South Asia Trip (Sept - Dec 2002)

Week #1 Update

Well, I am in Karachi now and have spent a night here. Arrived on Tuesday via Dubai and everything went well. I was paranoid about my ticket since it was so cheap; but Emirates proved to be an awesome airline. The TV and music was amazing. Had my own screen and remote control.

So, my week has been awesome and relaxing. My cousin Sameer (the one who visited Vancouver last year) had two weeks off before school started so we just hung around everyday doing odd things. Went shopping and I did not buy anything except for records, as they are the only thing cheaper than Canada. Even blank CD's are more expensive here!

Highlights of the week include a play I went to with the family titled Bombay Dreams. Andrew Lloyd Webber produces it and AR Rehman composes the music. The play is written by a famous Indian author in UK and acted mostly by Indians. It was basically an Indian movie on stage in English, produced by Webber for the British public. Anyway, it was awesome. Met up with my other cousin here (Kamil) and hung out with him and went to see his room in the dormitory he'll be staying in as he is starting university this week. Went to a to a pub twice with my cousin and his friends and those nights were the most enjoyable. Went to play golf at a driving range and it was all-electronic! Every ball had a transceiver so your yardage and scoring could be monitored; just like in bowling where there is a screen to show your score. Went to a Lebanese restaurant with my aunt and three cousins to smoke some shisha and eat some shawarmas. That was pretty much the week. Watched many old Hindi movies while I was getting over my jet lag and the rest of the house was sound asleep.

Now I am in Karachi and my cousin Khurrum is here to take care of me. We are planning on flying to Lahore in the next couple of days or beginning of next week. Once we are in Lahore we can tour northern Pakistan by bus. I am here till October 8th so I just be chilling and eating my favorite foods. I'll shop here too as it will be cheaper than London or Vancouver.

Hope you are all doing well with your respective lives!

take care,

Sameer.