What You've Missed...

A trip to Lahore, a family of five on a motorbike (check the pic at http://adventurersclub.blogspot.com), and now I'm back in Islamabad.

There's a shortage of hotel rooms here. The city is flush with aid workers here for quake relief. While I was in Lahore, my cheap-o guesthouse "lost" my return reservation. I was finally forced to land in the 5-star Serena Hotel. It's an amazing place, and I'm starting to feel guilty. The site of all these do-gooders and diplomats lounging about a luxury hotel while the people they're here to help live in tents strikes an ironic chord. In short, I don't like the company I'm keeping and am returning to my dingy little guesthouse as soon as a room frees up. Realistically, I shouldn't criticize them because there *is* a shortage of hotel rooms here. But I also know that even were there not a shortage, they'd all be clamoring to get in here. Who wouldn't? The Serena is paradise. A guilty paradise. And while I certainly don't advocate the suffering and martyrdom of aid workers, well, I'm feeling conflicted.

At least the owner of the Serena, the Aga Khan, uses the hotel earnings toward charities and programs to develop economies in places like Pakistan and Afghanistan. He seems to do a decent job of it too, if his microfinance programs are any indication.