Lahore is the capital of Punjab and Pakistan’s second city.

If you want to visit Lahore, pick the right time of the year. Usually, at the beginning of May, it reaches 40 degrees. And from then on, it will only get worse. It was just a coincidence that I went to Pakistan, where I visited Lahore and Islamabad. Since I was going on a trip to Afghanistan, I wanted to use the opportunity to see just a tiny part of this country, known for its fantastic nature, ancient history, and ongoing political instability.

Getting a visa for Pakistan

You would probably think getting a visa to Pakistan should not be too difficult, but that’s wrong. At least I had a long struggle. I started early to apply for the visa, and these days, this is done online on the Pakistani homepage. However, if you have a letter in your name that the computer doesn’t recognise as I do, I repeatedly get the message: write your name correctly. I also stated that I was travelling alone, not with a group, and enclosed my hotels; they were still asking for Loi (Letter of invitation). After visiting the Embassy in Oslo, I was promised everything would be ok. A week later, I received my visa, but the dates were wrong, so the visa expired 3 days before I was supposed to enter the country. Then, I had to start the whole thing all over again.

Arriving at Lahore International Airport

I was flying in from Doha, and just before we were going to land, we were told that there was a fire at the airport, so we could not land then. We circled the city for about 45 minutes before we were told they had got all clear to land. Being the only white person I could see, getting out of the airport can be a bit of a shock; I was also looking for the driver I had booked in advance, but no one was there with my name. My E-sim card had not yet been installed, so I could not make or receive calls. I was hijacked by a false driver and had long arguments with him before he let me go again. When I was about to enter an ordinary taxi, a man approached me and asked if I was Mister Tom.

Ready to explore

Even though I had not slept during the night while travelling here, I could not sleep now, so I got my room and was ready to explore the city. Lahore is a large city, and I was not based too centrally, so I had to get on the one bus line that goes through almost the whole city. As I stated earlier, it could get very hot in Lahore already in May, and in the daytime, it was between 37 and 40 degrees all days I was there. A ride on a packed bus in the heat can be challenging.

Badshahi Mosque

My first stop for sightseeing was the Badshahi Mosque. For over three hundred years, this was the largest mosque in the world.  The crown jewel of Lahore was finished in 1673.  The ground has a capacity for 100,000 worshippers. The building has an open structure; there are no doors or windows, and inside, it is not as large as I expected. But still, It had some fantastic designs on the walls and ceilings. It was a peaceful place, and inside, it gave some shelter from the sun.

Lahore Fort

Lahore Fort has been inhabited for millennia. The site’s first record of a fortified structure was regarding an 11th-century mudbrick fort. The foundations of the modern Lahore Fort date to 1566, during the reign of Emperor Akbar, who bestowed the fort with a syncretic architectural style featuring Islamic and Hindu motifs. The fort has several entrances, and the most impressive, Alamgiri Gate, is not open to the public.

The area is waste, containing 21 different monuments or buildings of interest; it is also on the UNESCO list. The Palace of Mirrors was exciting, but you also had to pay an extra fee to enter. I spent a long time walking around the whole area, which was very peaceful. In the Deewan-e-Aam, they were preparing for a wedding, so when I came to close there, I was asked to walk away. I guess it was a wealthy family that could have their wedding there.

Lahore Museum

It is the largest and oldest museum in Pakistan. It opened its doors to the public in 1894 and was constructed in the Indo-Saracenic style, a blend of Mughal and British Colonial Architecture. The Lahore Museum’s permanent collection houses approximately 60,000 historical, cultural, and artistic artefacts. These objects represent the heritage of Islamic, Buddhist, Sikh, Hindu, and Jain histories. The museum is slightly gloomy, and a good cleaning and dusting would have improved the impression.

Food Street is close to the Lahore Fort. I was there during the day, so not much was happening then. The buildings are colourful and full of wooden details around windows and balconies. I am sure it is great to be there at night, full of people and the smell of food. All in all, I did see some nice things in Lahore, but I must admit the heat was killing me, so the next day, I was ready for the bus ride to Islamabad the following morning.