Share your last trip to motherland

[Endurer]

Hey desis, when was the last time you visited your motherland? What was it like? Share your experiences, pictures etc here.

I'll be posting mine soon down here.

[Tulip]

Nice idea. As for me I live in my motherland but I'll sure love to see and here about all your experiences.

[Endurer]

Thanks! You can share what it's like living there.

So I visited Pakistan in August to celebrate Eid with my family and get on with some meetings. It was a different experience this time because I got to visit so many places (Islamabad, Kashmir, Lahore, Karachi) in such a short span of time.

I had the pleasure of travelling in PIA and as is the norm with our flag carrier, the flight was late by thirteen hours. I think you enter Pakistan as soon as you step into a PIA plane (not a compliment) and to be honest I was praying not to be seated with anyone.

After roughly twelve hours of flight, I landed at Allama Iqbal airport in Lahore and was immediately brought up to speed about how much had changed since the last time I was here. Well, nothing changed. The same immigration officials wearing untidy uniforms, the aweful long wait at luggage carousel, the jackasses at customs channel, passengers smoking in no-smoking areas, porters, and the large crowd standing to welcome pax outside arrivals.

Anyhow, skipping all the details, I saw a fragmented Pakistan this time around and it was heartbreaking. Every person I met there was either going abroad or was planning to go abroad. There was no one there who wanted to stay or had other plans. I can't blame them for it because almost no hope is left.

Time since last visit: +2 years.

What I miss: Family, food, people.