Pakistan - Re-aligned!

We arrived into Pakistan with an inkling that we could soon be having to make some major changes to our plans, but we both knew that we would need to find a hospital to get this confirmed. Our suspicions had been raised to 'Red Alert' when entering China, who insist on having a temperature check on entry. The over-zealous guards would not let Jenny into the country because she was half a degree too hot! Luckily our guide used his initiative and just returned the thermometer to the guard, once the temperature had dropped into the correct zone - leaving the mighty red army with a slightly red face :)

So, with all this very present in our mind, we headed towards Karimabad, which we knew nestled a little above Aliabad, a town containing the Aga Khan Health Centre - were we could find out our which way the coin would land.

Inside the clinic Jenny had a very nervous 1 hour wait, first to get in the right queue and then to actually queue. The result of the test is well known now, but we were of course very shocked - even though taking such a test does lead you to some of the thoughts that must be considered on a positive outcome. Within two minutes though we could both see that the other was delighted, but nervous with about this new chapter in our lives.

We had, by this point booked ourselves onto a 3 day trek, which was the perfect way to let the news slip into our consciounesses, and by the time we were back to the bottom of the mountain we both felt at ease with the new direction we would be taking.

The next town that we reached was Gilget, and it was here that Jenny picked up what seemed to be a series of stomach bugs. Most of them were not too severe in themselves, but in combination with the morning sickness that was also showing itself, made some of the next portions of the trip quite hard work for her. By the time we had reached Islamabad it became apparent that Jenny needed to rest up, eat lots of Western style food, and re-gather her strength, whilst we re-gathered our thoughts on the future. In Islamabad we had to get Dino serviced and also wait for our Indian visas, and so, after one last failed attempt to camp we booked into what was the first of many mid-range hotels, with air-con and cable TV, and hunkered down.

Islamabad is a hot and humid city (especially pre-monsoon, as it was for us) and neither of us had the energy to do much, luckily the multitude of taxis in the city never charged more than a pound to get to some of the air-conditioned (getting a theme here?????) restaurants that became our locals over this period of time. By the time that we left Islamabad Jenny was in full morning sickness (well evening sickness) flow, but we had our Indian visas and Dino was ready for another 15000 miles - but were we?

Hindustan - Zindabad

Originally we had planned to stop off in Lahore on the way to India, but along with Jenny's morning sickness, Ollie was desperate for a beer. We had trawled some of Islamabad's finest hotels - including the now fortress like, twice bombed, Marriott - looking for both booze (for Ollie - it was a shock after all!) and a swimming pool. We never succeeded with either, and so now we were both ready to fast forward to India - the promised land!

There is only one land border that you can cross between the great nuclear armed rivals of India and Pakistan, and this has to be one of the craziest borders in the world. The closing ceremony is now famous in the west (particularly after Michael Palin's visit a couple of years ago), but has long been an attraction for the Indian and Pakistani people. The day we crossed was an Indian holiday (isn't it always a holiday at border crossings?) and so the grandstands on the Indian side were heaving with flag waving, patriotic loons ready to scream and shout at every crazy maneuver carried by their guards. We estimated there must have been fifteen thousand Indians there alone - including one whole platoon of nuns, and each and every person was as loud and fanatical as an English football fan.

The guards themselves are dressed up in their finest show uniforms, groomed to perfection and ready to perform their main duty, the lowering of the flag, in the most ridiculous and absurd manner as possible. It is hard to find the words to describe how Monty Python these guys are, but have a look at our video and you will get an idea.

The ministry of silly walks is accompanied by a non stop chant of 'Hindustan - zindabad!' - which essentially means long live Hindustan, which is taken up to answer cries of 'Pakistan - zindabad' from the other side.

The whole affair is a fantastic bit of pantomime, only brought back into sharp focus by the fact that this is two warring (although not having a declared war currently, there is a non stop dispute between India and Pakistan, with Kashmir being the most famous, but in no way only, issue) nuclear powers. We loved it, especially as it was all preceded by two of the finest, coldest beers Ollie had tasted. But now it was on to Amritsar.

Amritsar and The Real India

As we said above, entering India we were in search of two things, one for Ollie and one for Jenny. Ollie got his beer at the border and Jenny was insistent that we found a hotel with a pool on arrival in India. Amritsar is the first port of call for anyone entering India by the land crossing and the city holds the holiest Sikh temple in the world - the Golden Temple. We had a quick tour around the hotels in the city with pools, and found that the only one that would match Jenny's high standards was the Ritz plaza, which had all we wanted including the much longed for pool. Of course, the price was not in our budget, but by now we had long blown away our original budget, as the trip is going to be a lot shorter than planned, and we both knew that to continue the trip with Jenny in her current state, would involve raising the comfort level a couple of bars. In reality we were both happy with this, but of course Ollie never let Jenny know that :) The Ritz it had to be then!

It may appear from the above writing that we were now getting more exited by hotel pools than by the amazing historical and religious features such as the Golden Temple, and this is in part true - but only on a temporary basis! Upon entering the Golden Temple, where for once it was Ollie who was forced to don some fancy head ware, you are overtaken by the completely serene and peaceful atmosphere of what must be one of the worlds finest building. The temple is at the centre of a lake, which in itself is surrounded by four sheer white ornamental buildings. The water is used to bathe in to cleanse one's soul, and in the Temple itself is a non stop recital from the Sikh's holiest books (which is actually broadcast non stop on national television too) accompanied by some beautiful sitar playing. The place is incredible and a must see for anyone within 1000kms of the area!

Having had our souls cleansed, our bodies relaxed and Ollie's liver exercised we were ready to head onto our next target McCleod Gang, which is the exiled home of the Dalai Lama, and many other Tibetans who have crossed the Himalayas. This was long day's drive away, which was to be our introduction to the crazy Indian roads. not only crazy because of the maneuvers that you are forced to perform to continue at more than walking pace, but also crazy because of the sights and sounds that you overtake as you go along. One of the main problems for the traffic is caused by the fact that the road is occupied by every shape and speed of road user that you can consider, such as:- camels, elephants, ox carts, tractors, rickshaws, lorries, cyclists, people cycling in two by two to carry sheets of metal, cows meandering as is their right. Not only will you see all this and more on most of the roads, but you will often meet it coming the wrong way, parked in the middle or just doing something totaly unexpected. In many ways it is fun to drive it, but at the end of a long day you are left exhausted.

Dalai Lama Hunt

We arrived at McCleod Gang tired, but happy to be alive, having completed our first full day of true Indian driving. We had heard that you could, if you were lucky, get an audience to some of the Dalai Lama's public speaking if he was in town, but it turned out he was in America at the time. Still, the town is well worth a visit (even though our friend Russ was very scathing of it) and we really enjoyed ourselves here. It is full of tourists - stoned hippies or middle aged women to be exact, and also all the things associated with tourists, but it still is an amazing place. It is, like a lot of Northern Indian towns, impossibly built, perched on a hillside, overlooking jungle in all directions. The town itself is a cross between little Tibet and Koh San Road, but it is amusing to sit, drinking cappuccino and watch middle aged women in full Tibetan garb, debating with monks, whilst Facebooking on the wifi!

But there is a more serious side as well, sat alongside the Tibetan temple is a very moving museum which tells the story of the suffering the Tibetan people have gone through since the Chinese invasion 50 odd years ago. Without doubt this is a story that must continued to be told, given that it is estimated that 1.3 million Tibetans have been killed in the struggle to remain independent, either directly through military action, or indirectly through Chinese policies. We hate to make any 'right on' political statements through this website, but we believe it is essential that the world continues to listen to and tries to help the Tibetan struggle.

 

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