Rewind back 3 months ago, my best friend got
married. I attending her wedding in Pakistan and boy it was one heck of an
experience I’ll never forget…
To start this trip I needed to get a Visa so I
went ahead and applied at Gerry’s Visa in Birmingham. Upon arrival I was given
an application form, I filled it out and handed it in. The receptionist then
told me that I needed a sponsor letter I thought this was an invitation letter
to prove my invite, who and where I will be staying, she then went on to explain
that this is a letter from the chairmen or some sort of person with a high
status in Pakistan. I was surprised and confused so I asked what if I was just
a tourist and wanted to visit Pakistan on my own? And her reply was “Sorry you
can’t.” I was a bit shocked so I called my friend and we calculated, it would
take at least one week to get it and posted over that’s only if everything is
done speedily. Amazingly her father in law managed to get the letter back
within 2 days, only because they knew someone who was leaving Pakistan and
flying back to the UK that was just LUCK!
So I went to pick the sponsor letter up from her
and went straight to Gerry’s Visa, in Manchester this time. And guess what…
they told me I had to apply at the office I live closest to which was London.
It takes at least 1-6 weeks to get the visa and I was running out of time. I
went straight to London the next day and handed my application in, hoping that
they could do it within a week. There was no fast track or anything either, but
last minute luck again I received a text the next day saying my visa was
ready!! I was so excited and felt relieved! Couldn’t believe how much
information and documents was needed to get a visa.
Anyway so the time came closer and closer and
since I had two changes one in Dublin and one in Dubai I planned a one-day
visit in Dublin. It was short and sweet just roamed around in the city and had
breakfast. The atmosphere was what I expected, similar to the UK apart from
everything in Euros.
Dublin
It was when I had already
arrived to Dublin and received a message from my friend telling me that I could
only stay for 3 days, this was because of the different rules in Kashmir Kakra
Town which is a town in between Pakistan and India and that my visa will only
allow 3 days. Just my luck hay?!
It was at Dublin airport when I decided to do a
YOLO moment, I booked a hotel in DUBAI! My stop over in Dubai should have been 19
hours but instead I booked in to stay for 3 days, leaving me with 3 days left
in Pakistan or Kashmir…
Sharing my experience with you:
Dubai
Pakistan/Kashmir
My one planned trip became three! Sometime you
just have to go with the flow…
It was the best YOLO moment ever! I explored and
experienced a lot during this trip. I was on my own but it made me think and
realise that there is so much to see and experience in life!
REMEMBER…. YOLO!!!
XOXO
