This morning we pored again over maps and guidebooks to work out the best Indian tour. We passed through Multan (Multan is a city in Punjab, Pakistan. Multan is also known as the city of Saints. Located on the banks of the Chenab River, Multan is Pakistan's 7th largest city, and is the major cultural and economic centre of southern Punjab.) at 08:30 hrs. and wondered if we would reach Lahore before we became totally submerged in the dust that blew in through the windows.
Eventually we came to the fertile valley of the Punjab where five rivers come together and trees and greenery abound. The train went on and on stopping at every two-bit station along the way. It was already hours late and I was getting extremely irritable in the dusty heat of the compartment, despite an increased interest in the “The Lord of the Rings” tale. At long last, and four and a half hours late, we laboured into Lahore station.
Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab. It is the country's 2nd largest city after Karachi and currently the 18th largest city proper in the world. Immediately several pests sprang into our carriage and began to proffer hotel cards and unsolicited advice. We fought our way passed them and out of the station, with a few ripe expletives from George, into a grubby smoky town.
Two wretches still persisted in following us even after we stopped for a meal (which Jan only managed to pick at again) and one, a particularly slimy fellow, we were hard-pressed not to physically dissuade. Eventually he got the message and fell behind as we made our way to the YMCA on the Mall.
Our loathing for this vile creature was fuelled by the many tales of thievery and trickery associated with Lahore, especially the despicable practice of planting dope in the hotel rooms of travellers where-by the the police and the informant profit from the resulting bribe money required for the victim to escape charges.
YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by Sir George Williams in London, originally as the Young Men's Christian Association, and aims to put Christian principles into practice by developing a healthy "body, mind, and spirit".
From its inception, it grew rapidly and ultimately became a worldwide movement founded on the principles of muscular Christianity. Local YMCAs deliver projects and services focused on youth development through a wide variety of youth activities, including providing athletic facilities, holding classes for a wide variety of skills, promoting Christianity, and humanitarian work.
We had tea in a pleasant tea room just around the corner while we waited for the YMCA (the safest place to stay according to our travel guides) to house a lot of the text-book travellers that we love to hate. We were booked into an austere but clean enough double room (2 nights for 40 Rupees each) and George set off for the cold shower.
After a week of travelling with Jan we were glad of a break from the soapy fellow – he had a single room across the corridor. First on my agenda was to scrub off the ingrained grime of the last couple of days. My hair was stiff and the dirt was so deep that I had to spend a long time, and a great deal of soap, crouching under the cold tap (labelled hot) in the shower stall. Finally, I felt clean at last, and fresh clothes made me feel like a new man.
I wandered out onto the terrace, which overlooked the street and housed a basketball court, before returning to read under the rotary fan in our room. A restless night followed on the absurdly hard wooden bed.
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