Title:	Aladdin’s wedding hall and fun house
Region:	Central Asia
Countries:	Pakistan
Date:	May 28, 2005
My Rating (out of 100):	75
	Hi Everyone, One of the great things about being in a place like Pakistan is that you see all these marvelous signs that we would consider amusing. The "Aladdin’s wedding hall and fun house" is one such place and I can only imagine how entertaining it is to walk through fun house fat/skinny fun house mirrors on your way to the alter. I've also seen a couple of signs that are copies of the Australian "Kangaroo Crossing" signs, but slightly different. There is a picture of a Kangaroo and it simply says "Koala". I am currently staying in the Islamabad / Rawalpindi twin cities area absorbing the culture and meeting the people while I wait for the rest of my trekking group to show up on June 1. The people here are amazingly warm and welcoming and it doesn't have any of the hassle of India. The other evening I went up to a local cafe that had a nice second floor balcony and yummy looking kebabs fired up over a charcoal grill for dinner. I was having a bit of trouble communicating with the waiter since his English was limited and my Urdu only consists of 3 words so far. A man at the next table spoke excellent English, offered to help me with ordering some food and invited me to join him. He is currently in the 4-year process of trying to immigrate to Canada using the points system and learned English to bump up his score. I joined Vincent and his friend Nassir and we chatted for a while, as you do. They told me they were "Christians just like you" and proceeded to prove the fact by showing me their booze permits. Religion: Christian, it said. Muslims are not allowed to drink, but non-Muslims are allowed to apply for a booze permit every 4 months that allows them to buy one 750ml bottle of the hard stuff or 20 beer each month until the permit expires. They must purchase the booze at an approved outlet and drink it in private. Drinking in public, although legal, would draw lots of dirty looks from Muslims. Nah-nah-nah-nah, we can drink and you can't! Vincent gave me his mobile number and we agreed to get together again and perhaps have a drink or two. Nassir and him then went home to tell their wives this cockamamie story about meeting a Canadian at the restaurant, and were simply accused of imbibing too much of their booze ration. I called Vincent the next day and he invited me to visit his family at their home for dinner that evening and I accepted. It would give me a great chance to see a little bit of local culture and lifestyle, and prove that I was more than a booze-induced hallucination to Vincent and Nassir’s families. To be fair, I have only seen 2 other foreigners in Rawalpindi, so I am a bit of an anomaly. I understand the family skepticism. They live in a Christian Colony that was built in a community just outside of Rawalpindi and there are 50 Christian families that live there. Vincent's wife Anita cooked up an excellent meal and afterwards we did a bit of a photo shoot. Vincent's two daughters loved the digital camera and got a good kick out of my headlamp as well. These sorts of experiences are the ones I always remember the most when I'm traveling. You really get to understand a bit of the culture and people when they happen. Cheers, From Rawalpindi, Jonathan. PS, there is a Subway franchise near my hotel and I chatted to the guy working there. He works 56 hours a week making sandwiches and earns Rs20 per hours. ($0.40). Makes the $6/hr in Canada look over-the-top.