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Meeting the relatives, finally

The hotel’s breakfast service started at 0800 and like other places, it takes about 45 mins to prepare omelette, toast and tea. Today is a big day as we will finally meet Lana, a first cousin of Kim and Jo that they had found relatively late in their lives.  They had never met and our […]

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Lahore Museum

Lahore Museum Today we fly to Karachi in the evening and had the morning to kill.  My original idea had been to take Kim and Jo to Shalimar Gardens but after yesterday’s hot and sweaty experience at Lahore Fort, I opted for something easier. We had not managed to fit in the Lahore Museum on […]

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Fort & Border Closing

Badshahi Mosque & Lahore Fort We headed out around 0830 after breakfast to visit Lahore Fort.  As it opens at 0900, I thought we could get dropped off at Delhi gate and walk through the bazaar to the fort rather than in the reverse order. That revised plan didn’t quite work out as the bazaar […]

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Islamabad to Lahore by car

Car to Lahore I had ordered an InDrive intercity ride for 0930, allowing plenty of time for the hotel’s slow breakfast service.  The car arrived a 10 mins late but we loaded up quickly and were on our way immediately. The route mostly consisted of excellent tolled motorway.  We took a comfort stop around midday […]

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Visiting Taxila

Taxila With my bodyclock on Beijing time, I woke around 0400 and dozed again till 0715.  The hotel breakfast started at 0800 and we found a nice spot in their garden to wait and eat around 0845.  As we found out later, most hotels take about 45 mins just to prepare omelette, toast and tea. […]

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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.  […]

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Temple of Heaven and Summer Palace

Temple of Heaven After yesterday’s early start, we opted for a leisurely breakfast at 0800 today, as we need to adapt ourselves to local time in preparation for a further 3h of time change as we fly to Pakistan tomorrow.  We ordered a car around 0915 for the ride in peak traffic to the Temple of […]

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Great Wall of China at Mutianyu

Visiting the Great Wall at Mutianyu I had booked a car and driver to take us to the Mutianyu Great Wall.  For four people, it was a good deal compared to taking a car to the departure point of a tour coach to the Great Wall and back. The standard itinerary was for a 0900 […]

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Forbidden City

Forbidden City I woke at 0100, then 0400 before waking up properly at 0615.  That’s not a bad night’s sleep after a longhaul night flight. D had arrived from Dali at 0100 and slept in while we had breakfast at 0730. The plan for the day was to go to the Forbidden City, a first […]

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Beijing acrobats

Arriving in Beijing I woke after two 3 hour dozes, assisted by two half sleeping pills.  They crew served an excellent frittata for breakfast but I chose the alternative of congee which looked identical to the one from about a year ago. Landing at 0405, I thought we were much earlier than the scheduled arrival […]

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