(Daniel) The sickness which had been hitting me hard yesterday is showing no signs of relenting, a situation which really isn’t helping the task at hand, fixing the trailer axle properly. It also prevents me from getting any proper rest, which I really need now, after all the effort of getting this far. If I don’t get the trailer sorted, it will be a constant problem and source of worry for me throughout India. This morning, I sat in the lobby, trying to formulate a plan. While I was thinking, a Pakistani man staying at the hotel came and introduced himself. He approached me from across the lobby and asked if I was the owner of the Wolf.
I replied that I was, and suddenly he was overjoyed. Apparently he had done two similar trips in his youth, and was terribly exited about my own. He went on to explain that he now lives in Bexley, in the UK, but has a manufacturing operation here in Lahore, and was currently visiting it to have some meetings etc. I explained my troubles, and that I had bought some steel, but was not satisfied at the quality. Just at this moment another man appeared, who was apparently meeting my new friend to go out that morning. The new man was Indian, and they insisted that I accompany them, telling me that we would definitely find a piece of Carbon steel at one of the places he was having meetings today. I felt hopeful, and followed him in the truck.
The first stop was at a plush offices in Gulberg. When I got out in the parking lot with armed guards etc. I felt more than a little scruffy. The expedition look, begins to take on a dusty, oil stained hue, with unkempt hair, and rough looking hands and shoes. This was how most people would describe me. On arrival, the men ushered me into their business meeting and treated me as the guest of honour. I thought that perhaps bringing a westerner with you to a meeting was prestigious. The Indian man was apparently here to sell homeopathic medicines to the man who ran the company. He made a good attempt, though I must say that the business talk and presentation of the product by the Indian man was pretty low rate, and I felt like chiming in a few times when he was stumbling! However I watched with interest as the two tried to make a deal, which never happened. Afterwards I was ushered back out, and we were given directions to a factory.
We drove in convoy to the outskirts of town, where on arrival I was then given the factory tour. However in the end, they did not have a large enough piece of carbon steel. So we went to another place, and they agreed to take the job on. Before going in there, the Indian chap from Bexley looked at me, and said “Now Daniel, I am going to play the game a little. I don’t want you to say anything, just go along with whatever I tell them. You know the thing; your father is in the home office, etc. etc.”
I knew what playing the game was, but didn’t consider the implications of his last comment fully. My father certainly doesn’t work for the Home Office, and I did not think how he would use this lie. I tried to ignore the comments, and after a short meeting in Urdu, we agreed to leave the trailer there for a couple of days. They would order in the steel, and we could be ready to leave asap. I felt much better about this, and finally parted company with the other two and headed back to the Best Western, where Gabby and Rowan were. When I got to the Hotel, they had left a note to say that they were at my end of town, so I drove to Macdonald’s and ate some burger and fries, hoping not to offend my still raging stomach!
While I was inside, some enterprising kids had tried to clean the Wolf. Unfortunately for them, it’s not so easy to clean that particular vehicle! So I walked out, and into an argument, where basically they said that they wanted something because of the effort, and I explained that they had just made the car look worse! It was during this exchange that I noticed that my keys were gone, I searched my pockets, and then went back to MacDonald’s. Checking the toilets (I had been twice!) and then my table. Then the counter, where luckily someone had handed them in! Feeling blessed, I gave the kids some pens for their unwanted efforts, and then drove back to my hotel to rest.
After an hour in the room, Rowan and Gabby came up, they had been walking around the camera street down the road, and stopped in on the off chance that I was here. We walked down to the Camera street to buy Rowan a new camera that he had seen, then headed back to the room. There we discussed the days happenings, and decided at the last last minute that whilst the trailer was being repaired we would drive to Islamabad tomorrow, get our Indian visas ready for us to move on soon.
After this Rowan and Gabby went back to Gulberg and their hotel, and I got an early night. After last nights adventure, I instructed the receptionist to tell anyone enquiring that I was not in!