I do understand what you say about being somewhere when things are happening, but at the same time not wanting to risk life and limb. It probably is harder for our family and friends back home than for us over here.

Bhutto's assassination end of December then the bomb blasts in Lahore last week has bought some of the instability unfortunately a little closer to home. Historically Lahore has been relatively trouble free; so it was a bit of a surprise when that happened. It has made some people both Pakistani and expats think about how long they will work over here.

Talking to some of our Pakistani friends last night they commented much of the mass unrest does come down to hunger. It is third world and when you get issues such as the terrible handling of the wheat harvest - huge surplus at the time; but now big shortages of flour - plus a bit of political instablility thrown in - could be interesting times ahead especially with the election coming up.

I fly home next week for a family event, so am looking forward to some quality wines, roast pork, sun and surf. New Zealand does have it all; but at the same time we do relish the opportunity to use our skills to make a difference to some of the people over here.

Watching the news about Pakistan in the last couple of weeks, I have thought that you got out at a really good time.

It ain't as bad as maybe the media is painting in NZ. I do admit there are plenty of issues that seem to grab the attention of the world's press; but to most of the folk living here you wouldn't know that anything is different. There are the extremists, but they are a tiny minority and of course grab the headlines - most Pakistanis are doing their level best just to put food on the table every day. It is third world and there are no backstops such as social welfare.

My wife, two daughters and I have been living in Lahore for almost a year now. It is a colourful, character of a city as mentioned in Damian's previous blog. We do exercise a fair bit of caution about where we travel. Places like Swat and much of the Northern areas are off limits just right now.

We had family come and visit us in Lahore over the Xmas period which was great; but they very nearly did not come. Why would that be do you think? What influenced them in their decision making? Surprise, surprise - the sensationalised reporting of the media; as well as the MFAT warnings - which don't make pleasant reading!! Unfortunately for Pakistan the problem areas (which there are a few) are blown out of proportion to cover the whole country. You have to admit there are parts of Auckland, Wellington or Christchurch that would be best avoided at times - same applies here.

Damian - we did enjoy meeting you when you were here. Thought your writing on both the time you had in Afghanistan and Pakistan was excellent. It painted a real picture of the situation not the usual bull-shit that sells papers!!