Week 4 in Islamabad.

We have been exploring the city and surrounds. Up in the Margala Hills there are a couple of restaurants that have a great view of the city. Helps if you go on a clear day as it can be very hazy and pictures do not always come out very well.



We have also been out and about around the markets looking at the shops. Really exciting...... At the Kohsar market there is a little cafe that has outside tables and a continental feel as it seems to be a frequent haunt of the diplomatic community as there are many embassies nearby. It is also a walking distance from our digs.

We have also found a few restaurants that sell alcohol and have applied to join the UN club where we spent Tuesday night in the company of a group of ex-Yugoslavs. Smiljana made contact with them and they invited her and her friends, us, along for a night of music and singing. The music was very good and the singing was fine, I just did not understand a word of the lyrics. Smiljana sang a few serb songs and I must say she has a wonderful voice.

This weekend we have managed to wangle an invite to a Feb 29th party at the Canadian club. I have also managed to be offered a possible invite to the Brit club at the British High Commission. This coming after spending the best part of an hour there the other week trying to speak to a Brit. I was trying to find out about possible trouble during the local government elections and kept being put through to one local after another. Ended up demanding to speak to a brit of any flavour as I could not get any sense out of the locals. Main problem was that it was Friday lunchtime and all the Brits finish at that time on a Friday. Wonder what we are actuall wasting our tax on with these foreign embassies as they do not seem to do much.

Succumbed to the Pakistani equivalent of Delhi Belly last week. Not nice and apart from work spent the rest of the time very close to a khazi. Thankfully cleared up by Saturday as we had discovered another 'wet' restaurant out in the sticks. After a 45 minute drive and getting lost a couple of times we arrived at what looked like a private residence. This was in fact 'Rifiyz Place'. The owner also owns the Table Talk in Kohsar market. It is her private house with half of it turned into a restaurant. We spent the first hour sitting in the garden around a bonfire chatting and drinking. Smiljana managed to get stuck to the chair, the zips on her back pockets caught in the rattan of the seat. She then had a blond moment and did it a second time in five minutes. Finally sitting on a cushion solved this problem. The food was excellent, best steak I have had in a very long time. We continued to avail ourselves of the wine and a couple of Calvados to end the meal. Finished up back in the digs drinking gin and tonic, Very pleasant, very convivial and very drunk by the time I hit the hay.

Pakistan

It's been a busy week or so. I left home last Friday afternoon to travel to Islamabad, Pakistan via Exeter and London. Had a good evening with my mate joe and his partner Andy. I have known Joe for over 40 years and we still have good times when we meet up.

Saturday morning I was off to London where I went to watch the Lions play Doncaster at the Den. Worst game of football I have seen in a long long time. Millwall were absolute shit and Donny looked like a side that wants promotion. After the match I met up with one of my sisters, Dee, at London Bridge for a meal and a few beers.

Sunday evening I was on a flight to Islamabad. Not a very full flight so there was a chance to grab a row of 3 seats for a kip during the night. Just as well really as when I arrived I was whisked off to a meeting with the customer. There was an ignorant woman beside me who had to be told 3 times to switch off her phone before take off and then again during the flight. BA staff were pissed off at her but all they did was give her a warning letter. Didn't even confiscate the phone. Don't know quite what sort of signal she thought she would get at 35,000 feet over rural Russia but hey some people NEED a mobile, poor buggers.

Had a pleasant suprise when I walked into this meeting as I was not expecting to see anybody I knew but Rodney Stewart and Paul Muchori who I worked with last year in Algeria were there. Along with Smijana, who I worked with in Egypt in 2006, that makes three of the team I know so not too much of the getting to know you phase. The four of us and Amir, an Iranian exiled in Sweeden, are staying in a guest house in Islamabad.

My room is top right.

As one of the senior people on the project I, along with Rodney, have the two suites in the guest house. It comprises of a bedroon, a bathroom, a living room and I have just discovered that I also have a large balcony above the carport. This is a vast improvement on the first place we were put in. That was grotty, a real cheap place. We were all complaining about different things, my room was pretty poor with brown water coming from the shower, so hot that it seemed like they were serving tea that way. Smiljana's room had a broken heater and she was constantly cold, although she always seems to be cold .

We have been eating well as all the restaurants we have tried so far have been excellent with very good food an huge portions. I was hoping to loose a few pounds while here but at this rate I will gain a stone or more.

Islamabad is a modern city and you will not fine another like it on the whole sub-continent. As it is a brand new city built in the late 20th century and is laid out in straight lines with wide roads there is none of the crows, noise, pollution or character of the older 19th century cities found elsewhere. Rawalpindi, 7 miles down the road has all this along with bombs and the occasional riot. Will visit there later.

This is a dry country so buying booze is pretty dificult, though not impossible, as foreigners and non muslims can get some. We have found a place at the back of the Best western hotel. It is across a muddy car park and is just a hole in the wall. You knock on the shutter which then springs open to show a little face asking what you want. "You want whisky" is the usual greeting. Went there the other day to get some gin for Amir as it was his birthday. That was the easy part as I was then on a mission to get some tonic water to go with it. Asked the driver for a supermarket. He duly to us to what they call a super market here. A large collection of shops. He could not get the idea that we wanted a large shop that sold all sorts of stuff and kept taking us to different parts of the market saying over and over "Supermarket, yes, yes, supermarket". Got a bit frustrating, eventually forund on by asking in a petrol station. Nevet thought it would be easier to get gin than it would be to get tonic water.

The only bar we have found so far is in the Marriott hotel, not especially great but it will suffice. First hotel bar I have found that shuts at 11pm. But hey ho beggars can't be choosers.

Off again.

Well the house is still not sold, the divorce is still not completed although I found out what the delay was. It turned out that on some of the documents the wife's third name was missing so the court would not accept these documents as relating to the same person, even though the case number was the same, the first two names and surname were the same, my name was the same and addresses were the same. All down to stroppy clerks. Hopefully now that has been cleared up and we have agreed how to divide the assets things should go smoothly.

As a result of the failure to sell the house I am heading back to work after a short sabbatical of 3 months. I have taken on a contract to do an audit on the Mobilink network in Islamabad in Pakistan. Not the greatest place to go but it will pay the bills for a few more months.

Happy New Year

Another xmas and new year is over and nothing much has changed. Still awaiting for the divorce, don't know what is happening on that front, will need to talk again to her solicitor.

The house sale has ground to a halt as the arsehole that made us an offer was playing silly buggers and it transpired that he had no intention of paying anything like the amount he initially offered. After discussing the survey he had carried out on the property, I jumped through a lot of hoops for him. I had the septic tank emptied, a periodic electricity safety check, the boiler serviced, the chimney swept, a sewage discharge licence confirmed, environmental services to do a report on any possible asbestos in old artex and not least a couple of quotes for some rising damp in the oldest walls (about 300 years old) and some cosmetic finishing touches on an older roof. Total cost to put right any defects, after paying out around 600 pound for all these tasks, came to around 2,000 pound.

Told him that I would drop the price by £3,000 which would more than cover the cost of the work. His response was to ask for his own builder to come and give a quote. This was when I decided that he was just jerking me around. Told him he would be wasting his time and the final reduction was £3,000. His response was to ask for a reduction of 38,000 pound which just confirmed that he was a chancer and a total time waster.

House back on the market.

Had a quiet New years eve as the local bus company stopped its services early at 21:50. left Helston before most people were out and about and decided to go to Mullion, he nearest village to me and a 35 minute walk home down a hilly country lane. Had to choose this option as Frank, the landlord of the Wheel Inn which is 200 yards from my home, decided to close at 11pm so there was no chance or seeing in the new year there. Going to Mullion was a bad decision, I should have just gone home, as I forgot how 'cliquey' villages in Cornwall are. Seems that if you were not born there then you are always looked on as a foreigner and just ignored. I have been going into the two pubs there on and off for the last 7 years and on new years eve I was totally ignored by all but one person, the ex-partner of Frank, the landlord of the Wheel Inn. Was home by 23:30 and in bed not long after.

Next year will be different, if I ever get this bloody house sold and the divorce finalised.

All the bes for the new year to one and all.

Selling the farm.....

...house.

Arrived back in the UK a while ago after a very interesting journey back. Started off waiting at Golfito airport for the little plane.

Golfito Airport

12 seater to San Jose.

While sitting in the shade waiting for the flight to San Jose I couldn't help projecting ahead to the change in flights at San Jose and Atlanta. From a beautiful little airport with a view of the rainforrest to a small international pretty generic airport to a great sprawling mass where passengers are treated like cattle and herded to the right places. Know where I prefer to wait.
Had a new excuse for a delayed flight in the Delta leg from Atlanta to Chicago, had a plane but no crew. Delayed for nearly 3 hours. You would thing that in the airlines home base they would be able to rustle up a crew a bit quicker than that....

Anyway back to the so called civilisation of Cornwall, with all the stupid rules and regulations that seem to restrict the people more and more, to get the house sold. The missus finally managed to sign and deliver the sale documents to the lawyer, Peter Fitzmaurice of Borlase and Company, bit of free advertising there, meaning we have accepted an offer.

The buyer then had his survey done and has come up with a whole host of problems, from needing the chimney swept to rising damp in one wall. He also brought along horror stories regarding environment agency rules and water treatment plants. Talking to Pete about this he says not to worry as the agency is so backlogged at present they are reacting to polution problems rather than looking at places with no problems.

Have been ringing around to get quotes for work needing to be done but am seriously thinking of telling him to shove his offer and looking again. Probably won't as I want to get the hell out of this bloody country.

The bar in Zancudo is still a very viable option as it seems that others interested are not willing to complete until the end of 08 where I want to be in by Easter. Will keep you updated with progress.


On a sporting front Millwall now have a new manager who won his first home league game in charge, maybe the turning point of the season. Cury managed to pick up a draw 4-4 at the weekend although both are still at the wrong end of the table.

A rant at the England team and setup.

Three Lions are now three pussycats, did not try last week against Croatia. All England players were roundly booed wherever they played last Saturday and thouroghly deserved it was. Did the usual, threw away the game and then fought to get back in by playing the right tactics then when all seemed well threw away a qualifing position by sitting back and willing the opposition to come on to us. Did the same during the last Euro champs letting the frogs win in injury time and then letting the portugeezers back into the game to knock us out. Same in the last 2 WC's letting a poor Brazil side beat us in Tokyo and not performing in Germany. Problem started with Sven and carried on by his inept sidekick, the ginger tosser. --- Rant over.

Leaving Paradise

I am back in San Jose after a week traveling around paradise. I have been looking at properties here and have found some beautiful places, even in the lousy weather that is October in CR.

First there was the bar, restaurant and cabinas that is the Oceano Cabinas in Zanduco in the far south of the country. This is a delightful place that starts on the only road in the town and stretches to the beach. A long narrow establishment.

The bar at the OC

The rear entrance to the bar

After a couple of days staying with Mark and Steph there I moved on to Dominical about 3 hours drive up the coast. I was shown many properties and other interesting places by Mike Wilson of the real estate company Bargain Costa Rica Real Estates. Saw some very nice places but the best was left for last. Unfortunatly it was pissing down as we arrived at the house in the afternoon so I had to imagine the views of the central valley overlooking San Isidro De General.

If I cannot land the bar in Zancudo then the house in the hills overlooking San Isidro will hopefully be my next home.

Watch this space.

Costa Rica....

Thursday I travelled down to Playa Zancudo. Hell of a trip. Started off with being told that my computer bag was too big for carry on luggage and had to be checked. Needed to hand carry the laptop and retrieve andvaluables and send it off. Then asked how much I weighed, which I thought was odd, until I saw the plane. A tiny 12 seater with 4 rows of seats immediatly behing the pilots. I was in row two in a double seat and instead of the usual lapstrap there was an extra shouldef strap that clipped onto the lapstrap. Like in a car. I could watch the pilots and the instruments all the way. FYI San Jose is at 3,000 feet and we climbed to 9,500, the single nose prop was at max revs all the way and the other dials I had no idea what they did. Landing at Golfito was a bit like landing at the old Hong Kong airport. We came in off the ocean and headed straight for the tree covered mountain. At the last minute, which with the winds almost seemed too late, we veered to the left fley in over the town and landed on a tarmac strip carved out of the rainforest. Plane pulled up by the gate, literally the gate in the fence, off-loaded the bags which were collected for me by a very friendly taxi driver and walked off of the airport. No arrivals hall although there was a building there which I guess is for departures, I'll find out next week.

Stage two was the taxi ride down the middle of the road, dodging pot holes and oncoming traffic to the 'docks' where I picked up a private ferry to Zancudo.

Golfito Dock

Andrew and his water taxi

On arrival in Zancudo, after a 30 minute trip, I was transferred to an old short wheel base landrover that had seen better days and taken to the Oceano Cabinas. A truly delightful bar, restaurant and cabinas in the heart of the sand spit that is Zancudo. (More of which later)

Wandered up and down the only road in the dark and had dinner in a little soda (Tico cafe) which consisted of the world wide staple of rice and chicken. It seems like everywhere I have travelled I have eaten a version of rice and chicken, or chicken and rice, sometimes both options are on the menu. Ended up in Bar Sussy chatting to the Spanish owner Manolo and an Argentinian who of course as soon as he found out I was English steered the conversation around to 'the hand of god'.


Walked back along the beach in the dark, dodging the trees and other flotsam left behind by the retreating tide, good job I took a torch. Fell asleep to the booming music from another bar a few yards up the street, will have to check it out tonight.

Fiesta day 8 and beyond....

Saturday day 8. Another mass assencion from the field, another 4am start. Today Keith took his daughter Kim and Dennis the weatherman flying and managed to put the balloon down in the Rio Grande and drift downriver for around half a mile before flying off to Corales. Landed in a back garden and gave the homeowners kids a ride while we pulled the balloon out of the rough prickly stuff and laid out on their back lawn. Good PR for the balloonists and great fun for the kids. For a flavour of the mass accencion take a look here.

After flying we all went to Wecks for breakfast where myself, Ray and his lady Karen took our leave and headed back to Illinois.

Arrived back around 3:30pm Sunday after a long tiring drive. Managed to wash some clothes which included my credit cards, driving licence and 90 dollars. I'll say one thing for the yank money, it cannot be destroyed by a washing machine and tumble drier.

Tuesday I left Peoria and headed to Chicago on the Peoria Charter Coach to Midway for a Wed morning flight to San Jose, Costa Rica (another 4am start). Had to spend Wednesday in San Jose as I did not make the connection for the flight down to Golfito and will take the morning one.

Had an amazing meal at a Brazilian resaurant. You can spend hours there eating at your leisure from meat carved off large skewers brought to your table. Very good food.

Fiesta day 7...

Still going strong... have not had a decent nights sleep since leaving home last Tuesday, 10 days and counting. Having too much bloody fun.

Yesterday (Day six) was the first day of 'special shapes' where they flew from the field and all the regular baloons had to fly from off field. 'Sky Angel' had a companion for the day, 'Salida del Sol@ piloted by Scott Esposito. As Scott had no crew we helped launch and land his balloon as well as 'Sky Angel'. As they landed at different times it gave us plenty of time to do both.

Some of the special shapes are pretty interesting.

There was the Brandenburg Gate

A Shamrock called Paddy

Darth Vader

And some bees kissing

Today (day seven of 4am starts) was again special shapes only there was a competition for the regular shapes. They had to fly from off field and drop a 'baggie' onto a target on the balloon field. Due to the odd winds and the 'Alberquerque box' Keith, the pilot for Sky Angel' took of south of the field, flew north, climbed and then went east, dropped lower and headed west to get himself positioned for a run south across the field. He hit just inside the first target and with his second baggie landed about a foot off the center of the big X. Scored some points, will have to wait for briefing tomorrow morning to find out how well he did.

There were some more special shapes today that did not fly yesterday including...

An American Eagle

The Orient Express

The Space Shuttle

After flying it was back to the field for another tailgate party. Someone turned up with a box of stuff called Tarantula, this was a blue Tequila drink that was bloody nice. Haveing just toooooo much fun here, I am sure I will pay for it somewhere along the line.

Fiesta day 5.

Wednesday Day 5 of Fiesta.

Went flying yesterday, Tuesday. Due to the fatality on Monday and the cancellation of all further flights, the 'brains trust' that runs fiesta decided that ALL pilots who wanted to compete for the days competition would leave the field and fly back to score on the field. This would mean 600 balloons trying to find a launch space to the north of the field, probably in the gravel pit there. Keith decided to just fly for fun, so we left from the north end of the field and flew south. We dropped low over the old field so the emmets there could take pictures and then dropped into the flood spillway and finally landed on a vacant lot.

Sky Angel

Yesterday afternoon I bought a new camera, the newest model from Cannon the SX100 IS. Checked on the internet for prices back home and found that here in the states it retails at $299 where in the UK it retails at £299. Brits are paying double the price........

Today was flags of the nations day. This means that all the international balloons could fly the flags from their home countries. Darth Vader was flying today along with some other neat balloons.

This afternoon was the Zoo party. The Alberquerque closes for the day and the balloonists take over for the afternoon. Fiesta lay on free food and drink supplied by the sponsors, Warsteiner and Admiral Nelson rum. Good excuse to have even more fun and get to meet other balloonists from all over the place. Talking to these people I get the feeling that the Fiesta days are numbered as many are concerned by the lack of landing sites due to the rapid growth of the city as well as the bumbling incompetence and down right comercialisation of the whole event. Examples of the weather predictions constantly stating low winds and good flying conditions when the pilots can see the flags around the field are standing out stiffly.

Another fun day was had by all.