Pakistan. Part I. DetailsMap
November There are checkpoints, anti-tank hedgehogs, automatic barrier gates, blocks of concrete and soldiers with machine guns on every road, in front of every more or less important establishment or hotel. Even though things are calm, everyone in the country is in constant anticipation of a terrorist attack. ![]() The police have bamboo sticks for batons. ![]() The skull and crossbones symbol with the skull in profile is curious. There are also frontal skull depictions, with a very odd anatomy of the lower jaw. ![]() The walls are bedecked with gas meters. ![]() And electricity meters. ![]() Wires are connected to the hefty electrical boxes through elegantly curved pipes, which keep the contacts dry in the rain (reminds me of East Timor). ![]() Post boxes. ![]() A mandatory element wherever people are sitting around: a large orange cooler with water. ![]() The water barrels on the roof of every building, meanwhile, must always be blue. ![]() Pakistanis love pigeons. There are pigeon coops everywhere. ![]() One of the main architectural embellishments here is a window in the shape of a six-pointed star. Homes use electricity very sparingly, and there are frequent power cuts. The entrance hallway gets light through the windows and a hole in the ceiling, which is simply covered up when it rains. ![]() Street posters. ![]() Coffins for sale. ![]() Graves are brightly decorated with flowers and pieces of cloth (almost like in Tonga). ![]() And it’s considered normal to bury your relatives right by your house (like in Tuvalu). ![]() If it were up to me, I would make the logo of Pakistani Islam a loudspeaker. ![]() Every single minaret has an array of loudspeakers perched at the top. ![]() Almost all gas stations sell CNG (compressed natural gas). Most cars here run on it. ![]() The most common car model in the country is the Suzuki Mehran. It’s manufactured in Pakistan. Curious Mehran decoration rituals exist here. Many people stick the letters RAK on the rear bumper (the exact significance of this remains unknown). ![]() In the north part of the country, decorating the keyhole with some kind of ornament is pretty much obligatory. ![]() Standard-issue license plates exist, but almost no one uses them. You can order plates with colors, lettering styles and sizes to suit any taste from a street vendor (like in Guyana). ![]() Public transport in Pakistan is fascinating and horrifying. Giant families squeeze themselves into incredibly cramped auto-rickshaw cabins. Exhaust fumes hang thick in the air, fanciful car horns sound non-stop. If you’d like to fully immerse yourself in the true atmosphere of Pakistan, I recommend that you turn on this soundtrack. ![]() People get very creative about finding themselves a spot on a vehicle. ![]() Did you know that you can easily fit four people onto the front bumper of a truck? ![]() The trucks themselves are decorated and customized in absolutely mind-blowing ways. In addition to being painted bumper-to-bumper and covered with hammered metal pieces and trinkets, every truck has a viewing deck built on over the driver’s cab, and its original doors are replaced with carved wooden ones. ![]() But the decorations on buses are even more incredible. ![]() Only here will you find such buses (also in DR Congo). ![]() Their level of ceremonial pomp and ornamental detail can compare to a Buddhist temple. ![]() People ride on the tops of buses as well: a ticket for a seat on the roof costs half as much as for one inside the bus. ![]() The bus driver uses the most ancient of methods—a stick—to clean his teeth. ![]() Bus stops are divided into two sections—for men and for women. ![]() Almost all the road signs in Pakistan are written in both Urdu and in English. ![]() Sometimes only in English. ![]() A digger. ![]() A stop sign (with a hand, like in Ethiopia). ![]() Throughout the entire trip, I struggled to imagine how Pakistanis managed to build—and where they keep—a nuclear bomb. |
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Pakistan. Part I. Details
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