Saturday, last day of visit in Islamabad. Went back to Damn-e-Koh with Manu. There was nobody on the street and we were able to see a few monkeys (check the new pictures on yahoo, link in first post in this blog) in the forest to Damn-e-Koh. We went for an hour walk in the area and then went again to the Faisal Mosque but it was prayer time... At that time it started to rain and hasn't stop until now. So we did a bit of shopping until it was time for Manu to go & get his plane.
I still have until 1am before I need to go to the airport...
Saturday, May 07, 2005
Friday, May 06, 2005
Islamabad 05
Had to leave the office on Friday morning, back to the hotel. Doctor says I got a gastro-enteritis (?) so now I'm on antibiotics... Slept the whole day.
Saturday I had to change hotel for one night only since the Serena was fully booked by Koizumi (Japanese Prime Minister) and his group... I just missed him coming out of the breakfast but saw all the other Japanese arriving, bending to greet their colleagues, taking pictures and rushing to the lift for the first meeting of the day... So I went to the Marriott.
Sunday, I'm back at the Serena and can keep on writing this diary.
Monday: my last week in Pakistan is finally starting. First week was good fun, discovering the town and the few places to be visited. But after getting sick, realizing I had already seen most of the sights in Islamabad and starting to be careful at what I eat, it's getting boring. As well, work is again from 9am to 10pm... Manu is back as well.
Thursday we decided for once to go for a longer break and went to visit Rawalpindi. Traffic there is always rush hour, bumper against bumper, nothing moving. This is quite a difference from Islamabad!! We went to the bazaar, which is in fact simply shops on one main street selling anything from shoes to jackets, saris... A bit disappointing as we were expecting something with food stalls, spices, handicrafts but in fact it's only factory clothes.
FRIDAY - FINALLY!! Today is our last day at work. Tomorrow we'll try to go to the mountains for some walking. And finally Sunday morning at 3 is my flight out to Dubai + Switzerland.
Saturday I had to change hotel for one night only since the Serena was fully booked by Koizumi (Japanese Prime Minister) and his group... I just missed him coming out of the breakfast but saw all the other Japanese arriving, bending to greet their colleagues, taking pictures and rushing to the lift for the first meeting of the day... So I went to the Marriott.
Sunday, I'm back at the Serena and can keep on writing this diary.
Monday: my last week in Pakistan is finally starting. First week was good fun, discovering the town and the few places to be visited. But after getting sick, realizing I had already seen most of the sights in Islamabad and starting to be careful at what I eat, it's getting boring. As well, work is again from 9am to 10pm... Manu is back as well.
Thursday we decided for once to go for a longer break and went to visit Rawalpindi. Traffic there is always rush hour, bumper against bumper, nothing moving. This is quite a difference from Islamabad!! We went to the bazaar, which is in fact simply shops on one main street selling anything from shoes to jackets, saris... A bit disappointing as we were expecting something with food stalls, spices, handicrafts but in fact it's only factory clothes.
FRIDAY - FINALLY!! Today is our last day at work. Tomorrow we'll try to go to the mountains for some walking. And finally Sunday morning at 3 is my flight out to Dubai + Switzerland.
Friday, April 29, 2005
Islamabad 04
Monday: work until 9pm & rain
Tuesday: work until 9pm & rain
Wednesday: work until 10pm & wind
The situation here is pretty messy and Manu & myself have to fight with many issues... We were kicked out of the building at 10pm as they were shutting down the network & electricity to do some maintenance work...
Luckily we had a good time Wednesday evening, going out with Imran & Sajid to eat in a Food Street: somehow this is a big plaza with many food stands all around, from various different parts of Pakistan. We were of course the only 2 foreigners there but we got used to this by now! Food was really good & local, we thought we would have to eat with our hands but after a while they brought us a fork...
After dinner, had still a talk with Manu before he left back for Dubai, still trying to solve some issues!!!
Thursday: alone at work ;-) Finally sun is coming again and weather warms up, much better!! However work is even worse, all seems to be urgent and as there are 3 hours difference with Central Europe, most people start calling when it is lat afternoon here... Finally at 10:30pm we went for dinner. For a change Imran offered to go to an Italian restaurant. The idea was good, food was excellent - at first impression!!
Later the same night (rather early morning) I could appreciate the Italian food a few more time, guess we could call this the Islamabad Belly, same idea as the Delhi Belly...
Friday: situation really not improving, I'm still getting empty all the time but had to go to the office... Imran is not here yet so he might also be sick! So now I'm on Bioflorin and Carbon to keep liquid inside... :-((
Tuesday: work until 9pm & rain
Wednesday: work until 10pm & wind
The situation here is pretty messy and Manu & myself have to fight with many issues... We were kicked out of the building at 10pm as they were shutting down the network & electricity to do some maintenance work...
Luckily we had a good time Wednesday evening, going out with Imran & Sajid to eat in a Food Street: somehow this is a big plaza with many food stands all around, from various different parts of Pakistan. We were of course the only 2 foreigners there but we got used to this by now! Food was really good & local, we thought we would have to eat with our hands but after a while they brought us a fork...
After dinner, had still a talk with Manu before he left back for Dubai, still trying to solve some issues!!!
Thursday: alone at work ;-) Finally sun is coming again and weather warms up, much better!! However work is even worse, all seems to be urgent and as there are 3 hours difference with Central Europe, most people start calling when it is lat afternoon here... Finally at 10:30pm we went for dinner. For a change Imran offered to go to an Italian restaurant. The idea was good, food was excellent - at first impression!!
Later the same night (rather early morning) I could appreciate the Italian food a few more time, guess we could call this the Islamabad Belly, same idea as the Delhi Belly...
Friday: situation really not improving, I'm still getting empty all the time but had to go to the office... Imran is not here yet so he might also be sick! So now I'm on Bioflorin and Carbon to keep liquid inside... :-((
Monday, April 25, 2005
Islamabad 03
After a late wake-up on Sunday (alarm didn't ring and poor Manu who had just arrived early morning from Dubai was alone at breakfast...), we called Abbas and drove directly to Taxila. Taxila is a town some 40mn away, with an archeological museum and half a dozen archeological sites to explore on your own.
Taxila was the ancient capital of the western Punjab, the country between the rivers Indus and Hydaspes. It is probably the most important archaeological site in Pakistan. The site consists of several parts:
- Bhir mound, the oldest part, probably belonging to the Achaemenid period;
- Sirkap, a Buddhist city, founded by Greeks from Bactria; together with the Zoroastrian shrine at Jandial;
- Sirsukh, a large square fortress founded by the Kushans, to which the Buddhists added monasteries like Jaulian and Mohra Moradu.
We started at the museum where we were the only 2 foreigners. Therefore many guys & guards kept on asking us "Where do you come from?"... Many sculptures. Biggest surprise for us was to learn that Taxila had been a Greek town in the old times. After the museum we went to the Sirkap Ruins. It was one of the 3 towns in Taxila but nearly nothing remains... A bit disappointing.
Next ruins (Jaulian) we visited were a lot better. This site consists of a monastery for 58 Buddhism monks and of their living quarters. There were splendid Buddha carvings on many stupas. The main building was 2 floors high and there is still one whole floor standing. Really worth a visit, though there is always a small uncomfortable moment at the end when you have to pay the guide: what ever you offer they always want the double...
To finish the day we went to Rawalpindi, town next to Islamabad in order to have a lunch (2 rooms in the restaurant: one for the men and one for the families only) and visit a few handicrafts shops. Rawalpindi is a bit messy town, full of traffic in narrow streets. Unfortunately there was no bazaar to visit as it was Sunday...
Finally we "released" Abbas at 6pm and went for a cooling swim at the hotel... That was a long and nice Sunday. :-)
Saturday, April 23, 2005
Islamabad 02
Saturday started with a swim in the hotel's pool. Only foreigners around the pool, some of them already pretty sweating... and it's only 10am!! After drying out, went back to the room to update my pics and plan the day. At 3pm, Sajid came to pick me up with Abbas. We went to Lake Rawal, a lake created by a dam and used for irrigation purposes. There were very little people as it was still to hot for them (35 degrees) but a very strong smell all over the place. This was coming from some herbs: hashish!! Practically all over the place, like a bad weed. We went then to the dam. There is a small park close-by where you have a panoramic view of the lake Rawal, Margalla and Murree Hills as well as Islamabad and Rawalpindi (town attached to Islamabad). There were school trips there so many groups of girls or boys were running around, going on small boats around the lake...
After this we went to the Shakarparian Hills. There is again a view point and a nice park where each foreign president who visited Islamabad planted a tree. However this was closed... So instead we tried some local food: huge chips (40cm diameter) with a lot of chili powder. Excellent but need a drink afterwards!!
Close-by the Shakarparian Hills is "Lok Virsa", the National Institute of Folk and Traditional Heritage. Inside the arena are many food stands from each region of Pakistan as well as local arts. There is as well a pretty good museum about the different regions, their culture and customs. Two different prices: 25 rupees for locals and 200 for foreigners... And inside there must be at least 15 guards to make sure you follow the correct path. If it says right, they won't let you go left. ;-)
All these visits made the time fly and we decided to head for a local ice-cream before a last visit: Shah Faisal Mosque. Unfortunately it was closed from today for one week due to cleaning. So we looked at the exterior of the modern building. This mosque is huge: it was designed by a renowned Turkish Architect, Vedat Dalokay and named after late King Faisal of Saudi Arabia. It has 88m high minarets and 40 meters high main prayer hall. The main prayer hall can accommodate 10,000 persons while the covered porticoes and verandas can take over 24,000 worshipers. The main courtyard has space for 40,000 people. The mosque is linked with a religious university. All is of clear grey and white marble. Really nice. I'll have to come another time to see the inside as well. Unfortunately it is forbidden to take pictures, though some locals did... (but why look for trouble as a tourist??)
That was all for today. Tomorrow Manu, a French guy now based in Dubai, is joining me. We'll go together to visit some ruins 30km out of Islamabad with Abbas, as usual.
After this we went to the Shakarparian Hills. There is again a view point and a nice park where each foreign president who visited Islamabad planted a tree. However this was closed... So instead we tried some local food: huge chips (40cm diameter) with a lot of chili powder. Excellent but need a drink afterwards!!
Close-by the Shakarparian Hills is "Lok Virsa", the National Institute of Folk and Traditional Heritage. Inside the arena are many food stands from each region of Pakistan as well as local arts. There is as well a pretty good museum about the different regions, their culture and customs. Two different prices: 25 rupees for locals and 200 for foreigners... And inside there must be at least 15 guards to make sure you follow the correct path. If it says right, they won't let you go left. ;-)
All these visits made the time fly and we decided to head for a local ice-cream before a last visit: Shah Faisal Mosque. Unfortunately it was closed from today for one week due to cleaning. So we looked at the exterior of the modern building. This mosque is huge: it was designed by a renowned Turkish Architect, Vedat Dalokay and named after late King Faisal of Saudi Arabia. It has 88m high minarets and 40 meters high main prayer hall. The main prayer hall can accommodate 10,000 persons while the covered porticoes and verandas can take over 24,000 worshipers. The main courtyard has space for 40,000 people. The mosque is linked with a religious university. All is of clear grey and white marble. Really nice. I'll have to come another time to see the inside as well. Unfortunately it is forbidden to take pictures, though some locals did... (but why look for trouble as a tourist??)
That was all for today. Tomorrow Manu, a French guy now based in Dubai, is joining me. We'll go together to visit some ruins 30km out of Islamabad with Abbas, as usual.
Islamabad 01
After a rather bad & short night due to construction work ongoing under my windows (starts around 6am until midnight, everyday), I went to the office with the same driver from the company: apparently he'll be with me during my whole stay . Situation there is still messy... I'll be training the current CAT controller + the new F&C employee. Met as well the country controller + CSM. I should be invited by them to the U.N. club, only place where you can have fun here. Met also a girl from Finland, coaching the FSP. She spent one week there and will come back in one week's time.
After work, went for dinner with Imran. We ended up in an Afghani restaurant: good kebap and pretty interesting discussion regarding current social situation here: woman's place, man's duties, religion...
Friday was a day off due to Mohammet's birthday but we still went to the office, the 3 of us. Excellent day, no interruption, we had a good training session until 4pm. Then Imran left and I went with the new guy, Sajid to a view point out of town.
Pretty narrow road to get there, no real good driver met... ;-) Very wide view of Islamabad from Damen-e-Koh: the whole town is covered by green trees. There is a legislation forbidding houses higher than 2 floors, including ground floor. Many Pakis go there to relax in the evening and I was the only foreigner. We still went further up the hill to get another view and some more fun in the traffic (saw a motor-bike with a whole family of 5 on it but camera too slow for shooting it).
Once night had fallen we went shopping in the so-called "blue-zone" (commercial area). Many DVDs shops, seem to have interesting movies. Religious music was blasting from everywhere but we still enjoyed some local fruits in very spicy sauce. Then back to the hotel.
I' ve also posted pictures (and still will) on the yahoo site (address in previous post).
After work, went for dinner with Imran. We ended up in an Afghani restaurant: good kebap and pretty interesting discussion regarding current social situation here: woman's place, man's duties, religion...
Friday was a day off due to Mohammet's birthday but we still went to the office, the 3 of us. Excellent day, no interruption, we had a good training session until 4pm. Then Imran left and I went with the new guy, Sajid to a view point out of town.
Pretty narrow road to get there, no real good driver met... ;-) Very wide view of Islamabad from Damen-e-Koh: the whole town is covered by green trees. There is a legislation forbidding houses higher than 2 floors, including ground floor. Many Pakis go there to relax in the evening and I was the only foreigner. We still went further up the hill to get another view and some more fun in the traffic (saw a motor-bike with a whole family of 5 on it but camera too slow for shooting it).
Once night had fallen we went shopping in the so-called "blue-zone" (commercial area). Many DVDs shops, seem to have interesting movies. Religious music was blasting from everywhere but we still enjoyed some local fruits in very spicy sauce. Then back to the hotel.
I' ve also posted pictures (and still will) on the yahoo site (address in previous post).
Thursday, April 21, 2005
Dubai
I arrived Tuesday in Dubai, around 2am. Quite a temperature shock... It was only 27 degrees!! The hotel was nicely located on the beach west of town, not too far from the office.
On Wednesday morning I took a taxi to the "old town", driving east through all the construction sites: Palm Island, World Map Island, a tower of something like 280 floors and 1km high (still only a project) and many more.
Here some people are driving like crazy, overtaking from left and right, at 100km/h when speed limit is 50km/h. There are plenty of traffic jams but some still find it worth to use the hard shoulder or drive on the sand to take a short cut... Apparently this driving is a big issue in Dubai: since people are coming from so many various places with different driving "rules" nobody knows how the other will react, which ends up in numerous daily crashes. One happened just in front of me: 2 girls were driving a mini cooper too fast, overtaking from left and right and suddenly they couldn't negociate a curve and ended up on the roof.
Finally we reached the old center and the taxi dropped me in front of the Dubai Museum. From there is was easy to have a look at some touristic bazaars and then negociate a deal for a 1 hour cruise within Dubai. This cruise allowed me to see the most impressive buildings and to enjoy a relaxing time before heading to the office for 3pm.
In the street you can see a bit of everything: man dressed in the traditional clothing, women wearing saris, tourists in shorts & T-shirts, other women with very tight tops and short skirts: everything is allowed or tolerated.
After a few meetings we all went for a drink at my hotel: nice bar on the beach, cooling breeze. It could hardly have been better, wouldn't it have been Prophet Mahommet's birthday: no alcool allowed anywhere for 2 days... ;-)
At 8pm I was in the taxi for the airport, ready to leave for Islamabad. As my plane was due to leave at 10:15pm and since I already had my boarding card, this shouldn't have been an issue. However there were more traffic jams than expected and finally I reached the airport at 9:30, boarding time. The entry gate for the checking was already closed but I managed to get there anyway. Just on time at the gate when they were closing it as well... Lucky me!!
Trip to Islamabad was another funny thing to look at: many passengers seemed never to have taken a plane before, some didn't know how to fasten their seat-belts, some wanted to change seats, others didn't want to sit for the take-off or landing... Poor stewardesses!!
We arrived in Islamabad on Thursday at 2am. I was fortunate enough to be in the first bus unloading at the immigration, rushed to the counter and quickly got my luggage: 4am I was in bed, much better than during my last trip!
I have also posted some pics on yahoo (click here) for those interested.
On Wednesday morning I took a taxi to the "old town", driving east through all the construction sites: Palm Island, World Map Island, a tower of something like 280 floors and 1km high (still only a project) and many more.
Here some people are driving like crazy, overtaking from left and right, at 100km/h when speed limit is 50km/h. There are plenty of traffic jams but some still find it worth to use the hard shoulder or drive on the sand to take a short cut... Apparently this driving is a big issue in Dubai: since people are coming from so many various places with different driving "rules" nobody knows how the other will react, which ends up in numerous daily crashes. One happened just in front of me: 2 girls were driving a mini cooper too fast, overtaking from left and right and suddenly they couldn't negociate a curve and ended up on the roof.
Finally we reached the old center and the taxi dropped me in front of the Dubai Museum. From there is was easy to have a look at some touristic bazaars and then negociate a deal for a 1 hour cruise within Dubai. This cruise allowed me to see the most impressive buildings and to enjoy a relaxing time before heading to the office for 3pm.
In the street you can see a bit of everything: man dressed in the traditional clothing, women wearing saris, tourists in shorts & T-shirts, other women with very tight tops and short skirts: everything is allowed or tolerated.
After a few meetings we all went for a drink at my hotel: nice bar on the beach, cooling breeze. It could hardly have been better, wouldn't it have been Prophet Mahommet's birthday: no alcool allowed anywhere for 2 days... ;-)
At 8pm I was in the taxi for the airport, ready to leave for Islamabad. As my plane was due to leave at 10:15pm and since I already had my boarding card, this shouldn't have been an issue. However there were more traffic jams than expected and finally I reached the airport at 9:30, boarding time. The entry gate for the checking was already closed but I managed to get there anyway. Just on time at the gate when they were closing it as well... Lucky me!!
Trip to Islamabad was another funny thing to look at: many passengers seemed never to have taken a plane before, some didn't know how to fasten their seat-belts, some wanted to change seats, others didn't want to sit for the take-off or landing... Poor stewardesses!!
We arrived in Islamabad on Thursday at 2am. I was fortunate enough to be in the first bus unloading at the immigration, rushed to the counter and quickly got my luggage: 4am I was in bed, much better than during my last trip!
I have also posted some pics on yahoo (click here) for those interested.
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