Elsien's Traveblogue

Pakistan

Upset to hear about the return to martial law in Pakistan. The arrival of Benazir Bhutto, her triumphal return to Karachi ...... Did you ever wonder why she returned to Karachi, while the country's capital is Islamabad? No, the BBC didn't mention that either.

Fact is, her family comes from Sindh, the province in the south of Pakistan of which Karachi is the most important city. They have a huge supporter base there. Their family home is in Larkhana, near Moendjodaro, one of the faulous ruined cities of Pakistan, with amazing remains of the ancient Indus civilisation (4000 or so years ago). I didn't go to Moendjodaro, because Sindh is one of the provinces that is declared unsafe for foreigners. You can apparently only visit Moedjodaro with an armed guard.

I have been to Karachi though, see earlier blogpost, and I have also stayed in the house of Malik, Benazir's erstwhile press secretary. They will be undoubtedly enormously upset about the suicide bombings and the latest events. Lahore, where they live, has a massive Law Faculty and all manner of legal institutions. Lawyers and law students are everywhere, all walking around in black gowns, white bibs and even wigs. I loved Pakistan and the Pakistanis, and feel sad about events there.

What I relish most about my travels now I'm stuck in UK, is my sense of connectedness with the news from distant places. I love this feeling of knowing almost first-hand what is going on in the world, because I have been there, met people, talked to them and seen with my own eyes what it looks like!

I feel the same about China where the 5-year Congress has just taken place. I miss this sense of history unfolding, of being involved in events here in Europe. I have met my local MP once or twice and even spoken to him, but somehow it is not the same! Even when I go to Brussels, I have no sense of the country almost splitting in two, as no one seems to particularly care about it, in the same way that no one here cares about what Gordon Brown and David Cameron are up to.

Here are some Pakistan pictures – I couldn't put them on the blog before, but now I can! To my eternal egret, I didn't take any pictures of the filth of Karachi – I wonder if they cleaned up for Benazir's arrival. The only pictures I could find on Google were sanitised tourist pictures. I'll include my own, which I think are much more typical of the human and architectural chaos of Pakistani towns, villages and cities ...... Would love to go back, but no idea when.

posted by Elsien Gale  # 2:46 AM