Day 29, 30 & 31 (Lahore)

When we left the hotel in Multan this morning we were a bit surprised by the number of guards that were outside waiting for us. There had been a lot there the evening before when we arrived, but there was at least double that number as we packed up the bus. The most shocking sight was the 4 female officers stood there in their headscarves with smaller guns than the men (we asked for a photo but they refused so we had to be sneaky and take them from a distance). The road outside the hotel had been closed to all traffic from when we arrived until after we left which I imagine had to have been an inconvenience to the locals in Multan. The level of guards onsite was so OTT that they had a sniper positioned on top of the hotel?!?

So we made it out of Multan safely and had a long drive day to Lahore where we had 3 whole nights in the same hotel. The best part was that we were finally allowed to go out and explore outside of the hotel – no more house arrest :) On the 21st we ate at Pizza Hut, on the 22nd we ate at McDonalds and on the 23rd we ate at KFC....not very Pakistani I know but with tummys as dodgy as ours had become we needed something 'normal' to eat to avoid making us even more sick. We did try a lot of local food during the day and throughout the rest of our time in Pakistan so I don't feel too bad...but I've now given into McDonalds temptation twice :( Damn their caramel sundaes and fries...so tasty, worldwide!

Day 29 (June 21st) we didn't get up to a whole lot as we were late enough arriving into Lahore. We went for dinner in Pizza Hut as I mentioned and while there got chatting to our waiter. His name was Sarfraz and he was very attentive (sending the manager out to buy a pineapple when he found out that they'd run out so we could have it on our pizza and making sure that I was given what I ordered and not the wrong type of base that had been cooked up). He chatted to us asking where we were from, how long we were there for etc. At the end of dinner he arrived over with a napkin with an invitation written on it – he wanted to take us out to see the sights and experience Lahore as a local, a very lovely gesture that we accepted to do on our last day in Lahore.

Day 30 (June 22nd) was a busy, busy day. We were up early doors to go do a tour of Lahore with Amjad and a local guy called Peter. They took us around the Old Fort, Mosque and Bazaar explaining lots about the places. Before we went to the mosque Amjad told me my shorts were too short to allow me to go in, and given the heat I decided I'd pass on it rather than having to change because the sweat of death was pumping through me already. So off we went, but when we got there rather than staying outside I was rolled up in the scarf that Arshad uses as a windscreen blind to reduce the sun coming into the bus...funny but not a particularly pleasant or attractive look :) The annoying thing was that both Una and Mel had shorts on that were as short (below the knee??) or shorter than mine and they didn't have to play dress up with the bus accessories. Anyways, I just went with it and as it was beautiful inside I'm not too bitter about my hour of looking like a fruitcake and sweltering in my layers of clothing. The fort was really cool – a sprawling space with lots of different buildings and ruins. They had a winter palace with a summer palace underneath. The water in the fountain in the winter palace was scented with rose and rose water and was fed into the summer palace through the channels that led from the fountain to the edges of the floor before disappearing underground. We didn't get to see this, it was described by Peter and the image in my mind's eye looks pretty impressive. As we walked around the fort we were constantly being stopped and asked for photos by the locals who were excited to see someone different. We thought it was funny and were obliging up until Peter gave out to us for delaying the tour..we were told not to get in any more pictures until he was done (boo!). We moved on to the bazaar for a bit of window shopping where my solitary purchase was some street food in the form of samosas...Mmmmmm! I was on the hunt for a patch for my rucksack too but wasn't having any luck with trying to describe what I wanted with each shop trying to sell me a small Pakistan flag rather than a patch. I told Amjad about the struggle and he came through for me...he found a small doorway that had a guy who made uniforms and stuff who had mini Pakistan flags that he would sell to me for 10 rupees a piece – deal I say – then he gave them to me for free...a gift from Pakistan he said. How nice was that? In the evening we went to the Wagha Border to see the closing of the Pakistan/Indian border that we would be using for our crossing. They do the same ceremony every night where they get crowds on both sides of the border (the Indian side looked more lively and definitely more colourful) and get them pumped with lots of music and chanting and singing. The crowd warmup on the Pakistan side was done by two guys who danced and spun and twirled their giant flags around before an old guy came out to join them – he had been doing the ceremony for 50 years or something like that – since they first started to use the show as an attraction. After the crowd was pumped the soldiers came out in their funny hats and did some of the funniest marching that I've ever seen. They were making faces at each other and charging at a fast walking pace at the opposite countries soldiers before taking down their respective flags and slamming the gates closed again. It was one of the most entertaining things I've seen so far on the trip..such a giggle.

Day 31 (June 23rd) started out quite badly with a flooding issue in our bedroom. Hotels don't seem to like the idea of shower trays and instead have wet rooms for the most part where the water just flows all over the floor until it drains away...unfortunately our drain was super clogged so taking a shower involved occasional pauses where the water needed to be turned off to stop it leaking out under the door. On this morning I was happily laying on my bed writing postcards while Una was showering. I was watching some old reruns of old US shows and not paying any attention to what was happening. Abby knocked on the door and was chatting for a minute or two before asking why there was water on the floor..I looked down to see half the bedroom floor had a slick of shower water that was increasing pretty quickly. I screamed at herself to turn off the water and went in search of a mop. Most of my stuff had been piled just outside the door so I had a lot of wet gear to dry out! The guy at reception hadn't a notion what a mop was so he sent on of his colleagues up with me to sort out the situation, but rather than go for a mop, he used the bath mat as a squeegy to soak up the water in the bedroom and squeeze it out in the bathroom (after he had declogged the drain – gross!). We had had the morning off so had stayed in bed til noon to try catch up on sleep and just rest up a bit...all the bus travel does take a toll. I went to Subway for lunch with Abby, April, Alex & Mel and when we'd eaten our fill we went in search of a net cafe on a tuktuk (or three). We couldn't find one anywhere that we were dropped off and so after an hour or two of wandering in the midday sun we started to feel a bit off and so headed back to the hotel. At that stage nobody was really in form for sightseeing, so I text Sarfraz to cancel, thank him and apologise for not showing up. He replied and was none too happy – it appears that rather than just meeting him to see some stuff, he had other plans. He had told his family, friends and boss that he was meeting us and had invited them all to meet us too, and by cancelling we were liars, breaking his heart and causing him to be ashamed in front of everyone...so I felt about a half inch tall :( Also felt a bit scared from the tone of his reply and slightly relieved that we'd cancelled if that's the kind of reaction he was going to give. After I had a bit of time to think about it I could see his point of view and realised that his text may have suffered from some language barrier interpretation so I sent another apology and thought that would end that. But, he replied asking us to met just him and two of his mates or to just send him on the phone number or email address of one of the girls that had been at dinner in Pizza Hut that night. So he did have an ulterior motive and I was glad we hadn't been guilt tripped into changing our minds. Loonie and I now have a pact not to accept invitations from strangers because we get the jitters about meeting them after the fact.

Overall impression of Lahore was positive and I stick with my initial impression of Pakistan. It's a country that I feared entering but was instantly put at ease about on meeting Amjad and Arshad. The people are very friendly and I'm really glad I got so see their country.

For photos from Lahore click here.