Between

Up early in Lahore. Time to catch up on some of the other things that have been going on between the wedding ceremonies. Here are a few images taken from Karachi and Multan; mostly in transit from one place to another during our busy schedule. You can click on the images to view them larger.

This one was spotted by Rene on our first morning walk about in Karachi. With the fresh eyes of a child you see everything - a phenomenon that disappears the longer you stay in one place.

We met this guy outside a shrine in Karachi. He spent the best part of an hour showing us around and absolutely refused any offer of payment I made.

This is the tomb inside the shrine; women on one side, men on the other and the shroud draped in green and red cloth and fresh flower petals.

Kristiina and Rene drink the holy water from the fountain beneath the shrine while our guide looks on.

The camel boys down on the beach ran towards us as we walked to the water. They pose for pictures like they have been doing it all their life.

Bottled water for sale on the beachfront at Karachi.

Cousin of the bride, outside the small school house at the mosque near Multan where the religious vows were taken.

On the way home from the mosque in the countryside.

Dust and drains

Airconditioned bus to Lahore. The cool air has a calming effect after the rush to get to the station. The streets are teeming with people in this ancient city - a thin film of dust coating its inhabitants in a soft light brown velvet.

For some reason we had understood that the bus would leave Multan at 1:30 pm and at 12:20 we had plenty of time to make the half hour taxi ride through the traffic.

Standing at the bathroom door with toothbrush in hand, Rene suggested we check the time and discovered that the actual time of departure was half an hour earlier!

So, we made it with only minutes to spare. Looking out through the hazy glass window at the rural landscape rolling by I'm listening to the beep of the driver's horn and the overhead fan as we pass the donkey carts and motor scooters.

In the rows between the fields, small clusters of people sit in the dust - little children playing cricket on a thin strip of bare ground bowling the ball across to the batsman and daring to run between the stumps.

The journey settles into short bridge crossings, highway checkpoints, fields and villages - the tradesmen lining the streets with their wares sit on wicker beds and wait. Inside the bus the attendant brings first a plastic cup and then some bottled water. Later on she brings a thin cardboard box to each passenger - a packet of Lays crisps and sweet biscuits inside with a wet-wipe in a sealed plastic wrapper.

I am thinking back to the celebrations and its still all to fresh to write about. In the mean time the toilet in the hotel room is threatening to overflow and there is a team of people arriving to try and fix the drains.

Images of Mehndi

Decompress and Reassemble

So what can i tell you about flying that you don't know already? There is that moment before takeoff - a curious sense of attachment or is it detachment where random moments of life decompress and reassemble themselves in front of my eyes and then disappear as the outside doors shut. I retract my personal space to fit the shape of my seat and fold up my mental map of the outside world into a state of forced neutrality.

And so we landed - Istanbul airport will forever be etched in my mind as the transit stop where I auditioned for the 1000 meter dash to catch the connecting flight to Karachi and failed to qualify. Arriving at the departure gate we jumped through the next flaming hoop of security and in my haste I left passport and jacket in the x-ray (or did the guard hold it for a minute longer than was really necessary) and sprinted back to retrieve them leaving one of our group with my laptop and camera and having got everything finally headed down the gangway with seconds to spare before the hatch closed.

For a brief moment I did think that a heart attack in seat No. 25C just before takeoff would be so uncool. We had briefly met up with Ösgür and Jane and Mark and chatted over the next half hour while our luggage caught up with us.

In a few minutes we will descend into the balmy warmth of Karachi in the early hours of the morning and get a few hours of sleep while the rest of the city goes about its morning routine.


It is now 6.09 am and they are calling for prayers outside my room - it has to be one of the most hauntingly beautiful sounds I have ever heard.

Limitations are blessings

The Ryanair checkin desk complained about my luggage - in a way I knew they would - that deja vu thing. The restrictions are 15k for the checkin bag and 10 for the cabin bag. They weighed both.

So I dumped the Sony R1 and its charger with Eeva and Philippe and changed shoes from winter felt boots (huoppakengat) to my light summer shoes and in so doing shed 3 kilos from the bags. Of course I could have paid something for the extra weight, but I saw this as an opportunity to increase my mobility. Less is less.

Rene sent a txt message, somehow expecting me to have landed already with an invitation to join him doing some last minute shopping for the wedding. I updated him and at the same time sent a message to Dace in Andrejsala so they would know when to expect me. I also asked what the temperature was in Riga and got a +2C with rain reply which somehow managed to make me feel good. Having come from -12C in blinding snow storm on the motor way, +2 and rain is relatively comforting.

In the departure lounge I met Gintautas, a Lithuanian engineer on his way home from Tampere via Riga. And so once boarded we sat together and Gintas and I chatted against a background of announcements from the cabin crew and the noises outside.

I have driven from Riga to Tallinn in 4 hours by car, and as Tallinn is less than 100k across the Baltic Sea, the flight took around one hour start to finish and in minutes I was in the airport shuttle on my way into town.

And so I found myself sitting around a table in A-Residence sipping tea and catching up with Dzintars and his family until tiredness took over and I headed for bed. This morning I'm off into town to meet Rene and Kristiina at his offices where we will catch a taxi to the airport. I'm nicely rested, thinking coffee and looking forward to a change of climate. Next stop Istanbul.

One Last Sleep

Of course there is no time to write. I'm busy, running around with all those last minute things. I'm losing weight and my luggage is gaining. I must have weighed those two bags every couple of hours for the last few days - as if just sitting there being luggage-potatoes they are gaining.

I don't panic - just develop a sharp edge of awareness before traveling. Its an inbuilt thing that goes along with my vivid imagination and allows me to think of every eventuality to the point that when the real situation is happening I get this deja vu feeling.

Today Eeva and I stopped by the Ittala shop and had a look at things for Junaid and Samira. Its great when you know what you have space for and you find something elegant that fits the bill. So that's the present shopping done.

Junaid sent some pictures by email of one of the first celebrations. It all looks so different, all the women sitting together and all the men together. Such a different culture and so much to discover.

The last minute emails have been flying around with Jane, Kristiina, Ösgür and Rene and myself putting the finishing touches to our plans with Junaid confirming the hotel and arrangements for our arrival.

I decided on two cameras finally. The Sony works really well as an on the move camera; its lightweight and handy. The Canon is a must for the main event - and this 5D mkII has HD video. I'm going with 2 strobes and my ST-E2 unless the radio controlled triggers arrive in the post tomorrow. Its a handy kit to travel with and opens up the lighting possibilities to cover most situations.

Rene had an idea for an on-the-move project which we discussed a bit by email earlier today. It fits nicely into the way I work so lets see what we decide during the flights.

That's it for the preparations. From the first FB posting from Rene on january 2 at 21.14 and my comment seven minutes later it has been about 7 weeks of putting this thing together. Thanks to Junaid we're on our way!

OK Gary - now don't miss the plane.

See you all in Karachi!

Preparations for Pakistan

Less than two weeks before I leave for Riga on the first leg of the trip to Multan. There is that moment when you make the decision and then the ball starts rolling and you start googling flights and finding deals. Nerve wracking for a few days - the Pakistan visa requirements - so complicated and as it says on the form - if anything is missing then the application ends up pending.

Had a brief chat on FB with Junaid a couple of days ago. On his FB page he is counting down the days to his wedding. He was worried about the situation in Pakistan; the recent suicide bombings in Karachi. He said that he has never known a single year of peace since his birth. I can't imagine what that is like: to spend your whole life in a country where uncertainty is everywhere on a daily basis.

My plans are mostly about what camera to take. The choices are - Sony R1 - 10mb; a very light and easy camera to use and 'low key'. You don't get stared at and no one thinks twice when you take their picture. Its got one of the best lenses I've ever used on any camera and its 'fixed' to the body - so you never get dust inside.

Second choice is a ton of Canon 5D mk II and lenses. I spend a lot of time with that camera changing lenses, cleaning sensors and generally fussing around. At 21 mega pixels though - there is a lot of image to play with and the quality of the high ISO ratings is amazing.

I hate having a lot of gear with me if I'm moving rapidly from one place to the next - so I have a feeling I'll go with the Sony.

Last year in Los Angeles I had the Sony with me. I remember that amazing feeling when I got on the plane - the first time I wasn't worried about all my camera equipment. I took some great shots and the whole thing was so uncomplicated. With a couple of speedlights instead of heavy lenses I think I can focus on the creative side of image making.

Hopefully in a couple of weeks you'll see this page gradually turn to images of Pakistan as we set out to celebrate Junaid and Samira's wedding.