Blogs from Pakistan, Asia - page 29

Friday September 15th After a few relaxing days in Karimabad it was time to leave for Minapin and Rakaposhi Base Camp trek. We had breakfast, checked-out and then walked down from Karimabad to the KKH. We hailed a Suzuki that was going to Aliabad, a sort of market town with onward minibus to Minapin. It took about half an hour to get there, during which we had to have all our lugages on our knees to be able to squeeze an extra person in. Comfy! Then we had to wait for about an hour and a half for a minibus to leave to Minapin. We passed time by drinking mango juice and looking at the people around. I could already feel a slight change from Karimabad, less women in the street. People were still very friendly, ... read more

We had finally reached the Indus plain, we were really looking forward to our first glimpse of the mighty Indus and our crossing into ‘India’; well the geographical and ecological India if not the political one. It took a long time though to descend on to the still dusty plain, where was all the lush green farmland? Eventually we found quite a big truck stop and ordered some vegetable curry and daal. Whilst we were eating a police van pulled up. They wanted us to go in their van as it was a dangerous area. Not again we thought. In our view the main problems were in Baluchistan and now behind us, and we reasoned that the unrest in the region was directed against the government/army and police not us, so being with the police might ... read more

September 7, 2006 The recent days in Jalalibad though expensive have been well worth it. Recuperating and doing nothing for several days besides playing risk and reading has really helped our spirits and the stories from the other "guests" are amazing. After a brief interview with the Consul on our intentions in Pakistan and some questions about Europe and North America we have our passports...I still don't understand why he was positive I was ethnic afghan..must be the beard.... Our new friends from the UN arrange us a 4x4 vehicle and a reliable driver that will get us to the border within a few hours and also facilitate our crossing. Once we arrive a contact from our new friends, a Major is to arrange transport to Peshawar and ensure our safety while going through customs. Everything ... 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

It is now 11am and already unbearably hot. We have just left the border village of Mirjave after stopping for a cold juice and failing to find a money changer. We have no police escort as we decided to ignore the commands of the Iranian army at the checkpoint as we left Zahedan earlier this morning. We have cycled nearly 100km through the desert, thankfully without encountering any of the “terrorists” the soldiers seemed so paranoid about. As we reach the main road again for the last short haul to the Pakistan border we perceive an almighty commotion on the road ahead. As we get nearer we realise that the mass of revving, battered Toyota pick-ups full of Baluch and Pathan tribesmen actually has an army checkpoint in the middle of it. We try to negotiate ... read more