7^th October. Dalbandin, Pakistan to Quetta, Pakistn

We set out early. Our escort guard is on time. The Taftan to Quetta road has a big reputation. It is considered one of the most dangerous roads in the world. Bandits, Dacoits, Terrorists….. Our Levies guards take their job quite seriously. Jeroen’s bike is overheating badly, as is Jeroen. He expends a great deal of energy on abusing our guards. They soak it all up quite well, I think abusing men carrying AK47s is incautious.

Finally Jeroen discovers that his bike is carrying no coolant. It swallows up 2 litres of water. How it hasn’t seized I don’t know.

   

Desert checkpoint. The string draped across the road is the barrier.

Hay store

This youtube video gives a taste of riding in Pakistan... enjoy
(Thanks to Martin and Richi from Austria for capturing the video)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoE5ZbYU8PY

Truck art appears to be very important in Pakistan. I would compare and contract with Narrowboat folk art. It is a competitive game, gaudiest wins.

The landscape is awe inspiring. Huge moutains to either side of the plains that we ride on. We see camels on a regular basis.  From time to time we stop for fuel, food, drink and more frequently for check-posts. At every check post we have to fill in a logbook. We look over past entries and can see who has followed the same route before us.

 

As we near Quetta we climb a steep hill toward a mountain tunnel. A camel herder is driving 20 or so camels along the road to pass through the tunnel. This strikes me as being daring and skillfull.

As we exit the tunnel we drop down towards Quetta. We stop at a checkpoint. If Jeroen were a nuclear reactor… he would have gone critical, near meltdown. We are waiting a long time for our final escort. The atmosphere is tense, primarily because of Jeroen’s behaviour. Standing alongside the road probably wasn’t the safest place to be, standing alongside Jeroen, even more risky.

Our escort arrives. A truck with commandos, guns a plenty. We head down the hill and into Quetta. Quetta is medieval, there are more donkey carts than cars at points. For some reason the escort takes us through the heart of the city even though our hotel is on the outskirts. The traffic is very heavy, our progress slow. As we enter the heart of the city we are joined by more guards. Finally we are surrounded by 2 open sided buses each carrying 20 men and 2 pickups with commandos… a small army.

We discover that 2 policemen die every day in Quetta. The Pakistani state of Balochistan is very poor but has huge mineral resources. There are many Balochi’s who desire a better deal and independence…. And are willing to kill for it.

Maybe having large police escorts is reassuring but is it necessarily safer?!

Quetta mileometer 22762