1974
Tuesday, 16th April
Neil still wasn't feeling very well so we didn't do anything much all day. I did some washing and when I came back from the washing line the Pakistani man was talking to Neil and was being a bit tiresome. I think he wanted us to take him to England illegally and he suggested that while Neil was resting, I should go with him to his hotel. I said I wasn't feeling well either and at last he left us. I didn't feel very well but it held off until evening. We tried mind reading with cards and it worked quite well for a while. I was sick and had diarrhoea at about 9 p.m. and felt much better for it and had a good night. The cause of our sickness must have been the rice pudding we had the night before at Sigis.
Wednesday, 17th April
As we were both feeling better we had breakfast. We wrote a couple of letters and went to post them. We were a bit worried in case they wouldn't be sent and also they were going to take ten days. We bought some pills for malaria and bread and yoghourt. Neil gave the van a service in the afternoon and I tidied up inside. We had a shower in the 'railway carriage sauna' then went out for a very nice and cheap meal at the Steak House. Went to bed feeling very happy.
A beautifully painted Afghan lorry and its proud owner
Thursday, 18th April
It was a very very hot day. We set off with the American/German couple to the border. It took us quite a time to get through mainly because the Penn Overland Tours bus beat us there. We went through the Khyber Pass which was very pretty but not as spectacular as we had imagined. We drove through pretty scenery until Peshawar where we spent the night at a Dak Bungalow. The manager assured us that the water was fit for drinking as the water pipes were installed by the British in the colonial days. We went out for a meal in the evening of meat ball curry. A very warm night.
Friday, 19th April
Another very hot day and difficult driving for Neil. Roads very bumpy in places. Reached Lahore at sundown and in the rush hour. The traffic was horses and carts, bicycles and pedestrians all going in their own directions irrespective of the traffic flow. It was shocking and we didn't have an adequate map. A Pakistani came with us and directed us to the Y.M.C.A. where we stayed the night. In payment for the ride, our friends bought us an evening meal. It was nice to sleep in a room with a fan as it was so hot.
Saturday, 20th April
Another hot day. We had a good breakfast after which we said goodbye to our travelling companions and went to look at the town. We had to find places in the shade after a while and went in the museum, wrote some letters in the Post Office and later in the afternoon went and had some tea. We set off for the border in the late afternoon. Everybody directed us the wrong way and after nearly 40 miles of travelling we were turned back. Even the R.A.C. was wrong. We stopped at a garage just outside Lahore where the manager said we could stay the night and bought us tea and kebabs with bread (more like meat balls). We met the owner who we learnt to be the son of the Home Secretary here. We found out the right way to go to India. We had a very bad night not sleeping much because of all the mosquitos and got up several times for a massacre and once for tea.
Sunday, 21st April
We started towards the right border this time but we only got as far as a military check post and we had to stop for a couple of hours while prisoners of war were being exchanged. Quite an interesting spectacle. We went through the borders fairly quickly although we had a bit of a scare with the oil light but Neil checked everything and came to the conclusion that it was probably electrical. We gave a lift to a young lad Paul and he directed us to a guest house in Amritsar which was very nice and not too expensive. We sat and had tea for a bit before doing some washing. Then we had a shower and went out for a nice meal to celebrate having reached India.
2025
Wednesday 25th June
We are spending our last few nights at a lake spa resort. It is a quite spectacular gated hotel with a lake, view over a huge valley with mountains beyond. Our room has a balcony overlooking the lake. There are no cars around the lake, instead there are electric tourist buses which ferry people around for free which look a bit like the Mini Moke’s from the 1960’s series The Prisoner (if you can remember that far back!) We met the hotel manager and one of her 28(!) dogs. On the subject of dogs, there are a lot living on the streets in Georgia. A lot of them are tagged which means they have been neutered and have been seen by a vet and vaccinated. Georgians really love their dogs and they seem in general to be well fed and reasonably happy.
The hotel manager (in pink) and some of her dogs
Thursday 26th June
After breakfast we borrowed bicycles and cycled around the lake. I hadn’t been on a bike for some years so I was a bit worried I’d fall off but I hadn’t forgotten how to do it and all was well. We then went to the pool area and had a swim in the rooftop pool. In the afternoon we had a go at playing paddle ball. Unfortunately Neil fell and crashed into the toughened glass screen at the back of the court. This necessitated a visit to hospital in an ambulance, 3 stitches in his head and a ride back in a taxi. One of the hotel staff came too to help with translation. Somehow Neil has lost his hat which I think has hurt him most. There were two weddings here this evening and promise of fireworks later.
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