"Wine" and Dine

Chief Justice Chaudhry's retirement day is marked by a tumultuous end to his rocky career, as only one private TV channel has been granted the privilege of exclusive coverage, which was responded by a boycott by all other media channels and reveals his close relationship with this specific media house. Likewise, the senior barristers boycott the farewell dinner, claiming his inaction over the clash between lawyers and the Police on the Supreme Court's premises. Several contempt cases against high profile politicians are being criticised by senior lawyers as abuse of power. His ardent call for implementation of Pakistan's laws stands against the more than 1,65 million cases still pending in all courts in the Country after his eight years' tenure.
But widely praised is his fight with the military and intelligence institutions over alleged human rights abuses. Under Chaudhry, the court consistently demanded the authorities to reveal the whereabouts of hundreds of missing people, allegedly held by Police or army.

US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel's visit to Islamabad suggests that the boycott of the NATO supply route will not be tolerated indefinitely, addressing it on the national level as Imran Khan continues his confrontational course. His call for a blockade of the route result in attacks on truck drivers, regardless the purpose of their trip as this is one of the primary commercial routes between Pakistan and Afghanistan. The provincial government in Peshawar being quiet about the legality of such a blockade, but the governing party (PTI) calling for one, the police is left entirely on their own in a dilemma how to react and protect the citizens.


Mullah Fazlullah, the new leader of the Pakistani Taliban, has returned from Afghanistan and reached Waziristan a couple of days ago, taking up his command. The government, officially still holding on to its strategy of "talks", assembles all involved actors from the state to set the path including alternatives in case the talks would fail.


A surprising phase of relative peace in these last weeks of the year and unusually sunny and bright winter days allow the spirits to raise and fully indulge into the starting wedding and party, dinner and concert season!
That is meant literally, as an evening might easily include all of them, one after the other, sometimes meeting the same friends again in the course of a night at different homes.

Alliance Française invites for a concert of four clarinetists and their performance of mostly contemporary composers is lifted to another level by the powerful finale of the national anthems of France and Pakistan, transmitted by recorded tape and flooding the audience thanks to obviously very capable loudspeakers!
The thanks at the end of the concert go to a carpenter, who managed to construct four prototypes of "pupitres" within a few hours as such equipment could not be found locally, the musicians here usually taking seat on the floor and rescuing the "Quatuor Anches Hantées" of having to improvise a new style on stage.

Qawwali musicians in an intimate private salon mesmerize the audience, that sits on plush purple velvet cushions and carpets, dressed in elaborate silk and cashmere shalwar kameez, the atmosphere dense with emotions and the vibrating voices of the young male singers surrounding the charismatic lead singer. Trying to fold and cross and hide my bare legs under a skirt that is much too short for that purpose, a charming friend offers me her shawl, that floats as a cloud of heavenly soft shatoosh wool over my knees, hold on place only by the weight of pure gold stitching - inherited by her mother's mother and for sure the finest cloth that ever touched my skin.

Pakistani hospitality is simply unmatched - food for the soul is paired with food for the stomach, generous and sensual and so another buffet laden with delicacies for a gentle break during the concert, at midnight!

Clothes sometimes send messages entirely on their own, regardless of the the persons wearing them - only a few blocks apart, the ones offering culinary highlights from another culture, as the others let Santa Claus sing on high tones...

Advent arrangements go through an amazing transformation to appeal to the local taste:

Yet another year of many fundraising and charity events concludes with the Christmas Ball - now this one just for pleasure and fun. The cutting edge DJ from Lahore, as usual, completely ignoring every advice regarding our choice of music, lets us dance to the beat of rock and techno and I start to understand the deeper meaning behind the lovely bouquet of white gladioli that he so kindly offered me before the party started...

                                                                 Merry Christmas!

All Safe!

New appointments promise new beginnings and some space for hope: General Kayani hands over the baton of command as army chief of the seventh largest army in the world - the 'Malacca Cane' - to General Raheel Sharif. Kayani led the successful operations in Swat and the tribal areas against extremists, but got public criticism after the Osama Bin Laden raid by US Special Forces. "Negligence" shown by the armed forces explained how OBL could live for nine years right under their nose in Abbottabad and the raid happening without their knowledge or interference. Sharif, an experienced commander himself, is coming from a highly awarded military family and his appointment is met with great respect.

Chief Justice Chaudhry will be released in a few days from his tenure after having exhausted every nook and corner of his office (some would say even beyond that) during his four year term and replaced with Justice Jillani, who is expected to be less of an interventionist as his predecessor, as he denied recently judicial interference in the constitutional domain of the Executive.
Prime Minister Sharif asks for "speedy" trials of terrorists, their cases to be decided in 14 days and judges should be allowed to wear masks and hold trials through video links.

For the first time a US drone hits outside the FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Area) a madrassa in a settled area inside Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, one of the four provinces, killing six people including a senior leader of the Haqqani network and prompting a furious response by the Interior Minister. PTI chairman Imran Khan stages another protest demonstration in Peshawar, once more announcing his intention to block NATO supplies "forever", challenging the Federal Government's authority in this issue. His popularity not only among the educated young Pakistanis is visibly vanishing, as his record of governing is mostly limited to the drone topic . "Taliban Khan" is circulating as a little flattering name for his appeasement approach regarding the Taliban.

Fatima Bhutto, Benazir Bhutto's niece, is on her way to Europe and USA to promote her second book, a novel "The Shadow of the Crescent Moon" - a chance to meet her again for a lunch at the Dean's residence together with a few Ambassadors. Carrying the Bhutto charisma with such style and poise she immediately charms all the guests. A lively political round table and as the Dean assigns the seats to the guests he invites two of the Ambassadors - one of them my enchanted husband - to "surrender" at both sides of beautiful Fatima - no need, surrender already complete... ("surround her", he immediately corrects, after a big round of laughs).

Agas' (our girls' club!) daily life is marked by contrasts hard to imagine. One day we are all confined to the Enclave, gates sealed, and all we can do is connect by e-mail (phone services being suspended) and meet for a walk to celebrate the actual space of freedom we still enjoy! Hélas, in sneakers and jeans, we adventurously circle around the embassy compounds and greet our sisters in fate warmly -

and then gain back some little freedom in the following days, heading immediately for a really exciting shopping tour with our dear friend and last companion from the "Wild Gang", a long list of "to buy" at hand, since leaving a post - we all know- means stocking up all those precious worldly goods that we will never be able to acquire anywhere else (never mind if we would ever be able to actually USE them…).
The first stop is not going to be a real threat to our purses, despite the declared availability and welcome of the shop owner, as we are unable to locate the iron hammer that surely must replace the simple door knob to gain access.

The second is already much more of a temptation, but still we leave without much success, as none of us is able to take such difficult decisions as whether the feathers and ruffles should be in matching or contrasting colors - of course all in easy to care polyester and nylon.

The Swiss rules and regulations regarding all sort of safety measures have a long arm and reach even the furthest corners of the world - we are on Swiss territory after all and must enjoy protection, relentless and at all costs. Happy to be saved from another life threatening danger - one we were not even aware of - after a team from Switzerland spent two weeks installing fire alarms in every room with impressive rescue buttons and triple and quadruple fire safety doors - added to the already existing safety doors and barriers - I might consider claustrophobia an interesting new feeling to explore.

Next post - all about the parties, the fun, the teas, fundraising, charity season has began…

Mourners On The Streets

The Pakistani Taliban TTP (Tarek-e-Taliban Pakistan) have a new leader, Mullah Fazlullah. He was the commander in Swat during their terror regime from 2007 to 2009 and had the nickname "Mullah Radio" as his hate speeches were constantly flowing on air at the time. On his account goes the recent killing of Major General Sanaullah, the army commander in Malakand/Swat. Still in Afghanistan at the moment, he will have to live up to Hakimullah's charisma to be able to keep together the fragile network of TTP affiliated organizations. A decentralization would further split them on the question of talks with the government, but hardly limit the threats of terror attacks to be expected in their competition to gain authority among the groups.


The days of Muharram have begun - Ashura, remembering and mourning the martyrdom of Hussein, one of Prophet Muhammad's grandsons, who was killed in Karbala (today Iraq) - bring impressive processions of Shia Muslims, mostly dressed in black attire, beating on the chest and the back, some even scratching their head with sharp blades until blood runs down their faces.
The security forces in Pakistan are on high alert during these days, many roads are closed all over the country, all mobile services are shut down and no one is allowed to witness processions from rooftops. Massive search operations lead to the discovery and seizure of arsenals of arms and ammunition that were to be used against Muharram processions, several planned attacks throughout the country could be prevented thanks to these efforts.

Nevertheless, in Rawalpindi, a city of three million inhabitants, violence costs nine lives and dozens of injured, prompting the army to step in and take over the responsibility for the security. The city is now under curfew.

What means roaming the streets chanting for some, even if not quite happily, means home confinement for others, such as us diplomats, as all plans and invitations are simply wiped out by the security team! As there is no way of observing what is going on outside, but through the medias who report thousands of mourners gathering at their annual route in Islamabad, my thoughts wander with the Shias to Karbala twenty three years back, when I was pushing my baby daughter Carla in a stroller on the rough square in front of the golden plated and turquoise tiled mosque. Ardent sun heated the air into shimmering layers as some boys played with buckets full of water, women passed by wrapped in their black Abayas and the men in their colorful suits and hats from different islamic cultures. It was our last excursion as a young family in Baghdad, where we were posted at the time, before we left for the much longed for summer break - a break from the relentless heat, that turned out to be a break without end, a vacation without return…

Only a few weeks later, the ongoing agony of the people of Iraq began, with two Gulf wars following the Kuwait crisis - and after twenty three years still no end to the sufferings in sight, but the interest of the world and the main protagonists during that period has vanished.

Luckily in the last days before Muharram brave friends from Switzerland overcome all worrying and well meaning discouragements from family and friends, board the plane and head for a visit - though with no travel guide in their luggage, as there was not a single one in German about Pakistan to be found, but the one "Kultur Schock Pakistan".
We visit Taxila, an ancient and important Gandhara place near Islamabad, where a group of young Pakistanis play Cricket, completely unimpressed on top of a precious excavation site dating back three thousand years - still waiting to be dug.

Nearby a few men hammer relentlessly mortars out of the local grey stone - being sold to grind spices and grains. We consider them a little too bulky to offer them as souvenirs to our guests, weight of luggage is sadly limited these days by the airlines...

The journey with our friends continues to Rawalpindi - "Pindi Windi" and twin city of Islamabad, the older twin - and the plan is a walk through the old bazar. Plans have their own dynamics here and the casual stroll turns unexpectedly into a sprint through the stalls in company of Sheikh Rashid Ahmed with well armed guards around us. We are his guests and that will remain no secret, as it will be aired on television and print media, a surprise at least to us visiting guests! The ladies are not given the chance to spend a single rupee though, as on the first stop a vendor slips on our arms numerous glass bangles in a few seconds and with full force, as our arms unfortunately lack the fineness of Asian wrists and generously offered as a gift.

As we ask about the gold jewelry shops, we are allowed to enter one for approximately five seconds, leaving the vendor perplex and not knowing if that was a clever manouvre to save our lives from an unseen danger or the content of our husbands' purses.

On our hurried "walk" the Sheikh guides us through old alleys to his properties - some of them left and abandoned by Hindu families leaving for India during partition in 1947 - and arrive at one of the buildings that he has donated to a women's college. As over time whole trees have been happily growing out of the cracks of the old ruin, one wonders, if sleeping beauty will ever awake to new life.

The heat has definitely eased up giving way to this wonderfully bright light and crisp air - time for the upholsterers to refresh the cotton fillings of the warm winter mattresses!

Two "Maharanis" in Lahore

Prime Minister Shariff embarks on two much anticipated official visits - one over the Atlantic and the other crossing the Channel. The setting on the photos sent back home change from traditional elegance with a fireplace between the posing protagonists (hoping, the lack of a warm fire in it is merely the expression of a mild autumn day in Washington) to the more austere look of regal British office atmosphere, a black vase with a few yellow and pink flowers between the two beige armchairs (no obvious abundance in that regard). The comments on the outcome vary, but agree there is not much news to be reported - the lingering issues being put on the table awaiting further discussions.

The drones are for sure one of them and a heated discussion flares up on the number of civilian casualties of the strikes that have been reported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to range between 400 and 600 and the Ministry of Defence that counted 67 civilian casualties. Neither Amnesty International, nor the UN or the Pakistani government has had any investigators on the ground in the drone hit areas to gather reliable datas. No media has been allowed access and only personal accounts of affected family members and communities tell about their suffering.

Imran Khan, whose party runs the government of Khyber Pakhtunkwa, the hardest hit area by militants, presents a documentary (produced by his former wife Jemimah Khan), which tells the personal stories of affected people who suffered losses in their families, about their own injuries and the psychological fall out.

Only a few days later the news about a drone strike killing Hakimullah Mehsud, the leader of Tehreek-e-Taliban, hits the country like a bombshell. He was caught in his recently built house with green lawns and marble floors, a fatal desire to settle - at least in between - into a more bourgeois lifestyle, obviously not advisable for a target of his stature.
The government is taken by surprise - a delegation on its way to get in touch with the TTP leadership about opening talks was being stopped right before the attack at the border to North Waziristan - and the statements express anger about the "sabotaged peace talks" and Imran Khan's party PTI threatens to choke the Nato supply routes to Afghanistan.
Infamous for his cruelty and bloody attacks especially against Pakistani security forces, his military skills and leadership abilities, called the "King of Terror", he is now laid to rest in a secret ceremony in order to avoid the funeral being the target of another drone strike and the TTP Shura is assembling to appoint a new leader today - the country holds its breath in anticipation of retaliation attacks.


More tensions erupt in divided Kashmir along the 740-kilometre Line of Control, that divides the larger Indian controlled part from the smaller Pakistani Northern part of the region across mountaintops and glaciers. Both countries claim the entire region for themselves and three wars have been waged between Pakistan and India - Kashmir appears to be a fortress, with allegedly half a million soldiers stationed by the Indians alone in Jammu Kashmir. The majority of the population are muslim, but in 1947 the maharaja requested military support from New Delhi and joined the Union of India after an attack from Pashtun tribal warriors from Pakistan. The people of Kashmir are paying the price for the dispute.

The old city of Lahore - an illusive dream to reach the hidden treasures and spots, the walled old town during official visits, sadly, but to the rescue comes the hospitality of the Protocol of the Foreign Ministry! Melted down from a larger group of spouses, we two remaining sisters in adventure embark on a tour that fulfills many of our dreams and lifts us in a former Maharaja's palace, where we are expected by a sumptuous "welcome snack" and servants asking for dresses to be ironed! No, no need, we left the elaborate silk saris at home, but ask for ice and orange juice instead later in the evening, as we chat into the night between the columns and under the starry sky on the terrace. He would bring both at the same time - which then takes quite a while... We wonder, until we learn that he pedaled with his bicycle to find an open shop in town to get the juice (I will certainly remember that experience one day with great nostalgia...)!

Walking through the walled inner city, where the small streets and alleys along our path are marked with white chalk powder for our welcome, we arrive at the beautiful mosque where we are expected with comfortable chairs to sit to change into black rubber slippers - the high guests are exempt from walking in socks or barefoot. Small groups of young students sit and study with their teachers in various corners of the mosque, undisturbed by the visitors at this early morning hour.

An old Sikh temple with the elaborately carved rosewood bed for the Holy Book (our grandmothers would not have seen much of a difference to their matrimonial beds) makes for a comfortable rest. We are very warmly welcomed and hear praise about the long history of tolerance between religions that is so sadly threatened these days.

The journey continues, along the magical white marks...

... and through such narrow alleys, that one assumes neighbors really, really get to know each other very well, to the Badshahi Mosque, one of the oldest in the city, excavations bring marks of old baths and steam rooms as part of the site and in the strikingly plain painted main hall a guard of the mosque steps in one of the niches, crosses his arms in front of his chest and starts singing, that love be deeper than the ocean, as even the deepest part of the sea could be measured, but never the depth of love. Touching silence for a long moment, after the song.

A shopkeeper is closing her beauty parlor...

...and we continue for a last visit of the day to Sheikhupura for the Deer Tower, a one hour drive outside Lahore, a maharaja's place for hunting and the setting sun evokes the times when wild animals gathered at the lake, ideally placed for the princely hunters to aim and shoot with their arrows.

The care and protection leaves nothing to be desired for or worried about and we are queenly accompanied on every step of our walk through history, streets and buildings and guided by wonderfully caring hosts.

A special trained force leaves, literally, no place for fear - that counts for the protector as well as for the protected, I assume.

Walima Glamour in Faisalabad

Former President Musharraf enjoyed one full day of relief and started packing for his long expected departure to Dubai, when he was confronted with a new arrest warrant regarding the 2007 raid on the Red Mosque in Islamabad, a day after a court granted him bail in a separate case. His home, a villa at the outskirts of Islamabad, was declared a "sub-jail" by now, his travel plans on hold once more.


President Hussain issues an ordinance to further amend the anti-terror laws and Prime Minister Sharif announces to raise a special anti-terrorism force to end the "blood game" that haunts the country, still upholding the determination to start talks with the Taliban.
At the day of their respective announcements, blasts hit all four provincial capitals, with dozens killed in Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar and Quetta simultaneously.
The number of organizations banned by the government has almost doubled during the last two years, counting 63 by now. This raise in number only partially accounts to the fact that after being banned, the groups change their name and operate sometimes as a political, charitable or religious wing of a political or religious party - "the outlawed outsmart the law" as a commentator put it. Rival parties emerge after a leader has been killed, the heightened Sunni-Shia conflict has led to new groups to emerge or expand and Balochistan makes for a steady number of militant separatist groups.


Imran Khan, party chairman of PTI, the major political party in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, continues his mantra of talking with the Taliban as the direct road leading to peace and prosperity. It remains to be defined who actually will be part of these "chosen Taliban", as Hakimullah Mehsud, one of their leaders, denies any responsibility for any attack happening on Pakistan's soil as being unislamic, giving interviews on BBC while happily frolicking along a riverbank in Waziristan. Last night the law minister of KP was killed in a suicide attack along with eight men as he was visiting friends on the festive day of the religious holiday Eid.


The determined effort by the government to strengthen ties between India and Pakistan hit a rocky road as deadly confrontations on the line of control (LoC) between Pakistani and Indian controlled Kashmir erupt again.

Malala Yousufzai, the amazing girl who keeps on inspiring girls in Pakistan to pursue their education, has become a star all over the western hemisphere and the list of awards and honors, the countless speeches at impressive institutions and universities, interviews on numerous shows on television and radio, inaugurations of libraries and schools, keeps on growing. Her portrait at the National Portrait Gallery, a "Malala Fund", a biography about her life, a documentary about to be produced, honorary citizenship, tea with the Queen at Buckingham Palace and at the White House with the Presidential family. One hopes that this 16 years old teenager who had to endure a near fatal attack just a year ago will be able to cope with that cyclone of public interest she has been drawn into.


A wedding invitation to Faisalabad - former Lyallpur, that still remembers Sir Charles James Lyall as the founder of the city in the 19th century, now home to over six million people and pleasantly welcoming with its beautiful gardens. After a sumptuous welcome lunch the ladies suggest a shopping trip, as the city is well known for its textile industry. Shopping trip?? Simply walking on foot out of the hotel??? A rare pleasure indeed and of course everyone agrees enthusiastically - we are women, after all... Meeting at the lobby shortly afterwords and, well, not so surprisingly, the security guy just silently shakes his head, no, not on the markets, and nowhere else either the way we are dressed... So, a few head back to change to be driven to a small shopping mall, as others decide to have a nap to pass the time until the announced high tea, adapting to the local tradition of keeping the jaw muscles in good shape.

The wedding reception, Walima, starts for the foreign guests on a secluded island in a pond where glasses are filled with more refined products of fruit juices than the usual natural fresh version and after a small chat with the glamorous wedding couple that sits on a large sofa greeting more than one thousand guests (!) - the skills of a true makeup artist keeps the bride looking impeccable and stunning through the night and her own remarkable stamina (the wedding adrenaline rush, I assume) lets her hold onto her smile with no break -

... the banquet follows with international cuisine:

The mild sun at the brunch next morning is definitely shining too bright for the young bride and her sister as they cover their sensitive morning eyes with Parisian sunglasses, as the male part of the jeunesse dorée of Faisalabad and Hyderabad displays the whole variety of polo playing horsemen on their colorful shirts - an American designer is apparently hitting the fashionable taste of the local elite.

Eidul Azha, the Muslim festivities commemorating Abraham sacrificing a lamb and meant to be a two day celebration, is unexpectedly turned into a generous six day holiday this year by the government. A stroll through the cattle market, where goats, lambs, oxes and camels await their destiny of being slaughtered as a symbolic gesture, all made up beautifully with paint and flower decorations, evokes the desire to have seafood and vegetables on the menu for the coming days.

This means a shopping visit to nearby Metro, known for their fresh fish selection in Islamabad.

Well, reality is challenged to live up to the reputation, but without losing completely all hope for some items worth to be bought, I head for the section "International Cuisine" to find a full display cabinet of Hershey's syrup, some pickles, small boxes of real corn flakes and Weetabix!! Why not Weetabix then, haven't tasted them since my visit to England as a teenager. At the cash register, the friendly clerk shakes his head, no, a price fight with the company forbids to sell Weetabix right now. No price offer can change his mind and I pack the bananas, the corn flakes and the bundle of small banknotes back into the purse...

Flying High

After the general elections held in May, it is now up to the National and Provincial Assemblies to elect a new President on July 30, 2013. PPP, the party that hold power during the last five years and had to experience its worst defeat, decides to boycott this election to protest against the "rescheduling of the presidential poll", that was done because of purely practical reasons.
Some names of respected and seasoned personalities have been submitted, the candidate of PML-N, Mamnoon Hussein, most likely to win.  Born in Agra under the British Raj in 1940, his family emigrated to Pakistan after partition in 1947, he lives and works in Karachi, where he owns a textile company. A former governor of Sindh, the Southern province in the country and home turf of the main political opposition force PPP, he is regarded being an old loyalist of Sharif and generally viewed as a man of good reputation, "not known for speaking too much". His role would be more of a ceremonial nature as understood by the Constitution. The new President will be sworn in on September 8, succeeding the actual President Zardari.

The relentless rhythm of deadly attacks continues, hitting preferably on the week-ends. The targets, the victims and the inflicting terrorist groups vary and new names of until now unknown groups surface, constantly trying to destabilize the country by terror.

The advisor to the Prime Minister on foreign affairs and national security, Sartaj Aziz, visits Kabul in a new effort to soothe the relations and contribute to the reconciliation process in Afghanistan. The Prime Minister calls for a strategy to initiate dialogue with all neighbouring countries of Afghanistan and not to support any specific group in order to help stabilizing the country.
More and more it is understood, that besides the Taliban, all major ethnic political groups like Hazaras, Uzbeks, Tajiks and Pashtoons have to be included in the talks and the power sharing, as ruling Afghanistan would not be possible for a single minority alone, but that each of them had enough political and military power to seriously destabilize or topple any government in Kabul. Once the ISAF has left, the Afghan war will not only be fought in tribal areas, but it will have drastic impact in Lahore, Karachi and Quetta. According to Kasuri, a former Foreign Minister, the ongoing killings of Hazaras in Balochistan, the sectarian conflicts and disputes over religious issues are an outcome of Pakistan's role in Afghanistan.





Yippiiiie!! Every single obstacle (and there are many, as everyone knows who is trying...) preventing a trip to the Northern Area, Gilgit-Baltistan, has been overcome successfully and I am on the way around Benazir Bhutto Airport, in company of a small group of colleagues, a bag and a shawl in my hand. Even the more remote areas away from the runways are well watched and guards make good use of stairs, that furnish the landscape as a left over by an Asian airline that disappeared a while ago, for a comfortable climb to their lookouts - their lodging set up right behind in the shade.

The flight begins - Gilgit, Shigar Fort, Khaplu, Hunza, names that kept coming back as a tempting dream are now, finally, about to come alive!

The highly renowned Aga Khan Foundation is present with many projects in the North, improving the life of the very modestly living population in collaboration with partners from around the world - schools, hospitals and small community projects.
A repairman in the village Daghoni got a training in putting electrical appliances back to function and skeletons of what remotely resemble television devices from another century are waiting for their turn to come back to life. Turkish soap operas are said to be the most popular program here in Pakistan.

At Hassanabad in the Hunza valley, where a water sanitation scheme has been put in place, two young ladies from that same village instruct the women on hygiene - gastrointestinal deceases are the second most important health issue. Worms are a big concern and find their way in different forms into the human body - we visitors who follow the topic could all pass easily as totally sterile, as even hand sanitizers from our handbags follow the intense scrubbing with soap and water afterwords.

Happy smiles by the elderly participants at the end of the seminar are surely expressions of enthusiasm about the program, as they are asking to be photographed, and warmly touch and tightly hug the foreign guest.


Stones are, of course, plentiful and in inexhaustible supply and walking through the village, one of my friends exclaims in surprise to a villager, passing a fence in front of a house: "Oh, you have a rock garden!"

Well, more the building material for a house to be built on that property, as it turns out...

Gurgling brooks along the pathways in the village provide not only a refreshing sight and sound, but efficient washing machines along the way. Small water pools, built to separate parts of the water flow, let the streaming water wash the clothes spinning and turning them in a steady cycle. Hanging the clean clothes on the tree branches above make a practical drying facility - one of the most energy friendly systems, one can say.

Shigar Fort near Skardu and the Royal Palace in Khaplu make part of the Aga Khan Foundation's cultural engagement - ancient Rajah palaces in the high mountains have been renovated and given back its marvelous splendor of other times, serving now as boutique hotels for some decades, before they will be given back to the successors of these princely families. The local people identify with this heritage, are being trained and now build their houses again in that old traditional way of stones and woodwork.

Breakfast, lunch, brunch, high tea, Iftar, dinner, every meal and every rest at another stunningly romantic place and as one of the accompanying colleagues and friends remarks, eating is our only physical exercise on this travel.

Gone are the times when PIA offered "Mountain Safaris", a flight around the highest peaks of the earth, even "Moonshine Safaris" on nights under the cool light of full moon - sadly, the tourists are gone...

But luckily the helicopter is lifting us few passengers and without luggage high into thin air, as it would not be able to carry additional weight to that altitude. Hours in the sky, hovering in space at slow speed and the thoughts floating between  reality and dreams as the triangle between Himalaya, Hindu Kush and Karakoram reveals its breathtaking beauty. In the middle of the highest mountains and rocks, that are folded into stunning formations millions of years ago with their veins of different layers visible, the surface still transforms as mountain streams are tumbling down and tear down entire sandy slopes. There is no sign of civilization and the small paths I follow with my eyes turn out to end in nowhere, merely casual trails, trampled by animals on their search for food and water. Small patches of green arise where there is water and little soil. The colors change with the light of the sun and slowly the variety of pastel tones of beige and grey turn into many shades of pink and deep purple - glaciers, partly covered with a crust of sand and stones and sometimes in dazzling white with deep crevasses and no longer appears this landscape to be part of my world, but of an unfamiliar planet, being part of a bigger system and deep down a notion, a touch with eternity...