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Pakistan Zindabad (Long live Pakistan) we all chanted as the Pakistani border guards marched back and forth swinging their feet up to touch their hats and then stamping them down with a loud slap on the pavement, all the while glaring at their Indian counterparts on the other side of the border gate. These guys are picked for their height and strength and look very intimidating marching around purposefully with AK's slung over their shoulders. After watching the "show" from both sides of the border I have to say that I felt prouder to cheer from the Pakistani side!
The atmosphere surrounding the ceremony made me think of sporting events in Australia with rival fans cheering as they made their way to the stadium. Arriving at the border in our mini van we piled out to be swept up in the flood of humanity filing through the border gates. There was loud music booming from car sized speakers and vendors selling flags, cold drinks and popcorn, except the popcorn was cooked in hot sand in large bins and then seived out and the music was Banghrah Knights style.
After much parading around and showmanship a guard from each side
stomped as fast as they could towards each other, stopped inches apart at the border line, and shook hands briefly and vigorously. The flags were then lowered at exactly the same time and as they were carried away the guards slammed the gates shut with a resounding BANG! The border was now shut, at least until tomorrow when the whole parade would be carried out again.
Lahore In Lahore I met a really diverse group of travelers at my guesthouse and ended up spending the next two weeks exploring Pakistan with them. The most interesting person was a Chinese girl who couldn't remember anyone's names so ended up calling everyone by their country name. She was a real character and always kept us entertained no matter how exhausted we were. One evening she diverted from her usual "Mr America" to say "Blian, I make flying lice tonight". Brian and I cracked up into fits of laughter and Miss China said "You are very dirty man" and went to talk to Mr Russia who was generally in a bad mood and cursing Indians and vegetarians.
One of the most interesting things that I did in Lahore was attending a
Chilling with the Paki's! :)
These guys were a lot of fun and were far more liberal than I would have expected!Sufi music and dancing night that is held every Thursday. Arriving in an autorickshaw I could hear loud drumming and then as I approached the Shrine of Baba Shah Jamal on foot the smell of hashish was thick in the air. I pushed my way through the crowd of bodies and found a spot near the shrine from which to watch the ceremony. While two brothers, one of whom is deaf and was taught rythm by his father tapping on his back, put on an incredibly skillful display of synchronized drumming, men work themselves into a trance like state shaking their heads vigorously and jumping around. Every now and then someone shouts out a call and hundreds of voices respond in Urdu in unison.
Obviously I saw a lot of people smoking hash in Pakistan but the technique and shear volume smoked here was astounding. To make a joint they twist a cigarette between their fingers while tapping on their outstretched palm to remove the tobacco. They then throw half of the tobacco away and replace it with hashish, which is first lit on the end of a match to soften it up. The tobacco and hash are then
mixed together and slowly replaced in the empty cigarette. They scoop the mixture from their palms while enhaling on the filter end and tapping the cigarette on their thumb nail occasionaly to pack it in. Once this is completed they twist the end like a joint and if they are really dedicated they remove the filter with their teeth and tear off a small strip before replacing it, to allow a small gap for some unfiltered smoke. Most people smoked two of these at a time which I thought was a pretty impressive effort, that was until I saw one guy smoking close to 20 at once! This is made possible by their innovative smoking technique where they place the cigarettes between their fingers (this particular guy had about six between each set of fingers), and balling their hands into a fist, they inhale the smoke through the small gap above their thumb! (This also allows them to smoke the cigarette right down to the filter without burning their fingers) As you can imagine with this going on all night there were quite a few very stoned people stumbling around!
Peshawar Unfortunately when we arrived in Peshawar we discovered
that the security situation had deteriorated quite severely in the last few months and as a result most of the really interesting sights around Peshawar were off limits to visitors. At first I was a bit annoyed by this but then I heard that the Pakistani Ambassador to Afghanistan had been kidnapped a couple of months before in the tribal areas on his way to the Kyber Pass and has only been heard from once since then... There had also been a number of kidnappings including three Chinese Engineers who went to visit the Dara Adam Khel Gun Market and never came back.
Thus we had to content ourselves by watching BBC, chatting and wandering around the city bazaar. One day however, tired of sitting around at the guesthouse, Brian and I thought we would check out the Smugglers Bazzar which is right on the border of the tribal area of Kyber Agency. (The tribal areas are divided up into 7 different Agencies, and each Agency has a few hundred Maliks who are the local Pashtun Tribal Chiefs.) On the bus there we met two guys who offered to show us around so when we arrived we wandered around
Border Ceremony (Indian Side)
Before the ceremony got underway young Indian guys vied for the priviledge of running up and down the road waving big Indian flags. the main bazaar with them. This bazzar sells anything from white goods to US Army Issue Jackets and most of the stuff comes in across the border illegaly from Afghanistan. Our two friends then asked if we would like to see the hashish and weapons market, and feeling quite at ease with them we said why not. We had heard of people being turned back at the checkpoint but we walked right past the "NO FOREIGNERS BEYOND THIS POINT" sign and the guards didn't seem to mind as we were with Pakistanis.
In Peshawar I had thought it a little excessive that the security guard at the bakery next to our guesthouse had a shotgun but Kyber Agency was really a whole new level. It really was the Wild West except instead of pistols and rifles every second man carried a Kalashnikov slung over his shoulder and the shops had rocket launchers on sale. We were taken to a small shop where they showed us various Russian and Chinese AK's and even demonstrated how to dissassemble them and clean them. I was really surprised, and scared, by just how simple the Kalashnikov is.
They then asked us if
we would like to have some tea at their house and we gratefully accepted. I should mention at this point that I did think about this decision quite a lot but since the guards had seen us crossing with the two men and didn't seem to mind I felt like we were in good company and they didn't have any malicious intentions. A car soon arrived and we headed down the road towards the Kyber Pass, passing under the famous entrance arch and then past Jamrud Fort. They pointed out a fortified compound with men with M60's sitting behind sandbags, which they said had been attacked a few weeks ago with rocket launchers by a group called the Islamic Force for Freedom. They were very proud to tell us that the attack, which they said had been funded by the Taliban and Alqaeda, had been beaten off easily. Just on the other side of Jamrud we stopped at their house which is situated in the valley where over 2000 years ago Alexander the Great fought a battle with the local tribes. We sat on cusions and while we sipped chai they showed us rockets and anti aircraft munitions they had
Peshawar
Heading out to explore the town. collected. It really was a glimpse into a world completely different to my own, and one that I hope I never find myself having to live in.
Driving back to the smugglers bazzar I got a message from my Mum and one of the guys said with a smile, "We can call your Mother and say we have kidnapped you!". To my surprise I found myself laughing along with them which I guess shows how safe and at ease I felt in their company.
Chitral From Peshawar we took an overnight minibus to Chitral in the North West Frontier Province. It was a bus ride I would rather soon forget with 20 of us crammed like sardines into a combi for 13 hours listening to the same screachy tape over and over again which sounded like a baby getting hit by a cat, to borrow a phrase from the Simpsons.
After wandering the streets of Chitral and exploring the local fort and mosque area we decided to visit three valleys about 20km away which are the last remaining place where the Kalasha people live. These people are an esception in a vast area from Turkey to Kashmir
as they are the only people group to have retained their culture and religion after Islam arrived in the 8th Centrury AD. It was refreshing to see some women's faces, after the tribal areas where the few women we did see where in full burkas with not an inch of skin visible. The Kalasha have light skin and very European features and it is said that this is a result of Alexander's Army briefly stopping here, and mingling with the local people, on their way West. We were invited into a home where a woman was cooking bread and we were given some to try with goat's cheese, which was stong to say the least! :P We also tried the local grape wine that they make in the valleys but it was a bit of a dissapointment, tasting distictly like vinegar...
While in the Kalasha Valleys we also did a short trek to a mountain pass and it felt almost fitting that at the top as we gazed out at the string of snow capped mountains that are the border with Afghanistan, our guide took out some Afghan hash, made a joint, and offered it around. :P
Arriving
Bomboret Valley, Kalasha Area
Some boys carrying firewood down into the valley. back in Chitral on the top of a ute filled with firewood we heard that a polo match was just about to begin, so we eagerly made our way do the local polo ground. There were lots of people sitting around in leather pants that looked a lot like leaderhosen and small boys walking horses around to warm them up. Shortly after we arrived the 10th person arrived and the game got underway. The polo played in Pakistan is Freestyle Polo so as you can imagine the number or rules is limited... The game is started by a rider cantering as fast as he can down the side of the field carrying a wooden ball. Upon reaching the half way line he throws the ball up into the air and then hits it with his stick towards the opposition's goal. As you can imagine this is extremely difficult to do while riding at full speed, but they do it with grace and effortless poise. We sat on the wall that was the boundary to the field along with hundreds of local people and could have literally touched the horses as they cantered past. Half way through the second half the
Hiking to the Pass
The mountains over my left shoulder are the border with Afghanistan. call to prayer went up and the game instantly stopped with some riders getting down off their horses and sitting on the ground. A few minutes later the game resumed with just as much vigour and hostility. The players pulled at each other and sometimes even hit each other with their sticks as they vied for position and tried to hit the ball. I've never really been into horse riding, thinking it was a sport better suited to girls :P, but after watching that game my view changed a lot!
Gilgit From Chitral we took a number of buses and jeeps to a small town called Mastuj and slept the night in a quaint little guesthouse. Up early the next morning we hopped on a bus bound for Gilgit and around lunch time passed over the Shandur Pass. This pass plays host to the Shandur Festival every July where polo teams from Chitral and Gilgit come to compete in a week long contest. The pass is a narrow valley with mountains covered in snow rising over a beautiful lake, beside which is the polo field. It is the highest polo ground in the world and unfortunately due to the
altitude some horses keal over and die in the middle of the game due to heart failure. I could almost hear the crowds shouting for their various sides but when we were there, there were just yaks wandering around and grazing on the green grass.
In Gilgit I unfortunately got dysentry so was out of action for a few days. I did however manage to make it to another polo match which wasn't as exciting as the one in Chitral, that was until half way through the second half... I was chatting to the guy next to me when out of the corner of my eye I saw something hurtling right at us, I ducked and the hard wooden ball hit the British guy next to me right in the side... We didn't talk that much after that... :P
Karakorum Highway I had hoped to do a long trek but due to my not feeling the best I opted for a number of smaller treks instead. I first went to Karimabad and did a 2 day trek up to Ultar Meadow with a guy from Hong Kong and a guide and porter. Leaving Karimabad at 7am we climbed
steeply up the narrow valley until we reached one of the water channels that has turned the Hunza area into a breadbasket. These channels are cut into shear cliff faces and direct water all over the valley below. There is usually a 1m wide path beside them and beside that is a 300m vertical drop to the valley below! Great times! 😊 Following the water channel we climbed deeper up the valley and eventually came to an amphitheatre like area with a sloping green meadow surrounded by mountains and glaciers.
We had hoped to go to the Hon Pass which is at 4400m and has spectacular views out over the surrounding mountains but there was still too much snow and our guide said it was too dangerous to continue so at 4200m we had to return. I instead explored the Ultar Glacier and was rewarded with glimpses of Lady Finger, a golden pinnacle 6000m high that is too steep for snow to stick too. In the evening our guide and porter and the other men there who were looking after the animals tried unsuccessfully for about half an hour to catch a massive yak so they could shear it.
They eventually did catch it and while two men sheared it the others milked the goats and did a few other less honourable jobs... (refer to picture) In the evening we sat around a small fire and drank chai while I showed them photos taken during the day. A snow leopard had taken a young cow a week or so before so they made a small fire by the animals enclosure and every 30 minutes or so one of the men would go outside and shout and scream at the top of his lungs. This continued well into the night and even as I was drifting off to sleep I could hear them shouting away outside! The highlight of the trip for me was just hanging out with the sheperds, and helping them with their jobs, and by the time I returned to the valley I think I was a pretty accomplished Yak herder, leopard scarer, goat catcher and goat milker. :P
I then decided to head further north up the Karakoram Highway (the highway that links China and Pakistan) to Upper Hunza to do a trek near Passu. The minivan I got a lift with was completely full
so I found myself hanging off the back with about 5 other guys, swinging from side to side as our driver careened around corners like a rally driver, and praying that the bar we were standing on would hold our weight! :P We arrived in Passu an hour or so later and I gladly said goodbye to the people on the minibus, and started my trek. The most interesting thing about this trek was that I had to cross two bridges that looked like they were out of an Indiana Jones movie! They consisted of steel cables strung across a 100m wide river with planks wedged between then every metre or so. It got even more interesting when you reached the middle of the bridge above a rushing river and the wind started to pick up, swinging the bridge back and forth! :P In a word, it was Awesome! :P Having a few days spare I then thought I might as well go all the way to the Chinese Border at the Khunjarab Pass. In Sost, the last town before the border, I luckily met a group of Pakistanis who were heading to the Pass and back again so greatefully
tagged along. Once we had entered the Khunjarab National Park a few of the guys and myself climbed up onto the top of the minivan for a better view. Along the way we saw many Golden Marmots and then as we were reaching the pass at almost 5000m we came across a herd of Ibex! These are endangered mountain goats with massive horns that curl back over their heads. Even though we only saw them from a distance it was a real treat! At the border we got photos with the Chinese guard and I couldn't resist jumping across onto the Chinese side, but jumped back even quicker when the guards shouted at me. We made a snow man and had a snow fight, and I showed the Pakistanis how to make snow angles. All in all it was a great afternoon! Arriving back in Sost late in the afternoon on a Sunday I discovered that there weren't any more buses heading south. I walked to the edge of town to try my luck hitchhiking but not a single car passed in an hour. Some police at a nearby checkpoint called me over and after playing cricket with them for
a while they told me to go and watch the IPL on TV and they would stop all the cars and get me a lift! They then cooked me dinner and gave me a room for the night but luckily at 9pm a security detail returning from taking a Chinese Engineer to the border came by so I got a lift to Karimabad, chatting with a guy cradling a Kalashnikov in his lap.
Islamabad In Islamabad my sightseeing was limited to the Diplomatic Enclave where I applied for my Iranian Visa and did a few jobs at the Australian Embassy. Unsurprisingly the Indian Embassy was the most heavily fortified that I saw but what I did find surprising, and probably shouldn't have, was that all around the edge of the high wall, security cameras and barbed wire fences was a strip of lush grass with cows grazing on it! :P
From Islamabad I headed back to Lahore to visit some friends and then spent 2 days on a train and a bus getting to Iran! 😊
SAFETY Before going to Pakistan I was told by countless people that I was crazy and that Pakistan was too dangerous
for travelers. In India especially, and not surprisingly, people would either walk away shaking their heads when I told them I was giong to Pakistan or look seriously into my eyes and tell me that they would pray for me! 😊 Just before leaving Delhi to travel to the border I read an article in the Times of India which had this to say about their neighbour. "... a country that has long been described by many analysts as the most dangerous place on earth and the ground zero of world terror." Obviously all these warnings put a bit of doubt in my mind but after spending almost 4 weeks traveling all over Pakistan I can say with a clear conscience that I never once felt worried about my safety, even when I was in the tribal areas. Everyone goes out of their way to make you feel comfortable, with men old enough to be my grandfather offering their seats to me on the bus and people constantly paying for my chai, breakfast and inner city bus rides. Sometimes I had to be quite forceful that I would pay for a meal that would easily cost a days wages for
them. I did encounter a little anti-American sentiment with one old man in particular saying "America is Pakistan's Enemy!" but thanks to Ricky Ponting and Shane Warne Australia is everyone's friend!
I'm not saying that Pakistan is not a dangerous country because the reality is that there are suicide bombings happening all the time and many skirmishes between militants and the army/police, but on the whole nearly all of these are directed at the Police or are politically motivated so tourists are generally not at risk. If you refer to your Embassy's Travel Advice and ask locals about which areas you should avoid you should be fine. (At the time of writing the tribal areas and the SWAT Valley were considered unsafe for tourists.)
*Note - Reading back over this blog I feel like I have given the distinct impression that I am a heavy pot smoker. Thus I would just like to point out, for my more conservative readers, that I have never smoked pot in my life. 😊
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Colin
non-member comment
Lost for Words!
Joel, what an amazing blog about an amazing country! Nice to read about your adventures after you have safely left! It sounds like you continue to meet some great people along the way. Looking forward now to hearing of Iran!