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If any
city gets a bum rap it's Karachi. The English cricket
team recently pulled the test match from their October
2005 series here because of security doubts. In March
the US State Department was advising against all
unnecessary travel to Pakistan and had closed it's
Consular's public operations in Karachi. The British
High Commission, which I visited once to register is a
strange place. I was ushered into the pokey reception
area where i told the staff there, one security guard
and one other, that as a British national temporarily
working in Pakistan I'd come to register. They looked at
my passport and looked at it intently then the guy
nipped round the back with the passport. He returned and
told me to come back tomorrow. I then explained that in
fact I had a day job and that from the hours of 8 till
2, coincidentally their hours, I too was busy. Through
the window I saw a couple of staff heading off to play
tennis. Oh well...thanks for your help guys. I sent them
an e mail...that was not replied to!
Getting
Around
I was
staying in Defence, a military owned 'enclave' fairly
close to the centre. The only time I used public
transport was to take what they call a rickshaw, in
Indonesia a bajaj, Bangladesh baby taxi, to Park Towers,
a swish mall in nearby Clifton. The driver wasn't sure
of the way but HE TURNED THE METER ON!!! Normally for
getting around I called for a Metro Radio Cab. Plenty of
buses which had women sitting at the front and everybody
clambering all over the place, I was in Pakistan for
work not the experience, Metro were fine!
Places To Stay
I
stayed at the Beach Luxury Hotel which neither has a
beach or is particularly luxurious. A nice view though.
The rooms weren't great, the beds were so narrow I fell
out a couple of times and the air conditioning was
centrally controlled. you couldn't adjust it in the
room. Still I saw Basil Brush on TV for the first time
in years! The location wasn't the best, consider
somewhere more central
Things To See & Do
Flag
Staff House - once home to Mohammed Jinnah Ali, now a
museum
Quaid i
Azam Mausoleum - resting place of Jinnah
Sadder
- narrow congested streets with markets
Park
Towers - shopping mall for rich locals and expats with
excellent bookshops and a supermarket selling all those
hard to get luxuries like Frosties and Lucozade!
|
Click
Here For Images
of Karachi |
Outside of Karachi
Again
the best way to reach these places is to hire a cab.
Hawkes
Bay - beach area and also has a WWF wetlands area where
you can hire a boat and paddle around awhile
Paradise Point - another beach area with spectacular
cliffs and rough seas. |
