The warm welcome at the mosque

We had a very uncomfortable night. The electricity kept going off, and we checked it was the whole hotel. But during the night it went off permanently so we had no aircon or fan. In the morning we found it was just our room that had stayed off.

We set off at 8.15 for the Museum of Buddhist treasures that had been excavated by a British archaeologist H Hargreaves under John Marshall at various sites near Taxila. It was a very well-presented museum with many interesting pieces, including Buddha heads that looked Greek - Alexander was here. We visited the ancient city of Sirkap, founded in the first part of second century BCE. On the way out we met a group of Pakistani Christians who all wanted photos taken with us. Evidence indicates four distinct periods -pre-Greek, Greek, Scythian and Parthian used the city over a period.

By now it was very hot and humid. We continued on to another site Dharmarajika, to see a huge stupa and other remains, then we headed down the Great Trunk Road to Islamabad, where we lunched on some Samosas and pakoras from a stall. They were very tasty but the flies were terrible.
The hotel looks very smart and has aircom so let’s hope it it works!

After a short rest we visited an ethnographic museum. Lok Bitsa Museum. It was really good, with the history of all the regions and the inter -connection with the adjoining countries. The Iran section showed how world class their ceramics is. Exhibits included textiles, pots and sets of homes etc. I was often stopped by locals asking for selfies with them. In the shop I got Xmas decorations for just over £1 each. Not decorations as we know the, just pretty painted papier-mâché baubles.

Next stop was the Shah Faisal Mosque, for sunset, a 1970s construction made with money donated from Saudi. Irfan said they would have preferred to use it for housing as it is not used by many people even though it can accommodate 50,000 men. (No women allowed.). The architect was Turkish. We were not allowed in. The outside is huge and full of families. The grounds surrounding it are used for picnics. We had to stop for lots of selfies. I even had a baby thrust into my arms. People here are so welcoming as they don’t get many western tourists.

We then went to a beautiful old part of town, which had once been an old village, Saipur. We sat outside as the temperature was more pleasant. The veg curry was delicious, quite creamy. Also there was spinach. The others had grilled meats including quail. While waiting for the meal I had a walk to an old Hindu temple which had been reconstructed.

The bus dropped us off at the secondhand bookshop which Ted, the US chap we is a tour guide in Japan, wanted to show Iain. Meanwhile Lai Yong, his Singaporean wife took me to the dress shop. (She and Ted had got decked out in local clothes for the mosque). I didn’t want an outfit, just a scarf which I got for £8.

I went to the bookshop to meet Iain. The owner was very pleased to meet us and showed us an article about the gradual demise of second hand bookshops in the city, accompanied by a picture of his shop which had been in the Guardian.

It was 9.30 before we got back to the hotel. WiFi had gone off, but aircon worked. A very full-on day!