Lahore’s walled city contains some truly extraordinary “built heritage”; two of its mosques ought be on any globetrotter’s “bucket list” and its fort is one of “our” planet’s grandest.
This “old city” is, however, neither a “museum” nor a “theme park”.
Most of it is very “real”, complex, busy and not-immaculate – an urban place in which many people live, work, shop.
It will surprise any visiting westerner who had preconceived Pakistan as a “forbidding” or “unfriendly” destination, and/or as one in which only males are highly-visible, in public.
On Lahore’s streets, adult women are abundantly present, most of them do not hide their faces, and it is not the least bit unusual to see an obviously-confident woman, venturing out in her own right, unchaperoned.
The shopper pictured above fully exercised what was evidently a generally-recognised “right” in this marketplace: to “try before you buy”.
She was not the only customer we saw do so, before purchasing any particular spice.
As you will see in the next two posts, a visiting Westerner is likely, sometimes, to be surprised – perhaps, troubled too – by some of what is for sale.