2 more days in Karachi

Back to Karachi to discover the processes that convert cotton bales into finished product at the factory.

Here's a few fairly typical street scenes around Karachi. As you'll see its a pretty rough looking place. I don't have a huge experience of the world, but can say for sure that Karachi is definitely the least attractive city I've ever seen. It's not quite as bad as I expected, but all the same it really is very dirty, very noisy, and seems to be undergoing huge developments.

If you ever happen to go there, I think you'll find it an interesting experience. I heard numerous tales of hijacks and so on, but my experience was of nothing but friendly people.

On my way home I met a Dutchman who had spent 4 days in a cheap hotel wandering the streets of old Karachi. His views were the same as mine of the place. However he has travelled to over 100 countries, and he told me that he thought Karchi the dirtiest city he'd ever been to. No pride seems to exist in the way the poorer people treat their surroundings, with some of the older and more beautiful buildings just being allowed to decay and fall down, to be replaced by half built concrete constructions.

I wasn't under the impression that the people are any poorer than they are in other places I've been. But they certainly don't take as much care of the place they live as the poor people I saw in India. Many of the Indian cities I saw, were poor with similar houses, but there was far less rubbish just left to rot in the streets. I saw dead dogs and other animals just left in the road, I even saw a few human bodies lying wrapped in blankets from head to toe at the side of the road. I couldn't say for sure they were dead, but they were well wrapped and motionless and I couldn't think of any other reason why they would be lying right at the edge of major roads like that.

Certainly an interesting place, but definitely not on my list of places to go on a gentle holiday!

I must add that I feel that I've given a somewhat negative impression of Karachi so far. However I did see some better bits to the city in the rich Clifton area of the city where we ate out one night at BBQ Tonight which was absolutely superb. It was packed with large families old and young all eating lovely food. Its a 4 storey high building with the top floor open for hot evenings. It clearly is possible to find better parts to Karachi, but my takeaway impression is of a run down neglected place undergoing rapid change.