There's nothing to report from Lucknow really, it was a pretty quiet evening after a long drive day. We got to our hotel and checked in getting a room on the third floor. When we were climbing the stairs (don't trust lifts after getting trapped in one in Sofia) we were a bit puzzled as to whether we were going the right way or had somehow taken a wrong turn out of reception and ended up in a prison. It was the weirdest building I've ever been in where bits of the outside were inside..very strange.
Our only exploration of the city was to go looking for food for the next day for lunch as we knew we had another long drive day (there are lots of them and I'm growing tired of crisps and biscuits in the same way as I am eggs for breakfast). We managed to find a little place that was lit by oil lamps and stocked up on some junk food and water there. After that we went in search of a restaurant to get a decent dinner into us. It had gotten very dark all of a sudden and without my torch and any streetlight I was trying to be careful about where I was stepping – but I wasn't careful enough..I ended up walking in the biggest pile of poo I've ever seen. Thankfully I realised with the initial squelch as my foot was pressing down so managed to pull up before I got submerged in it, but I had to scrape my sandal along the street for a long, long time to get it off my sole...eurghhhh! We couldn't find a restaurant the length of the hotel street so went with eating in the hotel restaurant where the food was ok but the service was appalling. If it had been at home I'd have been up and walked out because we were waiting so long.
No photos from the day I'm afraid..there wasn't a whole lot to see!
Monday, June 29, 2009
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Day 35 & 36 (Agra)
I need to keep more up to date with what's going on..writing this up more than a week after the fact so I'm sure I've forgotten a lot that can be said about Agra and our visit to the Taj Mahal, but I'll try my best :)
Driving into Agra was an experience that will stay with me for a long time because it reflected so well what I had expected of India. It was here that I saw children and adults squatted low over the sewers using them as a bathroom. The smell in most parts of the city that we went through was horrendous :(
Another thing that struck me was the number of beggars and street vendors that flocked around us and refused to take no for an answer until we got really angry and rude with them at which point they'd back away, only to return to try again a few minutes later. While I can understand that this is their source of income, I'm not minted to the degree that I can hand over my budgeted cash so the whole experience put me in rather a bad mood.
On the first night Una, Annie and I went in search of an ATM – there was one just down the street from the hotel so we had no more than a 3 minute walk there, a couple of minutes inside and then the walk back to the hotel. For the entire time we were hounded by a guy in a rickshaw who wanted to take us to a bazaar for 10 rupees..when we refused he then wanted to take us anywhere for 10 rupees. Again we said no thank you and tried to walk on but he just kept on going and it eventually got to the point that I lost my head and screamed at him to 'drive on'. He got all apologetic then and said he hadn't intended to offend me and hoped I would forgive him...and take a ride in his rickshaw..he would take us to an ATM for 10 rupees...ARGHHHH! At that stage I just gave up and tried to ignore him.
Each time we left the hotel we were pestered by kids at the bottom of the stairs looking to sell us water, chocolate, coke..you name it. The morning that we were leaving I was on security detail and got to the point where I was ready to do physical harm to the gang of teenagers that were around the bus trying to peddle anklets, bracelets, baskets with a pop-up snake, karma sutra books and a whole lot more. The same guy asked me a couple of dozen times to buy his wares..no matter how many times I refused he kept coming back. No matter how angry I got, he wouldn't go away..up to the point that he tried to board the bus to sell his stuff and I ended up stomping up from the boot to scream them down off the bus. Security duty in India was not pleasant, but at least my stint is over now...trying to watch what's happening with the luggage of all the passengers is trying when you've got so many people milling around looking to carry your bags, take you on a rickshaw etc.
With regards to what we saw in Agra, the big ticket item was the Taj Mahal which we enjoyed at sunset and sunrise. On our first night, Kim had arranged for Ali and his rickshaws to be outside to take us to see the baby Taj before moving on to the back of the Taj proper for sunset. It was pretty surreal to be standing there and one of the first times on the trip where I've realised how far away from home I am. I never thought I'd see the Taj...it wouldn't have been on my list of things to see before I die so it's nice to add it to the list of unexpected things. We took lots of photo opportunities there (see the album) and I wanted one like Mel & a few others had had taken by a young local (I had no small change to give him and knew I'd need to give payment of some form). I jumped and jumped and jumped but all the photos looked crap until I was just about to give up from exhaustion and the last one kinda worked (not as cool as Mel's but still pretty genius).
On our full day in Agra were were up super, super early to meet Ali and his boys to go to the Taj for sunrise. It was great to be there before the masses of people arrived, not to crowded and nice and quiet. It was pretty cool, but I reckon had I gone to the marble showroom that a lot of the group went to I'd have been more impressed. After the early start I needed some time-out so went for a nana nap while Loonie went and spent a fortune on a hand decorated marble box. I haven't seen her one, but the photo of Abby's one looks pretty cool. A good portion of the group wanted to see a Bollywood movie so we took the chance to get out of the afternoon sun and spend some time in an A/C'd cinema watching 'New York'. It was about as Bollywood as my little finger – or at least in the sense of Bollywood I expected. There wasn't any of the all singing, all dancing, cringeworthy colour that I expected. Instead, there was what could have been an american movie about 9/11 except that a good 80% of the speech was in Hindi with the crucial bits in English so us crazies could understand it. It was nice to see how cinemas work in India (intermission is in here), but the movie was far from what I expected! Since seeing it we've seen the guy who played Sam on all sorts of ad campaigns and the theme tune is everywhere! Later in the day a big portion of the group went to the Red Fort for a wander around, again I sat that out so I don't really know what was involved except for the monkey incident!
Direct from the mouth of Mel...herself and Jacinta had separated from the group and she was taking some snaps of the monkeys at the fort (she's a monkey lover), when a huge one jumped from the tree beside her (she wasn't photographing in that direction) and grabbed hold of the waistband of her shorts. She started screaming because it wouldn't let go of her and Jacinta ran away cos she got such a fright. The monkey started hissing at her at that stage because she was making such a racket..and then a local guy came to the rescue clapping his hands to scare the monkey away. No monkey bite this time...not a repeat of Gibraltar thankfully :)
Overall impression of Agra is that I wouldn't go back. It was nice to see the Taj, but the place sent me even further into dislike for India.
For photos from Agra click here.
Driving into Agra was an experience that will stay with me for a long time because it reflected so well what I had expected of India. It was here that I saw children and adults squatted low over the sewers using them as a bathroom. The smell in most parts of the city that we went through was horrendous :(
Another thing that struck me was the number of beggars and street vendors that flocked around us and refused to take no for an answer until we got really angry and rude with them at which point they'd back away, only to return to try again a few minutes later. While I can understand that this is their source of income, I'm not minted to the degree that I can hand over my budgeted cash so the whole experience put me in rather a bad mood.
On the first night Una, Annie and I went in search of an ATM – there was one just down the street from the hotel so we had no more than a 3 minute walk there, a couple of minutes inside and then the walk back to the hotel. For the entire time we were hounded by a guy in a rickshaw who wanted to take us to a bazaar for 10 rupees..when we refused he then wanted to take us anywhere for 10 rupees. Again we said no thank you and tried to walk on but he just kept on going and it eventually got to the point that I lost my head and screamed at him to 'drive on'. He got all apologetic then and said he hadn't intended to offend me and hoped I would forgive him...and take a ride in his rickshaw..he would take us to an ATM for 10 rupees...ARGHHHH! At that stage I just gave up and tried to ignore him.
Each time we left the hotel we were pestered by kids at the bottom of the stairs looking to sell us water, chocolate, coke..you name it. The morning that we were leaving I was on security detail and got to the point where I was ready to do physical harm to the gang of teenagers that were around the bus trying to peddle anklets, bracelets, baskets with a pop-up snake, karma sutra books and a whole lot more. The same guy asked me a couple of dozen times to buy his wares..no matter how many times I refused he kept coming back. No matter how angry I got, he wouldn't go away..up to the point that he tried to board the bus to sell his stuff and I ended up stomping up from the boot to scream them down off the bus. Security duty in India was not pleasant, but at least my stint is over now...trying to watch what's happening with the luggage of all the passengers is trying when you've got so many people milling around looking to carry your bags, take you on a rickshaw etc.
With regards to what we saw in Agra, the big ticket item was the Taj Mahal which we enjoyed at sunset and sunrise. On our first night, Kim had arranged for Ali and his rickshaws to be outside to take us to see the baby Taj before moving on to the back of the Taj proper for sunset. It was pretty surreal to be standing there and one of the first times on the trip where I've realised how far away from home I am. I never thought I'd see the Taj...it wouldn't have been on my list of things to see before I die so it's nice to add it to the list of unexpected things. We took lots of photo opportunities there (see the album) and I wanted one like Mel & a few others had had taken by a young local (I had no small change to give him and knew I'd need to give payment of some form). I jumped and jumped and jumped but all the photos looked crap until I was just about to give up from exhaustion and the last one kinda worked (not as cool as Mel's but still pretty genius).
On our full day in Agra were were up super, super early to meet Ali and his boys to go to the Taj for sunrise. It was great to be there before the masses of people arrived, not to crowded and nice and quiet. It was pretty cool, but I reckon had I gone to the marble showroom that a lot of the group went to I'd have been more impressed. After the early start I needed some time-out so went for a nana nap while Loonie went and spent a fortune on a hand decorated marble box. I haven't seen her one, but the photo of Abby's one looks pretty cool. A good portion of the group wanted to see a Bollywood movie so we took the chance to get out of the afternoon sun and spend some time in an A/C'd cinema watching 'New York'. It was about as Bollywood as my little finger – or at least in the sense of Bollywood I expected. There wasn't any of the all singing, all dancing, cringeworthy colour that I expected. Instead, there was what could have been an american movie about 9/11 except that a good 80% of the speech was in Hindi with the crucial bits in English so us crazies could understand it. It was nice to see how cinemas work in India (intermission is in here), but the movie was far from what I expected! Since seeing it we've seen the guy who played Sam on all sorts of ad campaigns and the theme tune is everywhere! Later in the day a big portion of the group went to the Red Fort for a wander around, again I sat that out so I don't really know what was involved except for the monkey incident!
Direct from the mouth of Mel...herself and Jacinta had separated from the group and she was taking some snaps of the monkeys at the fort (she's a monkey lover), when a huge one jumped from the tree beside her (she wasn't photographing in that direction) and grabbed hold of the waistband of her shorts. She started screaming because it wouldn't let go of her and Jacinta ran away cos she got such a fright. The monkey started hissing at her at that stage because she was making such a racket..and then a local guy came to the rescue clapping his hands to scare the monkey away. No monkey bite this time...not a repeat of Gibraltar thankfully :)
Overall impression of Agra is that I wouldn't go back. It was nice to see the Taj, but the place sent me even further into dislike for India.
For photos from Agra click here.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Day 33 & 34 (Delhi)
I think I've finally mastered the art of sleeping on a bus regardless of the quality of the road or the comfort of the seat...I slept pretty much the entire way from Amristar to Delhi though that may have been down to the fact that I barely slept a wink in Amristar because our A/C wasn't working and the room was at a balmy 36 all night long...how uncomfortable :(
We had a lunchstop at a roadside restaurant that seemed lovely, but either my order got messed up, or they were trying to pull a fast one. I ordered Honey Chicken and instead got some kind of vegetable nuggets that were coated in a weird sauce....barely touched it so was happy to help Una with her Onion Kulcha – Mmmmmmm! On the road Kim read out some quiz questions (most of which I slept through) and Richard was victorious with 37/50 I think or something like that.
Delhi was a 2 night stop and Kim had been raving about the hotel with it's rooftop restaurant and bar, and some rooms with wifi..I was really excited about being able to talk to home in the comfort of my room rather than having to try have a normal conversation in a net cafe. But, when we pulled up to the hotel it was pretty clear it wasn't the one Kim was expecting. The driver pulled up, the luggage man got off and started pulling bags out of the boot while Kim was trying to work out what was happening. The bags were unloaded and the bus was gone before we were sure we were in the wrong place. The agency in India had messed up our booking and we were in this dingy, dank hotel where one of the room I looked at smelled like death & decay. We were hopeful that we'd be moved, Kim was on the case and fighting hard to get the error corrected. So we sat in reception for a long, long time waiting to be moved to find out that there wasn't space for us anywhere else so we had to stay where we were. Una and I were given room 215..we went in and immediately spotted the hugest gecko yet camoflagued against the bathroom wall..there was no electricity in the bathroom so though we'd have been able to use it by torchlight there was no knowing where the gecko was gonna go! After much screaming and running around and me jumping onto and off of the furniture to get away from the geckos we were moved to room 101..altogether more pleasant though still very basic and gross.
I went out to a small restaurant not far from the hotel to have a bite to eat with Una, Barbara & Kim that had been recommended by the hotel by way of peace offering for all the hassle we'd had. They had promised to move us to Hotel Sunshine first thing the next morning and have rooms ready for everyone at 8am, provide us with breakfast there and a free dinner on our 2nd evening in Delhi...not bad really, fair play to Kim for getting al that sorted. So for dinner, I thought I'd try Indian Chicken Tikka to see if it rivalled Khan's...it did...so tasty and with a spicy kick unlike any I've had before, but Kahn's maintain their title because this place had no mango chutney to give me which is what makes the tikka so yummy!
The next morning we got up early to get moved to Hotel Sunshine, with the bus packed up we were on the road around 8am and arrived at the hotel moments later to find that though it was Hotel Sunshine it wasn't the Hotel Sunshine that Kim had been fighting to get us into! It was like the Hotel Stella issue in Paris all over again, except this time the hotel we were at wasn't as nice as where we were supposed to be so that sucked somewhat, but at least there were no geckos and the A/C was working and blowing super cold air (so much so I needed my sleeping bag!). We got checked in, dumped our bags and went to their rooftop terrace (full enclosed with wattle that had been painted green) for our breakfast of eggs and toast..really want something new for breakfast..,I've eaten more eggs in the last few weeks than I have in my entire life!
After breakfast a gang of us headed to Connaught Place (who knew we'd find Irish province names in New Delhi?) in search of a tourist office or some sort of desk where we could pick up a guided tour of the city. The theory was that doing a set tour would ensure we see as much as possible in our one day and we wouldn't be wasting lots of time and energy flagging rickshaws and negotiating prices. As soon as we piled out of the rickshaws just off Connaught Circle a green SUV pulled up and a guy asked if we needed help finding anything. He offered us a lift to the tourist office and said that if we liked he could give us a tour. Immediately I was wondering what his game was because I thought it unlikely it was a random stranger picking up 7 foreign ladies and offering them free use of his car and time for the day and I wondered about price, but nobody wanted to bring up the vulgar subject of money.
He brought us to see India Gate and then the presidential palace. Had we known we were going to be there we could have requested an audience but we didn't so we just stood at the gate taking snapshots through the fence. After that he looped back to Connaught Circle to drop Annie off (she was meeting the boys to have a tour with them) and he called his brother to see if he was available to give the boys a tour. It was all falling together nicely.
Before he pulled out again he brought up money telling us that it was normally a charge of 4000 rupees to have an A/C car and driver for the day in Delhi, he said he worked for the tourist office and would be happy to take us around for that price. I wasn't happy as he'd first said we could just give him anything we liked for his time and then we were up to that amount between the 6 of us. After a bit of to and fro we agreed on 600 a piece for the day with the understanding that we'd give him a tip if we had a good day..and so we were off..and then we stopped! He dropped his phone on the floor and bent down to pick it up all the while giving Abby a wink and running over a man on a bike!!! The poor guy got catapulted from his bike onto the ground and looked to be in a lot of pain, bent double on the side of the road. Our driver just sat there..it was only when a police man appeared that he got out. He was back in the car in a minute or two saying it was ok and we could go because he'd paid to make it go away! That was the first accident we saw that day.
So, the driver turned out to the a 29 year old Delhi resident who was married with 3 kids after an arranged marriage where he had only met his wife for 10 minutes before he married her! His name is Sunny and along with his brother Vijay they run a company providing tours of Delhi, Agra and some other venues in India. He was a lovely guy, we just got off to a wrong start because of the cultural differences in how you sort out money!
He took us to see a whole lot more stuff that I can't really remember (the heat is sapping away all my brain cells). Some that I can think of was a mosque that we were refused entry into because it was prayer time, the grounds where Muhatma Ghandi's ashes were scattered, the Lotus Temple, a wholesale market where we got rucksack patches and a market selling everything from keyrings to furniture, jewellery and clothes. We spent a bit more money there than anticipated with 3 of the 6 of us purchasing stuff...I got a lovely ring with my birthstone to go with my new long nails. In addition to all the sites Sunny brought us to a restaurant that though was pricey had lovely food. The only complaint was for some glass that was found on a pizza. My dinner was tasty but not as spicy as I'd hoped for..I really wanted to test my tolerance..but it's obviously something for another day.
As a result of the mess with the hotels we were treated to a free dinner at Hotel Sunshine which was really very good. They served up butter chicken with sides of veg and bread..Mmmmmm.
Delhi was nice, but dirty and I found it hard to cope with all the begging and constant requests for money from little children in rags :(
For photos from Delhi click here.
We had a lunchstop at a roadside restaurant that seemed lovely, but either my order got messed up, or they were trying to pull a fast one. I ordered Honey Chicken and instead got some kind of vegetable nuggets that were coated in a weird sauce....barely touched it so was happy to help Una with her Onion Kulcha – Mmmmmmm! On the road Kim read out some quiz questions (most of which I slept through) and Richard was victorious with 37/50 I think or something like that.
Delhi was a 2 night stop and Kim had been raving about the hotel with it's rooftop restaurant and bar, and some rooms with wifi..I was really excited about being able to talk to home in the comfort of my room rather than having to try have a normal conversation in a net cafe. But, when we pulled up to the hotel it was pretty clear it wasn't the one Kim was expecting. The driver pulled up, the luggage man got off and started pulling bags out of the boot while Kim was trying to work out what was happening. The bags were unloaded and the bus was gone before we were sure we were in the wrong place. The agency in India had messed up our booking and we were in this dingy, dank hotel where one of the room I looked at smelled like death & decay. We were hopeful that we'd be moved, Kim was on the case and fighting hard to get the error corrected. So we sat in reception for a long, long time waiting to be moved to find out that there wasn't space for us anywhere else so we had to stay where we were. Una and I were given room 215..we went in and immediately spotted the hugest gecko yet camoflagued against the bathroom wall..there was no electricity in the bathroom so though we'd have been able to use it by torchlight there was no knowing where the gecko was gonna go! After much screaming and running around and me jumping onto and off of the furniture to get away from the geckos we were moved to room 101..altogether more pleasant though still very basic and gross.
I went out to a small restaurant not far from the hotel to have a bite to eat with Una, Barbara & Kim that had been recommended by the hotel by way of peace offering for all the hassle we'd had. They had promised to move us to Hotel Sunshine first thing the next morning and have rooms ready for everyone at 8am, provide us with breakfast there and a free dinner on our 2nd evening in Delhi...not bad really, fair play to Kim for getting al that sorted. So for dinner, I thought I'd try Indian Chicken Tikka to see if it rivalled Khan's...it did...so tasty and with a spicy kick unlike any I've had before, but Kahn's maintain their title because this place had no mango chutney to give me which is what makes the tikka so yummy!
The next morning we got up early to get moved to Hotel Sunshine, with the bus packed up we were on the road around 8am and arrived at the hotel moments later to find that though it was Hotel Sunshine it wasn't the Hotel Sunshine that Kim had been fighting to get us into! It was like the Hotel Stella issue in Paris all over again, except this time the hotel we were at wasn't as nice as where we were supposed to be so that sucked somewhat, but at least there were no geckos and the A/C was working and blowing super cold air (so much so I needed my sleeping bag!). We got checked in, dumped our bags and went to their rooftop terrace (full enclosed with wattle that had been painted green) for our breakfast of eggs and toast..really want something new for breakfast..,I've eaten more eggs in the last few weeks than I have in my entire life!
After breakfast a gang of us headed to Connaught Place (who knew we'd find Irish province names in New Delhi?) in search of a tourist office or some sort of desk where we could pick up a guided tour of the city. The theory was that doing a set tour would ensure we see as much as possible in our one day and we wouldn't be wasting lots of time and energy flagging rickshaws and negotiating prices. As soon as we piled out of the rickshaws just off Connaught Circle a green SUV pulled up and a guy asked if we needed help finding anything. He offered us a lift to the tourist office and said that if we liked he could give us a tour. Immediately I was wondering what his game was because I thought it unlikely it was a random stranger picking up 7 foreign ladies and offering them free use of his car and time for the day and I wondered about price, but nobody wanted to bring up the vulgar subject of money.
He brought us to see India Gate and then the presidential palace. Had we known we were going to be there we could have requested an audience but we didn't so we just stood at the gate taking snapshots through the fence. After that he looped back to Connaught Circle to drop Annie off (she was meeting the boys to have a tour with them) and he called his brother to see if he was available to give the boys a tour. It was all falling together nicely.
Before he pulled out again he brought up money telling us that it was normally a charge of 4000 rupees to have an A/C car and driver for the day in Delhi, he said he worked for the tourist office and would be happy to take us around for that price. I wasn't happy as he'd first said we could just give him anything we liked for his time and then we were up to that amount between the 6 of us. After a bit of to and fro we agreed on 600 a piece for the day with the understanding that we'd give him a tip if we had a good day..and so we were off..and then we stopped! He dropped his phone on the floor and bent down to pick it up all the while giving Abby a wink and running over a man on a bike!!! The poor guy got catapulted from his bike onto the ground and looked to be in a lot of pain, bent double on the side of the road. Our driver just sat there..it was only when a police man appeared that he got out. He was back in the car in a minute or two saying it was ok and we could go because he'd paid to make it go away! That was the first accident we saw that day.
So, the driver turned out to the a 29 year old Delhi resident who was married with 3 kids after an arranged marriage where he had only met his wife for 10 minutes before he married her! His name is Sunny and along with his brother Vijay they run a company providing tours of Delhi, Agra and some other venues in India. He was a lovely guy, we just got off to a wrong start because of the cultural differences in how you sort out money!
He took us to see a whole lot more stuff that I can't really remember (the heat is sapping away all my brain cells). Some that I can think of was a mosque that we were refused entry into because it was prayer time, the grounds where Muhatma Ghandi's ashes were scattered, the Lotus Temple, a wholesale market where we got rucksack patches and a market selling everything from keyrings to furniture, jewellery and clothes. We spent a bit more money there than anticipated with 3 of the 6 of us purchasing stuff...I got a lovely ring with my birthstone to go with my new long nails. In addition to all the sites Sunny brought us to a restaurant that though was pricey had lovely food. The only complaint was for some glass that was found on a pizza. My dinner was tasty but not as spicy as I'd hoped for..I really wanted to test my tolerance..but it's obviously something for another day.
As a result of the mess with the hotels we were treated to a free dinner at Hotel Sunshine which was really very good. They served up butter chicken with sides of veg and bread..Mmmmmm.
Delhi was nice, but dirty and I found it hard to cope with all the begging and constant requests for money from little children in rags :(
For photos from Delhi click here.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Day 32 (Amristar)
Hello India...we've finally made it and I've been in training for years now in Khan's so do your worst (though not too bad cos I've got long bus journeys and no onboard toilet). Let's test your chicken tikka versus the one I love so much....and if get brave enough...let's try jalfrezi...or vindaloo!
We were up early to cross through Wagha into India for a one night stay in Amristar (30kms from the border). The walk from where we left Amjad &Arshad to the bus on the other side was pretty long, and was made more difficult because of a) the heat and b) delhi belly :( But being as stubborn as I am I was determined to cross on my own without hiring a porter to carry my bags so I just sucked it up and got on with it. We got through a lot quicker than I had expected and were pleasantly surprised at how close Amristar was. Driving there took longer than expected though because of traffic and the crazy way they drive here!
My first impression is that entering India we're back to a society more like home than we've seen in a couple of weeks. There are women out walking about for a change..it's not just men on the streets anymore which is refreshing. There are a lot more bikes and motorbikes on the road here than we have seen in Iran and Pakistan, but the common thing is how many people they squeeze on there! The streets are filthy and there seems to be more beggars than we've seen to date, but I'm excited to see how the rest of India is.
We got to Amristar pretty early on in the day thanks to the smooth border crossing so a gang of us headed off in search of a net cafe to check in with home (and sort out the photo albums that some of you seem to have noticed weren't actually up yet – sorted now...enjoy). We managed to get there squeezing 7 of us into a motorised rickshaw, but getting back was a different story. No motorised rickshaws to be seen and the group was now at 9 people. We didn't know for sure how far away the hotel was so we didn't know if we could walk it easily or not (we easily could have but had no map and no clue where to go). Eventually we gave in and went with cycle rickshaws, but had to fight to get three people on one as they were trying to limit us to two per rickshaw...eventually we got under way with Alex in the middle and Mel & I perched either side of him with one bum cheek hanging over the edge of the rickshaw and hanging on for dear life on the short spin back to the hotel. Quiet an experience..not really one I wanna repeat!
Amristar has one big attraction that we wanted to see – the Golden Temple. Each evening they have a ceremony lasting a few hours that involves 'putting the book to bed'. We went to see some of this and I was blown away by the place. It was so serene and peaceful and reminded me a lot of Egoli Park in Tabriz where Reza had taken us. There were thousands of people there all strolling around the lake, sitting praying or chatting and some of the boys & men were swimming in the lake (didn't look like ladies were allowed). The Golden Temple is accessible by a walkway out into the lake...we got in the queue to go in for a looksie and it was pretty cool. Inside there were lots of people praying and a full section of guys singing and playing the music that was being piped out around the whole complex outside. It was a beautiful place.
For photos from Amristar click here.
We were up early to cross through Wagha into India for a one night stay in Amristar (30kms from the border). The walk from where we left Amjad &Arshad to the bus on the other side was pretty long, and was made more difficult because of a) the heat and b) delhi belly :( But being as stubborn as I am I was determined to cross on my own without hiring a porter to carry my bags so I just sucked it up and got on with it. We got through a lot quicker than I had expected and were pleasantly surprised at how close Amristar was. Driving there took longer than expected though because of traffic and the crazy way they drive here!
My first impression is that entering India we're back to a society more like home than we've seen in a couple of weeks. There are women out walking about for a change..it's not just men on the streets anymore which is refreshing. There are a lot more bikes and motorbikes on the road here than we have seen in Iran and Pakistan, but the common thing is how many people they squeeze on there! The streets are filthy and there seems to be more beggars than we've seen to date, but I'm excited to see how the rest of India is.
We got to Amristar pretty early on in the day thanks to the smooth border crossing so a gang of us headed off in search of a net cafe to check in with home (and sort out the photo albums that some of you seem to have noticed weren't actually up yet – sorted now...enjoy). We managed to get there squeezing 7 of us into a motorised rickshaw, but getting back was a different story. No motorised rickshaws to be seen and the group was now at 9 people. We didn't know for sure how far away the hotel was so we didn't know if we could walk it easily or not (we easily could have but had no map and no clue where to go). Eventually we gave in and went with cycle rickshaws, but had to fight to get three people on one as they were trying to limit us to two per rickshaw...eventually we got under way with Alex in the middle and Mel & I perched either side of him with one bum cheek hanging over the edge of the rickshaw and hanging on for dear life on the short spin back to the hotel. Quiet an experience..not really one I wanna repeat!
Amristar has one big attraction that we wanted to see – the Golden Temple. Each evening they have a ceremony lasting a few hours that involves 'putting the book to bed'. We went to see some of this and I was blown away by the place. It was so serene and peaceful and reminded me a lot of Egoli Park in Tabriz where Reza had taken us. There were thousands of people there all strolling around the lake, sitting praying or chatting and some of the boys & men were swimming in the lake (didn't look like ladies were allowed). The Golden Temple is accessible by a walkway out into the lake...we got in the queue to go in for a looksie and it was pretty cool. Inside there were lots of people praying and a full section of guys singing and playing the music that was being piped out around the whole complex outside. It was a beautiful place.
For photos from Amristar click here.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
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.
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.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Day 28 (Multan)
Not much to report from today – again another LONG drive day to get us from Sukkur to Multan. The most exciting part of the trip was having our armed escort increase to 4 truck loads of armed guards by the time we pulled in to our hotel. There were guards posted all over the hotel with one sniper guy on the roof. They went to the extent of closing the road outside the hotel (it backed on to the river so nothing behind us) which was weird.
Amjad arranged for a masseur and henna lady to come to the hotel so we could do something other than sit around looking out the window. The massage was quite odd...the dude was standing on our backs trying to release the knots! Never had anything like that before so it was a bit weird. After he'd finished on Una he told her he had pulled lots of her eyebrows out during the head massage..the poor guy didn't realise she'd plucked them before he arrived :)
For photos from Multan click here.
Amjad arranged for a masseur and henna lady to come to the hotel so we could do something other than sit around looking out the window. The massage was quite odd...the dude was standing on our backs trying to release the knots! Never had anything like that before so it was a bit weird. After he'd finished on Una he told her he had pulled lots of her eyebrows out during the head massage..the poor guy didn't realise she'd plucked them before he arrived :)
For photos from Multan click here.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Day 27 (Sukkur)
I sat up front on the bus with Arshad pointing out sights to me during the drive from Hyderabad to Sukkur. It was a very, very long drive day which wasn't helped by the number of stops we had for toilet and puke breaks. Quite a few people have a bit of Dehli Belly going on..and we're not even in India yet :)
Sitting up front was ace, got so see so much of the countryside and enjoyed seeing the reaction on the faces of those we drove passed as realisation dawned on them that it was a bus full of westerners (hate that term) that was driving through their little village. I felt like the grand marshall at a parade with all the smiling and waving I was doing.
At one of our toilet stops we found 5 of the most colourful trucks of Pakistan parked up while the drivers took a rest break. I got out to take some photos and made a new friend...one of the truckers wouldn't let go of my hand after I shook it. He showed me all the paint work on the truck, being especially proud of the Benazir painting on the back of the truck. I got to climb in and have a picture taken..nice :)
We had only one scheduled stop for the day which was at some ruins. There was a debate as to whether to go or not given how hot it was and how sick some people were, but as there was a cool room to lay down in we went with it. The ruins were pretty cool, but it was indeed too hot and most of us flaked before we could see the whole place. The bus was very, very quiet when we got back on to continue on with the drive.
For photos from Sukkur click here.
Sitting up front was ace, got so see so much of the countryside and enjoyed seeing the reaction on the faces of those we drove passed as realisation dawned on them that it was a bus full of westerners (hate that term) that was driving through their little village. I felt like the grand marshall at a parade with all the smiling and waving I was doing.
At one of our toilet stops we found 5 of the most colourful trucks of Pakistan parked up while the drivers took a rest break. I got out to take some photos and made a new friend...one of the truckers wouldn't let go of my hand after I shook it. He showed me all the paint work on the truck, being especially proud of the Benazir painting on the back of the truck. I got to climb in and have a picture taken..nice :)
We had only one scheduled stop for the day which was at some ruins. There was a debate as to whether to go or not given how hot it was and how sick some people were, but as there was a cool room to lay down in we went with it. The ruins were pretty cool, but it was indeed too hot and most of us flaked before we could see the whole place. The bus was very, very quiet when we got back on to continue on with the drive.
For photos from Sukkur click here.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Day 26 (Hyderabad)
A very pleasant drive from Karachi to Hyderabad where the landscape continued to be a sprawling desert scene with very little greenery and lots of dust clouds. We passed through a lot of small villages where we were instant celebrities with kids and adults alike coming out in their droves to wave and smile at us.
We had a stop at a cemetery where the graves were marked with mounds of rocks rather than the normal graves we have at home. Where there was a family buried together there was a wall surrounding them. It was a very serene place. After the cemetery we drove on to see another mosque (this one Loonie and I passed on because we'd forgotten to keep our headscarves out of our rucksacks). When we got there the place was swarming with police, one of whom gave the two of us an armed escort to the toilet (weird!). Once the rest of the gang were finished up inside, we hit the road again to try make progress toward Hyderabad – but something weird happened....the police started following us in two jeeps, then one overtook us and drove in front forming a convoy. I hadn't expected this at all – thought since we'd flown into Karachi we'd miss out on armed escorts because we weren't near the Afghan border.
The convoy stuck with us, two jeeps with 5 guards in each the whole way to Hyderabad, even stopping when we had toilet breaks and when we did a detour to go for a boat ride on a lake. Nice day out for the guards really, instead of normal police work they got to have a go on a speedboat full of tourists. As much of a novelty as I found it to have these guys clearing a path for us to drive through quickly, I wondered what the impact of that disruption would be for the locals and whether they would ever be in a position to have the same kind of treatment. I put this to Amjad who explained that the convoy was government protocol for all groups of tourists in Pakistan and something to be happy and fell priviliged about and take advantage of rather than get offended about the attention.
The hotel didn't have any internet access so Arshad took 12 of us on the bus with an armed guard and a motorbike cop in front to a net cafe. But as the power kept dropping we didn't get to do all that much because we had to keep logging off and on. When we were done we met the family of the owner who were fascinated by us. This same thing happened back at the hotel where the owner's sister and her three daughters arrived in to meet with us once we were done with dinner. The girls chatted away asking questions about where we are from and what our thoughts on Pakistan were.
The only other real excitement from the day was seeing a gecko in my room when I popped back after dinner. The blasted thing crawled into my sleeping bag liner and all over my ankles at around 3.30am..it frightened the bejaysus out of me so much so that I was up jumping around trying to get the liner inside out to get it out...when I managed to get calm enough to try to get back to sleep I cocooned myself in the liner and eventually drifted back to sleep.
For photos from Hyderabad click here.
We had a stop at a cemetery where the graves were marked with mounds of rocks rather than the normal graves we have at home. Where there was a family buried together there was a wall surrounding them. It was a very serene place. After the cemetery we drove on to see another mosque (this one Loonie and I passed on because we'd forgotten to keep our headscarves out of our rucksacks). When we got there the place was swarming with police, one of whom gave the two of us an armed escort to the toilet (weird!). Once the rest of the gang were finished up inside, we hit the road again to try make progress toward Hyderabad – but something weird happened....the police started following us in two jeeps, then one overtook us and drove in front forming a convoy. I hadn't expected this at all – thought since we'd flown into Karachi we'd miss out on armed escorts because we weren't near the Afghan border.
The convoy stuck with us, two jeeps with 5 guards in each the whole way to Hyderabad, even stopping when we had toilet breaks and when we did a detour to go for a boat ride on a lake. Nice day out for the guards really, instead of normal police work they got to have a go on a speedboat full of tourists. As much of a novelty as I found it to have these guys clearing a path for us to drive through quickly, I wondered what the impact of that disruption would be for the locals and whether they would ever be in a position to have the same kind of treatment. I put this to Amjad who explained that the convoy was government protocol for all groups of tourists in Pakistan and something to be happy and fell priviliged about and take advantage of rather than get offended about the attention.
The hotel didn't have any internet access so Arshad took 12 of us on the bus with an armed guard and a motorbike cop in front to a net cafe. But as the power kept dropping we didn't get to do all that much because we had to keep logging off and on. When we were done we met the family of the owner who were fascinated by us. This same thing happened back at the hotel where the owner's sister and her three daughters arrived in to meet with us once we were done with dinner. The girls chatted away asking questions about where we are from and what our thoughts on Pakistan were.
The only other real excitement from the day was seeing a gecko in my room when I popped back after dinner. The blasted thing crawled into my sleeping bag liner and all over my ankles at around 3.30am..it frightened the bejaysus out of me so much so that I was up jumping around trying to get the liner inside out to get it out...when I managed to get calm enough to try to get back to sleep I cocooned myself in the liner and eventually drifted back to sleep.
For photos from Hyderabad click here.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Day 25 (Karachi)
Farewell Iran..Hello Pakistan!
I was worried about (as my mammy would say) “jumping from the frying pan into the flame”, with today's border cross, but so far so wonderful. We had a 2.5 hour flight from Tehran to Karachi which was pretty much smooth the whole way. Entering Pakistan was a worry for everyone, but after meeting our guide. Amjad and driver Arstad we were immediately feeling less worried. I'm happy to be exploring this country, but a bit displeased about the mode of transport we used to get here..it's supposed to be an overland adventure, but this is the first of three flights that we have to take and the first we heard about this particular one was about a week into the trip. OzBUS need to pull their socks up in the communication department – this is far from the first omission of vital information. Luckily my bag was under the weight restrictions for flights, but it would have been nice to have had a heads up about this flight before we got on the bus.
Anyways, that's something for my feedback to Alastair and Stephen later on, for now lets focus on Pakistan! We arrived in Karachi in the early afternoon and after words of welcome and introduction from Amjad we went to the hotel to check in. Everyone took a few minutes to freshen up and then we headed out to the beach where some of the crew went swimming while others went for camel rides and I took the opportunity to sit down and admire the view (not sure camel riding is my thing...looks particularly uncomfortable). On the way to the beach we went to a mausoleum where Amjad arranged for the changing of the guards ceremony to happed earlier than normal so we could see it, lots of stamping and thrusting guns around. To get up to see it we had to take off our shoes and walk up some steps..easy to do you'd think but when the marble slabs have been in the su all day soaking up the heat it's kinda like having a hot stone massage on the soles of your feet without the movement of the stone or the relaxing massage..it's just a burning sensation that made us all run around like crazy loons!
After the beach we got freshened up and then went for a traditional Pakistani dinner atop a BBQ restaurant overlooking the sea. We had an assortment of dishes that all went down very well even though I thought the spice might kill me..so glad that I've been warming up my spice taste buds with semi-regular visits to Khan's over the last few years. A bit more practise may have been wise :)
The only bad thing about the day was finding out that someone had been in some of the rooms in the hotel while we were out. Nothing appeared to have been taken but it was still an unwelcome invasion of privacy. The manager looked into it while we were at dinner and when we got back he told us that he'd established who it was and had fired the man in question.
So first impression of Pakistan is a very positive one. As Amjad explained the reports in the media isn't necessarily a true impression of Pakistan and it harms it's reputation and the way people view it's inhabitants. Anyone we've met so far has been wonderfully friendly and very welcoming.
For photos from Karachi click here.
I was worried about (as my mammy would say) “jumping from the frying pan into the flame”, with today's border cross, but so far so wonderful. We had a 2.5 hour flight from Tehran to Karachi which was pretty much smooth the whole way. Entering Pakistan was a worry for everyone, but after meeting our guide. Amjad and driver Arstad we were immediately feeling less worried. I'm happy to be exploring this country, but a bit displeased about the mode of transport we used to get here..it's supposed to be an overland adventure, but this is the first of three flights that we have to take and the first we heard about this particular one was about a week into the trip. OzBUS need to pull their socks up in the communication department – this is far from the first omission of vital information. Luckily my bag was under the weight restrictions for flights, but it would have been nice to have had a heads up about this flight before we got on the bus.
Anyways, that's something for my feedback to Alastair and Stephen later on, for now lets focus on Pakistan! We arrived in Karachi in the early afternoon and after words of welcome and introduction from Amjad we went to the hotel to check in. Everyone took a few minutes to freshen up and then we headed out to the beach where some of the crew went swimming while others went for camel rides and I took the opportunity to sit down and admire the view (not sure camel riding is my thing...looks particularly uncomfortable). On the way to the beach we went to a mausoleum where Amjad arranged for the changing of the guards ceremony to happed earlier than normal so we could see it, lots of stamping and thrusting guns around. To get up to see it we had to take off our shoes and walk up some steps..easy to do you'd think but when the marble slabs have been in the su all day soaking up the heat it's kinda like having a hot stone massage on the soles of your feet without the movement of the stone or the relaxing massage..it's just a burning sensation that made us all run around like crazy loons!
After the beach we got freshened up and then went for a traditional Pakistani dinner atop a BBQ restaurant overlooking the sea. We had an assortment of dishes that all went down very well even though I thought the spice might kill me..so glad that I've been warming up my spice taste buds with semi-regular visits to Khan's over the last few years. A bit more practise may have been wise :)
The only bad thing about the day was finding out that someone had been in some of the rooms in the hotel while we were out. Nothing appeared to have been taken but it was still an unwelcome invasion of privacy. The manager looked into it while we were at dinner and when we got back he told us that he'd established who it was and had fired the man in question.
So first impression of Pakistan is a very positive one. As Amjad explained the reports in the media isn't necessarily a true impression of Pakistan and it harms it's reputation and the way people view it's inhabitants. Anyone we've met so far has been wonderfully friendly and very welcoming.
For photos from Karachi click here.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Day 24 (Tehran)
Here we go again...back to Tehran so we can catch our flight to Karachi, Pakistan at crazy o'clock in the morning!
We again had some culture by visiting the Friday Mosque and a family run ceramic business in Natanz and the old houses and park in Kashan. The old house we visited was one built by the suitor of an Iranian girl who's father said he would only approve of the marriage if the suitor build a house worthy of his daughter for her to live in. So the guy got the same architect and builders to create a replica of the girls parental home so he could win her hand. One of the interesting features about the house was the door knockers – one large on for the men to use and a smaller one for the ladies to use. The idea behind this was that you could establish if it was a lady or gentleman caller at the door and ensure you were dressed appropriately to answer it.
As we got closer to Tehran we wondered what we were going to find once we arrived there. I overheard Saki and Kim talking about what the options were, and it boiled down to whether or not we were driving into trouble. If there were problems and we couldn't get to the hotel or it was unsafe to go there, then we were airport bound for a night of sleep on the tiles there. Thankfully that wasn't necessary – though there was drama.
The road that the driver wanted to use was blocked by police and army guys who were adament we weren't getting through. After some Saki negotiations they eventually relented and allowed us pass...but not 100 metres after we got through we came to the road at the side of the hotel where the rioters had set bins on fire 3 nights previous and found it impossibly crowded. Both sides of the road were jammed for as far as the eye could see with people standing watching as a large number of people marched peacefully down the street waving their green flags. The marchers were held up to allow us cross in front of them to get to the hotel which was on the opposite side of the road to which we were at a standstill on. As we slowly passed through we were shown peace signs and getting big smiles from the people. That reaction coupled with the green told us that they were there to protest against the election result and show their disappointment that their guy hadn't got in.
There was no more trouble that we saw – just people peacefully voicing their upset and wishing the world could see it. Phones were still blocked and internet access was still down keeping them isolated from the rest of the world.
For photos from today click here.
We again had some culture by visiting the Friday Mosque and a family run ceramic business in Natanz and the old houses and park in Kashan. The old house we visited was one built by the suitor of an Iranian girl who's father said he would only approve of the marriage if the suitor build a house worthy of his daughter for her to live in. So the guy got the same architect and builders to create a replica of the girls parental home so he could win her hand. One of the interesting features about the house was the door knockers – one large on for the men to use and a smaller one for the ladies to use. The idea behind this was that you could establish if it was a lady or gentleman caller at the door and ensure you were dressed appropriately to answer it.
As we got closer to Tehran we wondered what we were going to find once we arrived there. I overheard Saki and Kim talking about what the options were, and it boiled down to whether or not we were driving into trouble. If there were problems and we couldn't get to the hotel or it was unsafe to go there, then we were airport bound for a night of sleep on the tiles there. Thankfully that wasn't necessary – though there was drama.
The road that the driver wanted to use was blocked by police and army guys who were adament we weren't getting through. After some Saki negotiations they eventually relented and allowed us pass...but not 100 metres after we got through we came to the road at the side of the hotel where the rioters had set bins on fire 3 nights previous and found it impossibly crowded. Both sides of the road were jammed for as far as the eye could see with people standing watching as a large number of people marched peacefully down the street waving their green flags. The marchers were held up to allow us cross in front of them to get to the hotel which was on the opposite side of the road to which we were at a standstill on. As we slowly passed through we were shown peace signs and getting big smiles from the people. That reaction coupled with the green told us that they were there to protest against the election result and show their disappointment that their guy hadn't got in.
There was no more trouble that we saw – just people peacefully voicing their upset and wishing the world could see it. Phones were still blocked and internet access was still down keeping them isolated from the rest of the world.
For photos from today click here.
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