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.

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.