arrived to a very professional looking but very empty border crossing. There were lots of officials, numerous passport checks and a long straight road connecting the two countries, but I was the only tourist around. The guards were very friendly although a bit intimidating at first sight - they were so tall I was almost at eye-level with their belts! But their appearance was an important part of the spectacle I was soon to witness - the reason I had wanted to come through at this time was to catch the closing of the border ceremony. This 'show' is performed everyday to huge crowds of people that travel to the border especially to watch. The Indian and Pakistani officials hold an elaborate stomping stand-off which is like something from the ministry of silly walks. A few people warm up the crowds (local women and men sit separately on the Pakistan side) who cheer and chant for their country (Dil Dil Pakistan) then the incredibly tall border guards strut like peacocks with their groomed moustaches and beautiful pleated hats - arms and legs raised high and stamping their feet as hard and as loudly as possible. It was a weird and wonderful introduction to the country. At the ceremony, I was lucky enough to get talking to a lovely English family who were working in Pakistan. They were traveling with a guide and driver and gave me a lift all the way to Lahore, and my guesthouse in their minibus, it was interesting to hear about their experiences on the way.
On my first night I suddenly felt quite unprepared here - I choose to come so quickly and had no idea on the exchange rates, customs or where I wanted to go and already this felt like a whole new world again but the uncertainty and spontaneity was exciting too. It was around 6pm when I arrived at the hostel and in the hard it's always harder to work out my bearings but I resisted the temptation of the easy options off KFC and Subway next to the hostel and instead wandered quite a way to find a café. I had no idea what I was ordering but for 30 rupees I got a plate with curd, fruit, salad, hot spices and some sort of dumpling all mixed up, weird but strangely nice. When I got back to the hostel I was made a delicious crepe by one of the French guys staying there and enjoyed some Sufi music from a guest band that had been invited to perform - and I even got dragged up to dance - badly...
Over the next few days I explored the city - walking down to the old city most days. I met a local guy 'J' who worked a bit as a guide. I certainly wasn't interested in a guide but it kind of happened that we became friends and he showed me around lots of places and I gave him some help with a website he was putting together - I even met his web developer to talk about the best approach for him!
Anyway, I saw a hell of a lot of Lahore, so I'll give a quick run down of the main sights:
The old city - with its winding alleyways, and weird and wonderful stalls including lines of veggies, goats heads, trotters and innards, huge dishes of various foods, tea shops, doctors, barbers, 'red light' areas (Heera Mandi has a few 'dancing girls' but it's no Kings Cross) and the old city gate - including a sneaky look from the top of the Lahorie gate.
Badshahi Mosque (red mosque) - one of the worlds largest mosque - it was huge and impressive at all time of the day. It also had some 'secret' anomalies such as a whispering wall and spots with strange acoustics - J showed me a few tricks there.
Cooco's Den restaurant - it's expensive to eat here but luckily for me I was allowed to go and have a look before it opened in the evening. They plugged in the generator so that I could see the inside of the old mansion building including some original features and an unusual collection of art and religious statues. It also had an amazing rooftop view of the Badshahi mosque.
Fort View hotel - just for the rooftop - slightly higher and the same stunning view of the mosque. Great to sit up here with a chai in the evening to see it all lit up
Shrine of Data Ganj Bakhsh Hajveri - I had a little bit of trouble because the women are supposed to use a separate entrance but I was allowed to see part of it. It looked great in the evening with the green dome all lit up, and you saw the people here that some to sleep or for the food 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 Jehangir's tomb is adorned with all the names of Allah. They are set in formal English-style gardens that were full of birds - especially Kites which were a feature all across the city.
Chunna Mandi - an old mansion now a girl's college called Asif Jah. With the old architecture and green courtyard it looked a peaceful place to study in the midst of the bustling city.
Golden Mosque
The Fort - a large area with gardens and the remains of many structures inside, it was full of visitors, mainly from Pakistan, including many couples that seemed to escape here for a bit of time 'alone'. Very similar to the fort in Delhi, there was some beautiful marble inlay and tiling, jewels and mirrored decoration. I loved one entrance where the emperor used to arrive by elephant so the steps up were especially designed for an elephant to climb! I was asked by many people for my photo with them and lots of people wanted to talk. I started to be followed by a group of boys and shrugged it off at first but it got annoying so I doubled back a couple of times and also ducked into one of the interesting museums there. When I came a couple of security guards approached me and explained that they'd noticed the boys and had warned them to stay away but if I have any problems just to let them know - I felt very looked after.
Shrine of Baba Shah Jamal - for Thursday's Sufi night. This was a weird and amazing experience. At around 11pm I went with some people from the hostel to the Sufi temple. As foreigners we were allowed to sit in an area behind the musicians in a caged area containing a tomb. The place was packed and the majority of people were smoking hash. At first I felt like I was in a zoo with everyone staring at us in the cage but when the music got into flow we were forgotten and everyone was consumed by the sound of drums. It was mesmerizing - the drumming didn't cease for hours, building into a hypnotic frenzy with dancers at the front swaying, spinning and heads shaking vigorously. It was like some sort of strange trance party, the drums were fast and you could felt every beat pass through you on the cold stone floor. The drummers were amazing and I don't know how they continued for so long, what's even more impressive was that one of them was deaf and was taught by his father marking rhythms on his back.
Lahore museum and nearby art exhibition - the museum was fantastic with art, carvings, coins, stamps, weapons and artifacts including the famous starving Buddha statue that the boys I'd met in lumbini had encouraged me to see. The decorated Quarans were amazing with their beautiful calligraphy, I spent a couple of hours here and again had lots of people who wanted to talk and take photos. In a building nearby was an exhibition from a local art school and I saw their textile and graphics work and spoke to a couple of people about their studies.
Day of Ashura - with a couple of people from the hostel I went to experience a very different side of Pakistan - a shiite ashura festival. I say festival but it's not a happy or celebrational event, it is the tenth day of Muharram, to remember the terrible events of the Battle of Kerbala. A whole main road was closed for the event with lots of police and security and metal detectors on entry, the area was packed with men, women and children. In order to express their grief and to reenact the pain that Hussein suffered. some people were beating their chests with their hands - to the point of bad bruising, and others used knives on chains to beat their chest and back. It was difficult to watch especially with young boys taking part - with chests and back streaming with blood. You could see the scars of previous times marked heavily on their skin. It wasn't violent to anyone but themselves and it was astonishing to see the faith and conviction these men had, it's just not the way I would choose to express that. Around the festival horses were also 'decorated' with bloody knives and swords that were made to appear to have pierced their skin with plenty of fake blood covering their bodies. I spent many hours here, walking around, absorbing what was happening and then talking to some locals as we huddled in a chai hut to escape the rain. Usually women aren't allowed to witness this but in Lahore it's more liberal and I felt privileged to be granted access.
Meeting families - because of the friends I'd made I was lucky to meet a few families, and invited for dinner and chai. It gave me a chance to speak to the women on their own and they were curious to know about things like relationships, dating and clothes in England. Life for them in the old city was very different. They weren't allowed to work and had no access to men. Unmarried they needed permission to even visit the bazaar (always in groups) and when married they were only allowed to visit their families home with their husbands. I toned down the British culture so as not to shock them too much but they were still wide-eyed at my explanations. Under my shirt I had an off-the shoulder t-shirt and with the men in another room I showed them and they were astonished - they could never wear anything like that! They showed me photos of their days out - organized trips where they got to dress up and wear (lots of) make up. Pale skin is seen as a sign of beauty and their faces were almost ghost-like in their white powder. I was privileged to be allowed photos with them but only after I promised I wouldn't show anyone else.
Anarkali, The Mall - the streets I walked along most days. I ate the street food which was good and spicy. So much meat is eaten in Pakistan and outside the big cities it's usually very good. Near to the hostel was a fantastic ice-cream shop that is famous in the area and open 24 hours! For around 25p you can get 2 scoops of amazing ice-cream in many flavours - but Cashew and pistachio were the best with real pieces of nut inside - yum.
While in Lahore I made a plan of where to go next. J helped me with an itinery to include some of the areas recommended to me by the Icelandic brothers I'd met in Nepal. Part one was a 'few days' in Gilgit, I shared my ideas with the others in the hostel and although everyone thought we were mad to venture into areas that would be freezing, 3 people decided to join me - a German couple (V and S) and a polish guy (R). We hadn't spoken very much before but we were soon to become great friends....
(I've started to use letters to respect people's privacy, I hope it's not too confusing)
