Monday, Feb. 7 in Lahore
We had a last day in Phnom Penh, going to tour the Royal Palace and the Silver Pagoda. The floors are actually made of silver and there is a life size statue of Buddah made entirely of solid gold and encrusted with thousands of diamonds. Cambodia was doing okay in the early 1900's when this was all constructed. Then some weak kings, a long French colonization, a short Japanese occupation, the Vietnam War, and Pol Pot have pretty much left them starting over from scratch with nothing. But they are very hard-working people and have made a lot of progress. Hopefully, things will continue to improve.
We are now in Lahore, Pakistan! This is Dan's first hometown, although it has changed considerably in the last 40 years. Dan feels that it seems to have lost its charm, although the people have not, they could not be more friendly or charming- so far.
We had a bit of drama getting here yesterday: Our flight out of Phnom Penh was delayed two hours and our layover in Bangkok was only 2.5 hours. When we landed in Bangkok, the amazing Bangkok Airlines people went into overdrive to help us catch our plane. They whisked us away in a van and an agent accompanied us all the way to our gate, communicating ahead on her walkie-talkie. Very impressive. The plane took off exactly when scheduled and we were on it. Unfortunately, our luggage didn't travel as quickly and we are without our clothes! We managed to buy another shalwar kameez for me today after a good hour of hunting at dozens of shops at Liberty Market. Most women choose their fabric rather than buying ready made. We finally found a cute cotton one at "Maim Saab." Now Dan is at the nearby mall buying some underwear and a shirt for tomorrow. $7 for a very well made cotton dress shirt is pretty reasonable. The concierge tells us that our bags will be arriving tomorrow night at 11 p.m. We sure hope so!
We also drove to UCH (United Christian Hospital), and peered into the back garden area where Dan remembers playing as a kid. The walls around the compound are literally falling down as the hospital continues its decline. Sad to see. We went to Forman Christian College as well and found #8 where the Williams family lived during the Lahore years. We also found Forman Christian Chapel on campus where Dan has lots of happy memories. It was very hip architecture at the time it was constructed. (See photo below.) We also met an American bio-chemistry instructor and got his take on the college and Pakistan. Not too positive on either count, he is especially disturbed by the "brainless" people who intermittently are led to protest by their mullahs, blaming America for everything, regardless of how little America has to do with internal Pakistan problems.
Dan is giving two talks tomorrow and is almost ready. He is feeling better, but still feels green around the gills, especially when he smells rich Pakistani food! Bad timing for that.
More later.
Julie & Dan
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