Little did I know that I will be running a marathon at
the airport next day. Running a bit late, I had to sprint through the crowd as
the aircraft was parked all the way at the end of the terminal. Oh God! I hope
I make it on time for boarding, I kept thinking to myself. My phone was
constantly buzzing with messages of my friends who were waiting for me on the
plane.
Gasping for air, I finally made it. Perhaps they
should install oxygen masks at the entrance of every airplane for people who
marathon their way to it. Anyway, it was all good; at least I made it and now
it was time to begin my fantastic holiday.
I meet my friends in the aircraft and nothing could
separate us anymore. The time passes with a blink of an eye and next thing you
know we had landed in Karachi.
My friend who had invited me was impatiently waiting
outside to receive us. I couldn’t wait to get out of the airport so I could see
what the city had to offer. I am not sure if you get that feeling of having
some kind of magic in the air, but this is what I have been feeling from the
past two months before my trip. Now the magic was even stronger. Maybe it was
the excitement. I just wanted to look around, inhale the air and feel the magic
of the city. I know you might think I am out of my mind, but I was never this
excited for a trip before. The moment I grabbed my bags, I ran fast through the
exit door.
The initial plan was to go to a hospital first because
my friend’s lovely boy had hurt his foot. However, it turned out that the
doctor would come to see the boy at home. What luxury, I thought to myself.
This also gave me the opportunity to meet my friend’s family and spend some
time with them
On the way, I kept staring outside the window exploring
the city with my eyes. People were everywhere and it looked so antique. It
seemed like I was in a different era. Everything was so aged and unique at the
same time. The cars were small and looked like shoe boxes. The regular taxi on
the road was black and yellow, but I had never seen such cars in my life. They
all looked like they would collapse into several pieces in the middle of the
road any second, but it seemed normal for the people. I noticed all kinds of
vehicles; from buses to rickshaws to cars to donkey carts, all moving on the
same road.
There were motorbikes everywhere, hundreds of them,
some with an entire family riding on them. I just looked around and I wanted to
take in as much information as I could gather. I was smiling; something about
this place made me smile.
My friend sitting next to me asked me worriedly, “Ana,
are you okay?”
“Yes baby, I am enjoying the view,” I reply.
With a bit of a surprise on her face and being very
skeptical she said, “I hope so!”
The next day, I waited patiently for my friends to
gather so we could go out and explore the city.
One thing I immediately grasped in Karachi was that nothing
goes according to plan. You should just go with the flow if you want to stay
happy and enjoy the time out. Life seems to be very haphazard there.
Finally when my friends arrived, we went for a
fantastic meal which was followed by a mini shopping experience in the bazaar. I
have to say I got a few great deals.
We saw a snake charmer making a snake dance to his
tunes and also took a horse ride on the beach.
Just before we got up to leave for home, my lovely
friend, who can easily pass for an angel any day, sweetly expressed her wish to
take a selfie with a donkey. I thought I had heard it all before this, but my
friends keep surprising me. A selfie with a donkey? Who could’ve come up with
such a fancy idea?
Since a man will do about anything to impress a woman
in Karachi, we began our hunt for a donkey with the guy driving us around. Suddenly,
I saw a donkey pass by, and I jokingly asked the guy to stop the car in the
middle of the road so we can fulfill the dream of our angel friend.
Next second, the brakes were hit and the car was
stopped with a screech in the middle of the highway, next to a donkey. I’m not
sure if this was a good idea, but like I said, you must go with the flow in
this city. We all got out of the car with cameras, ready to capture the moment
when our little angel will have the well desired moment with the donkey.
However, we encountered an unexpected problem. Our
protagonist was terrified of the small animal, so she began running around and
screaming in fear that the donkey will bite her. Quite a show we had to put on
in the middle of the road just to have a photo taken with the donkey, and the truth
is that nobody was able to take a photo because we all couldn’t stop laughing
at the scene.
On a second thought, the donkey selfie hunt was quite
a mission and I am happy that it got fulfilled by a brave man who went above
and beyond and had to put up with our craziness just to make us happy. Not a
photo, but we were successful in recording a short video with the donkey.
We finally hit home with big smiles on our faces all
thanks to the happy memories we had made with each other… and the donkey.
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