Lahore, Pakistan

[questa]

"He sat, in defiance of municipal orders, astride the gun Zam-Zammah on her brick platform opposite the old Ajaib-Gher – the Wonder House as the natives call the Lahore Museum.”

So starts the book called "Kim" by Rudyard Kipling. It is a favourite of mine and the mainstay of the cub scouting movement.



Behind the trees can be seen the Museum where Rudyard's father was the curator.





School of pharmacy.

The Lahore Fort has interesting gate columns, something to do with water drainage













With all that courtyard, why are the people going to the mosque on one marked strip??

We all had to remove shoes and the red bricks were too hot, even the local folk stuck to the paler coloured path.

The actual fort and the Palace behind the wall

I love the brightly decorated trucks and buses.





Kipling also mentions the boys swimming in the canals beside the road.

The romances that began, and ended in the Shalamar Gardens

When he wasn't building Taj Mahal for his lost wife, he rested here.

Maintenance time.









And this stroppy little fellow who was guarding his treat he had found in the litter



More later...

[bjd]

You do go to interesting places, Questa. It's nice to see the other side of what is always presented in the news about Pakistan.

What time of year was that?

And the "stroppy little fellow" looks rather like a chipmunk but suppose it isn't one. So what is it?

[questa]

Thanks bjd, the Lahore pics were taken 2/8/07 so this whole series which will follow will all be August. I travelled from India north to Peshawar then via Karakorum highway over the mountain ranges into China. I have posted sections of the trip in other threads so will fill in some more with this one.
I think the creature is a squirrel, don't have them in Oz but have seen them in Bali.

Two days before we came to Lahore Pakistan erupted into violence and rioting. The usual suspects, Taliban, Al Qaida, and others involved. Blew up and set fire to the Red Mosque in Islamabad and govt buildings. We skipped through there quickly but found we were being watched all the time and hostages had been taken a week earlier. Later we found this had a bearing on our activities as we continued our trip.

[Deleted]

My Pakistani friend/colleague from Karachi always said that Lahore was the most beautiful city in Pakistan. I can certainly see the attraction although I am certain that a bit of upkeep would be a plus. But that probably won't happen until people feel that it is a safe country to visit again.

[anshjain97]

Looks like a very nice place to visit. I have for long been interested in India's neighbours.

[questa]

Lahore has a nice "feel" to it and has tried on the upkeep. I think they value the buildings and memories of the time of the Raj. Of course it is not part of the North West provinces that are rough and generally lawless.

[Deleted]

I'd really like to visit Pakistan. (Maybe one day when things have calmed down there a bit).

Interesting thread, questa, you certainly do have the most adventurous spirit. Truly fearless!