Immediately after crossing the border we made for Regale Internet Inn at Lahore. The cab drivers at the border seem to know this guesthouse, and getting a cab driver to go there was easy. Rooms were fully taken at the inn, except for dormitories, which we settled for in the end. They cost about 4 SGD per night. The room was clean, but it became stuffy and hot intermittently throughout the night since Lahore has power blackouts periodically and hence the fans went out at times.

The transition from India to Pakistan is palpable. Not far from our crashpad was a Subway outlet! We had our lunch there because for once we can get veggies in our meal.


We had another snack at this roadside restaurant... the burgers are huge and cost less than 2 dollars each. Can't get such stuff in India, since the patty was made of beef.


Post lunch, we took a walk around town.


This is the Mall. The colonial legacy is evident in the architecture.


Pakistan has something that India largely doesn't have: a park. This is Jinnah Library, nestled in Lawrence Gardens, a pleasant place in the city with lots of trees and greenery and families.


/>











Mention Pakistan and people will think of ultra-conservatism, uptightness and a land of no smiles. This is clearly not the case here. The policeman in the picture was amiable and obliging when we asked for a photo, and he even joked that he is not a member of the Taliban. He told us that he was guarding the chief minister's office, and that there was a bomb blast not far from his position a while ago.




We visited a bazaar in a bid to get cheap pairs of shalwar kameez. We failed because the shops opened too late and we had to leave to catch the bus to Islamabad. We did manage to interact with the locals and take a few pictures of the market though.




We had tea and cake for breakfast at this man's stall below. Pakistanis are a surprisingly cosmopolitan people; the guy who made the tea in the photo below worked for 8 years in Japan, and could speak Japanese. Amazing.





















We left the bazaar for the bus stand, but not before we were given free Muslim pamphlets by a street store owner.



Just to show how great Pakistan is, this is the rest point on our way from Lahore to Islamabad. It is easily the nicest resting point for bus trips I have seen in my life. There is carpet grass, and meat is grilling outside the building. There is no rubbish lying all over the ground, and we actually met a Pakistani guy who could speak fluent Mandarin!