The Arrival

The Arrival In Lahore [3:40am Monday]
An easy landing in Lahore and a quick trip though customs with not a word other than a stamp and a wave. The luggage fairies blessed us and despite some ticket/booking mixups in Bahrain all 10 pieces of luggage arrived – In tact. +/- semi exploded plastic bottle of laundry detergent. At least the clothes are clean!! A driver was supposed to meet us at the airport, which he did, but some how between customs and the curb we inherited several other porters who aided us in transferring the luggage to the van. We thought they where part of the driver ensemble, but apparently not, so a small Urdu fuss occurred between our host and porter crew. Of course the tall white guy, me, looking a likely target to provide the tip, finally forked of 2 Bahrain Dollars = 6 CDN = 300 Ruppee = highly overpaid tip. Money exchange lesson are complete and I am now tip savvy.

The 4:00am drive to our guests house somewhere in Lahore [still geographically unknown] was basically deserted but we still got the sense of the driving policies and principles in Pakistan/India. Eye’s front and honk – all else is optional – red lights are also only an option, which can be superceeded by the honk. We arrive at the gate home of our guest – all 10 pieces of luggage still well tied to the rack. All are soon to bed with limited sleep until morning – ie in 2 hours.