I had almost missed my plane, by sheer confusion I thought it is 24 hours later… So, rather fast I had to pak my stuff, had some beers with my friends in Delhi and go to the airport…
After more than three months of summer, I am now back in grey, dark and rainy Hamburg. This picture is not in Hamburg:
This is a shop to copy keys in Lahore. They do it manually – no machines.
Returning to Delhi by plane was another experience:
Passing two checkpoints with gunman, having showed my ticket and passport 12 times before being in the inner part of the airport (before the gates), having my handbag manually checked, while chatting with the security guard about Northern Ireland (it was him who started to talk about it), not being allowed to take a lighter with me, I sat down in some restaurant kind of lounge thing at Lahore airport.
I asked if I can smoke somewhere in the airport and the waiter immediately brought me a matchbox, which i would then carry onto the plane.
Although I never feld uncomfortable in Lahore, I also was never fully relaxed. The Peshawar bombing on wednesday which took the lives of 110 was just another sad event and I really don’t know what Pakistan will be in the coming years. It is the country with the most armed people standing around in public I have ever seen.
It was great having been there and now being able to make up my own mind about it. But I have no idea how Pakistan will solve all the issues it faces.
Now I am back in Delhi, from where I will leave on wednesday back home after three and a half months of travelling. 
The people are very poor, while a small elite pursues an american lifestyle.
Pakistan is ranked the third lowest country in regard to gender equality. This is not an islamic issue alone (if at all). It is another indicator of very bad governance and not enough access to education.
On my last evening in Lahore, I went to the Wagah border, which I had passed by bus coming from Delhi. There, every evening the "Border Ceremony" is being held.
I was located on the Pakistani side. Here is the gate to India and behind is the Indian crowd, outnumbering the Pakistani crowd. On both sides, patriotic slogans are shouted and songs sung.
The male Pakistani crowd.
And the females.
The procedure starts as soldiers, dressed with old fashioned uniforms and interesting hats, march towards the other side, in a choreographic manner.
Finally the doors open and soldiers from both sides do some ballet-like dance in synchronous way.
This fellows job is to make sure that people are getting into it and shout and sing "Pakistan"
In regard to the very complicated relations between both countries, this ceremony is outstanding. Of course it is deeply patriotic and it is also some contest in "who is the better in applauding one’s soldiers" etc. But I also observed the fun and entertaining factor. It has elements of a cricket game.
I have had a very good time there, returning with a smile on my face about the subcontinent once again.
People tell me different things: some say I should not walk around on my own, others say it is not a problem. I think it is not a problem, in fact I think the Lahorites are happy to see a foreigner in the city, as they are very rare. I have not seen a single european since I am here.
This is a normal street in the center of Lahore, where common people buy stuff. Live goes on and I think this is what it should be, because the attacks are explicitly trying to breakdown public life and provoke a state of emergency – especially since the attack on a university in Islamabad.
We stopped at night to use the restrooms of McDont, where all cars where carefully security checked, while this fellow was holding his nice ballons.
There is an amusement park, open till late, where the middleclass and up go with their kids to have fun. It was good to see that these things are happening.
The wonnderfully coloured busses are real eyecatcher in the very stressful traffic, which is harsher than in Delhi.
This is the barber every writer wants to write about. And I have found him! I will not tell where he runs his business.
The old fort, dating back to 13th Century, but most of it is from 17th century. Impressing, though inside a bit in a bad shape. Not many tourist these days.
The legendary stairs for the King’s elephants inside the Fort. What a time that has been!
Opposite is the 2nd biggest mosque on this planet, here we are already inside. During peaks, thousands of people gather here to pray.
Islam has multiple faces and this is sufi. We had to go with people that knew the location and it was a bit hard to find. Sufism is underground, although not fordidden. Drummers and a Singer are working hard and great while others are dancing themselves into trance. Of course, there is some help by dope. We arrived at 1.30 in the night and left around 4am. IT was one of my greatest experiences here so far. Sufism is quite sympathic as it is very anti-institutional and every person can claim to have found contact with some divine powers – that is forbidden in christian and islamic hegemonial branches of belief.
Get up at 4.30 am, be at the Delhi Gate Terminal at 5am the latest. Then all my luggages was inspected in a way I had not encountered during my whole travel: I had to empty everything, start my laptop, my recording device, …
The security procedures took a long time but somehow the bus started on time, all seats taken, heading for Lahore.
I dont have the time to write a decent account of the Pak-India relations. But the symbol for the problems that both countries have with each other is the fact, that there is only one border that is open. This is were the only bus connection between both countries goes throug. There is one bus per day for each direction. We had the bus from Pakistan going back.
There was armed police inside the bus and two vehicles with gunmen around it. The indian forces had much fun clearing the way in the heavy traffic to Lahore, e.g. by smashing the mirrors of trucks with long sticks when the trucks would not immediately give way for us.
The bus made stops at three rest areas, where we were not allowed to move freely. This was annoying, you can imagine.
There should be more friendship symbols and real undertakings towards a peace process between these countries. This sweet illustrations is set up in one of the rest areas where we stopped.
So at the border: on the Indian side, all luggage had to be taken from the bus, taken through customs individually (and of course inspected), then put on the bus again, driven some hundered meters within the borderland and the same procedure at the Pakistan side again. We spent 3 hours at the border, which is considerably short. No one was rejected.
This is just after the border, on the Pakistan side. The Pakistan police was better armed and i guess they would also be much better trained in case of trouble.
They deployed four motorbikes and at least three cars, clearing the way. In Lahore they stopped the traffice on every road we passed, so we did rush through Lahore and were at the Terminal only half an hour late. The trip took 12,5 hours all in all. I was actually very tired, becuase I couldnt sleep in the bus. But my hosts picked me up fast and after a brief tour around the Law University (LUMS), I went home and to bed not too late.
So, Delhi again. I have admit, that I dont like the city. It gives you a hard time compared to other indian cities. But the good thing: today I bought my busticket to Lahore and will leave Delhi tomorrow morning to arrive in Lahore early evening.
I am very much looking forward. The big army operation in the North West of Pakistan is in full process, and the last weeks attacks even in Lahore happened, but I think it is still save enough to go.
These fellows are inhabiting the "Delhi 2010 Asian games" Promotion and Administration building. A great playground for them.
But as well they are frequent visitors of the swimming pool in the back of the place where I stay.
Actually shot in Bangalore, Freddie, one of the six dogs of my host, came with us to visit the southern outskirts of Bangalore.
The next good-bye: tomorrow I head to Delhi for some days.
Actually, Bangalore gave me a hard time today: I wanted to go home and have a rest before going out in the evening again, but traffic was so incredible bad (it is the evening before dewali) plus the auto driver didnt know anything (literally: anything) about this city. And in addition I was not sure about the way either, as I had been in a part of the city I had never been before (visiting the sikh community for a chai – actually I just dropped by and they invited me to stay in the facilities around their temple). So, it took 95 minutes to reach my home here. When I arrived, I was so wasted from the noise and smog…
We had some fresh chopped sugarcane. This fellow is chopping it into little pieces that you can put in your mouth and chew. The sweet juice is nice and you spit out the rest.
And as a counterpart: this women is texting in the middle of the traffic chaos some stuff into her mobile.
For unknown reasons there a lot of older and beautiful buildings unused and rotting away. I asked some people about it, noone knew.
So, bye bye Bangalore.
A snapshot that shows different layers of the city.
I got up early and went together with my host to the market, something you shouldnt miss when in India. As Divali is approaching, flowers are the big thing:
You buy them by arm-length (therfore it might be a good idea to have short armed sellers) and they are lined up in chains. I was told they are all local growns, mostly not in big farms, and transported from villages to little towns until they end up here where resellers for Bangalore buy them. The smell, of course, was beautiful.
The smell might actually make your head a bit dizzy. But I guess this woman is tired because she got up very early to reserve a good spot at the market.
So, the other big thing are spices and special roots and wood to burn.
This is a juicer, powered with gasoline, smelling like "autos" and – I suppose – running for decades already.
I was surprised when I read in a City Guide that Bangalore is also known as the "City of Gardens", as I had not yet noticed that many green here. But compared to e.g. Delhi it is true. Taking the rare opportunity, I spent most of sunday in the Botanical Garden. Entry fee is 10 Rs, a prize that not all but a lot of people can afford to pay.
This is a natural elevation rising inside the botanical garden, a big rock basically.
And like anywhere in India, on top you find some temple.
These fellows I have not exactly missed personally, but I was wondering if there are any in Bangalore. In Delhi they annoyed me slightly a couple of years ago as they are not only thieves by heart but also fed by locals.
A picture to celebrate the beauty and modernity of Bangalore public transportation: the "auto". Of course it is a bit nasty to say this, but these 3 wheelers are heavily polluting the air, noone inside would survice a crash (but in fact: traffic here is heavy but smooth) and everyone relies on them.
At Hong Kong Airport, where I changed planes, you can buy anything that might help you feel better than your neighbour and that makes sure that you are in any case recognised as a member of the ruling class.
Virtu is the companie’s name and the price is in HKD. This is about 32000 USD.
Well, as long as you don’t know how to spend your money, maybe you should take a rest as the cows in Bangalore do everywhere.
