And then there were none... Email sent January 31

Dear All,

Here is the last email in the Pakistani Princess Tour line of lazy emails! Sorry for those who got pasted onto the list at the end of the trip, rest assured there are fabulous witty accounts of pakistan and unicef that come before this! Susan and I made it home safe and sound, albeit with a bump, this week. We have raced into real life half asleep and in bejewelled Pakistani slippers, but hope to bumble our way through the rest of the year in style!

We left MZB in the midst of bad weather and while the world still knew the whereabouts of the Turkmentistani Red Cross Heli. Susan got the last heli flight to Islamabad with instructions to find clothes and taylors and go forth and conquer! Of which mission she succeeded in beautifully! I finished up some teacher training and in a hasty and not entirely elegant fashion jumped into a UN car full of security persons and got myself back to Islamabad. It was divine to have Susan, some clothes and a new rat waiting for me at the eccentric hotel of choice!

Luckily it was the last of our Pakistani hotels as Susan jetted off to Bangkok and I stayed on with Asiya's beautiful family! Lahore was great and I can recommend it as a destination if only to go and eat at Coco's Den. Actually just get the pommigranite juice and bring batteries for your camera! I also got to the closing of the boarder ceremony the day before I left and joined with the Pakistani's in screaming PAKISTAN!!! BLAH BLAH BLAH!!! Not quite Aussie Aussie Aussie, but sure to be inspiring if you speak Urdu! Still, there is a magical moment when the Indian guard and the Pakistani guard shake hands and close the gates. It is a ceremony choreographed in 1947 after the seperation of the two states, and had me crying and not quite ready to go home!

Susan and I had made our mark on the United Nations, and not all could part with us! Andreas the semi divine doctor from WHO made the trek to Thailand with us. We tried to get rid of him in all the places one might expect to lose a German but he would not shake loose! In the end we just decided to fall in love with him and take him along to Koh Chang with us! We do lovely you very much despite my inability to be on time anywhere. Some would say this was a skill in itself!

We loved our trip and all the people we met in Pakistan. A more random trip it could not have been, but one that made certain for us future plans and the need to finish uni and get out of here! My next trip is less exciting, but with definate potential. New Zealand! I have a conference and some gorgeous Pakistani clothes to wear at it! It is lovely to be home, and while sleeping at Bangkok airport for several days trying to get on a standby flight did take some fo the glow off of the trip, several good sleeps and lovely ironed dupattas have bought back my sense of humour! We both look forward to catching up with everyone soon, a Pakistani Princess Party, or at least a boozy lunch is looking like a bright future!

Much Love
Dion (and Susan) aka Buggy and Dutchy!