8th October Quetta, Pakistan.
During the previous night we hear gunfire from the city centre.
We attempt to leave the hotel to buy petrol but are refused exit by the hotel staff. We are not allowed out with an escort. We are told that we must visit the authorities to collect an NOC... No Objection Certificate. Seems simple enough...... Hello! this is Pakistan.
Richi and I leave the hotel in the back of Police pickup with armed guards.
In the back of a police pickup in Quetta central you feel very conspicuous. One of the cops asks me to hold his AK47, while he rolls back the canvas roof of the truck. I dont refuse ;-)
We have a good laugh on the way to the Government office, the mood changes as the hours pass by. I don't know how many offices we visited this day... many many. At one police station we check out a notice board of Pakistan's most wanted...... for some reason Jeroen's picture is missing........
We finally left the city centre after perhaps 6 hours..... with our NOC. This permits us to move onto Karachi! For those of you unfamiliar with Pakistani geography (ha ha) this is a very backward step and takes us in completely the wrong direction by 730km, and then requires a ride of a further 1250km to reach Lahore. We are told that we are unable to proceed on our planned route because the roads have been washed away by serious flooding. Whether this is true at any level is questionable.... and when all is said and done we have semi off road bikes that can handle tough terrain..... a disappointing development, lol!
The mood back at the hotel is depressed.....
Hey Ho. A few tins of Murree's drives spirits upwards. The staff at the hotel tell us that there has been a bombing in Quetta today. A bus has been blown up by a remote control bomb. A young girl dead, 15 seriously injured. Where the bus was in relation to the offices that Richi and I visited I dont know, just a couple of km I guess.... close call. Large Helicopters thrum through the night.
During the previous night we hear gunfire from the city centre.
We attempt to leave the hotel to buy petrol but are refused exit by the hotel staff. We are not allowed out with an escort. We are told that we must visit the authorities to collect an NOC... No Objection Certificate. Seems simple enough...... Hello! this is Pakistan.
Richi and I leave the hotel in the back of Police pickup with armed guards.
In the back of a police pickup in Quetta central you feel very conspicuous. One of the cops asks me to hold his AK47, while he rolls back the canvas roof of the truck. I dont refuse ;-)
We have a good laugh on the way to the Government office, the mood changes as the hours pass by. I don't know how many offices we visited this day... many many. At one police station we check out a notice board of Pakistan's most wanted...... for some reason Jeroen's picture is missing........
We finally left the city centre after perhaps 6 hours..... with our NOC. This permits us to move onto Karachi! For those of you unfamiliar with Pakistani geography (ha ha) this is a very backward step and takes us in completely the wrong direction by 730km, and then requires a ride of a further 1250km to reach Lahore. We are told that we are unable to proceed on our planned route because the roads have been washed away by serious flooding. Whether this is true at any level is questionable.... and when all is said and done we have semi off road bikes that can handle tough terrain..... a disappointing development, lol!
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| Karachi detour.... Thankyou Quetta police |
The mood back at the hotel is depressed.....
Hey Ho. A few tins of Murree's drives spirits upwards. The staff at the hotel tell us that there has been a bombing in Quetta today. A bus has been blown up by a remote control bomb. A young girl dead, 15 seriously injured. Where the bus was in relation to the offices that Richi and I visited I dont know, just a couple of km I guess.... close call. Large Helicopters thrum through the night.
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