Karachi arrival
June 21, 2009
Bismillah alhamdulillah.
As the plane made its final descent to Karachi airport the sight that caught my eye was the desert like patches of ground inter spaced by the odd patch of green. It looked like a city on the edge of a desert and didn’t fit the impression I had in my mind of verdant green fields stretching to the horizon.
Airport immigration
The airport terminal was bare and had the feel of something built in the subcontinent with its harsh paintwork and lack of comforting plastic finishings. The immigration counter was uncomplicated and manned by a lady officer, she was wearing a well pressed medium grey suit, the type favoured by Russian officers. Her head scarf was not color matched and sat precariously perched on her head as she operated the US supplied Logitech remote camera that was being used to photograph everyone as they entered the country. She deftly moved the camera with her remote control and entered the details into her immigration computer. There are no objectors to the pervasive intrusion of the state here.
We leave the immigration counter and find a man selling tickets to hire a trolley, at 200 PKR (Pakistani Rupees) per trolley, this includes a porter. Having tried to avoid porter services in the past I have decided for this trip to engage their services and avoid the hassle of struggling to find well hidden trolleys. I have also been informed that the porters are able to find the most appropriate route past the customs officials who stand by waiting for the next victim.
Karachi airport baggage check
Unusually we found an officer checking the baggage tags and matching them to our tags, the one we were given when checking in our luggage. usually I seem to loose this in one of my pockets and fortunately managed to find them and prove ownership of our luggage. The checking was rather superficial but a good show was put on of efficiency.
Entry Filed under: Pakistan. .
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