Xmas in Tunisia

I have spent a few xmas in Morocco so I decided this year to go a bit further to Tunisia. Some general thoughts:

- quiet trip. Partly due to the weather which was a bit overcast but improved as the trip went on. There was probably less to do than in other places but maybe I just stayed in the quieter parts of town

- people are very friendly. It helps if you can speak a bit of French as most people on the street don't speak English, but they do in hotels, restauarants and other tourist areas. Feels quite a male dominated society, although certainly the younger females probably adopted more western dress than I have seen in other similar countries

- taxi drivers are mad, probably a macho thing although generally driving in tunisia appears a random affair

- a lot of the main tourist sites, such as roman ruins seem a bit underplayed - maybe it's down to this being low season

- trains v cheap but  ..... unreliable!

- probably less advanced in some area of technology. To buy tickets everything is paper based and a lot of the transport options you would expect to access online are not available. Bolt is available in Tunis area only but was very useful on occasions 

- would recommend trying but not on list of places to quickly go back to

Final thoughts on Pakistan

- Beautiful country where the people are friendly, interested in tourists and proud of their country

- Politically challenging, with major control from army. Most people we spoke to were generally supportive of Imran Khan who is currently in their eyes (and they appear to be right) unfairly in prison

- Obviously significant levels of poverty with many living on hand to mouth existence. Signs of economic growth but many stalled housing projects. The country has suffered in a lot of ways in the post 9-11 environment. Much less begging than I have experienced in similar economies.

- Security reassuring in some places, over the top in others (Multan). As experienced elsewhere lots of scanners that beep as you go through and you are not stopped

- Some elements of corruption - in particular in Lahore

- One other British legacy is a general like for bureaucracy and being obstinate in sticking to it

- In some areas that are only just re opening up tourism, real fascination and desire to inter-act. For some reason everyone wants a selfie- men with men, women with woman, often the parents pushing their kids to have selfie with westerners. Never pushy, always respectful

- Hunza Valley should be on everyone's bucket list. Amazing beauty, friendly people and good food. How it grows it's tourism without spoiling the area will be a great opportunity/challenge

- Driving is as you expect chaotic. Roads, even some in many cities are in poor condition 

- As a regular solo traveller, it was interesting to go in a group with expected benefits/downsides. Everything arranged - problems sorted - but less flexible. Generally everyone got on - we all had a shared passion in cricket - true there were some that you would not generally mix with at home but new friends made. If I went to Pakistan again I would be happy to travel solo.

- Interesting to see the mix of tour managers from UK and the local tour guides. We were lucky in having a good manager and an really excellent local guide. Other groups seemed to have people less suited to the role.

- Whilst as a tee-totaller it did not effect me, I found it slightly rude that many travellers were so desperate to get a beer in a dry country. It's tolerated provided not seen in open, but organising a room as a bar seemed a bit disrespectful 

Overall a really great place to go

Hunza Valley

Hunza Valley is in the north of the country, next to Chinese border. It is mountainous with stunning scenery. A popular domestic tourist location it is beginning to open up to foreign market.

It's remote and difficult to get to. There are flights to an airport in Gilgit which has a small landing strip and needs good weather. There is also an air force base at Skardu which takes domestic flights as well. There is talk of Emirates flying direct to Skardu which would start to open up area.

From Skardu it is four hours north to Gilgit and then it's two/three hours north to main Hunza Valley. Our plans changed due to weather we were due to fly in to Gilgit and then out of Skardu but in the end it was reversed. 

Roads are mountainous, narrow, suffer from regular rock falls and require careful navigation. The views can be amazing as you drive but equally scary. When you get to some of the more remote locations you are rewarded with amazing views of some of the highest mountains in the world. You are quite high, we got to just below 3,000 metres at one stage and you start to notice impact of altitude. I was generally ok, some small headaches at times but a few suffered a bit more.

With the tour guide who has been with us throughout being from Hunza we had the benefit of real local knowledge and we benefited hugely. We stopped at some really interested locations and were able to hear about and understand local history/traditions. Trees in autumn colours were perfect.

Overall it is stunning. It's has the opportunity to be a major tourist area for international visitors - how it achieves it whilst keeping the beauty and respecting nature will be the challenge.

3rd test and some spare time in Rawalpindi

So the third test finished in 2 and a half days. Fair play to Pakistan they bowled and batted better than England and home advantage is about creating wickets that favour your strengths. In addition England won the toss, so can not complain about having the worse of conditions.

That meant two full free days and Gullivers quickly arranged a couple of trips.

Day one saw a trip to Islamabad Mosque, reasonably modern and once the largest in the world. Impressive from outside but unfortunately we were not able to go inside. Then a trip to a local railway station with small museum (mainly closed). Not much to see but a few old engines and a train happened to stop as we were there. I don't think this was planned as trains in Pakistan are not that reliable (ask the two people on our trip whose train from Multan to Lahore turned up 4 and a half hours late).

Then on to a world heritage site at Taxila. Taxila was an important Buddhist Centre from 5th century BC to 6th Century AD. Ancient Taxila was situated at the pivotal junction of South Asia and Central Asia. Rare in a Muslim country.

Day two saw a trip into the mountains. I did not expect to go on a chair lift and cable car in Pakistan but after a twisting/turning journey up the mountains we ended up at about 5,000 feet with some great views. A further 90 mins drive took us to a popular walking spot based around a pipe laid during British occupation. More interesting than it sounds.

A very early flight will take us to Hunza Valley tomorrow and the last stage of the trip.

Lahore in between tests

So we leave Multan, with a police escort of course, for a trip to Lahore. Journey of four/five hours and we lose the police escort as we get on the motorway after 30 mins or so. 

The experience with police is very different in Lahore. We are allowed to come and go as we wish BUT the coach gets stopped a lot by local police - probably five times over the two full days we are here. Some random traffic offence is mentioned - given what you see on most roads it's difficult to believe there are any actual traffic laws - but eventually a cash fine is requested and given. Fairly typical low level corruption.

Lahore is a very different city to Multan. We are still interesting to locals but they appear more used to westerners and it seems a more relaxed culture, with the young of both sexes dressing in a more modern style. There is also a more confident approach from staff in serving tourists.

We spent two full days. Day one consisted of a tour of Lahore fort and neighbouring mosque. We had seen this the previous night from the top of a local restaurant and it was equally impressive during the day. Being stopped by police had delayed us, so we only briefly visited the mosque and returned the following day. We needed to get to the Waghar border with India for the daily ceremony. Difficult to describe but a combination of changing of guards, trooping the colour and Monty Python ministry of silly walks. All accompanied by nationalistic chanting both sides of the border. Quite surreal.

Day two saw an interesting walk through Bazaar, visit to a historic Hammam, a new mosque and the return to same mosque as yesterday to see inside. All very interesting and relaxed. Final visit to national monument and then back to hotel. 

2nd Test and goodbye to Multan

Back in Multan for 2nd test. This turned our to be a first for everyone as it was played on the same pitch as the first test. This seemed like a gamble for Pakistan and the only way they thought a win was possible. The gamble paid off when they won the toss and were always in the box seat as the wicket started to get worse quite quickly.

To be fair Pakistan played well, as the England coach said afterwards Pakistan were probably 65:35 favourites having batted first but they batted and bowled well - probably helped by some indifferent fielding from England and some bad shot execution (or choice) by our batsman.

So we leave Multan behind. Security here has been fairly intense and it will be good to get to a more relaxed environment as the trip continues. 

Pakistan Bahawalpur

Time for a couple of nights out of Multan in between tests, so a two hour drive to the 11th largest city in Pakistan - obviously with police escort along the way. The escort changed every half hour or so as I guess we move from one District to another. Overall whilst it's a bit strange it generally works fine, delays waiting have only been short, they are friendly and often provide the guide with some local expertise. Our main guide Nour, is from Hunza Valley and whilst he has a good knowledge of everywhere we have been the locals can always help.

To break the journey we stopped off at Tomb of Bibi Jawindi. Impacted by a flood  in 1817 conservation seems challenging but it provided a good feel for how impressive it would have been in its day

Drop off at bags at hotel and then out to the top local attraction - one of many palaces in the area Noor Mahal which is now owned by Pakistan military. We were told that we needed passport and visa for entry, but not that shorts were not permitted. This ended up with 20 mins or so negotiation but no relaxation of rules, perhaps not surprising give there were a number of locals visiting at the same time. So half of us with long trousers (thankfully me included) got in -actually without passport/visa being checked. The outside and inside were impressive and well maintained despite it not being used for some time. Well organised and set up for tourists (you have to wait via gift shop) just a shame they did not provide sarongs or something for people to cover up. This seems just to reflect the journey the country is on getting used to tourists again.

Following this brief walk through Bazaar - I sense we only saw a small element and police were keen to keep us moving.

Following day a couple of hours drive to Dera Nawab Sahib which is a palace originally owned by same family as yesterday. Six palaces on the same site linked by underground tunnels. Some are still in use so we were only allowed to see the guest's palace which to be far needs a bit of work! It must have been impressive in its day but really needs restoration now to avoid it decaying too much. Apparently it was built in 19th century for the Prince who had four wives, 10 sons and 10 daughters. The fairly large family remaining can't agree what to do - haven't they seen Homes under the Hammer - knock through here, new plumbing and electrics and the 120 rooms would make a decent HMO!

Next to Dewar Fort another location in need of some TLC but where work is under way. Really imposing from a distance - which you would want for a fort - the scale inside is significant but mostly in disrepair. Nour said it has improved over last couple of years   - so hopefully moving in right direction. As well as a mosque ( not allowed in) there is a burial site for prince's  family which is well kept.

Next day a brief stop at a farm for lunch and then dropped off at our new (better) hotel in Multan.

Tomorrow second test......