Islamabad

Wow! I know you may not believe us and would prefer to stick with what CNN would tell you but the Pakistanis are unbelievable hosts. I have heard it said by many tourists here that it is almost impossible to do or see anything because they spend all their time chatting to locals and drinking tea. We've already had our own experiences with this of course as we've been to a wedding and spent considerable time with our new friend Javed at his or his friends' homes to chat or have tea. It's been an amazing experience as we've gained tons of insight into the culture, the complexities of family relationships, Islam, etc. We've already had to turn down more dinner and lunch offers than we could possibly go to even if we ate out at every meal!
Having said all that, I am so far the most disappointed with the food. They eat a lot of meat and these days greasy chicken just doesn't appeal to me very much. A few days ago we moved over to Islamabad. You'd never believe how organized and modern looking it is (indeed this whole country feels so much more organized and sensible than India did). The highway was 6 lanes with no traffic. Islamabad is only 40 years old or so and as it was built from scratch the just created a huge grid system so that it is divided into sectors. Wide streets, lots of green belts, little traffic, etc. We were here to get some more visas but that is being delayed a little so we are probably heading north into the mountains of the Hunza valley for the next week on a lung cleansing mission.
Ammon