My journey to Pakistan Part 4: Water and street restaurants

One of my biggest fears while traveling to Pakistan was getting sick and not being able to have proper medical care. I tried to pack with me all medicine I thought I may need for diseases I never had, I even called friends and asked about their experiences in different countries and what medicine they needed and didn’t have. I ended up traveling with a small pharmacy with me, mostly stomach drugs, expecting the worse from the spicy food and unsafe water.

I was advised to drink bottled water, or, if it is the case to drink tap water, I should boil it first. Bottled water was a good and affordable option so I preferred it. However, on few occasions, I had boiled and cooled tab water. It didn’t get me sick, I didn’t get any bacteria, but the taste was a bit awkward.

I enjoyed dining in nice restaurants like DHA Creek Club, Pie in the Sky Bakery, Hobnob (formerly Copper Kettle), Nando’s, Pizza Hut, but I had the best Pakistani food in small local dinners such as Thali Inn at Boatbasin or Meerut Kebab House.

The funniest thing happened in a dinner where I had the best kebab ever with halwa puri (Pakistanis love to combine hot hot food with sweet food – interesting combination, but not my personal fav). While we were waiting on our order, I was looking around me with great reservation, if not horror, thinking that such place could never exist in Romania, as it would be shut down instantly by the consumer protection authority because of insalubrity. Yes, I have to say it, it was dirty. Tables, chairs, walls…everything. So while these thoughts were going through my head, my mother in law asked me if we have similar places back home. All I could do is smile and say “No”. But, leaving aside this aspect, I have to say the food was amazingly delicious. I just loved it completely. And, to my relief, next day no stomach pain, no other unpleasant surprise. I ate in the most unsanitary place and did not get food poisoning.

However I did not escape Pakistani restaurants without food poisoning, but it came after having a beautiful romantic dinner in a “high life” restaurant near Zamzama Park. People say it might have been the fish, I say it could have been anything else.

It is not in vain that locals say that in Pakistan it is not the war that may kill you, but the water or the food. 

Conclusions of the day:

• Drink bottled water just to be on the safe side of things. Boiled tab water comes in handy as an emergency option. 
• Be careful where and what you eat: even in a fancy restaurant you can have surprises if you chose wrong 
• If you wish to try local food, choose wisely: look for crowded places (means the ingredients must be fresh) and try it from a place where you see many local people eating – they sure know the safe options

My journey to Pakistan Part 3: Rich and poor (happily together)

As a developing country, Pakistan’s social classes are very clearly separated: the poor with the poor, the rich with the rich and the poor working for the rich. I’ve seen great poverty and incredible luxury, exclusivist golf courses reachable through the slums, people living under the starry sky and others sleeping in million dollars mansions.

Disclaimer: I may be wrong about the apparent nonexistence of the middle class, as my observations are strictly based on what was available to me.

I never thought I would have someone do the dishes for me (here my sister Laura would strongly disagree because I don’t like washing dishes in evening, so she “voluntarily” washes them in morning – THANK YOU), cook, clean, iron for me, wash my clothes, water the plants and so on. And to be honest, I found it strange to have people do things for me while I read, sleep or just do nothing. But the first time I wanted to wash the dishes I was stopped by my mother in law so I decided to do as I am told: rest.

Yes, people like to rest in Pakistan. I was most of the times under the impression that people have no pre-determined schedule and that the ones who have, don’t follow it as rigorously as I am used to. This reminded me a little of my vacations in Greece where people value their leisure time greatly. But although the day may have a lazy and late start, it always seemed that Karachi never sleeps.

Rich or poor, people love to be out on the streets. Food streets (yes, there are streets only with restaurants, tea places, juice bars) get incredibly crowded after 10 PM. On these food streets you can see rich and poor people eating in the same diner, same 100 rupees dishes (less than 1 euro), drink the same tea. I loved this about Pakistan: when it gets to food and eating, manners are dropped and people are enjoying a lot.

But enough about food for now. A special post is needed just for this so I will give it it’s time and space later on.

Another place where the line between rich and poor seemed to disappear was at the sea side. Karachi is a city on the coast of the Arabian Sea and people love to go to the beach. Although sunbathing and bathing in the sea in the way that I thought of is forbidden (bathing suits are taboo and appearing half naked in public can get you into a lot of trouble), a lot of people still go to the beach even if it is just for the fun of being outside, cooling (your feet only) in water, riding a camel or a horse on the beach. Some come with their land cruisers straight on the beach and don’t even get out of the car (can’t really understand the fun of doing this), others take a more classical approach to things and walk on the fine sand.

When we went there the waves were enormous because of the monsoon season and rumors had it that some young men drowned there the day before so people were very careful about going in the water. However, it was a fun day once I got used to people staring at me.

At the end of the day everybody went back to their normal high or low class life, rich people drove back home in their air conditioned cars, while poor people walked back to their homes. Some things take time to change.

Conclusions of the day:

• class differences are very obvious, with some people living in open air with their children and their cattle(s) in one place and other people enjoying maximum luxury (just like everywhere in the world)
• it is the most common and affordable thing to have employees do all the house work for you
• good food bridges the class gap