Having been here a few days, Lahore seems pretty exciting. There's lots of energy and color. It feels pretty hip here, and, at times, Americanized, with plenty of McDonalds and Pizza Hut-style fast food franchises. [It's hard to believe, but McDonalds is said to be the best place in town for tea.]

iPhone mania is everywhere. People who can afford them hang out at local cafes displaying the iPhone as though it were a status symbol. Since it's not officially available, the iPhone is being sold through informal networks. [Check out the accompanying picture http://www.allvoices.com/user/image/370 : An iPhone deal going down at a local gas station.] The handset sells for $500, and includes a hack, but lacks a warranty.

I spent time at two local college campuses: the University of Punjab and LUMS (www.lums.edu.pk). At the moment, university life is largely preoccupied with the upcoming elections and talk of democracy. People seem very open about their views. Almost everyone wants Musharraf to leave office, and fault him for all security issues in Pakistan. Lately, Lahore has played host to a number of bomb scares, mostly around the city's universities.

The working assumption of many students is that the government is responsible for these events, because it is eager to create a climate of fear. I was quite surprised by a comment a young student made at LUMS that he would rather have Asif Zardari as the next leader rather than Musharraf. “Even though Zardari has stolen from the...

Day 1:
Flying from San Francisco to London was a breeze. Not much issues except for the middle seats. As we arrived in London, most papers were breaking the story "Blast at Pakistan election rally near Peshawar." We'll go visit the area of the explosion, and find out what it was about.

The food on the flight from London to Dubai was disappointing, but the conversation was good. We mostly talked about the world energy crisis. A south African couple was complaining about load shedding in Cape Town.

Apparently a major South African producer of coal and other resources has daily power outages that can lapse from 2-3 hours per day. Restaurants and businesses are suffering. Generators have become a most sought after, pricey commodity.

Sounds familiar. From Pakistan to South Africa, it seems that energy crises have become a part of everyday life.

The entrance to the hotel at the same level of security found at airports. Bags were being put through x-ray machines and everyone had to walk through metal detectors.

Time to call it a day—need to catch up on sleep. Stay tuned.