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Well hello from Pakistan everyone,
What a country and oh what an experience! Currently in Peshawar in the north west,we have now entered tribal lands and are currently under the watchful eye of the local police from each area we pass through,i'm not terribly certain of how much they wants us visiting their country. Mixed response really from the locals but no bad experiences as yet.Can now be a little less strict with wearing concealing clothing but still have a scarf to hand there is times when i feel more secure and comfortable wearing it.Although Pakistan is less strict about what you can wear they are more religious and wear their national dress all the time even though it's not compulsory any more but i can see their reasoning behind why,for a start it's cooler.The woman are more scary they are completely concealed,you might see a bit of ankle they wear a chadour that has a mesh over their face so they can see out but you don't get to see them.Not all woman wear dress like this though.
Where did i leave you all last! Yazd i do believe.Great place,stayed stradled between two hotels that were very accomadating,The Silk road hotel and the Orient,both on the same street but opposite and have the same owners.A little oasis in the desert to begin to climatise ourselves to the warmer weather and recharge by sitting in the shade drinking local tea and doing as little as possible,it was best to leave any site seeing to the evening as it was cooler.The place is known for its ornate mosaques and badgirs (wind towers). However disaster struck,i somehow managed to drop my camera and it has not worked since.Fortunately i am using Tom and Alex's spare so back in business will need to replace it in the next big city which will be Islamabad,i'm hoping.I was so disappointed that it had happened,i kept telling myself it could have been worse,camera could have been stolen with memory card in it,2GB worth of photos gone.Anyway consoled myself with having dinner that evening on the rooftop of the Orient with fellow truckers and got my phone camera out to capture the night sky over the tiled rooftops of the mosaques.
Saturday 26th,camera still not working,handed it over to Mr. Jock who was happy to investigate what might be up with it.Otherwise we headed east towards Bam where we did bush camped in the middle of the desert under the stars,was even able to see the moons around Jupiter,amazing.Able to make out some of the other star concelations but you can see the sky changing.We were camped that far in from the road the traffic was mere blobs of light in the distance.It was great,however as always morning came round all too soon and by 5a.m the heat was already rising.I was hoping the air would be a lot cooler so i could go for a run but it was not safe to do so.We arrived to what was once an ancient town called Bam but due to an earthquake in 2003 it left the town in ruins and it still is in ruins.The people are trying to build their lives again from the rubble that once was their homes.Instead they lived out of storage containers which were lined in the streets.The old part of the town was just ruins one of the main reasons this town collaspsed from the earthquake is most of the structures are built from clay,water and straw so it just didn't have a chance at surviving.A very sobering experience.
By Sunday (27th) we did reach the Iran/Pakistan border but got stuck between the two and ended up camping surrounded by armed soldiers,one thing was for certain we were going to be safe.We caused a bit of mayhem the following morning as other folk queued for the border,they seemed amazed by our appearance.As we passed through the border on the Monday morning one slogan painted on a wall was memerable,it said "don't forget to say death to the U.S.A". That evening we stayed in the only available accomadation,which was on the rooftop of a run down hotel in Dalbandin.You may ask why we didn't bush camp,well we all would have been happier camping but the police were concerned for our safety.So since crossing into Pakistan we have had police escort all the way.However the police don't seem to realise we need to stop to get food,water and have pee breaks so it has caused them some degree of irritation.We also have had some casualties to nausea,diarrhoea,dehydration and heat exhaustion not pleasant when we have to spend long days on the truck,recently we spent 18hours on the truck stops were minimual due to police escorts,a tough day for everyone.
The one good thing about the hotel in Dalbandin was the cold shower with the company of a few cockroaches and the food from the local restaurant.Here the food had a different taste to it and the appearances of the people started to change a little.I began to notice the slight changes to everything.We got to sleep that night on the hotel roof which was far safer than sleeping in any of the rooms.Lorna woke with an elephant eye(a swollen eye from a mosquite bite while Jock misplaced his footing and fell onto a metal rod.Dispite his protesting he had to see the nurse in the end.We were delight to be back on the truck in route to our next destination which was Quetta,which i can only describe as like nothing i've seen before.A diversity of civilisation from the appearances of the people to the smells in the street to the uncleanliness of everywhere.Open sewers definitely gave the place an aroma that can not be quite matched by anything i've smelt before.However i'm told this is relatively clean to what i'll see in India!! Had a day and a half in Quetta wandering through the streets and in the local bazaars,medicine is cheap here so did a little stocking up on some things,mainly antibiotics,painkillers and baby wipes which are little gems when it comes to bush camping and trying to keep yourself fresh.Stayed in Bloom star hotel on Stewart street which has both rooms and small amount of space for camping.Recommend it as a place to stay.Quetta was certainly an interesting place and it got me used to what to expect in terms of hygiene and the locals.It was still necessary to wear our headscarfs here as it is still considered a strict muslim area.Again a lot of men in the streets,saw few woman and if we did they were either reasonable well to do or begging!
Arrived in Peshawar Friday 1st June after a very long drive day of 18 hours hounded by the police to keep driving,they seemed unreasonable in our requests to stop for water and pee breaks,also did not seem to care we were carrying a few casualties suffering from dehydration.Peshawar is a city which was handed back to the people in 1948 after it had been colonised by the British for over a hundred years.It is a romantic and charming place so the guide book says.From what i can see when the British left in 1948 the people of Peshawar have done nothing to claim back it's heritage,they have carried on living on the fact the place was built and was once part of the British empire.It has some amazing buildings that are now unfortunately in a derelict state.
Again my apologises must go i have lift back to hotel,hope everyone keeping well please e-mail let me know any scandle.Take care Ave x x x x x x
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