Mane Events

We decided my fundamentalist beard was neither necessary nor comfortable, so Khalid took me to his barber shop (OK, it's a salon, but I'm trying to protect our street cred). Ten minutes and a the equivalent of a buck-seventy-five, and I look like a civilized being again, more or less.

Brunch was at the Punjab Club -- really spectacular, largely Pakistani buffet, overlooking a manicured courtyard and swimming pool. Then a brief stop at a book shop -- too brief; we'll be back -- and I picked up a knockoff of Elphinstone's 1815 two-volume 'Account of the Kingdom of Caubul' for about $12 (reprints go for $66 online; a good first edition will cost more than $7,000), plus an Afghan ethnography, and then …

The Lahore Polo Club.

Among the beautiful people.

In the stands, with rabid fans, players' families and a member of parliament, complete with AK-toting bodyguard. And, if you wanted it, cappuccino. Lovingly documented by photographers and local TV cameras.

We left with three minutes to go in the final chukker, to beat traffic, but Diamond Paints was up 7-4 over Allied Bank, so it wasn't much of a game left (although it had been tied 4-4 at the end of the third). But one gets the impression the real game is seeing and being seen.

Home to rest. Beautiful house. K & V off to a wedding tonight, so we'll dine in, rest, and I'll immerse myself in the Kingdom of Caubul. Tomorrow: the old city, some bazaars, whatever comes.