Day 102 Islamabad to Lahore

We had decided to stay one more night in Islamabad as Mark had not had a good night and still wasn’t 100%. Unfortunately the hotel was full so we decided to ride the 300 kms to Lahore as we had a room booked there. The idea was we would take our time with lots of drinks stops etc.

As we rode out of Islamabad we saw a little of what the city was like, as over the past few days we had only seen our hotel room and bathroom. 

Whoops chopped off the top of the globe- still not at my best! 

It is a modern city with lots of trees, wide street and huge buildings. 

So we pressed on - the heat and humidity levels were really high- really uncomfortable to ride in but something we will have to adjust to from now on. We stopped for drinks and for Mark to slide off the bike and rest under a tree. We even found a MacDonalds which we stopped at because we figured it would have aircon, a cold drink and toilet. 

The road was busy but in better condition than we had ridden on lately. Crazy drivers all honking horns and going fast is the norm. However it is  amazing what you share the road with. 

Yes that’s a camel.

There were several horse drawn carts with the rider standing on the tray of the cart- sorry missed that photo( use your imagination) 

Plus, goats, cows, people stepping out to cross the road - this is on the main road with everyone going fast. 

Then there’s the buses  - brightly painted and absolutely full with people- I saw one guy climb out the window onto the roof and get a bag down, pass it back through the window and climb back in the bus, all while the bus was playing dodgems with the traffic, again missed that photo sorry. 

Trucks - huge ones, again brightly painted and with massive loads, there is a truck lane but they don’t stick to that at all, sometimes there are three trucks across the road.

Everyone is really friendly, we get lots of waves and toots as they pass us. We had one car wave us down and pull in front of us. We stopped because we thought there was something wrong with the bike. But no, four guys jumped out of the car shook our hands and took selfies. By this stage we had black and sweaty faces from the heat and smog- they didn’t seem to mind. 

Along the way there are some very big elegant buildings - they are wedding venues - must have really big weddings here as they are huge. 

Some have interesting names- one was called Desire, another Loves Inn.

As we got closed to Lahore the smog got thicker and it felt like it was later in the day.

 We found our hotel, Mark nearly fell off the bike with exhaustion and I hit the reception complete with black face and sweaty, it took the beautifully dressed young lady on reception a few moments to find her ‘ welcome to our hotel’ demeanour. 

Our room is really nice, Mark is showered and sound asleep - well deserved, was a tough day riding for him.