July 1972: Rawalpindi, Islamabad

 A couple of days after arriving in Lahore, Diane told Al that she needed to go to the UK Embassy in Islamabad to collect the money that she hoped her parents had sent. They decided to go to Rawalpindi, a town connected to Islamabad and they would go by train.

So they went to the Lahore railway station and bought tickets to Rawalpindi, about 160 miles, estimated to take 5 to 6 hours. The journey was uneventful, the views of no interest.

They booked into a cheap hotel near the station.

The following day, Al and Diane went together to Islamabad, a few miles away, to the embassy for Afghanistan to buy visas, and then Diane went alone to the UK Embassy to collect her money, whilst Al sat and ate one of the hottest dahl dishes he had ever eaten. It did cool him down though, it was about 100 degrees outside.

When Diane came back, she said she had to wait a few days.

Rawalpindi and Islamabad, although essentially two parts of one big city, were incredibly different.

Rawalpindi consisted of old and dilapidated buildings. The streets were crowded and congested with an array of vehicles and people. It was all quite dirty.

On the other hand, Islamabad with its big hotels, embassies, Government buildings and business offices, seemed to have wider and cleaner streets, pavements to walk on, and was all-in-all seemingly more orderly if less pleasant than Rawalpindi.

So they stayed three days in Rawalpindi, which, despite the dirt, they enjoyed. They were able to buy some very cheap good black hash which they spent the days smoking on the hotel balcony, looking down onto the street and enjoying the view of the local life..

Diane went back to the Embassy and when she came back she was smiling – her money had arrived. And it was in English bank notes. She counted out just over £100 and gave half of it to Al. They decided to go straight to the bus station to get tickets to Peshawar the next day; a journey, they were told, of about 4 hours.

So they took the bus to Peshawar, stayed at the Paradise Hotel and bought tickets for a bus to Kabul the next day.

Peshawar had not changed, it was still dirty and smelly.

Rawalpindi (photo taken from on line)