I’m in Islamabad right now, safe and sound, really enjoying it here, with exception of mid-day heat. At night, it is a little bit cooler here than in Lahore which is great;) I arrived at Simara Hotel (Islamabad, Sector G-7) on Monday, Aug. 28th, after two days of hard riding on the famous Grand Trunk Road with an overnight stopover in Jhelum. Lahore to Islamabad was about 280 kms but summer heat can suck energy out of you very quickly, so early morning starts were essential… On another note, I’m amazed by Pakistanis boundless hospitality and offers of help. But more about that once I get to a decent computer and I’m able to post my reports… Yes, Internet speeds and overall availability of Win XP equipped computers here is atrocious!!! So my blogging and picture posting will slow down, for a while at least…
August 29th, 2006
Posted by
Rich |
Himalayas, Pakistan |
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I woke up at around 8:00 and was on my bike at 8:45 am. So much for my plans to wake up early… But luckily, gods were smiling again: a cool, heavily overcast morning, after the late afternoon rains of yesterday. No punishment for my late start;)
Only 10 kms past Jhelum was a small settlement of Dina with a turn-off to Rothas Fort, one of the many historical treasures of Pakistan. It was only 8 kms away but I decided against it. I just wanted to enjoy the cool ride to the capital. It became a bit hilly from here on as the road was passing through remnants of the Salt range originating further West. The Jhelum - Islamabad stretch of the GT road was even of better quality than the yesterday’s section. Again, people were extremely friendly wherever I stopped for a short break and cold drink, always inquiring about my country, relatives, girlfriend(s), job and the cycling trip.
About 20 kms before the capital, in Rawat, I had to get off the GT road in order to continue to Islamabad, on a two-way traffic road. It was very busy but mostly downhill, with only a few short uphill sections. It was also being expanded into a divided highway. It was already close to 3:00 pm and sun appeared from behind the clouds which meant extreme heat again. The road was straight and I could see the Shah Faisal mosque minarets in a distance. The orientation in Islamabad was extremely easy. The city is divided into sectors, each with its own markets, businesses, schools and housing blocks. Very neat and I have to say that Islamabad is extremely clean and airy place with lots of greenery all around. Really nice place to live…
I quickly found my place: Simara Hotel, in Sector G-7, and booked a room @ 400 Rps per night. No need for an AC as it was fairly cool here during nights. The only disadvantage of staying in Islamabad was that if I wanted to go outside my sector the distances were a bit too long for walking and I needed to use buses or taxis, mostly. Yes, I know I could cycle around but it would be just too much hassle to leave my bike unattended. Besides, I didn’t bring a lock or a chain since I rarely cycle around cities..
Start: Jhelum, Punjab, Pakistan
End: Islamabad, Pakistan
Distance: 120.78 km
Elevation: +840/-525 m
Time: 5′10″
Avg: 23.4 km/h
Total: 2,472.1 km
Riding/Total days: 31/56
August 28th, 2006
Posted by
Rich |
Himalayas, Pakistan |
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After spending an extra day in Lahore (five nights altogether), it was time to move on. I had to get up early and do most of my biking before the sun made it too unbearable. I woke up at 4:45am and started cycling at about 5:25am. Lahore was slowly waking up and the road through the city to the famous Grand Trunk Road was easy to follow. Near the old city it became quite busy, lots of trucks, buses and rickshaws picking up early riders and getting them out and around Lahore.
As in Indian Punjab, the Pakistan’s Punjab looked just the same, flat with densely populated villages and towns en route. The road condition was quite good, actually, esp. after I passed outer boroughs of Lahore and entered the country side. A divided 4-lane highway with good pavement lined with tall shade-offering trees and green fields, buffaloes wallowing in pools of swampy water and brick kilns everywhere. Just truck and rickshaw’s fumes were a bit too much for my lungs even though traffic was light. I still wasn’t used to it;)
But drivers were more considerate, not blasting their horns like there was no tomorrow… They were able to pass by with a light buzz or completely quietly, just the way I preferred it;) It also helped that almost all cars had their bumpers decorated with hundreds of hanging short chains with coin-like plates attached to their ends. It must have been for good luck but the chains made a nice sound and I could hear approaching cars better;)
Btw, the trucks in Pakistan are truly works of art. I have never seen more decorated cars. Many craftsmen must have spent countless hours to paint every free space. You have to see it to believe it…
I was easily able to go 28-30 km/h, not surprising after 5 days of resting;), only stopping for an occasional bottle of cold Coke or Pepsi. The kilometers were adding up fast as I was passing slow moving donkey carts, overloaded tractors or rickshaws loading and unloading passengers every few hundred meters. The major cities of Gujranwala, Wazirabad and Gujrat were bypassed by the GT road so I never had to deal with the city centers’ traffic and slowdowns. By noon I put close to 140 kms behind me.
I didn’t really stopped for a lunch yet, with exception of a few apples, but it was time to start looking around for some decent place to eat. Strangely, many restaurants were called hotels and I thought I might even stay there after my lunch as the sun was getting higher. With no pumps in villages visible, unlike in India where every village had at least one, I needed to get creative in finding ways to splash water on my head and cool off. Luckily, I passed by a few ‘hotel’ places, two actually, with tending gardeners watering flowers and lawns and they were very happy to wet my hair and face. Refreshing!!! So, I kept going and somewhere between Lala Musa and Karian I stopped to get another cold drink. I asked guys standing around about a restaurant I was recommended but I think my pronounciation might have been off and no one heard of such place. When ready to leave, after the shop owner refused to take money for my two sodas (This happened daily at least once, seriously!!!) I was approached by a young man, Ishtiaq, who spoke perfect English. I found out that he has been living in Toronto, Canada for the past 7 years and was invited to stay and join in for a cup of tea. And this was a start of an amazing encounter with his whole extended family and friends. Few of his nephews and brothers have lived abroad, one of them actually in NYC, and spoke very good English, so it was easy to communicate. After the tea, I was invited to his house and garden and met his uncle and family elders and had great conversation with them too, telling them almost everything about myself, my journey. I used Ishtiaq and his uncle to help me translate and talked to others who couldn’t speak English. It was truly amazing. They ask me all sorts of curious and inquisitive questions, very openly…. Some of them wanted to join me on my trip; or wanted to know what life was like in the U.S., in general and for Muslims; or if all Americans were bad and war-mongering; or what did I think of the war in Iraq; or what did or didn’t I like about Pakistan and the U.S… Really, really great talk, especially with Ishtiaq’s uncle, a lawyer by trade, who offered me a few candid insights on India-Pakistan troubled history and situation in Kashmir. I always treasured moments when talking to people from whatever backgrounds and getting their opinions on such divisive issues. I also appreciated his critical remarks regarding Pakistanis being letdown and mistrusted by the U.S. administration despite all the help offered in fight on terror in Afghanistan and in opening up of their economy to U.S. products and services. I could sense a bit of bitterness in his voice….
Ishtiaq showed me his family racing horses and allowed me to ride one of them. I felt like an 8-year old in my grandfather’s village again. What an experience!!! Feeling exhausted after a short session of horseback riding, just kidding;), I couldn’t refuse an offer of a lunch. It started raining a bit but stopped after 30 minutes, or so, just enough to cool off the air… I thanked profusely for all the hospitability and after a break of almost three hours I needed to get going, to Jheelum, about 25-27 kms away, some of it were slightly undulating bumps, nothing serious though.
The new Hotel Tulip, I was recommended to stay in, was set beautifully overlooking the Jhelum river but it was too crowded and too ‘upscale’ for me. Too much trouble with my bike at places like this. So, I continued into Jhelum looking for a few hotels listed in LP guidebook. A security guard pointed me in the right direction. I found one, Paradise Hotel, but booked out and I was sent to a nearby Jhelum View Hotel (just in the name, no views of the river;). Decent place but all rooms without AC were gone, so I had to get one with AC. Usually, they were always overpriced and I easily caught flu or cold in them. But it was starting to rain and after almost 178 kms I wasn’t in a mood to keep looking. I got a small room upstairs (@1,000 Rps), put my bike inside, ate, had a shower and went to sleep trying to wake up early again and get to Islamabad before tomorrow noon…
Start: Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan
End: Jhelum, Punjab, Pakistan
Distance: 177.43 km
Elevation: +275/-260 m
Time: 6′52″
Avg: 25.8 km/h
Total: 2,351.3 km
Riding/Total days: 30/55
August 27th, 2006
Posted by
Rich |
Himalayas, Pakistan |
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I have spent five nights in Lahore and despite the daily heat and humidity and some minor health bugs it was really a great stay. Regale Internet Inn is place for travelers to meet and exchange their stories, tips and get a general idea about traveling in Pakistan independently. As I said before, Mr. Malik will go out of his way to make your stay culturally memorable.Let’s get the less pleasant things out of the way first: The Inn offers free water. Don’t drink it, get your own!!! Consider yourself warned… After talking to plenty of travelers staying there most of them had some stomach issue, myself included. Plus, the dorm rooms were poorly ventilated and therefore uncomfortably hot. I know I shouldn’t really complain as it was only 150 Rps (per dorm bed) but for a place that gets such raving reviews from the Lonely Planet guidebook, they really should work out these minor problems.
Now the good things about Lahore. It’s visibly cleaner, greener and more ‘open’ city with lots of parks everywhere. There is always something to do here. First thing I did was to visit the Lahore Museum, a walking distance from the Inn and right across the University of Punjab campus. The museum itself was an amazing experience. I am not a museum obssesed person but this was so far the best one I’ve seen on the Subcontinent. In more than 20 galleries it housed artifacts spanning from the Stone Age to the present. I was amazed at richness and beauty of Islamic calligraphy and Quran books in the Manuscript gallery. The nearby Modern Art gallery had extraordinary paintings of contemporary Pakistani artists.
Another room was just overflowing with statues and artefacts from the Gandharan period with the famous sculpture of ‘Fasting Buddha’. Islamic gallery had plenty of carpets, papier mache boxes and glazed tiles and wares. There was even an arms and weapons gallery which exhibited shells once fired during Indo-Pakistani wars… The last gallery that I enjoyed was on the second floor documenting in great detail the freedom struggle and coming into existence of Pakistan.
Not far away from the museum, in the middle of the busy Mall road, was Zamzama (or Kim’s gun), a huge cannon used in Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s conquests. The name could be translated as ‘Lion’s Roar’.
But the places not to be missed in Lahore were really the Badshahi mosque and the Lahore Fort (Qila Shahi). The best time to see both is on late afternoons when it was cooler and you could get some amazing shots during sunsets;) In the fort it was amazing to walk through its many structures, enjoy views and try to imagine the glory of bygone eras of great Mughal emperors. The fort itself was re-built by Akbar in 1566. Or, I could just sit down on lawns, in shade of trees, and relax for a few minutes only;) There was always someone interested in either practicing his English (Pakistani women would never approach a foreigner guy and talk to him.) or trying to sell his services, mostly as a guide or a photographer… But most people were genuinely curious and never too pushy and in-your-face as many times around India’s tourist attractions.
I met a young guy here, a student, making some extra money taking pictures of tourists. We had a nice talk, not only about the history of this place but also about Pakistan in general, and walked together for a while around the fort… Later, I moved onto the Badshahi mosque, a grandiouse structure, with people either praying or just walking around with friends. I just enjoyed the vast open and quiet space all around me;) I could get a decent views of the nearby Iqbal park with its dominant tower and the neighbouring gurdwara of Arjan Dev, the fifth Sikh guru. And just steps away from the mosque through small and narrow wooden gate was the Old City with its many streets and myriads of shops and food stalls…
In the mosque I met two young guys, students (Aren’t they all???) and tourist guides too. As I rarely use guides, I initially told them off but Asif amazed me with his language skills. He spoke fairly good Czech. So, I was intrigued to talk to them. I agreed to see them later after taking a few photos around the mosque.
I am just more effective and creative when taking photos undisrupted. I need to feel the place first and see how it strikes me on a more subconcious, or even ’spiritual’, level before being overwhelmed and influenced by meaningless and context-less historical facts, at least in the beginning. Only afterwards, if interested, I will try to find out more, mostly through reading of novels or travel stories dealing with places I visited in different times in history. Lahore lies on the crossroads of cultures and it is visible throughout the whole city. In its recent history Mughal, Sikh, British influences were not only competing but also enriching the always present Islamic culture. Despite Pakistan being an Islamic country, Lahore striked me as a tolerant and quite a liberal city too.
After hooking up with Asif and Peter again, I enjoyed talking to them so much that I invited them to the nearby Cooco’s Den & Café, with awesome night views of the mosque. They were very appreciative and Asif gave me a free tour of the mosque later. He showed me a few ’secret’ spots from which I could hear his whispering voice, despite standing some distance away, ‘natural’ loudspeakers. It was a good demostration of inherent symmetry in Islamic architecture. It was also nice to see that Asif, a Muslim, and Peter, a Christian, were very good and close friends. They both introduced me to their group of friends meeting at the mosque on late nights and just hanging out here. Some were guides too, others were students, lawyers and even a cricket player;) I have always thought that mosques were places for prayer and schooling only (OK, sometimes for ‘nosy’ tourists too) but never realized that they were also for more casual social interaction, families, friends talking and having good time together.
Another part of Lahore, I explored was Gulberg, the modern ‘poshy’ shopping district rarely visited by tourists. But I ventured there to meet with Mr. Shirazi, a retired Major of Pakistani Army currently working as a Director of Admissions at the Lahore School of Economics. An amazing guy!!!We talked openly about almost anything and he is quite a rich source of good info about traveling in Pakistan. Btw, he is a prolific travel writer and his stories about his country are an amazing read. See more on his Light Within blog…
We met online, he found my blog and invited me to see him once I pass through Lahore. After initial difficulties to find the building, I was able to get to his office and we spent a great afternoon together topped with an excellent dinner of boneless chicken haandi with plenty of nan bread in Lahore’s Cantt district. He even set up a visit with an editor of the Pakistan’s English daily, The Nation, Mr. Nawad Khawaja Aslam. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find time to meet due to either his obligations or my stomach sickness described above… But still, thanks to both of you so much for all the hospitality and offers of help. Hopefully, I will have an opportunity to return your favors;) Thank You.
But one thing not to miss while in Lahore is a Thursday night visit to Sufi music performances. Sufism is an ancient practice of Islamic mysticism. Mr. Malik organized the transport and we were driven to a wild party of drumming in the Shrine of Baba Shah Jamal. We got there early enough to get good spots but people were piling in during the whole night and it became quite hot, sweaty and everyone was squeezed body on body later on. The drummers were quite good, working the crowd and spinning with drums deserving wild applause and money thrown all over them, too. Almost everyone was smoking something: either cigs or joints of some harder stuff passing them all around in a brotherly spirit. Even without joining in I inhaled as the whole air around was full of it;) Some people even brought in their own hookas. And a few worked themselves into a delirious state of wild dancing and head shaking. It really was WILD. It reminded me of a huge rave party with an added religious tilt. Plus, offerings of sweets were never far apart… Afterwards, I heard from others that Sufi performances in Egypt were even better. We also had a private performance of Pakistani folk music and singing at our Inn a few days later by Sain Mohammad Ali and his troupe…
August 26th, 2006
Posted by
Rich |
Himalayas, Pakistan |
one comment
