Blogs from Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, Asia

19 August Amritsar, Punjab, India Except for arriving from and departing back to the United States, I usually do not take too many flights when traveling. Yes, I know they cut distances and save time. But I need to be lodged against a window and see what I would be missing, impossible at 35,000 feet. If a train goes, I’ll be on it. Otherwise I’ll settle for a bus, minivan, outside panel of a jeep, or bed of a pickup truck. Ameen asked me back in Gilgit where I would go after we parted company in Chitral. “Peshawar”, I said. “Are you sure you want to go there?” I was. “Yes.” I would be fielding that question very often. “How will you go?” “Well, from what I gather, it is a ten-hour ride with a change ... read more

LA CADUTA DEGLI EROI La "vendetta di Montezuma" colpisce anche in Pakistan Dai diamanti non nasce niente, dal letame nascono fiori. Fabrizio De Andrè E così un bel pomeriggio parto da Quetta e mi accingo a lasciare il Baluchistan. Fino all'ultimo son indeciso sulla mia destinazione: arrivare a Lahore direttamente non se ne parla, troppo distante, così opto per uno stop-over: fino al giorno della partenza son propenso ad andarmene a Multan, ma alla fine deciso di fare una piccola pazzia, e cambio meta. E' infatti da quando son partito che, negli Highlights del Pakistan, nella mia LP, continuo a guardare una foto che ritrae un Mausoleo, e a dirmi: "Questo voglio proprio vederlo". Mi basta poi leggere cosa la guida dice al riguardo, per convincermi: "Famosa meta di pellegrinaggi, dove ben pochi stranieri arrivano... read more

August 29 Woke up early and headed to the passport office, to get permission to enter the tribal areas after being told no after waiting a good hour it was onwards to the Afghan embassy where it took us two hours to get visas even though the system was bloody confusing. After this it was off to the Kyhber pass agency were we were told that we did not need their permission as we would not be staying there and would rather need permission from the home office. After a stressfull time at the Home office and running several blocks to find a place for passport copies and also buying the officials a nice lunch we had our permission to enter the tribal areas. In celebration we went and bought burkas and kamizs along with some ... read more