2018 North Pakistan

A Quick Trip into the Lower Himalayas

By Randall D. Ball

SEE PHOTOS HERE by Christine Meunier

Early Monday morning, the day after Easter, we joined a small tour group (our family of four, fellow teachers at LAS Sara and Rose, our guide Arshad, a security guard Hossnain, and a driver Haroon) for a trip up north into the Himalayas.  Our first day was mostly driving:  four hours to Islamabad via motorway, breakfast, then another two and a half hours up the more winding Kashmir Road to Nathiagali.  We relaxed that afternoon, enjoying the mountain view from our hotel room (Hotel Elites, which was nice enough but not quite up to its name) and only going out briefly for dinner (pizza and ice cream about a five-minute drive down the mountain at a little place called Sweet Tooth, where I ran into three students, of course—no escaping them!).

                

Tuesday was a day in Nathiagali.  After breakfast at the hotel, we spent the morning walking up a little mountain road to St. Mathew’s Church, no longer in operation, just a tourist site now.  Once we found the watchman, who kindly let us in once he hear foreigners were there to see it, we were allowed inside.  Built in 1914 by the British, the church stands tall along a mountain ridge surrounded by  cedars and pines...and a barbed wire fence.  After a good Pakistani lunch (redundant, I know), we then hiked up the steep trail toward Mukshpuri.  At the trailhead, there is a fork—both trails lead to the same spot, but one is a more gradual (and thus longer but easier) climb.  I could have sworn the guide told us we were taking the easier climb, but from the start, it looked like the steeper version.  About half way up, Anastasia was done, and I gladly offered to stay behind with her while the others continued upwards, although they didn’t make it to the top either.  Anastasia has this fairly-recent fear of heights, unfortunately, which was severely tested on this trip.  She also spent a lot of time worrying:  that we wouldn’t make it down the trail before dark and they’d close the gate and we’d have to sleep in the mountains, that an earthquake might split the mountain in two while we were up there, that a rock might slide down and squish us, and so forth.  She has quite the imagination—I’ll give her that.  Talula, meanwhile, was loving the snow—and our guide Arshad.  She talked his ear off and spent a lot of time hanging out with him, seldom leaving his side.  He was very good with her, though, and I know she loved the attention.  Dinner that night was back at Sweet Tooth, but we only felt like ice cream.  I teased Anastasia that we didn’t earn all of our ice cream and would just have to share one.

                

Wednesday was another long drive day, through winding roads with the speed-demon driver Haroon.  We drove through Abbottabad (yes, that Abbottabad),  Mansehra, Balakot (the Kunhar River swiftly churns through the middle of town, and there are some fun-looking bridges in the vicinity, including an adventurous suspension bridge or two), and finally up some serious switch-backs to Kiwai, a little village where some restaurants have set up tables at the base of a series of waterfalls.  The main reason for Kiwai’s existence, however, is that this is where jeep excursions often begin.  We had to leave our van behind and take jeeps eight kilometers up the mountain to Shogran, our mountaintop resort, where we stayed at the Cedarwood Chair Lift Resort.  Just as the previous hotel didn’t quite live up to its name, this one also lacked something in its name:  the chair lift.  We could see part of what once was a chair lift, but it looked as if they built only part of it several years ago and then just let it sit.  Funding problem, perhaps...or an unexpected issue with land rights?  The rooms were nothing spectacular—and the bathrooms were falling apart and leaking away, but the view was truly awesome.  We were on a little green plateau at about 8000 feet above sea level, surrounded by much taller snow-capped mountain peaks.  No matter which direction you looked, you’d see these huge mountains jutting into the sky—we were in the Himalayas.  (Just barely, but we were in them).

                

The following day, we returned to the jeeps, but this time, the track was much rougher as we slowly bumped and were jostled and tossed about as we made our way up Siri Paye.  The jeeps could only take us part of the way.  Then we were dropped off, exchanged our shoes for hiking boots (and walking sticks), and started trekking up the mountain “road” with its mud, snow, ice, and horse poop (you can also ride up and down if you’re not into walking).  We spent the day up in the mountains, with the girls having snowball fights and playing (and Anastasia often forgetting her phobia).  We saw Siri Lake, a picturesque pond really (if it weren’t for the trash that we’ve come to expect in the third world), but never made it as far as Payee Lake.  Talula also rode a horse briefly—she couldn’t decide which she liked more—snow or horses?  (Or Arshad). 

                

Friday, it felt as if we were going in reverse, but in double time.  We took the jeeps back down the mountain, re-joined our van in Kiwai, and made our way back down to the Kaghan Valley and through all those village towns to Abbottabad, where we then took the motorway back to Lahore.  Eleven hours later, we were home, with two more days of spring break to recuperate and relax before those final weeks of school before summer break.

7 Islands Holiday: UAE and the Philippines

CLICK HERE for the Google album with an embarrassing number of photos that only people who really love us could appreciate

UAE and Philippines, Christmas Break, 2017

By Randall D. Ball

            Our annual Christmas holidays on an island hit a new record with seven islands this year:  from Abu Dhabi and Yas Island and Saadiyat Island in the United Arab Emirates to Manila, Cebu, Mactan and Bohol Islands in the Philippines.  The journey started with our usual “Freedom Flight” out of Lahore right after school closed for the winter break.  We flew to Dubai and then drove down to the Dhabi, our old stomping grounds and the birthplace of Anastasia and Talula.  We stayed over on Yas Island across from the Formula One race circuit track, and that night we enjoyed some “Mexican” for dinner at one of the hotel restaurants.

Sunday morning, we went to the Louvre on Saadiyat Island—the art was interesting enough but the building’s architecture was what was truly stunning.  From its spherical structure to its web-like design to the meeting of land and water, it’s an outstanding monument.  We splurged a bit with lunch there, right on the water.  Then we went into the city, into proper Abu Dhabi, driving along the old Corniche to Heritage Village (the girls pet a lot of cats there, and would pet cats throughout our trip, all the time missing their own kittens back home, August and Katrina).  There were plenty of changes along the Abu Dhabi waterfront—several new skyscrapers, certainly.  We stopped at Spinneys (an old grocery store favorite) for picnic items that we brought back to the hotel and ate outside by the playground, thus achieving the trifecta of al fresco dining (breakfast was buffet at the hotel, but they had seating outside).

Monday morning, Christmas Day, we hit nearby Yas Mall to see the movie Coco, which was fun and colorful and entertaining.  Then we returned to Abu Dhabi and our old neighborhood of Khalidiya and our second mall of the day (how Emirati!), where we met our old nanny Noy and had a little lunch followed by a walk to the old apartment building and then to Khalidiya Park.  Anastasia led us most of the way from the mall to our old apartment from memory, but she couldn’t remember much else.  Talula didn’t remember any of it.

Tuesday, after a leisurely morning at the hotel, we drove back to Dubai for our evening flight to Manila.  We landed in the Philippines Wednesday morning and checked into our hotel in Manila (the girls liked it because it rhymes with “vanilla”).  After a brief morning nap and lunch at the hotel, we took it easy by the rooftop pool...and then had dinner at the hotel.  We promised ourselves we’d actually leave the hotel the next day.

Sure enough, Thursday morning, we had breakfast at a nearby French cafe (the coffee and croissants were very tasty, and we briefly met (in passing) the owner, a Frenchman, of course, on our way out).  Then we walked to Ayala Triangle Gardens (a privately-owned garden which is no longer in the shape of a triangle because of further development, unfortunately), where the girls pet and played with cats for quite some time and then we had lunch at a little cafe alongside the gardens.  On our walk back to the hotel, Anastasia and I played “Count the Jeepneys.”  On our twenty-minute walk, we counted 68!  Back at the hotel, it was more time at the pool followed by a nice dinner at the rooftop restaurant adjacent to the pool.

            

Friday, after the same breakfast as yesterday, we walked past Ayala Triangle Gardens to the Greenbelt, a nice tropical garden-and-pond area surrounded by a mall.  We wandered and meandered around for a bit, but there weren’t any cats to pet so the girls were ready to return to the Triangle Gardens that are more like Rhombus Gardens now.  We had a very nice lunch at a better restaurant than the previous day, and then we were back at the hotel for about an hour before catching our ride to the port for a sunset dinner cruise on Manila Bay.  The cruise began, however, well after sunset, so it was really a night-time cruise, but instead of a sunset (which we saw from land anyway), we did get to see some fireworks over the marina.  The dinner was simple but good, and they tried to keep it fairly traditional with a little rice, salad, fruit, and a small helping each of chicken, beef, fried fish, and pork (with pineapple).

            

Saturday, we mixed it up for breakfast by eating doughnuts at the 7 Eleven.  Then we caught a cab (the girls were growing tired of walking) to old downtown Manila and San Augustin Church, oldest church in Manila, founded in 1571, which included a museum and some nice gardens.  We had lunch back in Makati (where our hotel was):  Wendy’s for the girls and crepes for Christine and me, followed by more pool time.  Clearly, we were setting a routine:  sightseeing in the mornings and pool time in the afternoons.

            

That evening, our final one in Manila and the day before New Year’s Eve, we had a memorable dinner at the hotel’s rooftop restaurant.  First, both girls kept returning to the poolside to sit on the pool chairs, with Anastasia flirting with a couple of older boys.  “At least they’re gay,” Christine said.  Yes, Anastasia, keep on flirting with the gay ones.  Meanwhile, Talula broke down in tears when she was told they weren’t serving fried calamari that night.  Wait staff conferred with the chef, who somehow made it happen.  Christine and Anastasia had grilled prawns and I had grilled liempo (pork belly) again.  Anastasia also enjoyed looking over the city, and Talula danced—at least in her seat—to some decent live music.  We even saw some fireworks, which were set off from a nearby building below us.  As Christine said, “I’ve never seen fireworks from above before.”  At the conclusion of the evening, Talula said it was the best restaurant ever.  Success.

            

Sunday morning, we caught an early flight to Cebu City and had a pretty quiet, subdued New Year’s Eve at the hotel (although we did walk over to the Ayala Mall across the street in the late afternoon—Ayala is a big name in the Philippines—there’s some history AND some money there).  That night, Christine and I were awakened by the hotel’s New Year’s Eve festivities, a live band and fireworks to ring in 2018.  Fortunately, by 12:30 it all died down.  Our room overlooked the pool about ten stories below, where the big party was.  The girls slept through it all, somehow.

            

Monday, New Year’s Day, most everything was closed, so we had a long breakfast at the hotel followed by some “play” back in the room involving the girls pretending to be various forms of marine life.  We then sprung for the buffet lunch, including all forms of salads, as long as it’s seafood, meats (I had some pig ears), more fish, pasta, and desserts, the highlight for the girls being the chocolate fondue.  They loved dipping fruit and marshmallows into the flowing “chocolate fountain.”  The afternoon involved plenty of pool time for the girls and drinks by the pool.

            

Tuesday, we took a taxi downtown, where we walked around Fort San Pedro, where the Spanish first occupied the Philippines.  Anastasia and Talula, especially the latter, pet some more cats.  Crossing the Plaza Independencia, we then saw Magellan’s Cross.  The original, planted by Magellan in 1521 right before he was killed on the next island over, is still there, but it’s now encased in tindaloo wood for protection.  From there, we entered Saint Nino Basilica, where we stood in line with all the locals to see the famed doll of baby Jesus inside.  A cab ride to Ayala Mall, across from our hotel, and we had lunch at the Red Lizard, a Mexican restaurant with a wrestling theme in the style of Nacho Libre. 

            

That night back at the hotel, Talula and I had some apparently bad poached grouper in a banana leaf for dinner.  We both got sick, which altered the next day’s plans:  Christine and Anastasia took a day tour to Bohol Island (a two-hour ferry ride over, a tour of the famous Chocolate Hills, a lunch river cruise, a visit with some of the smallest monkeys in the world, the tarsier monkeys, and back to Cebu late).  Talula and I, meanwhile, rested in the morning before finally venturing out to the mall briefly.  We also spent the late afternoon at the pool, when we were feeling better.  Christine and Anastasia got in late, past 9:00 PM (which counts as late for us these days).

            

Thursday morning was a lazy one after an early breakfast, but then we took a taxi downtown to visit two old houses turned into museums:  the Yap-Sandiego Ancestral House (which had a few cats for the girls to OOOOH and AHHHH over) and, around the corner, the even better Casa Gorordo Museum, which provided insight into the history and architecture of the area, especially the Chinese and Spanish influence.  We had a nice lunch at the museum as well.  Also nearby was the Heritage of Cebu Monument, a fascinating series of very tall, connected statues and scenes telling a few tales of Cebu, all as a huge centerpiece around a historic, small square.  The late afternoon was—you guessed it—more pool time.

            

The next day, we had a full-day tour to Kawasan Falls about three hours south of Cebu City near the village of Badian.  The south road took us through busy and often congested coastal cities and then through some mountains to the southwest coast, into a very tropical rainforest with numerous waterfalls.  Along the way, we also passed some cock fighting.  Local color.  Kawasan Falls is a popular spot, as we saw by the sheer number of tourists, mostly Filipino.  A thirty-minute hike along a small river took us to the first, lower falls, but we stopped for lunch about halfway at a pleasant, rustic outdoor (but with a roof) cafe as the rain poured.  The food was simple but good, including rice, vegetable chop suey, and fried calamari, but the highlight was this little boy who clearly belonged to our waitress.  He was probably three years old and helped his mother clear tables, but what he did next—he stood at the top step of the cafe, looking out into the rain, and urinated straight down the main steps to the cafe.  At least he was facing outward.

            

As the rain cleared, we continued our hike.  We didn’t spent time at the lower falls—way too crowded.  But a further, slightly more vigorous, and absolutely more scenic walk to the second falls was worthwhile.  The hike itself was cool, with several unusual, narrow bridges of wood and/or bamboo, and the upper falls weren’t nearly as crowded.  Christine and Talula rented life jackets and swam in the water at the base of the falls.  They even swam behind and through a smaller set of falls.  Some folks were even diving into the water from the top of the waterfalls.  After about three hours, we were back at the parking lot (after a quick dessert stop for some fried banana with sugar), where our driver for the day was waiting to take us back to Cebu City.  Friday night traffic in town was very congested; our final 10-15 kilometers took an hour.

            

That night, I heard sirens—they sounded like fire engine sirens—nearby.  I heard them throughout the night, and they even affected my dreams.  I dreamt that the day after we left, our hotel burned down.

            

In the morning, I heard more sirens and finally looked out the window.  Smoke was pouring from a location just around the corner from our L-shaped hotel, toward the front of the building.  It was Ayala Mall, just across the street, and it was on fire.  The fire raged all day long, so we saw quite a bit of smoke.  Fortunately, most of it was blowing away from us, so we spent much of the day at the pool.  We were modern-day Neros, lounging by the pool while the mall burned.

            

We had some decent poolside lounge chairs, at least, although I was sitting next to—and within earshot—of two vapid Australians having a silly debate over the length of their layover in Manila.  Their flight departed Cebu at 8:30 that night and landed in Manila at 9:45 (no time difference either), and then their connecting flight was at 1:45 in the morning.  They finally settled their debate, agreeing they had just over five hours’ layover in Manila.  Ooops!

            

Soon enough, those girls were replaced by the Selfie Twins, two young Filipino guys who kept posing all over the deck and taking ridiculous selfies.  They also had a rousing, annoyingly boisterous game of Rock-Paper-Scissors right in front of us.

            

Other than that, the occasional smoke from the ongoing fire, and a massive onslaught of an extended Korean family (or five) who occupied the entire pool for an hour, it was a fine way to spend an afternoon.  Christine even got a massage right before dinner (Latino night at the hotel buffet).

            

Sunday was another leisurely morning before we took a taxi ten kilometres—but an hour’s drive (traffic is bad, and our destination, Mactan Island, is the most densely-populated island in the Philippines) to a pretty fancy resort.  As soon as we arrived and took a quick walk around, Talula started getting excited about all the pools and lagoons and things to do. “This is the best place ever!” she declared in a state of awe and joyous anticipation. 

            

So Sunday afternoon we explored the many surrounding pools and swimming lagoons—both salt water and fresh, with water slides, cliff diving, and man-made waterfalls and caves.  Talula even tried archery while Anastasia ran the obstacle course at a “Junior Boot Camp” (think of a children’s version of the Crucible at Parris Island).

            

We also had unlimited free homemade ice cream and milkshakes (the peanut butter chocolate variety was a hit all around).

            

Our evening concluded with a stop at Alien Abduction, a second-floor combination bar/ice cream parlor (yes, you read that right) overlooking the main lagoons with an alien theme, trance music, fun lighting, and even “alien heads” in class containers.  Trippy.

            

Monday, we were up early for breakfast, which also enabled us to get a jump start on others for activities such as:  tandem bike riding, kayaking (the girls even had their own little kayaks for this), more pool time and water slides and cliff diving, and some fun at the game room, where we played table tennis, foosball, and air hockey.

            

We had a picnic lunch on the beach, and then it was time for the girls to have fun at a craft station, first by making dream catchers and then by having their hair braided.  Then they drove little electric Tesla cars around, even earning their own “driver’s license” in spite of their poor driving, crashing into each other, running up on curbs, and even trying to run down innocent pedestrians.  After more archery, boot camp, tandem bike riding, air hockey, and a horse-drawn carriage ride, it was time for dinner, at Palermo, a pasta and tapas place with a European vibe. 

            

After dinner, we caught a Hawaiian luau (we missed the whole roasted pig but not the after-dinner show), with fire dancers and Hula girls and a limbo contest.  Anastasia was picked by one of the dancers to be one of the audience participants and was clearly ecstatic.

            

All this was just one day.

            

Tuesday was more of the same and then some:  Talula woke us up early again, so early breakfast.  The girls went kayaking again, followed by swimming at the “volcano pool” (Had a fountain in the middle shaped like a volcano).  Then it was time for divide and conquer: I took Anastasia tandem bike riding followed by air hockey and billiards while Christine took Talula to archery and rock climbing.  Both girls also drove the electric cars around some more, and we had more free ice cream, and the girls went crab hunting at the beach which led to some organized crab races—just one of many events the resort provided throughout the day, every day.

At one point, Anastasia was showing off her “catch of the day”:  “Look, I have a Herbert crab!”

“A hermit crab?”

“That’s what I said! A Herbert crab!

That evening, we hit the Alien Abduction Club for dessert BEFORE dinner, at Fiji, a good Japanese restaurant on the beach at the resort.  Afterwards, Anastasia was eager to return to Alien Abduction to see the live music, which started at 8:30.  Talula was fast asleep by then, so Christine stayed behind while I took Anastasia clubbing.  Anastasia was imagining kids her age dancing and having a good old time, but when we got there, it was just us,  the band (an old guy on a synthesizer and a younger woman reading lyrics in a sing-whisper), and two waitresses, who were dressed in short and shiny “space-age costumes” with some funny alien-like headgear.  It’s hard to explain this club.

Wednesday, we might have slowed down a bit: Talula still woke us up early, and we had another early breakfast.  There was more tandem bike riding and rock climbing and swimming and beach time, but we were clearly slowing down a bit (except when it came to all that free ice cream). 

            

While the girls played at the beach, looking for “Herbert” crabs and building sand castles (actually, I think they were trying to build a sand resort like the one we were at), Christine and I sat at an isolated little table overlooking the little beach.  There was a little tiki bar nearby, so I went over to get us drinks while we read. 

While I waited for the bartender, one girl seated at the bar (not Australian this time but North American) looked over at the nearby Fiji Restaurant and loudly remarked to her friend, “You know there’s an island called Fiji?"

Her friend shook her head.  “Never heard of it.”

           “I think it’s right next to the ‘MAL-divs.’”  Sigh.  How do they find me?

We also walked all around the resort, checking out birds and fish by the mangroves and gearing up for our sad goodbye. Dinner was back at Fiji, followed by dessert at Alien Abduction.

We had Thursday morning at the resort still (Christine and the girls had their palms read, and we had more bike riding and game room time), but the overall attitude was that our holiday was over, all but the flights back to Lahore, where colder weather and smog awaited.  But soon enough winter will be over, and before too long, we’ll have to decide which island or islands to hit next Christmas.