Abbotabad
Trip Start
Aug 10, 2008
1
56
59
Trip End
Ongoing
Abbotabad, Pakistan
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
To be honest, after all the travel the day before I was pretty tired and the last thing I wanted to do was to sit on another bus for 6 hours or so but it was A's treat and he really wanted me to enjoy it so I pulled myself together. Only one small incident on the way - for the first time ever a couple of police did a check on the way and asked to search my bag. I had in there two knives I'd brought in Dir (which is famous for them) and even though they were wrapped and taped in newspaper it took a while to convince them I was a tourist and that they were simply souvenirs
Abbotabad
. Apart from inconvenience of emptying my bag and the attitude of the officer, it was all ok in the end. We met up with one of his friends there and together with his driver(!) they took me to an amazing hilltop area with views across the whole of Abbotabad. The area was very green with beautiful flowers and trees. Abbotabad had a very English feel to it with lots of gardens and British-era buildings but it was also the main military training areas in Pakistan and from the views you could see lines of young men exercising and working through their programs.
We stayed overnight in a very nice hotel that was 4 times the price of what I have been used to, and it was a treat to have a hot shower in a clean bathroom! The next day we met up with more of his friends and went up to the highest point in the area with beautiful views over Kashmir. Here there was still snow on the ground too. After a lovely day, and another lovely meal at his friend's house, I left that evening to get the bus to Lahore.
