Further up the KKH, Sost is the last town in Pakistan. From here you can buy a ticket to Tashkurgan, the first town in China. The price is rediculous high (about 23$) compared to other Pakistani Bus fees (usually 5-10$). But the Bus goes back empty to leave the people going the other way to the Chinese company (that charges even more). Because it was late in season already, not so many people were gathering at the Pakistani coustoms. So the company decided to send two jeeps instead of the bus. Later, when we saw the road conditions on the Chinese side we were quite happy about that. I have strong doubts a bus would have made it at all. I have the feeling, the officials at the different coustoms in Sost, at the border, and ... read more

On my third day in Karimabad I got up more quickly than usual. It was at around eigth in the morning. I was still lieing in my nice and warm bed and pearing out of the window to the snowy white mountains. The bed started shaking. My first thought was that the bed might be a bit unstable as they tend to be in cheap guest houses. But then I realized that the whole room was shaking. Mh, maybe the whole guest house is a bit unstable and a truck has just passed? When the shaking finally got stronger, about 5-10cm amplitude, 2-3Hz I could not denie it any longer: earthquake! In five seconds I was out of the bed, in my shoes and coat and out of the building. Outside everything was shaking. In front ... read more

In the center of Punjab, near the border to India is Lohore. I stayed here for a couple of days to recover from the many hours on bus and train. Lahore is less dusty than the south of Pakistan but it's still very hot, 30 degree Celsius day and night. A thing you clearly notice here is the english and in general the western influence. Many people speak english, the youth plays cricket, and Lahore features a McDonald's, something unthinkable in Iran (it's even hard to find a original Coke TM there...). Many buildings are also connected to the time of the english West India. For example the 'Wonder House', a museum where they - among other stuff - show things from the colonial times, and Zam Zama, a very big cannon in front of the ... read more

At the border between Iran and Pakistan the scenery doesn't change much. Basically you go from one desert to another desert. It is a unbearable hot and dusty place. One thing that does change a lot is the price for petrol. In Iran petrol is incredible cheap, about 0.07$ per liter. In Pakistan the price is about 0.9$ which is still cheap compared to Europe but very expensive for the Pakistanians. So guess what they are doing at the border: they smuggle petrol with every vehicle they have. In the border town of Taftan the petrol is then distibuted in various ways... From Taftan I directly took the bus to Quetta. The bus ride is through the desert of Baluchistan. The bus was very bad, the road was very bad, and certainly I felt very bad ... read more

No one should leave Iran without a visit to Esfahan. I took the bus in the evening and since it's only six hour from Tehran to Esfahan I arrived in the middle of the night. Everything was very quiet and the streets were empty. After walking the silent city a bit I found a soup corner that was open all night, the owner was friendly, he gave me a tea and some bread for free. Together with the leftover cheese from the mountain that was almost a nice breakfast. When the sun finally came up I found a good backpacker hotel. Cheap, a courtyard with some plants in the center, and an Australian who told me how to play backgammon. Here I also met a German who had been studying psychology in Marburg, Germany. How small ... read more