Monday, 19th September 2005, Bam to Taftan.

We set off at 06:00 to make the journey to the Iran/Pakistan border at Mirjaveh/Taftan. This is the bit of our trip that the Foreign Office explicitly warns against: "You should not go further East than Bam...you should not cross overland from Iran to Pakistan..."Oh well. The scenery was again pretty much the same as before, but slightly more desert like with a few more camels around.  We met up with Thomas and Claudia just outside of Zehadan and we carried on toward the border together.  Once we arrived at the Iranian side the formalities took a little while as the compound is large and we didn't know where we were going (as usual!) We were also a little nervous as we had been having doubts about whether our visas were still valid, and we hadn't bothered to get Iranian number plates like we were told to do when we crossed into Iran.  They did ask us whether we had Iranian plates, but couldn't have cared less when we replied no. The customs inspection again consisted of simply checking that the chassis number matched that on the carnet - no searches of Hector or our luggage. Getting into Pakistan was really easy, although it's quite a way from the border point to the Customs House and we had to be accompanied by a customs official, which meant that Amy had to ride on the bonnet - we were ushered through the process really quickly and even had two cups of tea whilst we waited for them to finish praying. The guys were very friendly and helpful, and did everything that they could to make the process easy for us.  All in all it took us about 2 1/2 hours to get through both borders and 50 meters down the road to the rather grotty PTDC motel where we spent the night.  We had a siesta and then gave Hector a check over ready for the long day tomorrow, everything was fine apart from the Transfer box being low on EP80/90 again (must get the back-to-back seal replaced in Islamabad) so we topped him up and went to dinner with Thomas and Claudia. After dinner we burnt all of their photos onto disk for them as they were running out of memory cards. Then it was a fairly early night ready for the great desert crossing.

PTDC motel, Taftan

Tuesday, 20th September 2005. Taftan to Quetta.

We had heard stories that we may have to join an armed convoy for this part of our journey - but there was no sign of one at 06:30 when we set off with Thomas and Claudia, and no one at the border had mentioned one either, so we set off to cross the desert on our own (after making sure that we had enough fuel to get us at least 1,500km and at least 40 litres of water in the tank, just to be on the safe side...). We had to "sign in" to the desert at a little checkpoint in the middle of nowhere, and  just after this drove through a sandstorm which covered the road with a layer of sand. There was a fierce cross wind on this section of the road and in our mirror we could see Thomas having to lean his bike against the wind - luckily we weigh over 2 tonnes so it didn't effect us that much. The road from Taftan to Dalbandin is a pretty good dual carriage way and we made good progress, although Dalbandin itself is a bit of a shocker - a real frontier town with more donkey carts than vehicles and lots of guns around. After Dalbandin the road gets a lot worse and becomes a pot-holed single track winding through the dunes. There are also some really extreme speed bumps after Dalbandin and at every crossing of the railway line. I didn't see one set of these until it was too late, and we crashed over them at about 70kph - after that we were very, very vigilant for anything in the road. As the track is single lane the rule is "size matters", so we hit the desert when faced by oncoming trucks and busses, but stuck to our line when the opposition was smaller than us. What happens, you may be thinking, when a bus faces a lorry? Well, it's a real life game of chicken - unfortunately sometimes neither driver moves over and there is a crash in the middle of the desert which blocks the road and forces all the other traffic off road through the sand - this we saw first hand! As Thomas' bike couldn't carry enough fuel for the entire crossing we stopped at some very wild and woolly places in the middle of the desert selling very dubious looking petrol from plastic jerry cans, but everyone we met was very friendly and we didn't feel threatened or unsafe at any time. Thomas also gave Amy a ride on the back of the bike for 50kms which she said was cool, but very noisy. Time passed very quickly and before we knew it we were getting concerned that we would be driving into Quetta in the dark - the one thing that we wanted to avoid. At the final checkpoint where we "signed out" of the desert we said goodbye to Thomas and Claudia as they were staying in a different hotel and were driving on to Multan the next day - rather them than us - we need a rest for a couple of days! 

Signing-in                            Desert crash                         Hardly a BP garage, is it....

Amy dressed for the bike            road through the desert            Truck vs. bike....truck wins!

As we had feared, it was dark by the time we got to Quetta and we had a real problem trying to find the BloomStar Hotel. We didn't know where we were as we couldn't see any road signs, and the roads were full of cars, buses, rickshaws, cyclists, pedestrians and donkey carts; most cars had their lights on full beam, some had flashing lights on, the buses and trucks had really powerful, flashing floodlights on top like strobe lights, and everything else had no lights at all! Due to this and the fact that Hector's windscreen was filthy I couldn't see a thing and was quite concerned that I'd knock a cyclist off his bike or run over one of the suicidal pedestrians. We stopped at a number of places to ask for directions, but most people didn't know where they were in relation to where we wanted to be - even the rickshaw driver, who we hoped to follow, didn't know where he was going. Eventually, we asked the right policeman who spoke good English, and it was with an enormous sense of relief that we booked into the hotel - we even had a couple of cold beers to celebrate our safe arrival!

Happy drivers in the desert!

Wednesday, 21st September 2005. Quetta.

Today was a chilling day, we had breakfast in the garden courtyard and then we read our maps and books for an hour or so.  We couldn't decide what route we should take to Multan so we enquired at the PTDC office next door.  The chap here said that the direct route east to Multan from Quetta (the route that Thomas and Claudia were thinking of taking) was very, very poor and that it may be closed to foreigners - we may get turned back the way we had come if we tried it. Instead he suggested that we drive South East down to Sukkur and then north east to Multan. We thanked him and after 10 minutes talking about the cricket we went back to the hotel.  We noticed on our walk the open sewers running alongside the road, which smell awful and actually made me (Amy) heave a couple of times...especially when we saw two kids paddling up to their waists in one, fishing out plastic bags. On our return a chap at the hotel offered to wash Hector for us for £2.50, and afterwards he looked brilliant: so shiny and clean, well worth the money as they spent over 3 hours cleaning him and even managed to get the tar off him. We later found out that Thomas and Claudia did take the direct road to Multan and had an absolute nightmare, not arriving until midnight after having driven over roads that were like the worse sections of the Taftan-Quetta road.

Once back at the hotel I (Amy) wrote up my log and we then caught an auto-rickshaw to the Hotel Serena, the poshest place in town where we had lunch- Peppered steak for Amy and old fashioned Fish and Chips for Mark, it was delicious. Funny how the car-park was full of brand new UN Toyota Land cruisers though - it would appear that the UN know how to live it up! After lunch we walked back to the hotel down the main high street - Jinnah Road, where we called into one of the many gun shops lining the road. The owner was more than happy for us to play with the guns and even offered us a tea while he proudly showed us a very old Holland & Holland shotgun and his extensive stock of assault rifles!  In the evening we ate a snack and watched an English film on the telly, after Mark rewired the Ariel cable so we could get a picture.

The hotel garden                    Hector being cleaned.

Thursday, 22nd September 2005. Quetta.

We were supposed to be leaving Quetta today but we decided to stay another night as it is very pleasant here - the altitude of the town making it noticeably cooler than many places we've been over the last few weeks.  We spent most of the day in the garden courtyard as Mark hadn't written up his log since 15th September!  After this we checked out the funny noise that Hector had been making on the journey to Quetta - we thought that perhaps one of the prop-shafts was becoming worn, but we checked everything imaginable and all seemed alright, although there are traces of moisture around the front drivers side wheel so the brake-seal may be going - we haven't noticed any difference in the brake feel, but again we'll keep an eye on it.  We also finally met up with and talked to 'Irun to Calcutta' - 2 vans driving from Spain to India and back again, who had parked behind us at the Bloomstar.  We went back to the Serena for dinner and that's when things started going downhill. Firstly while we were trying to hail a rickshaw we met a local who said he would take us on a short cut, but which actually turned out to be in the wrong direction and we ended up an extra 10 minutes walk from the Hotel. We eventually got an auto rickshaw to the Serena, where he promptly charged us 50 Rupees for a journey which yesterday was 30! Amy was willing to fight it out, but it wasn't worth it so after she threw the money at the driver (literally) we went inside. Things didn't improve at the hotel, the menu wasn't as good as the lunch one and they took an age to deliver the food and then the food wasn't up to scratch.  We left at 20:45 and got back to the hotel via an actual taxi. Once back at the hotel Mark said that he felt a little odd, but thought no more about it.

Friday, 23rd September 2005. Quetta to Sukkur.

I (Amy) drove today as unfortunately Mark was sick. Something that he had eaten over the last couple of days must have tipped him over the edge and he now had food poisoning. It is a long way from Quetta to Sukkur and the roads are not good. You also notice the temperature getting hotter and the humidity rising. Mark hadn't had any breakfast but was drinking lots of water to keep hydrated - this water he promptly threw up by the side of the road, so he drank some more which again got thrown up! It was clear that he couldn't keep anything down so out came the anti-biotics, which he took with water and which we saw again half an hour later. So, we're crashing around in Hector over really poor roads in temperatures of 45 degrees and high humidity and Mark can't drink any water because he throws it straight up again - he resorted to pouring the water over his head to try and keep cool! We must have stopped about 5 times so he could throw up by the side of the road - to say that the journey was unpleasant would be a bit of an understatement.

As Mark wasn't well we didn't take many photo's which was a shame as the landscape has really changed -We left the smog of Quetta behind as we drove through the famous Bolan Pass where every conquering army from Alexander the Great to the British have marched though, then down onto the plains: lots of lush greenery (palm trees, banana plants etc etc) and water in places - we even saw herds of water-buffalo swimming with their herders in the rivers, and members of the local army regiments with their big bushy beards dyed orange with Henna. I finally got us to Sukkur at around 16:30, and as we didn't have a map of Sukkur we were rather relying on the people around to steer us in the right direction - thankfully they did and we arrived at the Forum Hotel, which unfortunately was full. The owner however directed us to the Inter-Pak Hotel which is situated in the middle of a huge man made lake, and even more importantly has air-conditioning!

Traffic through the Bolan Pass.

Saturday, 24th September 2005 to Sunday 25th, Sukkur.

Spent both days in the hotel today whilst the anti-biotics took effect and Mark and Amy both recovered.

Monday, 26th September 2005. Sukkur to Bahawalpur.

Once again we had to drive along some really poor stretches of roads and contend with the local drivers who are insane - much worse than the Iranians, and that's saying something! By far the most dangerous are the bus drivers who hurtle along with their foot to the floor and their busses terribly overloaded over the most appalling road surfaces imaginable - we weren't that surprised to learn that there had been 5 fatal crashes on one stretch of road today. Despite the constant fear that we might be hit by someone, we made pretty good time to Bahawalpur and Amy navigated us to the very nice PTDC motel with no bother at all. We now have a very nice little bungalow to ourselves overlooking the communal gardens, and the food in the Dining Hall is excellent - the mutton karahi especially is delicious!

roadside view                        we share the road with all sorts...  the PTDC motel, Bahawalpur.

Tuesday, 27th September 2005. Bahawalpur.

After visiting the tourist information office which is just opposite our bungalow we headed off for a walk into town, via the main post office where we managed to post a few cards home. We then tried to find a bank with an international ATM. We didn't have any luck, so walked into one branch to change up $100. We were treated as honoured guests as soon as we walked in - chairs were brought out for us, as was a cup of tea. The exchange officer explained that the bank rate was not as good as that available from the local money changers, and instead of just changing our cash dispatched one of the guards to the bazaar with our cash to get the best rate that he could find - we ended up getting 60 rupees to the dollar which was a great rate, and also had a good chat with the officer, who like the people we met in Iran was concerned that people in the West have a poor opinion of Pakistanis, thinking that they are all terrorists. With our new found wealth we headed for the shops so that I (Mark) could buy some more shirts as the ones I had brought with me are getting a little tatty. We found a great tailors where 3 excellent cotton shirts were mine for the princely sum of £9.00, with a bottle of Fanta thrown in whilst we waited. We then went to the zoo, which we had great hopes for as it was supposed to be one of the best in Pakistan - we were disappointed to see some very sad looking lions in concrete cages, and even more saddened to see two Tibetan black bears which were clearly going loopy in their barren enclosure. We didn't stay long. On our walk back to the hotel we were waylaid by a dubious character who claimed that he was a guide and wanted to know where we were staying and the room number so that he could call on us later - he got very short shrift!

Wednesday, 28th September 2005. Bahawalpur to Multan.

Things got off to a good start as we managed to get up fairly early and onto a decentish road to Multan. However, at the outskirts of the town things went from bad to worse. The decent road disappeared to be replaced by an unsurfaced track as we took a wrong turning (our rubbish map didn't cover the outskirts of the town, so we were relying on our old trick of using the compass to head in the correct direction). Amy thus had to drive a very large and unwieldy Hector down some very, very narrow streets which were packed with every sort of traffic imaginable including herds of goats and camels, all going in whichever direction they felt like. Things were so poor that she had to drop Hector into Low box at times to crawl through the crater-like potholes! We took a video of the chaos as Amy drove through the bazaar and forgot that the camera was running, so you can hear Amy shouting at the driver of a horse drawn cart to "GET OUT OF MY WAY!" whilst I'm shouting at a rickshaw driver to "STAY THERE SUNSHINE!" It's actually quite funny watching the video now, but at the time it was pretty horrendous, especially when the temperature was 40 and very humid. After what seemed like a lifetime we found the Sinbad hotel where we planned to spend the night, only to be told that they were full. We ended up in the Holiday Inn which charges an absolute fortune for some very bog-standard rooms - but any port in a storm. 

Amy's view driving through Multan...

Having settled in we went for a walk into Multan to do some shopping - we especially wanted to find some decent maps of Lahore and Islamabad after our experience today. We tried every bookshop and educational shop that we could find, and none sold maps. I have no idea how people in Pakistan find their way around a strange city! So, a good tip for anyone else coming to Pakistan is to try and get as many top of the range maps as you can before you leave - you'll find the effort well rewarded when you get here!

Thursday, 29th September 2005. Multan to Lahore.

The day did not start well, as the trouble that we had getting into Multan was repeated as we tried to get out. We ended up going 30km on the wrong road to start with, so had to turn around and come back into town, where again we took the wrong road (signposted "bypass" but infact going nowhere near the flipping bypass). Once we were on the correct road it was nothing more than a terrible mud track for about 30km - not even a hint of any sort of surface whatsoever. In previous countries we had been discussing whether or not you really need a big 4x4 to do a trip like this - we were now both of the opinion that yes, you do, when faced by roads like this day in and day out. Needless to say Hector got filthy as we battled through the mire, but eventually some kind of hard surface appeared and we started to make a bit of progress. Amy then suggested that we should stop and get Hector cleaned, as in our experience some hotels get a bit sniffy about a dirty great big Land Rover making a mess of their car park. So we pulled over at the first place we saw and got him handwashed by 3 lads with a hose and some rags for 100 rupees (£1.00). Back on the road again, we were waved through every toll-booth that we came to and arrived at the outskirts of Lahore, where true to form we took the wrong turning and promptly got lost. Mark ended up driving through the middle of Lahore quite a few times, at one point making a spectacular, horn-accompanied high speed dash through a red light and across the 8 lanes of oncoming traffic in order to get on the right road - much to the delight of the watching traffic cop who actually applauded such a bold move! We then found our hotel, managed to park up and get ourselves a room, which was lucky as the Pakistan Olympic Committee was holding a conference there. The pollution in Lahore is very noticeable, and after driving through the city for a couple of hours we both had sore throats and watery eyes.

Camels by the side of the road.

Friday, 30th September 2005. Lahore.

After breakfasting in the hotel we hired a car and driver to take us to Lahore Fort. When we arrived at the fort we met Shahid Yousef a freelance (but licensed) guide who we hired to show us around. He really knew his stuff and showed us around the fort whilst telling us all about the history of the 6 great Moghul Emperors, starting with Babur and ending with Aurangzeb and the history of Lahore under the Sikhs and Ranjit Singh. He also knew some fascinating stories about life in the imperial moghul court, such as when Shah Jahan's wife told him that she wanted him to get her a star. The crafty emperor and his architect designed a room for the queen with tiny mirrors set into the roof, so that when lit from below by candles the reflected light shone like stars. Another time this same wife told the emperor that she wanted to walk on the clouds, so he scoured his kingdom for a type of marble (called cloud-stone) which has the swirling pattern of a cloud filled sky at sunset and made a floor of this material - clearly a very clever chap (and a very demanding wife!). After the fort, we stopped by a bookshop run by an illiterate owner and stocked with some fascinating English-language books. Then it was off to the Badsheh Mosque, which is huge and made of the same red sandstone and the Shah Jahan's fort in Delhi. There are 4 huge towers, one at each corner of the mosque and courtyard, and each is angled outwards so that should there be an earthquake the debris would not fall on the faithful within the confines of the mosque. As it was Friday (holy day) the mosque was full of prayer-goes and Imams, but we were allowed in with our guide and were able to watch the proceedings and listen to the amazing acoustics of the place. By now it was getting quite late, so we said goodbye to Shahid and drove to the museum, which was closed as it was Friday.

The mosque                            The walls of the fort                 The faithful at prayer.

The mosque from the courtyard   mosque interior                      Ranjit Singh's Sikh temple.

Saturday, 1st October 2005. Lahore.

As we missed out on the museum we headed there today by rickshaw, and once again the driver didn't know where he was going, even though it was clearly signposted. Once inside it was soon clear that Saturday was school trip day as the place was packed with class outings. It was also very clear that we were far more interesting to the kids than the exhibits of the museum so there was lots of staring, following and giggling which got quite off-putting after a while. After being followed around by a group of about 14 kids for the best part of an hour, we'd had enough and went to get a drink, where a young Pakistani introduced himself. He had been bought up in America and was very keen to get back there, and we had a good chat about life in Pakistan from his point of view. As he left he insisted on paying for our drinks as we were guests in his country - he wouldn't take no for answer. As we left the museum we saw the cannon "Zam Zammah", which Kim is sitting on at the beginning of Kipling's book of the same name : "He sat, in defiance of municipal orders, astride the great gun Zam Zammah." Mark wanted to repeat the scene for a photo, but these days the cannon is on an island in the middle of the road, surrounded by a moat and a fence designed specifically to keep people like him off the thing!  Kipling's father was the first curator of the Lahore museum during the time of the British Raj, and evidence of the city's imperial past is everywhere - from the street names (the main street is "The Mall") to the architecture. We walked down the Mall for a while hoping against hope to find some maps - no luck.

The cannon "Zam Zammah".

Sunday, 2nd October 2005. Lahore to Islamabad.

Getting out of Lahore was a damn site easier than getting in, as we got the guys at the hotel to draw us a map, and we ended up on the absolutely superb "M2" motorway which links Lahore to Islamabad. This road is as good as any in Iran and it was fantastic to drive along at a decent pace for once, without having to worry about pot-holes or livestock (donkey-carts being banned from this road - hurrah!). We got to Islamabad easily and as it is a very modern city laid out on a grid system, found our way around with no bother at all. It really is a very modern, clean city - we didn't see a single Tuk-Tuk or rickshaw, there is very little pollution and lots of greenery, and no animals on the streets. We would love to have camped here as there is a famous campsite where most over Landers stay, but we have booked Hector into the Land Rover garage here for a well deserved service and check over, and as our tent is attached to the roof we'd have no-where to stay whilst he was in the workshop. So we booked into the Hotel Ambassador instead.

Monday, 3rd October 2005. Islamabad.

Today was the day Hector went into the Land Rover garage for a thorough going over - we're also having the transfer box seal replaced (at last) and some mud-flaps fitted to try and keep him a bit cleaner. The garage is very professional - they sent a driver over to pick Hector up this morning, and we went with him to the garage where he was immediately pounced upon by 4 mechanics who really knew their stuff. We explained where we had come from and that we wanted to drive across to the Afghanistan border, then up to Chitral and the Karakorum Highway to the border with China at the Kunjerab Pass, then back down. This is a very demanding route for any vehicle, and we want Hector in tip-top condition for the rigours ahead. They said that they would do a very thorough job for us, and would replace any part which looked suspect (which is what we wanted). The very best bit was the initial estimate - all in about £200. That's less than 2 hours labour at the official Land Rover garages in the UK!  We left Hectors at the garage and caught a taxi back to the hotel where I did the washing and Mark updated the website.  Every Monday we have to take 4 anti-malarial tablets and every Monday they make us feel queezy, only this time I threw up!  We strolled into town and had lunch before trying to find an ATM machine that accepts international cards, we eventually found one on the other side of Islamabad.  We were told that Ramadan started tomorrow so we found a small super market where we bought bread peanuts fruit juice and chocolate, just in case we can't buy much.  We caught a taxi back to the hotel and had a quiet night, playing solitaire and free cell on the laptop (slightly addicted!!!)

Tuesday, 4th October 2005. Islamabad.

Today we decided to go to Jinnah market, which isn't a market at all, it is more like a small open air plaza.  We found the international mail office where we were able to update the website and check emails etc.  We found a lovely restaurant for lunch, but unfortunately I (Amy) had to complain and send my chicken korma Kiev back - I have never seen a chicken served so raw in my life before!  Once I had an edible dinner I enjoyed it but had lost my appetite slightly, well until I saw the desserts, Tiramisu for me and Ice cream cake for Mark.  We walked all the way to the other side of town where we went to the bank again as the Land Rover garage doesn't take credit cards!!!  Caught a taxi back to the hotel and had dinner.  Curries are getting really boring now.

Wednesday, 5th October 2005. Islamabad

Today we decided to have a lie in but stupidly missed breakfast.  Mark called the Land Rover garage and they said that Hector would be ready at 2pm, so we again played solitaire and free cell before getting a taxi to the garage.  Once we had arrived we found that Hector wasn't ready yet, and we ended up waiting for another  2 hours - by this time as I hadn't had any breakfast (or lunch as we thought Ramadan had started) I was starting to feel a bit sick.  We were then told that Hector was ready, but that they were going to wash him before we left.  By this point I really thought I was going to pass out, we had had no water in all the waiting time as they drink tap water, which is unsafe to drink. Eventually Hector was brought round, as was the bill. The work which we had done was as follows:

1) Change all fluids and filters

2) Replace rear ball-joint

3) Replace transfer box seal (a big job that involves dropping the gearbox)

4) Replace Tie-rod and steering drop arm. (we probably wrecked these hitting the speed bumps too fast in the desert)

5) Replace steering universal joints as they were a little worn.

6) Fit front and rear mud-flaps

7) Fit new wiper blades

8) Fit new length of breather pipe (the old one was too short and when we stopped at Taftan we saw that the jubilee clip had cut it almost in half - Mark did a running repair, but good to get it sorted.)

9) Tighten up the passenger side wheel carrier.

10) Re-route exhaust tail-pipe to prevent vibration.

11) Overhaul brakes - rear piston was sticking and the washer on the front cylinder was worn).

All the above and 2 1/2 days labour, and to our total amazement the bill only came to Rs 34000, which is roughly £340.00, this was fantastic as back home the work would have cost at least double.  Mark drove Hector back to the hotel as I had forgotten to wear my glasses, and he noticed that the power steering didn't feel right, so we will check that they bled it right.  By the time we got back to the hotel it was practically time to go to dinner, we decided not to have a curry but instead to get a taxi up to Pizza Hut in Jinnah market.  After dinner we found this amazing book shop called Saeed book bank, it sells every book imaginable so we bought 2 each.  Amy - Mayanda and Da Vinci code, Mark - Soldier Sahibs and Moghul history.

Thursday, 6th October 2005. Islamabad to Peshawar.

We had a phone call this morning from Linda who asked if she could meet up with us before we left for Peshawar, which we of course agreed to as we hadn't seen Linda since Esfahan in Iran.  We packed up our things and then Linda arrived at the hotel at about 10am.  we chatted for about an hour about her journey through the desert and her troubles with the Pakistani police escorting her everywhere and making her drive to Multan through the night with an escort as they didn't want her staying at the police station - she eventually arrived at a hotel in Multan at 3am! She also told us that everyone else behind us had had hassle from the police who insisted on escorting them everywhere, and telling them where they could and couldn't stop. Luckily we've had none of this (again, perhaps because at first glance we look like one of the many military Land Rovers). She also mentioned that everybody (including her) had got sick in Quetta, where the local doctor had taken the step of publicly denouncing the restaurant at the Serena Hotel as the source of all the illnesses!  Linda said that she would probably be about 1 or 2 days behind us to Peshawar and with that we said our goodbye's and left for our short journey west.  We arrived in the outskirts with no hassles but quickly found ourselves lost in the middle of Peshawar in rush hour.  Mark ended up driving down some back alley and back out of Peshawar where we started again, and this time I spotted the hotel and Mark had to do an emergency U-Turn over 4 lanes of traffic.  We checked into our hotel, relaxed and then had dinner in the hotels roof top barbeque restaurant.  We tried Lotus stems, Mark accidentally ended up eating tongue and I left the unidentifiable meat in my Roghan Gosht.

A blue and a brown river meeting

Friday, 7th October 2005. Peshawar.

We rose early and had breakfast in our room as Ramadan has now started, and arranged our trip to the Khyber pass for tomorrow through the hotel manager, before getting a rickshaw to the PTDC tourist information offices.  We enquired about travel to the Northern areas, they happily said that all places were accessible and gave us another map with PTDC motel locations, we also purchased some postcards.  We walked into the main town area to find a bank and also some food for when we go up north.  we found an internet cafe checked our emails and caught another rickshaw back to the hotel where we spent the rest of the afternoon (shops shut at noon on a Friday) reading our new books.  

Peshawar fort (which we weren't allowed in...)

Saturday, 8th October 2005. Peshawar.

Today is the day that we travel up the famous Khyber pass.  We rose early as our guide was arriving at 9am.  Suddenly the hotel began to shake and we realised that we were having an earthquake - we quickly ran to the doorway, and just as Mark was shouting for me to grab my bag containing the passports and money the shaking stopped - I went to the window and could see the minarets on the mosque opposite still swaying from the quake.  It was a very strange experience as it was a lot gentler than we'd imagined - like being on a wave. We were a bit shaken up but as nothing in the town had fallen over and there were no dramas, we chalked it up to experience and decided that the best place to be was out in the open along the Khyber pass, so we collected our things and left for the morning. At this point we had no idea that what we'd felt was the echo of the much more serious quake centered 95km North East of Islamabad in Azad Kashmir.

Our guide for the day was a chap calling himself Prince Mahir. We bundled into the hired taxi and wound our way through the streets of Peshawar to collect our Khyber permits. Permits are required for all foreign tourists s the government law doesn't cover the Khyber Agency territory which the pass runs through.  As we approached the border with the tribal areas we pulled up at a sign which read: "FOREIGNERS are NOT allowed beyond this point unless specially permitted by the Political Agent, Khyber Agency. By order Political Agent." It was here that we picked up our gun-man, a member of the Khyber Rifles, and whose presence was compulsory.  We approached the pass and immediately began climbing up the windy road. Our first stop was at an outpost of the Khyber Rifles which had great views over the road just traveled. This was also the place where we got offered the chance to blow up half of the mountain side with their AK-47 assault rifles.  Of course we jumped at the chance, and very soon some very worried looking truck drivers (we were, after all, right beside the side of the road where traffic was thundering past) were watching as Mark took aim and fired off a few rounds on single fire (he said that he did this to scare the goats off!). After popping away for a while, he flicked the switch to "fully automatic" and let loose with his remaining bullets - I couldn't believe how loud and how powerful the gun was and I became a bit nervous when it was my turn.  I took up my position and with our guide's hand behind the stock of the gun for safety I took my first shot - oh my god! It was even louder then when Mark had fired his shots, and you really feel the gun being forced backwards towards your shoulder. It was all over very quickly, but we did get to keep one of the spent rounds as a souvenir.

Us entering the tribal areas         With our guide and Gun-man        The view over the pass

Watch out mountain goats!           Amy getting ready to shoot   What a poser!

The journey up the pass continued as we drove past lots of forts - some constructed by the British, some by the Pakistanis, and some by the tribes living here. In fact, what we thought were forts were actually the homes of the tribesmen - complete with huge walls and gun emplacements! Whoever said that an Englishman's home is his castle had clearly never seen an Afridi tribesman's house. The size of some of these "houses" was also testament to how lucrative the various "businesses" that can be conducted in a lawless area are...We continued our journey west all the way to Michni Point where you can see Afghanistan.  We were unable to enjoy a cup of tea due to Ramadan but stayed for a short while enjoying the views. Our guide said that he could arrange visas for Afghanistan if we wanted to go another day, but there are limits to our intrepidness (glad we didn't go now, as a fellow traveler in our hotel told us how she had been forced to make a run out of the country after 3 Afghans wanted to kill her...)

The view over to Afghanistan

We started our journey back to Peshawar which took only 30 minutes and drove past lots of gun shops (cheap bazooka anyone?) and the numerous Hashish shops. Again we turned down the opportunity to try the local smoke as the thought of being stoned on high grade hashish whilst surrounded by gun-toting tribesmen in an area where the law is a stranger was not appealing.  All in all the Khyber pass is worth doing if only for the history behind it.  We both had an enjoyable morning and are pleased that we have seen the pass.

We returned to the hotel to find text messages from our families back home asking us if we were alright as they had heard about the Earthquake.  We had no idea how serious it was until we spoke to the folks back home, and then we felt a little sick.  We are still having aftershocks which make the building sway but luckily nothing too serious, although we've got our bags packed and by the door, along with some food and water in case we have to make a run for it. Luckily we're about as far East from the epicenter as we can be in Northern Pakistan.

Sunday, 9th and Monday 10th October 2005. Peshawar.

We had a terrible nights sleep worrying about the quake as throughout the night we were woken up by the building shaking from the numerous aftershocks, and then a power cut.  We have decided to stay at least another night in Peshawar to let everything calm down before deciding where we will go.  Our plans to go up the Karakorum Highway have been halted due to the road being closed but there is still the possibility of driving up to Chitral before heading back to Islamabad on our way through to India (which was also affected)  We will keep everyone informed of our plans over the next few days.

We skipped breakfast due to a poor nights sleep and are currently updating logs and website.  We spent the entire ay in our hotel room, as we didn't want to leave Hector and all our things just in case.

On Monday we again stayed in the Hotel room updating the website but during the afternoon we decided to have a little walk into the Bazaar - what a horrible experience.  I am so used to not wearing my headscarf in Pakistan that I walked out of the hotel room not wearing it, what a mistake, Peshawar is a conservative town and after being in the bazaar for only a few minutes  I was being stared at and a guy even shouted at us to 'not walk around Peshawar like that' needless to say I quickly bought a table cloth and wrapped it around my head before we scuttled back to the hotel room where we stayed for the rest of the day.

Tuesday, 11th October 2005. Peshawar to Islamabad.

Mark drove us back to Islamabad today, we arrived at about 2pm.  We had decided to stay at the Tourist Campsite this time in the hope that A: we would save some money and B: we would meet some more overlanders.  We have achieved both A and B, we are paying £1 a night and have met everybody, Linda, Irun to Calcutta, the French family who we first met in Dogubayazit, an Australian couple who were traveling back to Oz after traveling around China and South East Asia in their Land Rover 130 with a home made camper body instead of the normal pick up at the back, we've also met loads of German bikers and an Austrian couple in their old Toyota Land Cruiser.

We pitched the tents and just as we had put the last tent peg into the Vaude tent the heavens opened and we experienced one of the biggest thunder storms we have ever seen - hail the size of golf balls, and so much rain that within 10 minutes we were ankle deep in freezing cold water and had to throw all the bags back into Hector and make a mad dash for the cab of hector.  We stayed here for about half an hour before that rain started to ease, I was having visions of Hector sinking when I saw that the water was about a foot deep!  Once the rain had subsided I jumped out of the front and straight into a huge puddle that completely covered my ankles and was icy cold, we immediately pulled up the tent pegs and relocated to the top of the slope where it was slightly better.  

We spent the rest of the afternoon chatting to the Aussie couple, who showed us around their vehicle and told us the stories of their travels all over the world.  We even managed to tidy the back of the car and throw out a bag full of rubbish before settling in for the night with some boring yet wonderful pasta - I even had mint sauce with mine as I had brought some sachets all the way from Dover!!!

It certainly gets cold at night...           Leaving the NWFP and entering the Punjab, again.

Wednesday, 12th October 2005. Islamabad.

It is so nice to have slept in the roof tent again we have missed it.  We got up and strolled into town to buy some supplies; Yoghurt, cheese, bread, pastries and fruit juice.  We have spent the morning not doing very much, Mark has fixed the roof lining again as the screws keep coming loose from the vibrations and I did some washing up.  We had lunch and then a nap before heading back into town to purchase a Kerosene lantern.  We managed to by the lamp for £4.50 and the kerosene for 60p.  After walking around for a while I noticed a gorgeous Salwar Kameez in purple with lovely embroidery, and for £6 I just had to have it, so I bought it, we also bought some spicy sausages and sugary cakes (we need to put some weight on) and then to top it all off 200 cigarettes for £1.45...

We said goodbye to the Aussie couple as they were heading off to the Land Rover garage to get their suspension ball joint replaced before heading down to Lahore and then India.  We were chatting to the Belgian bikers when the Aussie couple appeared at the campsite again, we thought that there had been a problem with the garage, so went over only to find out that the garage had taken longer than expected and then after they had been shopping it began to get dark, so they came back to the campsite.  They invited us into the van and offered us a lovely and welcome cold Chinese beer, which was fantastic.  We had a really nice chat and then went back to the tent to make some dinner.

Peter and Diana with their Land Rover 130 and attached camper - Very nice.

Thursday, 13th October 2005 to Friday, 14th October - Islamabad.

These days were spent hanging around the campsite and Islamabad town itself. One morning we met a German couple (www.lardyao-tattoo.de) who live in Goa and who travel around the KKH every year with their Siberian husky dog.  They had just come down from Northern Pakistan on the Karakorum Highway and were some of the first people to have made it down - they said that at times they had to camp on the road as it was blocked by rockfalls and landslides, waiting for the army engineers to blow the rocks away in front of them. The news that the KKH was now navigable was very welcome as we can now stick to our original plan of driving up it to the border with China and back. On the evening of the 13th we had a camp-fire and a bit of a sing-song - all great fun and I (Mark) was very surprised to find that I could still remember some songs from the days of the House Singing Competitions! The final couple that we met were Gunther and his wife, a German couple who were, quite literarily, driving their Mercedes G Wagon around the world, an enterprise which they had been engaged in, on and off, for 15 years! Naturally they were a great source of information, especially about shipping as they have done it so often. It was very nice staying in the campsite but we soon felt the need to get moving again. We eventually decided to drive back towards Peshawar (again...) to a place called Nowshera, where we will head North and drive up the Swat Valley via Mingora and Kalam. The Swat valley is supposed to be very beautiful - the "Switzerland" of Pakistan - so it should be worth a look. After a few days up there we will then drive back down South until we can turn East again to cross the Shangla Pass and pick up the Karakorum Highway at a place called Besham. This route means that we (hopefully) should avoid the stretch of the KKH which has been most affected by the earthquake.

around the campfire                Amy and Pongo the cat

Saturday 15th October, Islamabad to Mingora

I (Mark) drove us today and we left fairly early having packed up all of the stuff the night before. The road to Nowshera was the same one that we have driven twice before- at least this time we managed to get a picture of the North West Frontier Gateway! The heavens opened when we got to Nowshera, and again there was hail but the new wiper blades did their job and we ploughed on and up to the Malakand Pass, which was very cool - really windy roads leading up into the very green and pleasant hills. We ran alongside the Swat river for a while, almost ended up going to Chitral when we took a wrong turning, and eventually made it to Mingora, which was a bit of a hole! It was choked with traffic and it took us ages to drive across town to the PTDC, which was closed! We ended up in the really nice Serena Hotel (well, it is Amy's birthday!)

Leaving the campsite                Gateway to North West Frontier     Swat River

Sunday, 16th October 2005. Mingora to Kalam.

I drove again today and the road was bad - in places there was no road at all and we drove along for ages in Low box - the fact that it was raining didn't help, but the scenery became more and more beautiful. We got the occasional glimpse of snow covered mountains through the gaps in the clouds, and we got a really good feeling about the place. On the way up we stopped to help some chaps who had a flat tyre - our 10 tonne bottle jack came in very handy! When we stopped we also realised how cold it was getting: when I got out to help I was in shirt-sleeves, when I got back in I was in Jumper, coat and hat! We eventually got to Kalam and the Sangam hotel, which appeared to be the only place still open, the tourist season apparently being over by now. We were warmly welcomed and had a lovely pot of hot, sweet tea. As we were settling in the rain stopped and the clouds lifted - what a view! We can see the Swat river rushing through the narrow valley beneath us and the huge, snow covered mountains of the Hindu Kush all around us - we spent ages staring at the truely amazing views. After dinner we arranged to go to the top of the valley tomorrow to Mahudand Lake. It's quite a way away and the road becomes "jeep only" about half way up. We think that Hector may be to heavy to drive it safely, so we've hired a local and his jeep to take us there.

Swat valley town                      As the clouds lifted in Kalam  

Monday 17th October 2005. Kalam and Mahudand Lake.

It was very cold when we woke up this morning but the sky was clear and we had a fantastic view of the surrounding scenery. We met our guide for the day, Rahmett, and his Toyota Jeep and set of at 10:00 for the drive to the lake. The road North out of Kalam was pretty good and we drove through some villages before entering a very old forest. After the forest the road stopped and was replaced by the single track, very rocky, and in parts washed away "jeep track". Having seen the state of the track I was very glad that we had decided not to take Hector up here! Rahmett was an excellent driver however and knew the track like the back of his hand - he took his time over the difficult bits and got out to move rocks to re-build the track where necessary. As we drove further North we were soon surrounded by snowy mountains with forested lower slopes, until we were above the snow line as we approached the lake. It was truly beautiful up here, even though there was no water in the lake due to the time of year.

Mark in the valley                    Amy says "Hello"                     Dry lake amidst the mountains.

We slowly made our way back to the hotel, going through the same small villages and large forested area.  We arrived back at the hotel and went for dinner, afterwards as we were going to pay up we noticed a very familiar motorbike park outside.  Linda was warming herself up in the boiler room, she told us of her horrible trip up here where she actually fell off of the bike as the road was so bad.  

Tuesday, 18th October 2005. Kalam to Besham- well almost!

We said our goodbyes to Linda and headed off towards Besham.  The Kalam road was in better condition than when we had previously driven it as there hadn't been any rain.  We made excellent progress through all of the small towns and started on the Shangla Pass road, which connects you to the KKH.  The scenery was far better on the way back down as the weather was sunny.  Once at the Shangla Pass summit things started to change, the road became a track and the potholes were enormous.  Hector was as dirty as ever and the road seemed never ending.  After about 4 hours on the Shangla Pass alone we emerged into Besham, where things got worse...

We found the hotel which we wanted to stay in with ease, only to find that it had closed due to the building being unstable after the quake.  We pushed our way back through the crowds of Besham to find the PTDC, which was also closed. W tried to persuade the caretaker to let us sleep in the car park, but he was adamant that we needed water and that he couldn't provide us with any.  So, with no luck we had no choice but to start the 200km journey to Chilas in the hope that we would find a hotel very soon.  Luckily after only 30km and just as it was getting dark Mark noticed the Kohistan Tourist Inn, we pulled  in and they gave us a double room for Rs500.  Mark and I were very pleased to have arrived as we were both knackered.  I have to say, even though I wasn't driving that today was one of the worst days we have had, we cannot believe how terrible the roads were, and how muddy.

The Indus River                      Hector looking dirty on the Shangla Pass.

Wednesday, 19th October 2005. Kohistan Inn to Chilas.

I woke up at 2am - the building was shaking.  The shaking stopped just as I alerted Mark, so we tried to get back to sleep, we couldn't as we were worried that it would happen again.  Again we were woken up but this time at 7:30am with the building shaking, we immediately jumped out of bed and were practically out of the door when it all stopped again.  We went down for breakfast and then began to pack up the car, we went inside to pay at 8:30 and another earthquake hit and we were quickly ushered out of the building.  Needless to say we are both pleased to be heading north into non earthquake areas.  There is a bit of a debate as to who drove today - Mark definitely drove us out of Kohistan, and I definitely drove into Chilas, but neither of us can remember swapping over as we haven't written up the website for ages and our logs contradict each other.  The scenery on the journey to Chilas was stunning, the views over the Indus are spectacular and to top it all off the roads are much much better - they actually have tarmac.  We made great progress to Chilas and checked into the Shangrila Inn.  The Shangrila was a huge disappointment, the staff were unfriendly even seedy at times and the manager tried to charge us Rs3500 for a 'VIP' room, after much negotiation as we were the only guests we got the room for Rs1000.  We checked in and tried to spend the afternoon reading.  Firstly the room was dimly lit which made reading difficult, secondly once we had moved to the better lit bathroom we had a power cut, and then another.  Mark was getting hungry so I went back out to Hector and smuggled in some pringles, bread and peanut butter, all inside my jumper!  

  Hector on the KKH.              Hector and the snow capped mountain.        Rivers merging.

Thursday, 20th October 2005. Chilas to Karimabad, Hunza.

I (Amy) drove today, but I really wish I hadn't.  The scenery is by far the best we have seen, the most fantastic mountains including Nanga Parbat.  We stopped at a sign that said this was where the Hindukush, Himalaya and Karakorum mountain ranges all meet, what a sight.  The views are great: huge mountains, a deep flowing river swirling and rushing around fallen boulders, large cultivated hills and glorious sunshine, what more could we ask for.  Things did get a little hairy when we approached Gilgit and were greeted by some seriously well armed troops manning a road-block. Rather stupidly we thought that it was just another "passport and sign in" stop so we drove right to the front of the queue and must have surprised the soldiers on duty as they didn't look very impressed...Apparently the violence that we had read about had got much, much worse with lots of shootings and fatalities, with the result that the government had cut all off all the power to the town, imposed a curfew and placed the entire area under martial law! As we didn't have a curfew pass we had to drive round the outskirts, which to be honest suited us just fine! We made it to Karimabad at around 13:30 and checked into the rather pricey Rs3500 a room Darbar Hotel, (apparently that have a foreigners bar!).  We walked out onto the hotel's roof overlooking the Hunza valley where the poplar trees are turning golden in the Autumn sunshine, the hillsides are terraced with cultivation, the immense rocky hills crowd down to the river and above it all the snow-capped mountains glisten like diamonds against the bluest of blue skies.  I can't think of a better word to describe what we saw other than Paradise.

Er...peek-a-boo!                       Amy where the 3 ranges meet.     Mark with the snowy mountains.

 The cultivated landscape.             Us on the hotels roof.       Sides of the Hunza valley

Friday, 21st October 2005. Karimabad to Kunjarab pass, China, and back to Sost.

I (Amy) drove today, the scenery was again absolutely amazing, brilliant blue sky with high snow capped mountains and lovely autumnal trees.  It took 2 hours to reach Sost, so we decided to continue another 85km up to the Kunjarab Pass and the Chinese Border.  We had to pay $4 each to enter the Kunjarab Pass national park, but it was going to be worth it.  Upon entering we immediately saw a Bactrian Camel, it had two humps and was covered in think fluffy fur.  As I was driving through the valley I noticed what I thought at first was a dog then when it finally stopped running away and I was able to stop the car next to it we realised that it was in fact a Moutain Fox, really bushy tail and an orange coat.  The scenery kept changing as we climbed up to the Pass, first we were driving past sand and then when we finally reached the 15,000ft (or almost 5000m) summit everything was covered in deep snow and was freezing cold.  On the way up we also passed icicles and waterfalls, and the river began to freeze.  Once at the summit we found a huge herd of what looked like Yaks, big cows with thick fur and horns.  As nobody was guarding the Pakistani border post we crossed into No Mans Land and drove up to the Chinese side where we took a quick photo on Chinese soil and drove back to the Pakistani side.  We tried to check the temperature as we had hung the thermometer outside since this morning, but it was so cold we killed it!  Mark drove us back down, and I was thankful as I could now animal watch and also I could feel the altitude affecting my concentration.  I shouted for mark to stop as I thought I saw something move on the mountain side.  On closer inspection with the binoculars I saw that there was in fact a herd of sheep stood on a ledge half way up the mountain - how on earth they got up there I will never know.  15 minutes later I again shouted for Mark to stop as I saw something far larger run up a sheer mountain side...I did, honest.  We stopped and saw 4 Ibex (Goat like things) clambering up the side of the mountain, completely unbelievable, they must have pick axes for feet!  Once back at the entrance the guard asked us if we had seen the elusive Snow Leopards, obviously we said no and then to our surprise the guard told us that a Snow Leopard cub and been brought down from the mountain, he told us where to find it  then wished us well.  We drove the 10km or so to Sost where we stayed in the freezing cold PTDC.

A rickety old bridge.                    A Bactrian Camel.                 A mountain Fox.

A Yak?                                     Us at the top of the Pass.                 Signpost In Chinese.

Saturday, 22nd October 2005. Sost to Karimabad.

We awoke to yet another perfect day, and left in gorgeous sunshine.  Sost itself was packed with lots of Chinese trucks off loading their cargo to Pakistani Trucks.  We were on the look out for the Dreamland Hotel just outside of Sost, as that's where the Snow Leopard should have been.  I drove straight past the hotel and only stopped as Mark saw the Leopard out of the corner of his eye as i drove past.  i reversed up the hill and pulled up just outside the entrance, we didn't know what to expect as neither of us has ever seen a Snow Leopard, but Wow, Leo the Leopard was gorgeous.  The Park Ranger explained to us that the cub had been rescued from the wild as his mother had been shot for her fur!  He said that the cub was only 4 months old and ate 4kg of chicken every 4 hours...that's a lot of chicken, so we gave a donation.  I walked over to the Snow Leopard and he immediately grabbed my scarf between his teeth and paws, he was so playful, but then he jumped up and sunk his teeth into my shoulder, this hurt a bit and I now have a little reminder of today all up my right arm.  Very few people have ever seen a Snow Leopard, even fewer a Snow Leopard Cub, and even fewer been able to touch and play with one - a truly magical experience.

It didn't take very long to get back to Karimabad, even though we stopped so that Mark could take a film of me driving Hector over a rather precarious bridge.  Once at Karimabad we were looking for somewhere to stay with parking when Mark saw Linda's bike along with Chris and Elke's.  Mark got out and surveyed the track down to the car park and the size of the car park itself (and it's gate!)  He decided that we would make it, so i dropped Hector into Low box and began the crawl down to the gate.  Unfortunately Hectors turning circle leaves a lot to be desired and i didn't make it round in one, and had driven too close to the concrete post for comfort, and didn't have the confidence to reverse up the very steep slope without rolling into the post and collapsing the owners gate.  Mark took over and began to reverse out until the wheel began spinning as it was on very loose gravel and sand, he dropped Hector into Diff Lock and edged his way out - sadly we got wedged on the gates lock and couldn't go forwards or backwards without leaving a scratch down Hectors Modesty board, but with me shouting directions we made it into the car park and collapsed into the chairs with a sigh of relief. we were waiting for our friends for what seemed like ages before we decided to try to extricate ourselves from the mess we'd got ourselves into and find a hotel with better parking.  Mark drove again and with the shouting of directions and Marks fantastic maneuvering we made it out without further damage.  We are now staying at the rather nice Hunza Baltit Inn.  We were welcomed with a lovely cup of tea which we had on the veranda over looking the staggeringly beautiful landscape that is the Hunza Valley.  Having relaxed we ventured into the town to look at the shops and have a much needed hot chocolate and chocolate brownie with honey and cream for me and walnut cake for Mark.  We met up with Linda, Chris and Elke and went to a very cool restaurant where it was all you can eat for Rs100 £1.

A hungry Snow Leopard!!!             Ouch....but isn't he cute.         Great views over the Hunza Valley

Sunday, 23rd October 2005. Karimabad.

Today was a relaxing day, we gave our laundry to the hotel and had lunch in the lovely Cafe de Hunza.  We looked around the shops today to get an idea of carpet prices and designs as we would like to buy one tomorrow.  We went back to the hotel in the afternoon where we relaxed on the veranda.

Monday, 24th October 2005. Karimabad.

Today we headed off to the Baltit Fort. After a very long steep walk we made it to the top and had a look at the amazing views over the valley.  We bought our tickets and were issued with a guide.  The fort itself is more like a comfortable home with an amazing open roofed music room, we toured for about an hour and then began our shopping trip.  We checked out every shop and didn't see anything we liked until the last shop where we fell in love with 4 carpets, we took pictures of the rugs and got opening prices before returned to the hotel to discuss the carpets.  We returned to the shop and haggled over two very nice rugs, one silk locally made one and one Iranian animal print woolen one, we managed to get the price down and then Mark fell in love with an antique local hat, we did a deal and bought two rugs the hat and got a free shoe mat thrown in.  A very successful shopping trip.

The locally made silk rug.           The woollen animal print rug.       The view from the Baltit Fort.

Tuesday, 25th October 2005. Karimabad to Chilas.

Amy drove today, back down the Karakorum Highway. We've left at the right time as this morning the skies were gray and the tops of the mountains hidden behind a layer of dark cloud. The drive to Chilas was uneventful, although we did notice much more traffic on the road - a sign that the road is now back to normal perhaps. On the outskirts of Chilas we stopped to have a look at the famous petroglyphs (inscriptions and pictures carved into the rocks), which were interesting - many dated from the 6th century AD and were depictions of Buddha - testament to the transference of ideas that came down the Silk Road. After pottering around for a while we drove into town, booked into the Panorama Hotel (as the only guests) and settled in for the night.

Chinese lion on the KKH               At the "Site of the greatest ambush of the 19th Century"!

Wednesday, 26th October 2005. Chilas to Kohistan Tourist Inn.

I (Mark) drove today and there were lots more lorries on the road, which made getting round some of the landslides pretty interesting as they stop for nothing, and charge at you like a rogue Bull Elephant if you are in their way - which can be faintly worrying when you're on a hair pin bend with a rockface on your left and a 3,000 foot drop immediately on your right...There were a few interesting moments and we had a frank exchange of views with one truck driver who was too reckless and almost put us into the mountain side. We also saw a fight between a bus driver and a truck driver when neither would give way - idiots. At one point we had to wait whilst the Army Engineers dynamited a way through a recent rock-fall which was interesting. Despite these distractions we made good time as the road is, in general, very good. We got to the Kohistan Tourist Inn at about 15:00, were welcomed back with open arms and relaxed for the rest of the afternoon hoping that there would be no more tremors like there were last time.

Lorry charging the landslide        Narrow pass on the KKH          Another lorry taking over the road.

Thursday, 27th October 2005. Kohistan to Islamabad.

Mark drove today, we were planning to change over half way as we thought it would take us quite a long time as we would be driving through the earthquake zone, it didn't and Mark decided to drive the whole way.  The devestation was emense with fallen houses and people living in tents everywhere, for obvious reasons we didn't take any photos of the areas. We made good time a drove back along the Grand Trunk road through Hasan Abdul and Taxila passing the Margalla pass where a monument to John Nicholson ' Lion of the Punjab' stands.  We arrived at the Tourist campsite in Islamabad at about 15:00, so we made lunch and met the other overlanders staying here.  In the evening we went out to an Italian restaurant with a Swiss couple travelling in their Land Cruiser.

John Nicholson Monument.

Friday, 28th October 2005. Islamabad.

Today we spent the whole day chatting to the other overlanders doing washing and checking Hector all over.  In the evening we chatted to a Dutch couple in a Land Rover who had just arrived, and squashing mosquitoes in a book.

Nasty things those mosquitoes!

Saturday, 29th October 2005. Islamabad.

Today we discovered we may have a slight problem in getting a new visa in Kathmandu for India, so we will be staying here until at least Monday when we can go a have a chat with the Indian Consulate about having  our current Visa cancelled and a new 6 month visa issued in it's place to enable us to visit Nepal and still spend a few months in India - we will keep you updated if our plans have to change dramatically.  Today we have spent updating the website and our logs and also cleaning out the back of Hector and deciding what clothes we can give to the earthquake appeal.

Sunday 30th October 2005. Islamabad

Spent the day contemplating how our plans may have to change if we don't get our Visa situation sorted tomorrow.

Monday, 31st October to Friday 11th November. Islamabad and around

Ten days spent hanging out in Islamabad waiting for our passports to come back from the Indian High Commission with, hopefully, our new 6 month Visas. During this time we've got to know Islamabad like the back of our hands, to the extent that we're quite happy driving around town to the French bakers, going to the shopping centre to get some DVDs and generally making ourselves at home. We've also driven out to Taxila (the birthplace of the Gandahara school of art which fused eastern and Hellenistic styles so you get statues of the Buddha wearing Greek clothes and with western Mediterranean features) and Murree, one of the Hill Stations that the British would retreat to when the temperatures became too hot on the plains. We've also met some more overlanders - Dick and Nana from Holland in their Land Rover, and the four Swiss: Daniel, Birgitte, Christophe and Denise in their 2 Land Cruisers, we've also met another Swiss couple Walter and Nicole who are travelling to Australia in their rather fine 4x4 camper van.  We spent the rest of the days washing and polishing Hector, doing the laundry reading lots of books and writing postcards and dealing with the surprise which we are sending home very soon...

On Wednesday, 9th October 2005 we drove to the Indian High Commission to collect our passports.  We arrived in plenty of time and queued up at counter 6, the chap gave us our passports and to our delight we discovered that we had been given 6 month double entry visas - the only difficulty was that I was given the correct tourist visa but Mark was given a Visit visa, we questioned this and the chap immediately changed the visa to a tourist one - easy as that!  Now back at the campsite we are updating the website and our logs before heading into India most probably on Saturday, 12th October 2005.

Oh and a final point - We have recently discovered though numerous overlanders that it may be possible to travel though Burma (Myanmar) with a guide.  This will be a far better route to SE Asia than trying to ship Hector across, and the best thing is that all the other overlanders that we have spoken to about it are all expecting to try to cross the border at the same time, February/March, so we plan to travel in a large group spreading the cost of the guide if possible.  We will keep you updated on this announcement.

Saturday, 12th November 2005. Islamabad to Lahore

A fairly dull driving day today. Ames drove us out of Islamabad, onto the lovely, empty toll road and straight to Lahore. Having been here before we knew where we were going, and once we had re-adjusted to the chaos on the city streets got to the hotel in the middle of town easily. We were lucky to get a room as it's coming up to the anniversary of the birth of Guru Namak, the founder of the Sikh religion, and everywhere in town was fully booked with pilgrims from all over the world.