Scenic entry into Pakistan

Departing Beijing

After breakfast at 0830, we prepared for a 1030 departure to Beijing Capital Airport.  We arrived around 1130 to a very crowded traffic in the drop-off area but the check-in area wasn’t too bad.

Security was slow but immigration fast.  With the large distances, we got the lounge about an hour after kerbside.  We had an hour to relax before boarding the Air China A330-300 to Islamabad.

The aircraft seating was quite old with some TV screens not responding to touch and others not working at all.  The safety video that they played was for an A330-200 depicting no slides at Door 3 whereas the safety information card showed the presence of such slides, being an A330-300 with optional full-sized Door 3.

We departed a little later than the 1445 scheduled time for the 6h25 flight to Islamabad.

The flight was just a bit too long for one meal service and not enough for an extra service before landing.

Scnic crossing into Pakistan

About 40 mins before landing, we crossed into Pakistan from Xinjiang.  From 36000 ft, we saw peaks and many glaciers.

The geotag on my photo suggest that these were in the vicinity of Purzin-wa-dasht, Chapchingal Sar and Krun Kuh which around 21000 to 23000 ft.  So, we are flying 13000 to 15000 ft above the scenery.  This was a preview from the air, of the area that we will be crossing by road.

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Landing in Islamabad

We landed about 10 mins late at 1820.  The immigration queue was nearly non-existent with only 2 desks open.

The female officer asked about our proposed itinerary and I rattled off the complete circuit.  While airline staff at check-in in Beijing did not ask for our proof of exit from Pakistan, the immigration officer did.

I tried to explain that we were leaving by road into China but she was distracted by something and when she asked a second time, I thought it was easier to just produce our refundable staff tickets to Dubai.  She noted the date of 28 Sep but didn’t register that my itinerary could not possibly be completed in just 8 days!

As we left the immigration area at 1900, we noticed the queue was not long which not many additional desks open.  Downstairs at the carousel, we waited with baited breath for 20 mins for our luggage.

Hotel and dinner

We were wary of transport options from the airport and I tried to order a car on the Yango and InDrive apps but the internet connection was poor.

That left us no choice but to go landside and follow the signs for taxis.  In our dazed state, the directions seem to disappear.  We were accosted by a tout and we did our best to ignore him.

I knew that the correct price was about PKR1500 but that would get us a tiny car like a Suzuki Alto which would be in capable to take us and our luggage.  A bigger car would probably be PKR2500.

Due to his persistence and with no others nearby, we agreed on an inflated price of PKR4000.  He got us to the New Comfort Residency at 2030 after a 40 min ride.

The property is a large home that’s now run as a hotel or homestay.  This seems common in Pakistani cities which not many real hotels being available at our budget.  I suspect such properties belong to people who have migrated overseas or are former family homes where all the grown-up children no longer live together.

Feeling hungry, we walked across the road around 2100 and had our first meal in Pakistan together.  It consisted of a boneless chicken boti, pea rice and fries.  Boti is a new dish to me and it was truly awesome.  It was plate of lightly spiced but truly flavoursome grilled pieces of chicken.  We returned back to the hotel around 2200 and prepared for bed as there was 3h difference with Beijing.