Taxila

Discovering a theft

We had arrived sans luggage yesterday from Gilgit, due to a weather and weight issue with the flight. I had locked my money and Marie’s money in my daypack in the evening. As I was short of pockets to take the key out with us, we decided to hide the key in the room. Marie suggested somewhere in the cupboard but in the end I chose to hide it above the curtain track. After dinner, we showered and slept.

This morning, I couldn’t find the key above the curtain track where I had placed it. My heart sank, thinking that we had been burgled. But something prompted me to look at the location in the cupboard which Marie had suggested, in case my memory was playing tricks on me. Sure enough, the key was there. This was all to strange.

Checking my money, I found that EUR200 (4x EUR50) was missing out of EUR400 (which I exchanged with a friend Beatrice). All my USD was still there. Passport, New Zealand money, Malaysian money etc was there too. It was all too strange:

Only EUR was taken; some but not all.
Other currencies (especially USD which is more useful here) and valuables not taken.
Key moved from hiding place to the place she had originally wanted to put it?

I immediately suspected it was Marie because:

Beatrice had told me a few months back that Marie had taken some of her clothes while being a guest with Beatrice.
I’ve seen her shoplifting petty trinkets before.
Having had some concerns about my valuables on this trip, I had written to an ex-friend of hers. He had replied to say that she had stolen money from them and also clothing. She was caught shoplifting at his village, causing him great embarrassment.
There have been times when she stayed with us, things would go missing. She would help us look for it. And it would be her and only her that succeeds in finding it.
She would also borrow or take permanently things of little or no value; it is still courteous to ask. Sometimes she would say manipulative things like “Do you remember when you offered this to me?” when as far as I was concerned, she had just simply taken it. I would let it go as we’re talking about things that would otherwise just gather dust on a shelf.

So, with the strange scenario and background, there is only one culprit. It had to be her. My guess is:

I think she took some but not all of the money so I wouldn’t notice it was missing,. But I had marked the total on the envelope (which she didn’t see because it was dark or she was rushing).
EUR is more useful to her than USD, and also the EUR were in nice big notes.
She is very absent minded and returned to key to the wrong place.

Normally I lock my valuables in my big pack (which is stuck in the Gilgit). This is the first time she knows where I lock my valuables. And I’m shocked the theft was so brazen and so quick. It was at the first available opportunity.

I guess to make myself feel better, I told myself that EUR200 is a reasonable price to pay to know that your friend (and travel companion) of some six years isn’t! I made no accusation at her; with our bags stuck in Gilgit with no certain resolution, there was too much going on to have a major row between us.

Marie was all sympathetic about my loss; I’ve been told she’s a good liar, actress and manipulatress. There were a few things which I thought were particularly cunning, to find areas of doubt in my recollection of the money:

Maybe you didn’t start off with EUR400; are you sure Beatrice gave you EUR400?
Maybe you spent EUR200 already.
When was the last time you checked the money?
Was it 4x EUR50 or was it 2x EUR100 or other denominations?

With the issue swept under the carpet (temporarily perhaps) we went sightseeing at Taxila.

Ruins of Taxila

Rawalpindi is close enough to these ancient ruins called Taxila. How did we get there? By taxi, of course. Reason being that it was too damn hot and it allowed us a quick outing in case we need come back to recover our luggage from the airport.

While most people haven’t heard of Taxila (along with tourism in Pakistan), it is the subcontinent’s richest archaeological site (says the guidebook). It is largely Buddhist with Greek influence as Alexander the Great passed through here. Add a dash of the neighbouring Persians plus Christianity with St Thomas passing through as well. These various elements are reflected in the ruins, eg. Buddhas with Greek facial features.

We started off at the museum and proceeded to visit three sites in the surrounding region by our taxi:

The first site was Sirkap which showed off the multi-cultural influences in its ruins and their decoration. It was only a few days ago when devotees commemorated St Thomas here (an annual affair).
Next was Mohra Moradu which had a few Buddhist stupas and some good statues.
Lastly, when I was losing interest due to the heat, I took a quick peek at Dharmarajika stupa on top of a hill.

I checked the Islamabad Airport website and noticed that the flight to Gilgit had taken off. Hopefully it will come back with our luggage. Sadly it showed as cancelled a bit later (perhaps it turned back). So we’re at leisure for the rest of the day.