Lahore Impressions
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…
