17th Feb – Bilal Ganj Steel Market. Lahore, Pakistan

(Daniel) Rowan and Gabby came to my door this morning to tell me that they were moving.  They had not been able to get the hot water going and this had been the last straw in their decision to go to Best Western and get some decent standards from their hotel.  I understood completely, but had got used to this room overnight, and decided to stay, at least for the time being.  They took a taxi and we agreed to meet up later in the evening. I felt the spectre of unhappiness growing in them again, and realised that our journey through Pakistan was wearing us all down faster than we could have expected. I made a mental note to try and come up with some solutions, but my priority today was to fix our trailer axle for good.

I asked the doorman if he knew where I could find a replacement axle for the trailer.  He told me about a steel and car parts market in Lahore, so I decided to try the car parts market first and jumped in a rickshaw.  For anyone looking for parts in Lahore the market is called Bilal Ganj, and any rickshaw or taxi will take you there.  I was really surprised when I arrived to see the scale of the place.  Street after street of used car parts.  While walking around, I met a couple of mechanics who said they could help and returned with them to the hotel to inspect the current state of the axle.  We then drove to the steel market and tried to locate a piece of carbon steel to replace the axle, in the end I left with a scrap bar that was the right size but not the correct grade. The mechanics asked for my number, but I told them I didn’t have one.

Finally, a hotel!
Heading out to the parts area
Used parts galore!
Bilal Gang Steel Market
Taking a donkey back the the car with our new steel

When I returned to the hotel with the steel, a business card had been left at the front desk for me. It had details of a local TV station, and the receptionist seemed excited, and said they had wanted to do an interview.  I decided to call them later and went up to bed early.