Wagah

About 30km from Lahore city centre is the border crossing at Wagah. This is a very special crossing place as since partition they have performed the nightly ceremony of lowering the flag and closing the gates.

These days it is done in an ampitheatre with cheering crowds on both sides. As a westerner I was escorted by the military to the front platform. At first I was not sure why I had been picked out by the military and escorted a different way from all the locals. I ended up with a grandstand view.

The parade consists of a lot of shouting, quick marching, stamping and football like cheering from the crowds. Great spectacle.

Pakistani (in Black) and Indian border guards.

The high stepping had them bringing their knees up to their chest level before crashing their boots down. The did everything quickstep. It reminded me of Monty Python's 'Ministry of Silly Walks'.

After the parade we had to leave the stands and walk round the edge of the show area. This took us past a crossing point that does not seem to be used but has not been permanently closed. It just has troops either side. There is a monument to 50 years of the Rangers which I guess are the border guards. Had my picture taken there with Amir.

Pakistan - Indian border with Indian soldier in background.

After seeing the picture I turned and thanked the Indian for posing there for us. The Pakistani soldier guarding the crossing told us in no uncertain terms not to talk to 'Him' as he was a bad person. Why? we asked. Soldier replied 'Him Indian we Pakistan, he bad person' I guess they still hate each other. We walked away laughing at the absurdness of it all.

Later that evening we went to the Sufi shrine to Baba Shah Jamal. In our ignorance we ended up in the ladies section of the temple. Nobody said anything to us but we did receive odd looks. Who is going to approach a 6'2" white guy who is wandering around as if he owns the place. We ended up leaving the womens section via the shrine in the middle of the courtyard which had an exit to the mens section. Faux pas number 2... when we left the shrine, which was absolutely beautiful with the ceiling made of mother of pearl and other semi precious stones, and the shrine itsself covered with about 6 inches of rose petals, we just turned and walked out into the male section. We thought we had got away with that but it turned out that we sould not have turned our backs on the shrine. Dumb bloody foreigners.

Later we walked around Charing Cross and up the Mall. You can tell the Brits were here for a while. At one end of the Mall is Summit Minar which commoeates the Islamic summit conference in 1974. This closes at 6pm but when we arrived at around 9pm Amir decided it would be better for us to take a picture if we just climbed the fence. So we did.

Monument with statue of Koran.

When the security guard saw we were foreigners and taking pictures he showed us the museum dedicated to the summit conference. Not only that but he opened it and showed us round. Cannot imagine that happening at a museum in Londao for a couple of foreigners who had jumped the fence.

Wednesday evening after work we went to see the gate closing ceremony at Wagah border crossing. Unfortunatley we arrived a little late as we were told it started at 17:30 but it actually started at 17:00. We still mamaged to see something as there were a load of cameramen there from news channels as some guy who had been in jail in India on a money forging charge for three years was being sent home.

After we headed back to Lahore town and checked out 'Food Street' actually called Gowal Mandi. Here at 6pm the street is closed to traffic and tables and chairs are set out for the evening meal. They sell all sorts of stuff from simple bar-B-que tofried fish to curries and stuff. We saw a guy cooking some strange dish using what looked like a pair of cold chisels.




It was a dish called Taka Tak which was made of goat innards, its brain, kidney, rib, heart and gonad added to this was some tomato, spices and butter. It meat was initially steamed then the toms and spices were added and it was cooked with the butter on a hot plate. Again I was suprised how tasty it was. This experience was just a little outside Amir's comfort zone and he declined to partake as he did not feel too comfortable to the environment it was cooked in. I reckon that if it don't kill me it just makes me stronger.

Taka Tak

Enjoying a plate of Taka Tak in Food Street

Yesterday I travelled to Lahore, not by train as initially planned but by plane due to the heightened security following the bombing of an Italian restaurant in Islamabad on Saturday.

The Luna Caprese was a nice spot near the Super Market frequented by foreigners as it sold wonderful italian food along with alcohol. Probably part of the reason for the bombing. Unfortunatly there was a fatality, a Turkish woman working for an NGO was killed, along with a few serious injuries and many walking wounded. I was luckily nowhere near the restaurant but at a St Patrick's party at the Canadian Club in the diplomatic area, which is probably one of the safest places in the country due to the very high security cordon.

Anyway Lahore is vastly different from Islamabad. It is a very old city with buildings dating back to the early 17th century. It has sites built during the Mughal, the Seikh and the British colonial periods. Last evening myself and Amir, a colleague, went around the Badshahi Mosque which is the second largest on the sub-continent and was completed in 1634.


It can hold 100,000 people in its main square and has some amazing acoustic qualities. In the main prayer rooms if you stand in the corners and whisper towards the wall you can be clearly heard in the opposite corner. In another room built into the side wall nearest to the old river you get a very odd acoustic experience. If you stand in the middle of the room, look at the ceiling and shout then look at somebody standing in front of you and talk to them you hear your words in your inner ear. Not sure if this has anything to do with the room itself or the physical tipping of the head but it is very weird. Try it yourselves in any small domed room and let me know the results.

After the tour we went to the allegedly famous Cooco's restaurant, where you can sit on the rooftop that overlooks the mosque and the Seikh temple. Very nice spot and would have been very romantic in the night with the right person, unfortunatly I was with Amir.....

The nearest plate with the brown stuff is brains masala a house speciality. It was suprisingly good.

Lahore city is like any other in the region with narrow roads, choking polution, lunatic drivers, thousands of motorcycles with up to 4 people riding them, all with death wishes. There seems to be continual chaos with horns blaring continuously and traffic going in all directions at once.

BHC advice.....

The British High Commission in Pakistan advice is NOT to travel to Rawalpindi as there is a risk of terrorist activity. Their staff is expressedly forbidden to go there.

Guess where I went last Saturday........ you are right Rawalpindi.

After the blandness of Islamabad Rawalpindi was a breath of fresh air, figuratively speaking.
It was hot, dirty, noisy, smelly, congested, overcrowded and all the things one would expect from a city on the sub-continent.


Went to the city with one of the Mobilink guys as he had to take his car to the mechanic. This turned out to be just one in a whole street of mechanic workshops. All seemed to be working together working on cars either in a small workshop or just right on the street. The jigs they used all seemed to be home made and efficient.


While they were working on his car we took a walk around the check bazar, not sure if that is spelt right but that is what it sounded like. This wasn't a crowded as Iwas expecting but then again it was middle of the afternoon and pretty hot. Some old buildings that looked as if the upper balconies were about to fall into the street.


Found some more places to get a beer. Have joined the UN club on Hill Rd and can get some strongbow cider there. Best thing is that it is within walking distance. Also just around the corner is a very good Italian restaurant that also sellw wine and corona mexican lager. Well I'll drink just about anything when pushed.