Saturday, December 29, 2007

Somewhere Bad But Safe


Now ths should of been the first of the blogs from England, whereby i would be starting to take the riotous preverbial out of the Pom's however in my quest to visit every hotel rooftop on the planet I am sitting here watching the sunset and burning tyres in the distance over Karachi in Pakistan.

The not so gentle drone of the hotels air conditioner plant mingles with the effusive smells coming up from the kitchen vents.




I arrived in the bureau in London two days ago and within twenty minutes, Benazir Bhutto was dead, Pakistan launched itself into riots and I was packing equipment I had never seen or used before.

Luckily my trusty Pakistan Airlines Frequent Flyer card was in my Passport holder and hours later we were on PK 788 direct from London to Karachi flying overnight. Now Business lounges around the world can be graded according to which other airlines share the same lounge, and you know you are in for a treat when waking to the door of the PIA lounge we noted that two other great airlines also shared the lounge facilities those being Turmenistan and Uzbekistan Airlines.

Arriving in Karachi a city of 15 million people, twice the amount of New York City it was as they say in the movies like a ghost town or as Greg Palkot put into prose "An unerry quiet" . The streets are deserted, all shops are closed, buses are burnt and shops banks in some parts of the city are trashed.

Karachi is not a city for the feint hearted and trying to film rioting is to be honest bloody dangerous and driving to the edge of the suburbs with smoke on the horizon, the nerves were tingling, we made it about half a mile into the city before he crowds were drawing in and the mood of the mob ensured that we did a rapid U turn and got the hell out of dodge.

So Somewhere bad we managed to get too , somewhere safe NOT

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Saw Palkot this morning reporting. He did not look ....happy. Should have known they would send the best into the most dangerous place...so no surprise to us that you are in the beautiful city of Karachi... by the bay. Just the name sounds fishy to us. Our advice..shred all the secret papers and evacuate. However, we are confident Fox will somehow manage to work your great reporting in between all the fluff and femininity they now promote with much gusto. Little do they know or care that we don't give a damn about what drunk is stealing whose husband in Hollywood or what lies the politicians are spouting today. We do care about what is happening in the world that will affect the civilized, more or less, portion of humanity that hasn't embraced terrorism...Islam...whatever the heck you want to call the bastards. And so our thoughts are with you as you attempt to get the truth out to us...if you can actually discern what the truth is in that mess. Maybe the truth is that there are no good guys to pull for at all. But they did slip in on us developing those Nukes...didn't they. Hummm Someone was screwing around when they should have been on watch.. me thinks. So security went to hell all for the sake of humidor research. Such is life. Our thoughts and more will be with you Mr. James and Mr. Palkot and your crew and any other decent people who might accidentally be there..or work for Fox. If you had tits and long blonde hair you could have avoided this. Such is life... again. However, we like you war correspondents and cameramen just the way you are so don't go changing..Above all don't risk too much to get the story. Your photos and Mr. Palkot's estute observations, poet that he is, will convey the point as they always do..And we need you. The world is so full of jerks that we have come to appreciate the good guys more than we can express to you. Enjoy your roof tops, Mal. Strange hobby you have but everyone is allowed one peculiar habbit...aren't they. We like to shoot wild pigs from the balcony with a BB gun..in the hams....go figure. Be safe above all and don't lie to us that you aren't enjoying the adrenaline ...once you make those U turns and find your refuge in the storm..next to the Air Conditioning Unit. Good refuges are just getting a little more scarce and further and further in between. Thanks Mal and crew. Someday maybe...just maybe...you will write a blog about having a beer and smoking a cigarette and talking rich in a pub in London...or on a hotel roof top ...whichever you prefer. Take care and when are you going to grow the wild hair look again with the earring. Somehow, it fit you.
Your long time viewers and readers
Annie and Neatie
AZ

21stCenturyMom said...

Holy CRAP! I am so angry about Benazir Bhutto - eff those Al Quaeda guys. And above all - don't let them get to you! I hope you get out of there soon - very soon.

Anonymous said...

Like you new Blog title....Unholyland (not) news...
Watching your camera work on Fox. Great. As is the coverage by Harrigan up north as well. We depend on you guys at Fox.

Anonymous said...

HAPPY NEW YEAR MAL AND CREW!!!! AND AN APPLE CIDER TOAST....MAY YOU HAVE A WONDERFUL NEW YEAR IN LONDON EXPLORING BRITISH ROOF TOPS.

Anonymous said...

Well, Mal, it looks like you might not make the Tiberias Marathon this year. Me neither. It was great running with you last year.
I hope to be running the Dubai Marathon, though.
Good luck and stay safe.
Russ