Exotic retreat in a mystic land of Sufis

Lahore: Not content with the financial returns from a long journalistic career, Malik Karamat Shams decided to set up an internet cafe in Lahore in the '90s.

He had not imagined he would one day be running a vital facility for international tourists, especially the backpackers.

At that time computers were a luxury in Pakistan. Internet connections were expensive and the business of unbranded computers was still in infancy.

Youths addicted to browsing and chatting would throng these cafes which were few in number when Malik - as he is known to acquaintances - started the business on a willowy street behind the famous Regal Cinema.

A gutsy Malik started a shabby inn for tourists and soon became famous through "word-of-mouth advertising" among hikers, trekkers, international journalists and backpackers. One day, he encountered a foreign filmmaker hunting for a place to stay.

Malik took him to his cafe and since then, he has never looked back.

From the ruins of a ramshackle building on The Mall - the Surrayya Mansion - he went on tapping a lucrative business niche for himself.

Spiritual music

"The number of guests staying every year with us at the Regale Internet Cafe or the Regale Inn, whatever you call it, is way beyond 500. Most of them cross over to Lahore by foot from the bordering Indian City of Amritsar," he told Gulf News.

Malik escorts his guests to the centuries-old shrines of Sufi saints across the city, makes them listen to the spiritual music (Qawwalis) for hours and arranges "Sufi Nights" for them, mostly on Thursdays.

The rhythmic beat of the drums at these shrines excites these foreign tourists a lot more than their guided tours. In the words of Linda, a cyclist from New Zealand, "This place is more famous with the hippies, who could never have imagined in the wildest of their dreams otherwise, that in a country like Pakistan, they would have such a great liberty... Many of those coming here are low-budget travellers, backpackers as we call them, so they are not looking for a 'honey-moon' accommodation.

"The dormitories at the Regale Inn serve their purpose well. But there certainly is a craze among them to board at this place, the myth and mystique of which actually attracts them like a magnet. The owner [Malik] also caters to their 'needs' dutifully."

Financial constraint

Emma Susan, a US aid worker, stayed at the Regale once, more out of curiosity than any financial constraint. " Since I was reading a lot about it on renowned travel forums such as the Hospitality Club, Travellers Point and the Lonely Planet, so decided to give it a try."

Malik, within his dismal resources, is striving to be more innovative. He doesn't charge much (Dh9 per night for a sleeping mattress in a dormitory and Dh20 for a room), and yet manages to make his guests experience what they cannot do by paying a much higher price in better hotels of the town.

He sometimes takes his guests to his native village situated on the outskirts of the city and shows them the eunuchs dancing. He is the best guide for them.

Malik tells women travellers how to dress up in a less offensive way, while they are in the street, to avoid groping etc. He also advises these people to behave more conservatively in Pakistan than they would do in India.

Roger Mario, a freelance journalist who lodged at the Regale once, said: "He is a helpful guy who has dispelled a lot of negative impressions about his country."