You can get pretty much anything at the Sunday (AKA Margalla) Bazaar, even on a Friday. Open three days a week, the bazaar is the place to go in Islamabad to purchase essential items at competitive prices. It sprawls across 25 acres with 2,760 stalls. Carpets, clothes, fresh food, techie stuff and even soccer balls.

I wanted to have a look at food so my hosts, Drs Kashif and Umer from the Plant Genetic Resources Institute, brought me to the bazaar for a gander at the diversity of food the Pakistanis can buy at the market. I think they got tired of me saying ‘what’s that … what’s this’ as I saw so many foods I did not recognise. We visited the pulses section, which merged into the vegetable, spices, nuts and grains sections. The shopkeepers were helpful in showing off their goods and posing for my photos. And as I have discovered in my short time in Pakistan, the people are warm and friendly and eager to share the riches of their country with visitors.

Prior to going to the Sunday market, we had a drive through the Wholesale Market where produce from around the country is brought to sell to merchants in bulk.

It was hot strolling through the bazaar so Kashif and Umer treated me to a freshly pressed sugarcane juice. After the jolt of sugar we were able to continue to stroll through what appeared to be endless stalls selling everything imaginable.