Karachi Trip

April 6, 2014

This weekend we went to Karachi. We drove all the way with five adults and one child stuffed in the car. Thankfully the

Abi on the way to Karachi

ten-hour journey did not seem to take as long as I thought it would because there was plenty to see as we drove through the countryside and little villages.

What was really amazing is how accurate and helpful Google maps is in Pakistan. It was so handy to have an Iphone with google maps, we just followed the blue line all the way to Karachi. This however may have made Asif seem less valuable as the person who was to direct us. There was a bit of tension in the car, as at times Google would suggest one way, but Asif another way. In the end however we found that no matter which way you went the roads connected to the same place, and each road had its challenges and just because Google says its faster does not mean its faster. On the way back Luke gave Asif his Iphone and Asif got to navigate.

As fun as it was to take a car to Karachi and save money by not flying we did run into a problem with Luc’s car. Luc’s car sits very low and is not very powerful; especially when it is loaded down the car has problems accelerating. There are so many giant speed bumps in every village, town, or city that we passed through, but usually the bumps are only hazardous if you don’t see them and this can be easy to do, as they are never marked. However they are also very hazardous if you have a wide wheelbase on your car, as the middle of your car will scrape bottom. This was the case for Luc’s car. So whenever we would go through a town we would all cringe, as Luc tried to be careful to navigate the speed bumps in such a way that he would not scrape bottom. We found that if we drove over the bumps on an angle the car would scrape them less. As it may, Luc is a bit disappointed in his car purchase.

The security tent at the end of the
street of the place we were staying

Karchi is a very big city with about 10 million people in it. When we first arrived in Pakistan we were told that it could be a very dangerous place. There was even a major documentary done on the lawlessness that happened within the city. However, thankfully since the documentary came out the government has cleaned it up quite a bit although at times there can be some real danger. But when we were there we did not feel unsafe at all accept when we tried to cross the busy roads. The crosswalks do not mean much, and it can be quite scary crossing a big road with so many vehicles driving towards you. Other then this though the city felt safe. Thanks for your prayers.

Someone lost their pets. Even in the big city
 Goats are a common site.

Luc, Denise, Megan and I stayed at a guesthouse. The guest house is set up on the upper floor of an engineering firm, and the wife of one of the guys who runs the business operates the guesthouse. It's great for those that need a place to rest. It’s not the Hilton, but when your missionaries looking for a place to stay, it’s fantastic. Asif stayed at his uncle’s house, which was not that far away.

            Karachi was interesting it had much of the same feel as the rest of the smaller cities like Sukker and Shikarpur, but it was also different. For example (most) people actually stopped at traffic lights. There was also a whole bunch of stuff you could never get in the rest of the Sindh Province of Pakistan. There were places that were very westernized. We went to a place called Clifton mall and it was like walking into a big mall in North America, everything was there including the high designer prices. There are many different food chains from around the world as well.  There was Gloria Jeans coffee from Australia, McDonalds (quite a few of them), KFC, Pizza Hut, Dominoes, Fat Burger, Burger king etc. etc. Clothing stores that I could care less about etc. etc.

           

Abi's first McDonalds

Of course we took advantage of being able to eat American fast food again. We tried Fat Burger once, but I was not impressed with how expensive it was. Another day we ate at a fancy restaurant built right on the Arabian Sea. It was beautiful and the food was fantastic. Besides the usual Pakistani curries, they served steaks, and other western food. We even had nachos!  (One would be surprised how hard it is to eat Mexican in Pakistan). So of course we had a steak dinner that rivalled the best steak houses in Alberta (okay I’m exaggerating, but it was good), and had appetizers, desert with tea, and drinks, and all of this was cheaper than Fat Burger.

Abi and I acting all American eating at Fat Burger

So I recommend eating at the fancy Pakistani restaurants over the very expensive western fast food. The really crazy part about this is that the employees for these fast food places make a fraction of what employees make in the west. So the labour costs are next to nothing, but they still charge more than it is in the west. If you’re into owning franchises this is a good place to be. Mind you, the volume probably is not the same as there can’t be that many people who can afford to eat at these places.

Probably the best food we ate in Karachi though was Pizza Hut, which, I was surprised, could successfully be delivered to your house. The streets here do not have signs and the houses are numbered in odd blocks, so it is quite difficult to figure out exactly where to go. However, when I called they knew the address and the pizza was delivered within thirty minutes. Maybe the pizza would not have been as good if eaten in Canada, but it had been three months since I had had a proper pizza, and my friends know that three months without a proper pizza is just too long. The pizza was fantastic!

The view from the restaurant

There is also a store that is very similar to Wal-Mart; it’s called the Hyper store. Megan thought that it was just a nickname for the store, because it was such a crazy busy place with so much stuff. But yep, it literally is called The Hyper store. I found chips and salsa in this store, and I got pretty worked up about it, but then I realized that I would have to pay relatively quite a bit for a little bag of taco chips and a little jar of Salsa, and so I decided this was not worth my happiness. I can wait four months to taste my favourite food again. And as it turned out the fancy restaurant we went to had Nachos on the menu, it was a small consolation prize as they were not really anything like the nachos we would get back home, but still they were tasty.

After going to the mall, Asif took us to the beach. The beach, unfortunately, is quite polluted. It was hard to see so much garbage scattered over the sand and the sewage from the mall and other buildings just making its way across the beach into the water where kids would be swimming.  After walking the beach a little bit we found a boy giving camel rides, the camel looked old and scrawny, but so did the boy and so we decided to help support him. We all got camel rides. Abi was not too sure about riding on such a giant beast, but that's okay because either were we. This is something that should really only be done once so you can say you did it. Unless of course your left with no other transportation and a camel will save your life, you probably should ride it. 

We also got to see one of the only historical buildings in Karachi (Karachi is still a very new city much of it was created when Pakistan and India first became independent) the Quiad-e-Azam Mausoleum. Quiad-e-Azam is another name for Muhammad Ali Jinnah the founder of Pakistan. He is buried at the centre of Karachi in a very elaborate Mausoleum. Luc and Denise got to meet up with some friends here, and they took us to see it. It was encouraging to meet up with them and we had fun. Probably the nicest park I have seen in Pakistan surrounds the giant building and it was quite interesting to see. There is also a museum underneath that besides allowing you to cool off from the heat is fascinating to see.

So our neighbours wanted to go to Karachi to do some shopping and get some furniture, as they needed something for their flat in Shikarpur. Megan and I just wanted to get out of Shikarpur and see the big city. I’m always game for another adventure. It was good to get orientated a bit more in Karachi as well, just so we have an idea of what one can get in Pakistan. Also when we fly out in August we have a better idea of where to go and where to stay something that is much easier to figure out when you aren’t carrying big suitcases.

Clifton Mall

It was also really good to see a literacy project in Karachi that has been going on for some time. Part of its purpose is to help tribes create a written language out of their native tongue. It was fascinating touring the place and understanding the work that gets done there. There is also a good guesthouse here that people can stay in.

Over all it was a successful, educational, and fun trip. However, I don’t think I would want to live in Karachi. I like cities, but the older I get the more I am appreciating nature and being in less busier places. Ten million people is too many people to live with so close together especially when people here do not care about littering. It was fun to visit Karachi though. And I almost forgot to mention that I actually wore shorts in Karachi and felt no shame! I did this after I observed other people wearing them. Luc kept telling people I got my “pants” 50% off.

Abi on our way home