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.