When we took some Javelins out to Singapore we stopped for a couple of nights in Karachi at some hotel known as Mini Wallahs. This was used because apparently it was the only hotel that could accommodate a planeload of passengers should a Britannia break down.
We had two RAF medical officers with us who at first sight decamped to the Speedbird at the airport.
The were two lift shafts but only one lift. The other shaft was ungated so you could look up or down four floors. There were two sets of plumbing in the rooms. The original was inoperative and had green mould around the orifices; the working set looked lethal.
We were issued with water and threatened with dire consequences if we even cleaned our teeth with the hotel water. The food was dreadful but the conditions in the dining room was OK; they had fly screens all around to stop them coming out of the kitchen.
When we departed two of us Valiants taxiied out with four Javelins behind us for departure, We were cleared to line up and that was it.
After fifteen minutes we were getting worried about the fuel state getting to Gan. We were refused take off, again, so the leader called rolling and we all took off with ATC erupting over the radio.
For some reason or other we never routed through Karachi again. Thank God!