To Islamabad, Pakistan (پاکستان) for a conference

Hi everyone,

Yes, I visited Islamabad, Pakistan. Soon after the successful launch and in-orbit activation of the South African satellite, #Sumbandilasat, I was invited as a speaker to a small satellite conference at the Institute of Space Technology situated in Islamabad/Karachi.

Islamabad view from Margalla Hills

Once there I was exposed to the general nature of Pakistani people which I found very much the same as most others in the developing world i.e. interested technology development, focused on national developmental needs, generally honest, progressively oriented and feeling under threat from powerful nations (one neighbouring country in particular), hence community oriented.

I learnt of the important role the military played specifically in the Islamabad society. And how integrated communities seemed to be, practically everyone knowing everyone else's history.

As an aside, I was therefore very surprised at the 'discovery' of Osama bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad as reported in our press. In terms of the reference framework I picked up in Pakistan, even the Pakistani military could not hide a man as notorious as #OBL in the type of closeknit communities that existed in that part of Pakistan!

Islamabad is separated from Rawalpindi (or "Pindi" as the locals refer to it) by a single street and is seen as a dormitory city since nearly everyone, apart from shopkeepers and hoteliers, works in Islamabad. Although neither Jahangir (Karachi) nor Jansher(Peshawar) or Hashim Khan (near Peshawar) were born in Rawalpindi, the city acknowledged Jahangir by naming a street after him. The father of the Pakistani nuclear program, Abdul Qadeer Khan, as well as the famous Pakistani cricketer, Imran Khan, is reported to have houses on the banks of Lake Rawal, the main drinking water source for Islamabad and Pindi.

The other word commonly used during my time in Islamabad was "achar". Apparently. it means anything from "yes" to "all is well".

While in Islamabad, I had the privilege to spend time on a boat on Lake Rawal and was shown an impressive housing structure on its banks. Here is one my images of the lake ...

I enjoyed my time in Pakistan ... I felt safe and cared for even though we were accompanied by an armed guard  wherever we went. The conference was a success and I returned to South Africa after one week as I came, via #Dubai.

DubaiSat model at the ground station 

Dubai from Burj al Arab

I visited the Dubaisat satellite ground station, met with some Saudi representatives at the Burj al-Arab (built by South African company Murray and Roberts) and the South African embassador in Abu Dhabi while in the UAE. I then made my way back to Cape Town with an Emirates flight.
The funny part of my journey from Dubai to Cape Town was that, having spent a tiring week-plus away from home I, needed to rest on my flight back. I was booked in economy or 'cattle' class and and very carefully chose on of the bulkhead seats where I stretch my legs to my heart's content. At check-in, I carefully checked to see that my internet assigned seat was reflected on my boarding pass and it was! So far so good.

The next checkpoint was at the boarding gate and I was ready for a good verbal fight if anyone dared mess with my seating choice. At the boarding gate my heart sunk as the stewardess typed in my boarding pass and paused! She then excused herself to chaek something with a colleague while I was working up a good steam! I thought that this young lady did not know what she was in for if she returned with a different seat indeed. All my pent-up steam begged for release when she said: "I'm sorry ....." the rest of her words disappeared in a fog of steam and I was on the point of letting rip when I asked her to repeat her last words, which were: "I hope you do not mind but we had to move you to Business Class." I felt completely deflated and meekly thanked her.

Now in all my international travels (about 15 return flights) up to that point, I had never flown Business Class before because our company could never afford the expense. I was flabbergasted at my good fortune and hoped I would not make a fool of myself during the flight!!

Competition Eye Candy at Dubai International

 I was lucky enough to be seated next to a very fidgety gentleman, who tried every button and knob on his seat. This helped the monkey-see-monkey-do part of me in no small measure and I soon had the hang of the fully extendable seat.

While I was lounging in my business class seat, my former boss came to visit me from his economy class seat and remarked: "So this is how the other half lives!".

Suffice to say, my flight went by like a dream! ACHAR!! Or shall I say in a dream, since I woke up as we were about to land at OR Tanbo International. In those days the Cape Town bound flight to and from Dubai landed in Johannesburg before venturing further. The current route is non-stop and Emirates fly three different flights from Cape Town and Johannesburg directly to Dubai for most days of the week. Durban only has one such flight per week.