#1 INTRO – DISCLAIMER

Thanks for visiting the blog, my first. Hope you enjoy it. Feedback will be appreciated. Intended to post during my trip. Didn’t happen. Am home now - finally posting.

Here’s the deal: In May, 2007 my son, Brad, went to Pakistan to paraglide. He found the people welcoming, the flying spectacular, and conditions peaceful. He stayed on and invited me to join him. As friends heard about my trip they encouraged me to share it, despite my limitations: no particular knowledge of the history, politics, language, culture or geography of Pakistan (or anyplace else), and a track record of being unobservant and of taking lousy pictures. As my friend Becky explained, she and her husband haven't been to that region, and don't expect to go, and she’d rather hear about it from a friend than from a guidebook.

FIRST, A HINT about the PHOTOS - - Double click a photo to enlarge it. Click on back arrow to undo. That's it. Hope you enjoy it. Please let me know.

And away we go.........


MY TRIP (short version - this is it):
Left Sept 12; had a great time; returned Oct 25.


MY TRIP (long version - starts here, and goes on and on):
Sep 12 – 15 GETTING THERE
From my house in Denver to the hotel in Karimabad (via Newark, Delhi for 20 hours, Lahore, Islamabad, and Gilgit) took about 65 hours. The steps were: private car, flight, transfer, flight, taxi-layover-taxi, flight, taxi, bus, private car, flight, taxi, minibus. The minibus being typical developing-country transport, a Toyota-type van, converted to hold 19 seated (3 in front, incl. driver, and 4 rows of 4) plus 2 or more standing on rear bumper and holding onto roof rack.

TRAVEL NOTES
Delhi In taxi to hotel, 10-10:30 pm after long day & flight: Seeing the crowding, poverty, numbers of "street people" who come from generations of same, spotty infrastructure, mud and gunk. Though modest compared to conditions I'd seen previously in other parts of the city and the country, it was disturbing and a reminder of my lack of mental preparation. But after a decent night's sleep, breakfast (bananas, chai, omelet sandwich from street cart, pastry from a shop), and small interactions w/ vendors and others, conditions seemed no less real, but were no longer disturbing.

There's no point in getting disturbed. The living conditions are what they are, and they exist on a scale beyond comprehension, much less remediation. That awareness didn't cause despair, but reinforced by belief in the importance of human interactions, and it renewed my resolve to treat every person with respect and dignity. (Sorry, didn't start with this in mind; it just kind of happened.) Anyway, I didn't give money to the nearly constant stream of beggars, but, as in Nepal and Malawi, bought some bananas and gave them out - particularly to mothers with small children - until the bananas were gone.

Champa - on a lighter note; Forgot to plan for Delhi hotel or to bring my Lonely Planet - India. But met a woman, Champa, in the phone line at airport. Looked kind of Indian, w/ coloring, dress and pierced nose; fluent English w/no accent, some Hindi. Her scheduled taxi was a no show, but she knows modest hotels in Delhi, having made religious journey each of the last 20 years. She negotiated rates for the taxi we shared, and the rooms (we didn’t share) ($17.50; clean room, bed & bath; TV & phone.) She took the stress off me. She gave credit to Krishna. (btw, Champa is name she uses; real name is Dolores.) Didn't expect my initial Indian interaction would be with a Latina Hare Krishna from California.

Delhi hotel: TV included a shopping channel flashing India and Pakistan phone #'s, CNN, "Orange County Choppers," and an evangelist woman I've seen on TV. All were dubbed. One not dubbed was a tape of Goenka, the guy behind the Vipassana meditation course I attended last year in Jaipur. Coincidence? Maybe not.
*All Delhi taxis and auto-rickshaws run on CNG (compressed natural gas). Despite huge traffic volume, the air is pretty good.
Lahore: OK 4-hour wait for 1:30 a.m. bus. Watched India-Pakistan cricket.

ALI: My seatmate was so interesting I slept less than an hour on the Lahore-Islamabad bus trip. Ali is 26 w/ a degree in anthropology. He's studied indigenous tribal peoples in the Chitral region, the northern area we'll visit. Unmarried & lives w/ family in Lahore. Going to Islamabad for Fullbright Scholarship interview. Thoroughly good conversation, including open talk about religion.

FASAL: Fasal, a paraglider friend of Brad, met my bus in Islamabad. He's 29, unmarried, lives with his family. With three hours till my flight, we went to his house. We sat on beautiful, hand-carved, dark wood furniture that’s been in his family 3 generations. We talked quietly in the living room, as family members were asleep in other rooms. He offered me no tea or anything because it's Ramadan, a month-long period when Muslims eat & drink nothing during daylight hours. His family had gotten up at 4 a.m. for a good meal, then went back to sleep. My wait in Lahore was to avoid interfering with their meal. After a very pleasant visit he drove me to the airport. btw, my first time in a 1970's VW beetle in decades.

PRAYER AND PUBLIC TRANPORT It hasn't happened in taxis, jeeps or mini-buses, but on the overnight bus and on the PIA flight, both of which had attendants, there was a prayer (in Urdu and in English) before the trip. Hard to understand due to the accent and sound system, but was simply a prayer giving thanks to Allah and asking for a safe trip. Early in the flight the captain made the typical announcement: welcome aboard, here's expected altitudes, courses, arrival time. Same as we're used to, but in Urdu and English, AND, with an "in shah Allah" (Arabic for "God willing.") interjected from time to time. It's freely sprinkled in conversation here and in other Muslim areas, and is not translated. It wasn't really disconcerting, but…. It’s just that we're used to pilots conveying an unequivocal air of confidence, if not certainty.