Start of a road adventure

Flying to Islamabad

We had ordered a car at 0415 through the InDrive app’s intercity feature for the early ride to the airport.  It was about half what the hotel’s driver wanted to charge but still double of the regular rate using the app’s regular intracity ride feature.

The car arrived at 0400 and got us to the airport around 0440 which meant a 20 min wait for check-in to open for our 0700 Fly Jinnah flight to Islamabad.

The airport was as I remembered it: old with lots of beige polished stone surface and immaculately maintained.  For such a large population, Pakistan’s airports are small and haven’t seen much expansion.  Flights between key cities are only limited to 2-3 per day on each airline.  I think it’s an indication of the relative lack of affluence in the country and lack of economic growth.

We were the first to check-in and got to the little lounge for some light snacks and coffee before boarding the flight.  Today’s flight was operated by Fly Jinnah’s parent company Air Arabia with Air Arabia crew too.

The Fly Jinnah meals, paid for with my points which were nearing expiry, wow’ed us once again.

We landed at 0845 in a cool (18 degC) and damp Islamabad, completely different from when we were there about a week ago.  Once out of the arrival hall, I couldn’t see Ashfaq, our driver, who had messaged me a photo of where he was standing.

As it turned out, he was waiting outside international arrivals where the surroundings and signage were similar.

Driving to Murree

We were in the Prado around 0930 but there was a queue to exit the carpark.  We made it out after 10 mins to collect M, a friend who was joining us for the road trip on the Karakoram Highway to China.

We got to M’s hotel around 1020.  She had arrived from India a day before, after doing a motorcycle trip around Rajasthan in the heat. Crazy!

She made it clear quickly that she gets motion sickness and had to be seated in front or in the middle, otherwise we would know about (e.g. stopping for her to throw up).

We’re already familiar with her 14-year-old coughing fits, but it was a new experience for Jo.  We had to assure her and Ashfaq that she wasn’t contagious.

Hotel hassle

The drive to Murree took about 1h20, getting us to the Lockwood Hotel around 1140.  That’s when things started falling apart.

The hotel asked us for our passports and visas.  After a few minutes, they said that Expedia (Hotels.com) hadn’t paid them.  They also said that due to security restrictions, they couldn’t accommodate foreigners.

Something smelt fishy.  Why would they have asked for our passports and visas when they couldn’t take foreigners?

I did a live chat with Hotels.com but they needed to ring me to re-accommodate me but the call wouldn’t connect.

In the meantime, M had found another hotel, the Grand Taj, for about a third the price.  It wasn’t very far as the crow flies, but took 30 mins on the windy roads to downhill to get there.

At the hotel, it was cheaper to make the booking on Booking.com rather than walk-in, and the hotel wouldn’t lower the price.  So, we sat in the lobby to make the booking before checking-in and paying them on-site.  And the hotel was happy for us to do that.  The world is a funny old place at times.

Exploring Murree

We settled into the hotel for a rest till about 1440 before taking a walk on Murree’s main pedestrian street called Mall Road.  The sun was starting to burn off the cool damp weather.  The elevation here is about 7520 ft.

Now, it was Jo’s turn to have an upset tummy.  She was confident enough to go for a walk with us but my original hotel selection had it right on Mall Road so she wouldn’t have to negotiate lots of stairs.  And we paid a price for that privilege in the form of a high hotel rate.

But from the Grand Taj, it was a walk through a little bazaar and then stairs before we could reach Mall Road.  We let Jo rest while the rest of us explored a bit more of Mall Road up to Protestant Holy Trinity church and the pretty General Post Office.

We returned to the hotel and had a simple dinner in-house about 1800 in the hallway as it was more enclosed than the restaurant.  We had gone from too hot in Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi to too cold here in Murree.