Mar. 23rd, 2006

rhyll: (Default)
After some sleep I feel somewhat better. I am at the airport now, waiting for my flight to Karachi. I've left my large backpack at the left luggage centre, so I'm relatively mobile now. I'm nervous, but there are a lot of people who'll be able to look after me in Karachi. I have one day on my own, as most people are arriving tomorrow. I won't be doing anything terribly exciting (or dangerous) - probably just catching up on some sleep.

In other news:
* posting my books back to Australia was an exercise in extreme patience and faith. It took over an hour, and I am somewhat nervous about their arrival.
* when I was staying in Mysore, I used one of my calico shopping bags to carry a few things in. (I've done fairly well at avoiding plastic here, after the first week or two.) Shayla's husband, whose name I finally worked out is Dwarkanath, saw it, and asked about it. I explained about the Perth City Library, and who nifty it is. He insisted on copying down the library's address, which was written on the side of the bag. I remain perplexed.
* Parental phonecalls make me smile. I like that this trip has made me realise how much I still rely on the love and support I get from my parents.
* Bicycle news: 1) Che guevara won back a few of his many lost bonus points, as I found out he was a keen bicyclist when younger. 2) One of India's communist parties has a bicycle on its flag. Hooray!

Also, please remember that my phone won't work in Pakistan. I'll try to at least put a line on two on lj when I can, but I have no idea how much time/web access I'll have. Don't freak out (not mentioning any names, mother dear) if you don't hear from me for a while. Also: if anything does happen, remember that it is highly unlikely to have happened to me. If I don't tell the world that I'm ok in the immediate aftermath of a bomb blast or such, it will be likely that a) I haven't heard about it because I've been quite out of touch with the media at times, or b) the most sensible policy will be for me to go hang around in a safe space, not look for a phone or cybercafe.

If you find yourself fretting too much, loved ones, I recommend doing some kind of pleasant activity, which may or may not include looking at the beautiful comics made by a tiny monster, or further exploring the delights of interactive found art. On a fairly regular basis my friends are so wonderful they make me worry I will explode.
rhyll: (Default)
Not only did I arrive safely, but I've found this leg of my journey very pleasant. On the trip, I had one guy bother me and try to make friends with me, but his ability to do so was severely hampered by separate queues for men and women. Hooray! To balance this, I made friends with a woman from Canada and two air hosts ("passenger service facilitators", here). An old muslim woman shook my hand as I was leaving the place, which was nice. And the airport was lovely - noone bothered me or tried to drag me away, and a young woman helped me find a taxi.

I liked the first hotel I went to, and I managed to bargain down from 6000Rs to 2,500Rs (44 pakistani Rs = about AUS$1). It's still a little expensive (by principle, not means), but things here are busy so I might just take the hit. Otherwise I'll look around.

At the hotel I made friends with a nice German guy called Michael, who is into past lives and human rights. We went to the WSF site, getting only mildly lost on the way, and made friends with some Pakistanis. Right now we are at their radio station, and are apparently about to be interviewed live.

At the traffic lights a man asked me for money to release two net bags full of birds.*

I feel very good about Pakistan. It feels far less overwhelming than India, and I think I will never be short of something to do or someone to talk to.

* )
rhyll: (balloon)
If you go to http://peace.str3am.com:6210/ and click on "listen", you can hear my and michael's interview. It'll be on in about half an hour. won't be archived, so feel free to save it for the folks at home if you do happen to catch it.

You can also listen to the station at www.mastfm103.com.pk

Once more, kids: hooray for the internet!

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