A wrong way walk down the ganda-nella highway (the open-sewer highway) was frustrating and confusing mostly for me - but also for the hundreds of rickshaw, car and truck drivers, and especially the police roaming the side of the busy, stinky road. 'What was a 'farange' (foreigner) doing walking (rather - trudging) on the side of the road?' Having no map of Lahore and with the sun blocked out by means of pollution, i had no sense of direction, and I was carrying only a few measly rupees given to me earlier that morning. Only slightly concerned about finding where I needed to be, the stench was getting worse and the view getting less and less familiar. Having disembarked from the bus at the wrong stop, I knew I just had to keep walking. Finally after establishing whether I was a 'boy' or a 'girl', the also confused policeman told me that the only bridge crossing this foul highway was the one I'd crossed about thirty minutes before.
Happy that I could turn around and get on my way, I wondered where all the locals were walking to and where they'd come from. I only ever have to walk this stinking road once, but they walk it every day... The exhaust from the two-stroke-rickshaws lining their lungs; the noise deafening. The open-sewer cholera-water flowing down the middle of the road produces a smell, I guess, you'd get used to.... after time.
As a woman, and one of a very few non-pakistanis in this city, trying to blend in is a challenge. Lahore is man-heavy on most streets, especially closer to the city, where they trade in everything and anything. The weather's cold, so rugging up under local long woolen pashminas and cozy beanies means we look local....ish. Curious and friendly, the locals spot us, welcome us in, note our hunger, ensure that we are well fed and later insist we try the local 'pan'.
A concoction of sweet syrup, coconut, beetle nut shavings and other (un)desirables wrapped in a local green leaf painted with a chemical-activating bitter solution, pan is as as common as gum. This big mouthful of sugary goo sat rather uncomfortably in the side of my mouth ('do NOT swallow the leaf' he insisted) while I waited for the tasty surprise. It made a good mess of my mouth, teeth, and the pavement once I decided it was time to spit it out after the surprise never came. Lahore pavement is one big spittoon for these treats. Our 'child-size' treat was not even comparable to the 'adult-size' pan which can consist of several different strengths of tobacco, beetle nut and the hallucinogenic catalyst - that oh-so-yummy secret bitter paste painted on the inside of the leaf. Many locals have a curious brown colour staining their teeth and the local 'pan' store has workers with hands of the same colour from constantly painting the leaves and wrapping up the treats. Funny though, their mouths are not stained... for they know this local delicacy is really ...not very good for you at all.
