It
was surreal flying into Islamabad on the night of the 21st September
2012. As I traversed the world from Paris to Abu Dhabi to Islamabad,
all the news was of Pakistan; ablaze with protests, demonstrators,
bombs, gunshots, and killings and following the release of the
infamous Youtube video denigrating Islam and the prophet Muhammad.
At
every airport I thought an email would recall me, but no, and I
arrived at 2.30 am, with no local money, nor an address to go to,
only an assurance that someone would meet me. A little anxious, but I
decided there was nothing to do but carry on, and stay calm! As it
happened, within an hour I was in an unmarked car with a Pakistani
man who showed me no identification, driving down the road in the
early hours of the morning. I thought "well if this is a
kidnapping, here goes nothing".
