I I My sister and I in France.......my friends and I at Notting Hill Carnival. thought a few weeks in Europe would be a nice break from extreme weather conditions like monsoons, landslides and the occasional earthquake. A few days in London, cycling through the British countryside and then a week in Southern France, sounds great, yaar? I somehow convinced myself that the $5 a day budget I stick to in the East would be more or less the same in Europe. Yes, I know it sounds like one of those commercials to save starving African children. “For less than $5 a day YOU can feed Kumbuchi and give her hope of living past 10.....” Followed by a picture of a smiling little girl with a swollen belly and lots of flies on her. Of course you can! $5 a day in the mountains of Pakistan gets me a nice guest house, at least 3 meals a day, lots of chai and some shopping if I am in the mood. I am sure it will go even further in Africa. Good luck getting a cup of tea in London for that price! I was disgusted. Things didn’t get better in the South of France. Breakfast for $17 ? Is that a typo or are you crazy! A little piece of advice for the budget backpacker trying to extend their trip as long as possible; Nice, Cannes and Monaco aren’t the most economical places to visit.

I was also in denial about how weak the dollar really was. I lived in London 5 years ago when the exchange rate was about 1.4, these days I think it is around 1.9 (Tariq??) Similar story with the Euro. God bless Europe for accepting credit cards everywhere, even at toll booths. Every penny was well worth the memories (with the exception of the car rental my sister insisted on keeping). She’s 21 weeks pregnant so I allowed her to get away with more than normal.

Besides the cost of things, being in the West was a little bit of a shock. I landed in Heathrow and everyone seemed so serious, posh, orderly and busy! Slow down everyone…sit down and drink some chai! (yes, I know going back to NYC will be 10 times worse and shocking!) Luckily I was traveling with a friend who was there on business. I was treated and spoiled to some luxuries I otherwise couldn’t have afforded. A few hours after landing, we immediately rushed to the Palm Beach Casino. Half an hour later and a few lucky black jack hands later I had doubled my 100 pounds (a little less than $200). Not bad work. The earnings from my fine tuned black jack skills helped justify many other expenses down the road (at least that is what I told myself).

Good friends from all over made a huge effort to come see me; thanks everyone. Sally came down from Bristol, Anne from Norway, Shazia from India and Salman from Pakistan. I even managed to run into an old friend (Cristyn, remember Sweden??) and catch up with a former coworker. I missed the East the second I got off the plane. I took me a few days to adjust and I was back here before I knew it. Jason, did someone steal the Scooby outfit? I saw him running around in London. No worries, I took a picture with him and will email it to you (no, I wasn't dressed as a fireman).

After a few days in London I met Sally again in the Cotswalds and we did a mini bike trip (bicycles, not motorcycles this time) around Bath, Bristol and somewhere else I can’t remember. We cycled with all out gear in hopes of camping, but for a many number of reasons…..we didn’t end up pitching our tent and were kindly taken in by her friends along the way.

I was stripped of all lip gloss, lotions, water and juice before boarding the plane from Bristol to Nice, but wasn’t held by any immigration authorities this time. I think my brother stole the title from me on that one. I did manage to arrive only 4 hours later than scheduled slightly dehydrated, dry skin and pale lips. I still don’t see the threat lipstick poses to global security. Well, for some people yes it is a threat, I’ve seen some nasty colors. I did manage to see my brother and sister in law for a few minutes. The next day my brother in law Steve transferred over the responsibility of making sure my sister didn’t drink too much coffee or wine and slept on her left side over to me before he fled to Italy. People in France weren’t really that friendly. Unlike Pakistan, no one on the plane offered me a ride and my first taxi driver made me cry. He ripped me off soo badly and wouldn’t let me out of his car (yes, I like to say I was kidnapped). Luckily I escaped alive and 25 Euros poorer. Nini and I had a nice time together, despite the guilt she laid on HEAVY about traveling for so long , not working, living too dangerously and not being around….blah blah blah. On our last day there we even managed to find a beach with sand, not pebbles. Another piece of advice; always rent a black car and travel with shoe polish. It does miracles to cover up any odd scratches!

Before I knew it I was back on a plane to Dubai around Sept 10th and 11th and got to see how the Middle East portrayed the 5 year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Yes, 3000 lives lost is tragic. But since 9/11, the last 5 years of warfare has claimed over 80,000 lives! Of those 80,000 lives; 45,500 are Iraqi civilians! Here is more of the breakdown (sorry for those not interested)
North America 9/11 2973
Latin America and Carribean 1156
Western Europe 361 (London, Madrid and other attacks)
Eastern Europe 1420
East Central Asia 67
Middle East 16,727
Lebanon-Israel deaths
Lebanese civilians 1109
Israeli civilians and troops 159

Afghanistan deaths
Civilians (est.) 3500
Coalition troops 449
Iraq
Civilians (est.) 45,500 (WOW!)
Coalition troops 2,877
Southeast Asia and Oceania 6,660

And did you know the US spends about $8 billion a week on the war in Iraq? Ok….sorry. I will send a separate email on my personal thoughts to those who are interested.

So, I am back in Pakistan and I had planned on going back up the KKH and crossing into China via Kashgar, the furthest most Western Chinese town, located along the Silk Road. It is closer to Europe than East Coast China and I’ve heard funny/disastrous stories from friends who tried to navigate Western China. I had planned on going to Kashgar and then sneaking into Tibet from the West then back to Nepal via Everest and the Friendship HIghway. Surprisingly enough, my travel plans changed. I got a job! Yes, you read it right. Goat, go ahead and start processing that loan application! My yoga teacher from the US asked me to help him. We are going to teach yoga for 3 weeks or so at some 5 star luxury spa and hotel in China. Perks include free board, food and spa services. Yeah….life is still good. Room service, daily clean towels and sheets and all other imaginable 5 star perks. I am really excited to travel in China and happy that I’ll be eating at a 5 star resort. My biggest fear of traveling in China (besides the language) is MSG. I don’t think there is much way of ordering around it and I am far too young for cancer! I had planned on stocking up on almonds and dried apricots in Northern Pakistan before crossing over, but my prayers have been answered (hopefully). It will definitely make for some good stories. Yes, we’ll have a translator (which should be even funnier). I just hope I can keep a straight face through it all! And of course, I’ll make sure to get some good photos!

I really wanted to go through Kashgar but that in order to get to Xiamen I’d more or less have to live on a train for a week or so and would be late for my first day of work!. If I had gone via Kashgar, it meant a 30 hour train to Uruumchi, then 52 hours to Beijing and then something like 42 hours to Xiamen and probably lots of restaurants with MSG on everything! No way!

I have had such a blast in Pakistan. In keeping of my personal campaign to promote Pakistan, I’ll write up an entry soon. There are too many great stories not to share. ( I wonder how many times you have to write Pakistan, Islam and terrorism on a website before it gets flagged by the FBI or CIA?…..well, here are a few extras for some bored and pathetic intelligence officer…… Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan) Yes, flag that and while you are at it, plan a trip out here and you’ll see how nice and nonterroristy (new word for Webster’s 2007 edition) people are. I will post photos from UK and France at some point…. ha ha!

Hope no one ate any of the e coli infected spinach! Nasty! The US sounds more dangerous than the East these days for more reasons than one! (what's up with the 80's fasion come back?) Glad I am not there.