A Pakistani adventure

Shogran was where we were to spend 3days at. It was a beautiful resort at e top of a mountain, not near e snow capped areas yet but halfway there.

It was clean and the people were kind though they didnt speak to us girls,a culture where females should not even shake hands with males.

Bathing was a challenge as the staff had to heat e water with fire. Not timing your wash will result with a frozen ass (It really did happen). I had the opportunity to hard a real rifle for the first time in my life,damn was it heavy.

The stars that night were the most beautiful thing i've seen so far!

The back of our resort,the mist was just sneaking upwards

Meals were delicious,as were the rest of Pakistan..we probably gained a kg or two each. The first morning was spent chasing glaciers and we almost died.

Our local jeep driver had warned us of a highly possible avalanche but our dearest Asim had wanted to continue taking peeeautiful pictures. The guide was gonna have a nervous breakdown between smoking and speeding his way to safety. It was such a horrible and traumatizing journey out,i never looked at a jeep the same way again.

At the bottom of our resort,it rained and i was falling sick,the kind driver dug out a shawl for me to cover my head. :)

The next day we climbed the top of shogran to the snowcapped areas. It was a 4hour journey in rain/snowfall in really deep snow. But we did it! 

Us trying a snow angel Hamish made.

Climbing down was as scary as the way up but with more fatigue. I had my playlist to accompany me and Danyal on e way down. Singing our lungs out for no one to hear! The feeling=Freedom.

We then had breakfast back at the resort and slowly made our way back to the mutary quarters for one last night in Islamabad.

We stopped by many places and a lavish hotel,Pearch continental,this was the ritz carlton of pakistan. The security was so tight and we had the most wonderful view of the sunset. 

The view from Pearl Continental

We had also driven past the town of Abbottabad (something) where Osama Bin Laden was hiding. 

The next morning we headed towards Lahore. Stopped by a heritage centre,the grand mosque of Islamabad and salt mines where girls came up to us for pictures (told u we were aliens!)

We reached Lahore at 11pm dead tired and Asim checked us into Pearl Continental Lahore (a different

We soen one from before) Oh,the smile that was on my face when i entered the room. Think it lit up the whole city. Was beyond excited for the civilisation the night few nights.

The security of our hotel taken from our window.

The following day,Dr asim's father,a professor of botany in the Lahore University picked us up from the lobby and took us around to the grand mosque of Lahore,older and more beautiful than the one is Islamabad. We were stared and commented on by passerbys but we got used to it. He also brought us to his university for a walk and some snacks before he drove us back to e hotel for a rest. Dinner at 8pm to be met at e lobby by Shamila and him again!

They never let us outta their sights except in the hotel,for that we are thankful. We headed to a nearby "mall" it was an open concept with shops,restaurants and even a themepark by the roads.

Shamila may be a woman in Pakistan but she was tall and commanding,no one in their right mind would even think to approach us ^^ very strong aura around her which we grew so fond of.  

We had a very veryy good dinner again before heading back to crash.

Dinner with Dr Asim's kind sister and father.

The next morning was the day of the conference. Prof Lomanto was in attendence as well! 

The profs who came visiting

We spent the whole morning and most if the afternoon watching the two men do live surgery and finally headed to the borders of Pakistan and India where there was a show of soldiers. We webt with a priority of one of the Pakistani MOs whose grandfather was some big shot in the military. We had VIP seats (tho we remained standing) and tea. We then headed for dinner with the whole team of Pakistani GI doctors. From the clinical fellows to the chief of surgery at a restaurant with the best night view of the grand mosque.

The next morning a MO, Raj, drove us to the airport and ensured us a safe entry to the transit. 

How kind was the hospiality that Dr asim arranged for us? We felt like princesses in a foreign country,fat princesses for sure. Without him or his family,we would probably be slaughtered. Kidding. 

Heartfelt thanks to our kind surgeon.

Basically,tourism in Pakistan is NEAR impossible without a local you can trust of you are female and asian. 

But it was an awesome,once in a lifetime experience in this untouched beauty of a country.

The preparation

Looking back at how much we prepared for the trip..

Seems like most of them was useless.

Badically,the most important thing is to decide what countries are the MUST GOs and saving money.

We had a very specific travel plan but it has changed so many times that now we have just a general outline on which direction of the earth we are going.

I was prepared to resign from my job as a clinic coordinator even though i loved it.

This was something i HAD to do now or literally never. I didnt expect the clinic to wait for me as that was practically impossible. But when i let known the plan,i had to try. And i got what was the best deal ever. An 11 month no pay leave from the managers. 

Of course,i didnt like the fact that i had just put a deadline on my dream but i had to be practical and my heart wouldnt let me give up the family i had found at the clinic.

Company D&D

My team of neurosurgeons during Prof Yeo's Xmas dinner.

So the actual first step was done: settling e job.

Next was breaking the news to the family,mainly the mum. Slowly and bit by bit. She's still not too happy after i had left but she has accepted it somehow. Daily updates vis Whatsapp is still inisisted upon.

After that,we booked our flights. THIS was by far the most exciting yet scary step.

As we were lucky enough to have a very kind Pakistani Dr at e clinic,he had instilled e idea of visiting Pakistan. He agreed to bring us around and host us.

So tickets to Islamabad via Bangkok was booked (SGD700). The plan was to tour e city of Islamabad for a few days then drive down to Lahore for a conference before leaving Pakistan.

We also booked Lahore to Athens,Greece, transiting in Dubai for 5nights (SGD800)

So far the cost of these 3 countries were an estimated SGD1500 and we were pleased.

As the days passed,our hearts beat faster and our packing lists got longer.

Goodbye meals and meetups were almost a daily thing.

The hardest was the family, especially the eldest sister and the youngest. Tears were shed the night before.

Had the thought that i wouldnt be sent off but e mum,dad,aunt,tommy and zuraidah came! :)))

Of course a lil crying from e mum..who hardly ever cries. 

She was visibly happier after Dr Asim introduced himself with much confidence and truth that we would be in his safe hands.

We took off w Dr asim towards Bangkok and then Islamabad and reached near 10pm where he had a military friend to pick us up.

The airport had NO women. All men whi stared at us like we were aliens (which i guess we were).

 We were driven to a bed&breakfast of a military sort. It was guarded by soldiers and only military people had the access to book this place to sleep. The toilet..had a stench and the blanket was.. Questionable but it was safe and that was what mattered.

The next morning we woke to eggs and bread,donned our Punjabi suits and were ready for a journey to the top of the mountains w asim's family.

His mum,a total darling, his sister and her 2 sons. They were kind and so friendly throughout our whole journey in Pakistan.

Dr asim w me and Nessa at CharlesTan's opening.

Sons far left and right,Litang,momma shabbir,me and shamila.

The journey up was wonderful,there was this beautiful place where the chairs were placed between waterfalls and you could have fried potato and hot tea. 

The adventure of Pakistan shall start soon!

Starting anew this 2014

Can't believe im back on blogger.

Im thinking no one would read these posts but me. But i've decided to come back on for the sake of memories.

I've embarked on a loong journey backpacking a month ago.

16th April to be exact.

And this is gonna be my outlet as of today.

When im all grey and 75, i shall switch on my grandchild's laptop and read all these sweet memories.

So no complaining or anger shall be remembered as of now.

I shall rise.

It's currently 1.27am at La Spezia, Italy.

litang is sleeping while im doing this.

It's our last night here. Tomorrow we move on to Padova for 3 nights and then Milan for another two.

Today, we visited Cinque Terre, so far,this is my favorite place due to e sea and the crashing waves. 

While walking e coast,i can imagine coming back here with a husband for an awesome honeymoon. Weird but the thought just came.. Let's see what the future holds.

Will be doing some backdated blogger the next few days. 

The journey so far: 

Singapore- Pakistan- Dubai- Greece- Italy.