After a few hours, I wake up with my stomach still loopy. And some unwanted new info: apparently some prisoner has escaped near Islamabad, so the airport’s on highest alert. This means that my luggage gets even more scrutinized than usual, especially fun as I feel like curling up in a fetal position. A doozy of a fee from British Airways for the ticket change: instead of the 90 bucks I thought it would be it’s 200 plus 20 pounds! Whatever: at this point, I’m not changing my plans back.
An agonizing hour’s spent waiting for my plane to board. I shift around, trying to find a position that will minimize the pain my stomach feels. Taking the bus onto the runway, I’m at the point that I’m just telling myself to make it onto the plane and then go in the bathroom and let my body do whatever it needs to do. Another ticket check upon boarding the plane proves too much, and I puke off the side of the steps leading to the plane’s entrance. Although I wonder whether they’ll prevent me from flying and/or place me in some CDC isolation, nobody even mentions anything as I finish emptying my stomach and board the plane.
The flights are flights: nothing new, definitely losing their novelty after so many. A little weird start is that we zigzag east first before cutting northwest, avoiding flying over western Pakistan as the airspace is newly closed.
So, did I enjoy my trip? Definitely. I’m fortunate that I didn’t do this as my first time out of the country, as it would probably have intimidated me out of ever again leaving my First World confines, but it was a great experience to have. Will I return to India and/or Pakistan? Definitely not again for touristy stuff. I’d consider more community service there, but what sounds really cool is an article I read in one of the many magazines that let guys pretend they’re way more adventurous than they really are: there are tons of unclimbed mountains in India, Pakistan, and countries with similarly underdeveloped infrastructures and unstable political situations. It’d be great and probably not as likely to make me sick if I were to hike around, carrying all the infrastructure I need on my back. And that will be a trip of an entirely different color...