Laudium

After hearing about Laudium I just had to go check it out. But aside from pretty houses, debunking various myths about the wildlife there, checking out a wonderful and impressive mosque (go tablighi jamaat!) and experiencing the magic that was the club sandwich from Mohideen's there really wasn't much to see there. The ride was fun though, the thirty minutes or so allowing more of us to do more of the bonding thing.

Actually one of the more interesting parts of the trips was driving through a shanty town on the way back home. It was quite paradoxical - here was rows upon rows of tin shacks, much like you would expect from any other poor and undeveloped country (not for the first time I was reminded of parts of Karachi). Yet the people seemed strangely comfortable with their respective residences, each of them appearing to get on with life. And in person they didn't seem particularly hard up: some were laughing and playing games, others had bags full of shopping while more still were dressed in suits or fancy dresses, perhaps returning from work or an evening out. It was all quite bizarre actually.

I was told that the area was still being developed, and indeed further inwards into the area there was cheap, bricked housing. Perhaps the people living here are just waiting for their houses to be built? Maybe I'll get to see them on my next visit here.