After we had followed Mudassir’s advice the night before and had a “special soup” (slightly sour and nice and spicy with lots of vegetables, egg sticks, mushrooms and chicken) brought to our room after dinner, according to an old tradition, around 8:30 p.m., we had slept very relaxed. After our last, joint breakfast, there was still some time to admire the garden of the Hotel Himalaya in Skardu. The hotel manager used directly the chance and so we were allowed to immortalize ourselves still in the guest book and were interviewed for social media 2 times and thereby recorded on film. That he derived our new surnames from Andrea’s first names and thus became Mr. and Mrs. Anderson, did not bother us – a cheer for a little privacy on Facebook and co.
We still had a little time before our flight from the local airport back to Islamabad. We used the time to withdraw some money and to load some data volume onto the SIM card. Afterwards, Mudassir drove us to a small lake at the edge of the desert, where we could relax a bit.
But soon the “inner German” stirred in Melanie and she was a bit worried that we would miss our flight. So we immediately took off in the direction of the airport, arriving there after about 30 minutes of driving. After checking the vehicle for bombs and the like, we found out that our flight was already going to be delayed by 45 minutes. Fortunately, we already said goodbye to Mudassir before the security check – on both sides with a lump in our throats – because, despite assurances from several security guards, we were not allowed to leave the airport building again. In the end, our flight actually took off only 10 minutes late and we were on our way back to Islamabad – actually the planned last destination of our trip.
But only actually, because spontaneously we had decided to change the plan and not to spend 2 full days in Islamabad. Instead, we wanted to see Lahore and especially the flag ceremony at the Pakistan-India border.
After we landed in Islamabad, Shuja (one of the owners of Discovering Pakistan) had already organized bus tickets for us to Lahore. While we were waiting at the airport to be picked up, we had several nice conversations with locals. A little tip on the side: if you want to avoid certain discussions about religion, it is sometimes advisable to try a little “white lie” and so we were – with a heavy heart because of the little lie – Christians for a short time.
The pickup at the airport was also interesting. At some point we were joined by 2 men who worked at the airport. Both were acquaintances of Shuja and explained and that we were waiting on the wrong level. The level we were waiting on was closed to normal traffic. So they unceremoniously loaded us and our luggage into an airport vehicle and took us to a nearby gas station, to which they had ordered an Uber for us. Everyone waited until the Uber arrived, we were bought drinks by the two and they bid us a warm farewell.
At the bus terminal, we still had 90 minutes to wait until our bus should leave and more than on time, the journey also started. Briefly, all occupants of the bus, as well as the time were filmed with a video camera and to the second exactly, at 4 pm we started.
After a 4-hour drive, we arrived at one of the countless bus terminals in Lahore (each bus company has its own terminals). Shuja was already waiting for us personally and first took us to our accommodation, where we could freshen up a bit.
We spent the rest of the evening having an excellent dinner, tea and walking around the back streets of Lahore. We spent dinner on the roof terrace of a really very good restaurant, with a direct view of the nearby Badshahi Mosque – the second largest mosque in Pakistan and one of the largest mosques in the world. Shuja ordered tons of food (barbecue, bread, chicken, beef, etc.) and so we were once again surprised that we paid only about 25€ for the whole meal for 3 people, including drinks. Afterwards we enjoyed a tea from typical clay cups and explored the alleys around the old town of Lahore – the so-called Walled City.
While we – despite the time of day – strolled through the hectic alleys and tried a local dessert (a kind of very sweet rice pudding), we were really impressed by how many people were out and about here. But actually, this was not surprising since we were in the second largest city in Pakistan with a population of just over 11 million – we are just “from the village” after all. The road traffic was also overwhelming and confusing at the same time for us average Europeans. Although no one seemed to follow any rules, it worked, everyone somehow flowed with the flow and at the same time showed consideration for everyone else. Back at the hotel, we arranged to meet Shuja at 9 a.m. the next day – or rather, for the same day, since it was already shortly after 1 a.m.
India very close
The next day we started with a slight delay. Shuja arrived at the hotel only around 10:30. In the meantime, Mel, in exchange for a cigarette, had received hot water in a plastic bottle at the hotel to drink at least a coffee. Of course, the bottle was deformed by the enormous heat and Mel promptly burned her fingers.
Our first destination for today was a citadel in the middle of Lahore – the Lahore Fort. The fort itself was very impressive, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and probably dates back to the 11th century. We marveled at the gardens, several gates, buildings and the so-called elephant steps. Almost the entire complex was designed in such a way that the rulers of that time could reach all the localities on the back of elephants. At the end of our tour, at the exit of the fort, Shuja bought Andreas a small toy boat, which was powered by steam and made Andreas inner child happy.
After a short refreshment we visited the Badshahi mosque. It was only morning but already incredibly warm and the sweat ran down our backs. Fortunately, the rules in Lahore were not so strict and so Mel was allowed to enter the mosque without a headscarf and additional veiling – it was enough to take off the shoes. Inside the mosque we met 2 tourists from Germany and chatted for a while. Unfortunately, we could not enter all parts, because in the meantime it was prayer time. Back at the vehicle, Shuja first let the air conditioner run in the vehicle for 10 minutes before we could even think about sitting in the car. Of course, he first burned his fingers on the hot steering wheel.
Before we left Lahore in the direction of the Indian border, we tried to buy refrigerator magnets for Mel – unfortunately without success. The way to the border should still take a little over an hour and led us through the huge city of Lahore, smaller suburbs and villages. In one of these suburbs, our journey almost came to an abrupt end when we ended up in a dead end and Shuja “sank” the car briefly in a huge hole in the middle of the road while backing up. Fortunately, there was no damage and so we reached the border on time before the ceremony.
After several security checks – always a huge Pakistani flag in view (Shuja said it was almost 100m tall) – we arrived at grandstands and were assigned seats. We waited anxiously in the blazing sun for the ceremony to begin. It was slightly unclear exactly when this was to begin. The fact that Mel’s and Andrea’s cell phones were apparently in different time zones and thus showed different times didn’t make it any easier. In any case, the whole environment was reminiscent of a folk festival. Those who wanted to could have their faces painted, buy flags and loud music was blaring from huge speakers. The same picture was seen on the Indian side of the border, with the exception that the whole thing was pushed a little more to the extreme and there were many more people present (probably due to the fact that it was Ramadan in Pakistan). The whole scenery and the following ceremony seemed strange to us (but in a positive sense) and before we write much, we let pictures and a video speak.
After the ceremony, several photos were taken with us and there was even a small dispute about which group of locals was allowed to pose with us next. Actually, an acquaintance of Shuja had invited us to his home for a proper iftar. But unfortunately we wanted to see the ceremony in its entirety and the way to the village would have cost us 2 hours, so we canceled with a heavy heart and a bad conscience. Nevertheless, we met a friend of Shuja, who invited us to a quick, but again delicious, meal in Lahore, before we – just on time – got on the bus back to Islamabad at 8pm. Again there was a warm farewell with hugs. Thank you Shuja for the wonderful experiences.
Shortly after 01 am on 25.04.2022 we reached the bus terminal in Islamabad again, where we met an old acquaintance.
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