How It All Goes Down
Rawalpindi's Rooftops at Dusk
- Mortenson wakes up in Rawalpindi, near Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan.
- Abdul, the hotel's chokidar, arranges a cab for Mortenson so he can go buy cement.
- The taxi zips along the Grand Trunk Road to Taxila, where they wander around until they buy some Fauji cement.
- On the way back, Mortenson's shalwar rips, so Abdul takes Mortenson to a tailor to make him nice new clothes.
- The tailor teaches Mortenson how to pray, and Mortenson is comically bad at it—"We do not appear before Allah like a man waiting for a bus" (6.48), the tailor corrects him.
- The next day, Mortenson goes through the process of buying lumber and manages to get a good deal.
- His clothes are ready, so he tries them on and they look good.
- For some reason, the tailor and Mortenson then walk "arm in arm" (6.83) down to a gas station to wash, pray, and fart. (We're serious. There's farting.)
- Mortenson admires the unity of the men at prayer and he wonders where his journey will lead him next.