Indo Pakistani relations in my head

hello there horsies...

So I figured it would only be fair that before I left Pakistan I would grace your screens with a quick brain dump.

Unfortunately, all attempts to upload photos have proven unsuccessful, but I promise that as soon as I get to Calcutta, it will be my first priority.

I'm leaving Pakistan for India today. At the border to Amritsar I'll witness the border closing ceremony, which has occurred on a daily basis since Partition in the late '40s. It's a choreographed act of pomp and indigence whereby both sides stomp their feet marching to and fro in mock disgust at each other, slamming the border gate shut for the night. These theatricals started up after Partition and have been built on and dramatised since then, making it an occasion attended by crowds of cheering onlookers. On the Pakistani side, they shout 'Long live Pakistan' and similar hopes for longevity of the Indian State are expressed from the other side of the fence. I've embedded Michael Palin's coverage of this event below so you can see what I'm talking about.

I have a conflict of my own going on in my head as I move towards India. India was one of the main reasons that I chose this particular route. In my 'virtual agenda' I have dedicated more time to it than to any other country. Yet for the past month, travelers I have met coming from there, have not been very positive. I've heard stories of rip offs en masse, dirt, poverty, unfriendliness, an absolutely overwhelming lack of private space... the list goes on. However, I've also heard that these extremes are what make the rich thread of Indian life so appealing, so I'm going to try to keep my mind open and to 'go with the flow'.

Pakistan, a country I had planned to 'transit' through, on my way from Iran to India (maybe two weeks is what I was originally giving it), has turned out to be an absolute gem. The people express their authentic interest in an outgoing, relaxed, helpful and overwhelmingly friendly manner. The land is beautiful beyond my wildest expectations: From the Balochi plateau through the green valleys of Punjab to the jagged edges of the Northern Areas, I would never have dreamed of Pakistan as a tourist destination. Yet I am determined that I'm going to recruit some trekkers when I get home and will return here to see the K2 base camp, Chitral, Peshawar, the Kyber Pass and some other places that I have missed this time around. It is fair to say that if I wasn't meeting my friend in India I would have stayed here for two months at least.

So with this in mind, I'm going to up and go to the Indo-Pakistani border (literally as soon as I hit post on this) and we'll see what happens.

Signing off for the last time in Pakistan: Ur man in Lahore, C