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Hello from Islamabad the capital of Pakistan
This city is unique in that it is organised into sectors of food markets,electorial goods,crafts and clothing.Unusual in it's design,it's also not very old,in recent times it has seen urbanisation mainly from a business perspective now with major businesses locating there head offices here.From first impressions there is not the same chaotic feel to it as other cities and it is quite spread out.There is major upgrading of the main roads through the city at present which is a little disruptive.At the moment the weather is pretty hot with temperatures hitting the 40's and certainly not dropping below 30C at night.Standing still the sweat just pours from me,it is imperative that fluid consumption is no less than 3litres daily otherwise i run the risk of dehydration.I have ran marathons and never sweated this much!!
This is my second day here.Monday we arrived about lunch time so in the afternoon i walked the city which was further than i intended to walk but it was a good oppurtunity to stretch the legs,some unwanted attention was had from the men but that is not uncommon in this cultural.They tend to stare mainly the best thing to do is be suitable dressed to avoid any unwanted attention,that means long trousers and shoulders and upper arms covered.
Today i visited the Faisal mosaque which is the second biggest in the world,the biggest being in Ankora,Turkey which i also saw from a distance but did not get to visit,i'm not sure where the Blue mosaque of Istanbul is ranked but so far it has been the most beautiful and memorable.The Faisal mosaque was designed by a Turkisk dude and completed in 1986.It's geometric design is supposedly modelled on a desert tent and it is of a very impressive scale.However on our visit there we were unable to enter it and contented ourselves with strolling around it keeping as much in the shade as possible.We also had attention from the locals who wanted their photo taken with us and speak english to us.I had Lorna,Will,Polly and Martin for company,however the boys headed to another area called Rowuipindi(spelling may be incorrect) which is where the trucks get decorated,something else i've not told you about.While Polly,Lorna and myself headed to the Marrott hotel to see if we could use the swimming pool to cool down in this hot weather,unsuccessful in our attempt we also had a lovely man from the U.S embassy try and sign us in as guests but it did not work.We did not waste the hotel facilities,checked in to the beauty salon for pedicures,4 squid each,pennies.Bumped into two of the girls from the truck,Alex who was having her hair done for dinner later in the evening(Alex is one of the honeymooning couples on this trip,she is married to Tom) and Nicole who was treating herself to a couple of treatments.Also had a small bit of lunch and filtered coffee which is a rarity in these parts.I do recommend the hotel,air conditioned,great facilities for guests and very friendly staff.
I leave Islamabad tomorrow morning and we will be travelling to Lahore which is Pakistan's cultural city with faded legacies of the British.I'm hoping we will have air-conditioed rooms to stay in.Our present accomadation is a very run down campsite that has very poor facilities and there are much less than what would pass for sancitary.
The things i have not told you enough about are the decorated trucks,the tuk tuks,the mad beeping of the horns,the mosaque calls at ridiculous times in the morning(3 a.m!),crazy driving and islam as a religion in this country.(it's all going to have to wait,i have to leave internet shop at mo)
Until later Ave x x x x x x x x x
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