Apr 4, 2007

flight to pakistan

i had a wonderful sunset over Irak wednesday evening...we were flying downsouth the Tiger valley and the sky was totally red over the horizon...so pretty view...by the time we reached Kuwait it was dark so I saw the lights of the city illuminating the port...
I landed Bahrein finally one hour later. I was transiting few hours there...when I reached the lounge I saw a crowd of guys in salwar qameez and big beards sitting together and thought immediately that these were the guys taking the flight to Peshawar...so i went to sit not far..but not too close, cause only guys...they were also waiting for the gate to be shown on screen before going to boarding area...when most opf them had moved...I did...they looked at me so strangely when they realised I was also taking their plane...lol!
I wanted to board as soon as the annoucement was made, but being one of the two females traveling...was not allowed too! i had to wait...untill the staff arranged both of us to sit not close to men*sight*..anyway i met this young girl Aisha, in long black abaya and niqa traveling back home after 9 years in Bahrein...we chatted english...
at diner time the air hostess was so pleased, she said that we were the only two english speaking people in that flight!...and she added i guess girls are smarter than men!

thursday 15th, my first day in Peshawar

and first meet with guppies!!!!!!!!! So after landing, stamping passport, taking back my checked luggage, I met BM, GS and ASA at the airport..they drove me to the guest house. It is nice, big and in the garden is my favourite tree: a frangipani!
An armed guard is patrolling in front of the guest house...so i dunno if i should feel safe...or in danger, lol...
serioulsy we went to visit the nice university campus and its small archeological museum thereafter...
we went to the afghan refugee camp outside the city...and the atmosphere is out of time! there are small squared clay houses in rows, and smalls shops where men are working, women are passing by wrapped in their burqa and children learn how to catch a truck running....as soon as they are big enough to walk...
We had lunch in a fine restaurant where i met a pashto singer, that i knew from listening intensively to batkhela.com prior to go to peshawar...i tasted brain curry...lol in mad cow countries it is now strictly forbidden...so i consider it a priviledge...and then also some green tea flavoured with cardamon...
at night we went to the market that is a little more crowded after dark...and i enjoyed some typical dish standing at a street stall...
then we met in the street Wran Alak..so went for a nice fresh mango juice somewhere...delicious!!!!!
finally we went to drink some soda flavoured with lemon and black salt....eeeeeeekkkk, that tastes so like rehydration drink taken in India when I was sick....but it was somewhat good anyway...

friday 16th, second day in Pekhawar

so i visited more of the city by car today. I started with the poet mod, who as an artist took me to visit a designer studio. I had ther for the first time a flashy yellow soda drink called "mountain dew"...then we toured the city litterally on the ring road...in gave me the impression that Peshawar...or Pekhawar as people here pronounce it, is very big...but not dense.
It is less crowded than most indian cities, there are less traffic, especially rickshaws. It is also far more clean, because there is less garbage on the streets and very few animals s***ing everywhere and no men peeing in the streets.
In the afternoon I went with ASA and BM in the old market, qisakhwani bazaar, and tour in the small streets, looking at the diverse shops, selling clothes, jewellry, fruits, tea, fish, meat...and we tasted kulfi faluda and kheer in small shops, men are usually sitting outside, while women are hidden inside behind thick curtains. The kulfi was not as good as the one I was enjoying in purani dilli, three weeks ago...but the kheer was better than those i had in India.

friday 16th, second day in Pekhawar

so i visited more of the city by car today. I started with the poet mod, who as an artist took me to visit a designer studio. I had ther for the first time a flashy yellow soda drink called "mountain dew"...then we toured the city litterally on the ring road...in gave me the impression that Peshawar...or Pekhawar as people here pronounce it, is very big...but not dense.
It is less crowded than most indian cities, there are less traffic, especially rickshaws. It is also far more clean, because there is less garbage on the streets and very few animals s***ing everywhere and no men peeing in the streets.
In the afternoon I went with ASA and BM in the old market, qisakhwani bazaar, and tour in the small streets, looking at the diverse shops, selling clothes, jewellry, fruits, tea, fish, meat...and we tasted kulfi faluda and kheer in small shops, men are usually sitting outside, while women are hidden inside behind thick curtains. The kulfi was not as good as the one I was enjoying in purani dilli, three weeks ago...but the kheer was better than those i had in India.

saturday 17th, third day in Pekhawar

I went to Charsade today...Attia aur Sandleen ke lie!!!! so indeed I have some pic of the city and river banks, where we came to eat some fish barbecue. yummmy! there was very nicely decorated baots cruising on the river while playing some nice music..either Bollywood or pashto...
Tonight we had a nice diner on a roof top, with some live pashto music...a nice day...again!

sunday, wedding day

This morning i had the surprise to have the visit of IS bhai, the famous gs flooder...
then i went to a wedding in a village. I loved discovering the simple life if people over there. As a women i could see women dance and sing...and all their nice attires, colored clothes, jewels and mehndi! i even had mehndi done on my hand by the most beautiful women...my first time ever!
We went from the groom house to the bride house where ladies performed their dances...the groom took the bride, then we her finally at her inlaw house....crying! some weapons were fired.
Many women could not englishe or urdu, but the few i talked to were very very friendly, and they all wanted me to come to their houses!
i had a nice day, i won't forget all those nice people soon....

monday, arrival in karachi

I took the plane from peshawar to karachi. I finally the fighting plane based there from the edge of the take off road.
We flew over the nice mountains, and as a former hydrology student i was very interested to look at the rivers patterns from the sky ...trying to figure directions and strength of the flow...
i got off to the luggage claim very quickly and was delighted to get my luggage first then out of the airport someone waved at me...but not someone i expected...anyway I found 3 unkown guppies! DM, Janwar aur Loonatic...later ImranQ joined us...so 4 new guppies met at my arrival, it felt great!
later on i was delighted by my first ever experience of life in a real pakistani house, in the city.
totally different from europe...

Karachi....fun city..nice guppies....1

We had a guppy meet tuesday night, with Seema, Hammad, Janwar, Loonatic, Golden Scorpion, Decent Munda and ImranQ.
We went first to pizza hut to eat a little and begin to chat...my most difficult here is to follow a conversation btw native urdu speakers...i catch words here and there, some gestures...smiles...but the full pictures allways seems very far away in another galaxy..........
hopefully my level of understanding is increasing a lot here in Pakistan!
thereafter we went for a fun bowling party...nice music, very modern dance music, and good lights...it was fun...especially for me cause I am such a desperate case when it comes to play bowling....it was my first time...and i still have no clue how to play *bummer*
then we drove to the seaside..and i enjoyed walking barefeet in the arabian sea, on the nice dark soft sand of karachi beach...