|
After a good night’s rest in Dalbandin we left in the early morning for Quetta. Fresh on our minds was a picture shown to us back when we were in Bam, Iran of a bus. The picture in question was taken by a young Korean couple who had just crossed Pakistan. They had stopped for a meal outside Quetta when the bus that had been following them just a half hour behind pulled up. It had been attacked and had the scars to prove it. Although nobody was hurt, the passengers were apparently quite shaken up…
Our day would be much the same as the previous one with an important exception, it was my birthday. Yup, I was going to spend my 40th birthday driving along deserted roads in Pakistan’s Balochistan province. Here are a few pictures…
After another long day of driving on difficult roads in temperatures which often exceeded 40 degrees Celsius we finally arrived in Quetta, exhausted but happy to have reached our destination without incident and without having picked-up any escorts along the way. As for celebrating my birthday we ended up going to bed ridiculously early.
The following morning we woke before sunrise and our entire group left Quetta together right before sunrise. There was Simon and Fred on their bikes, Dave and Chris in their car and us on our trusty bike. Here is Quetta…
Within an hour we entered the Bolan Pass, the scene of ethnic violence just one week earlier…
After nearly 1000 kilometers in the country without receiving a single escort our luck was about to change as soon as we exited the pass. We had already seen pictures of these escort vehicles and their occupants but meeting up with the first team left an impression, especially after spotting their guns. Here is the first team…
This was the first of many escorts we would receive. Although occasionally fast and efficient, most of the time they tended towards a lack of organization during handoffs from one team to the other while at other times they were downright dangerous and incompetent. The routine was fairly regular with one team escorting us anywhere between 20 and 50 kilometers until the next checkpoint where our passports would be checked and we would be handed off to another team.
Sometimes these teams would be particularly slow and we would do our best to push them to go faster by trying to evade them in heavy traffic. This would work a bit but most of the time we would lose them only to be flagged down at the next checkpoint and be given cold stares and angry words by the next team in line. On a few occasions we simply rode past these checkpoints causing even more frustration for the teams. Now if all of these evasive maneuvers on our part sound like we were being unreasonable and arrogant it must be said that the mere presence of the escort vehicles was putting us at risk. This is mainly because it was drawing attention to us but also because their driving would sometimes be erratic and dangerous (not to mention ridiculously slow at times). Add to this mix the fact that temperatures reached 45 degrees Celsius and you have a strong argument for doing what we did.
Fortunately we had Chris and Dave in their air-conditioned Subaru who both kept a close eye on our behavior which, they later told us, had become increasingly erratic due to the intense heat and dehydration. Once we arrived in Sukkur, our goal for the day, they ordered me to sit in their car so that I might cool down.
The following morning the circus that was the escort situation continued when we had to wait while our escort vehicle had to be push started. Frustrated, we simply rode off without them. But our escort free days were not over as about 100 kilometers later we received another team, this time an anti-terrorism unit complete with bandannas and M-16 rifles. These guys did not hesitate to make their presence felt and one incident in particular left a strong impression on us, but not in a good way. As we rolled into Multan a bus inadvertently cut off the path of the lead escort vehicle (there was one in front of us and one behind us). One of the police came out of the lead vehicle, casually walked up to the bus drive rand proceeded to punch him first in the face then in chest. And this, in front of a large crowd and a bus full of people.
Only one hurdle remained before putting an end to a rather horrible day, finding a room. Despite looking deserted the first place we went to (still under heavy police escort) claimed they had no room for us. The second place we went to told us point blank that our presence would put the hotel at risk of a terrorist attack and refused to give us a room. But the third attempt was a charm and we were allowed to stay. However, three of the police officers spent the night in the lobby “for our protection”. Here was the view from our room…
Our time in Pakistan was almost over and the following morning we left for Lahore, our last stop before entering India.
Brian |
