“If life were predictable it would cease to be life, and be without flavor.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
My work trip to Pakistan was my 1st trip to Pakistan. I had minimal information about Pakistan and its culture, let alone about its safety and security conditions. What I have been listening about Pakistan was not that pleasant. When I decided to take the offer I was not considering these factors.
We arrived at the Lahore airport late at night after almost 8 hours of flight time with one layover in Bangkok. Lahore is more than 4000 kilometres from Malaysia and it is 3 hours early from Malaysia.
I was worn out as we arrived at the Lahore airport. The ambiance at the airport was pale. It didn’t have the excitement of an international airport as I have experience in many other international airports in other countries.
Nevertheless, the people here were more welcoming than many other airports in the sense that there was not much staring and suspicion by the airport security. I still remember during my trip with my friends to Ho Chi Minh, my friend’s handphone was confiscated by the immigration officer. He was talking on the phone while queuing for immigration clearance. He was excited to report to his wife of his safe arrival. We always mocked him for being a live telecast reporter. That incident should have taught him a lesson. We all had a good laugh at him.
As for the Lahore airport, the immigration area looked friendly. There were three special counters, two meant for foreigners and one for family. As we were from business class we disembarked early and we were one of the 1st to arrive at the immigration. During the 1st trip, it was four of us Malaysian together. As we were about the queue at the foreign counter I was approached by the immigration officer who spoke to me in Urdu while pointing me towards the other counters.
This was the 1st of many mistaken identity incidents that I will experience. I told him politely while showing my passport that I’m a foreigner and I’m a Malaysian. He just left me there without saying anything further. However, later on I realised that all the other counters could also process my entry as a foreigner and most of the time it will be faster if I go to the other counters when we were first to disembark. The immigration officers were friendly even though they don’t speak English fluently.
The ambiance was calm until the economy class passengers disembarked. The small area became packed. I was observing that there were some people who got preferences and they didn’t have to queue at all. There were also few people who came to receive travellers and were allowed to enter until the immigration area. This creates confusion and disorientation. Maybe this is why they have additional checks of your passport even after the immigration clearance.
My immigration clearance was swift. We had our business visa issued manually from the High Commission of Pakistan in Kuala Lumpur. These days, the visas are being issued using an online portal which saves much time and hassle. For the online visa, you don’t need to have the online visa printed as the system is linked and upon your arrival your visa details are already available at the immigration.
Luggage collection area from the immigration is just a stone’s throw away. After getting my bags we proceeded to the customs. It was again a swift process. I was carrying only light baggage as my first trip was planned for only two weeks. I didn’t carry many food items either. However, during my subsequent visits, whenever I bring the ‘kicap’ (soy sauce) from Malaysia during the x-ray scan, the custom will insist on checking the bottle. I think they want to ensure I’m not bringing in liquor which is prohibited for sale openly in Pakistan.
The arrival gate was crowded. It was a chaotic scene. Imagine a scene when Atif Aslam walks out of a concert and is greeted by his crazy fans. That is the amazing view I was greeted with. Luckily no one was interested in me even though I looked almost like ‘Atif Aslam’. However my colleagues who looked like foreigners were targeted by the local rental car agents and taxi drivers. We had prior arrangements for our hotel and we have also requested the hotel to arrange for airport pickup. The driver from the hotel was waiting with a placard with our name on it. We ignored the other agents and got to our driver from the hotel. We were then immediately ushered to the hotel’s van.
The scene outside on our way from the airport to the hotel was astonishing. I felt like I had traveled back in time. The scene of people selling fruits and vegetables on donkey carts, the roadside stalls selling local delicacies and the scene of motorbikes moving around aimlessly. The road was dusty and I could feel the heat despite sitting inside the air conditioned van. It was May and it was summer and summer in Pakistan can be unforgiving. I had some friends from Pakistan who came to Malaysia as an exchange student. I have spent one semester with them during my MBA. When I told one of them that I’m going to Pakistan for a work assignment for three years, one of the important things that he cautioned me about was the weather in Pakistan. The harsh summer in Pakistan starts from April and lasts till September and this could be very challenging for Malaysian who are not used to such high temperatures and dry weather.
As we arrived at the hotel, we were greeted by tight security checks. I think there were at least five armed security guards. The entrance looked more like an entrance to an army camp. There was this tyre killer with a barrier. The security checks were elaborate. The engine compartments, the car boot and even the bottom of the cars were checked thoroughly. The scene was almost out of a war movie. I had my bones shivering. Did I make a mistake accepting the offer to work here? After these checks our van was allowed to enter. The entrance to the lobby was located in a different direction away from this main gate. After entering from this main gate we need to make a u-turn and then only we will be directed to the road heading to the hotel’s lobby. It looks like it was done for security reasons whereby if a vehicle rammed towards this gate, the hotel’s entrance still can be secured.
Arriving at the hotel’s entrance finally, we took out our luggages from the van. While unloading my luggages I noticed that the hotel was surrounded by high walls and shockingly there were watch towers with armed guards. Exactly like what you see in a prison or in an army camp, high walls with armed watchtowers.
As we pushed our luggages towards the hotel’s entrance door, I was greeted by a scene which made me think of booking my return flight immediately.
Ek Safar (The Journey) 