Welcome to Pakistan 🇵🇰
We landed in Dubai after a 12-hour flight from Newark. The flight upgrade completely changed my perspective on long flights. Being able to lie down and sleep without battling for elbow room was amazing. However, I won't get too used to it since it's a rare treat from Andy traveling so much. We landed at 7 PM, and our next flight was at 3 AM, so we spent the time in the lounge and used the sleep pods. Dubai's airport is bustling, even at 2 AM.
We arrived in Islamabad at 8 AM, marking the end of our flight journey for the day. Although our baggage was the last to arrive, it was all there. We bypassed the selective customs officer and met our guide, Azam, who welcomed us with flowers. He took us to our hotel where we had breakfast. The buffet brought back memories of a severe illness I had in India, but I know I'll need to get used to it since this will be our food for the next three weeks.
We finally met up with Azam and the girls, Kristen and Leslie, whom we met hiking Machu Picchu about 15 years ago. We've kept in touch over the years, and when Andy and I decided to go to the K2 basecamp, they were the only ones willing to join us. Surprisingly, they agreed just two days after we asked.
Next, we embarked on a money adventure. Azam took us to a money exchange place, but it was challenging—visa issues, father’s last name, and they wouldn't accept any bill with even a slight defect. We decided to try the ATM instead, but it didn’t work either. So, we returned to the exchange place and spent about 20 minutes finding acceptable bills. I'm pretty sure the guy was messing with us, but we finally got a stack of rupees and left, feeling not exactly safe especially with the questionable security guards.
Azam then took us to see the Faisal Mosque, a beautiful and enormous mosque gifted to Pakistan by Saudi Arabia in the 80s. The heat and humidity hit us hard, and we could see rain clouds approaching—it is monsoon season after all. I try to visualize my sweat evaporating off my body to cool me down. It doesn’t exactly work when I’m totally covered. We also visited the Pakistan Monument, which represents the four regions of the country and symbolizes unity. Islamabad is surprisingly small, with only 1 million people in a country of over 250 million.
We returned to the hotel to rest before dinner. Our bodies are still adjusting to the 12-hour time difference from California so we napped for a couple of hours. The hotel is what it is but the AC works well, so well that you forget how hot it is when you open that room door and it smacks you in the face.
We walk to dinner with the girls and Azam at 7 to a local restaurant. We had spicy chicken, spicy butter chicken, spicy vegetables, naan, and Andy went for the cucumbers. I learned my non-cooked vegetables lesson in Antigua so I passed as I can still remember the feeling of wanting to die by all fluids leaving my body.
Successful first day. Up early for our flight to Scardu tomorrow.
