Monday, 30 November 2009
Agra to Chittorgarh
First of all I should say Good Morning, as I’m writing this at quarter to eight on Sunday morning! It’s the 29 November and we’re currently camped on large piece of scrubland, which also encompasses a football pitch. It’s a pretty amazing setting, as we’re on the top of a mountain plateau in the middle of Chittorgarh fort. Our skyline is a range of temples and palaces dating from the 6th to the 15th Century.
We bought an outdoor gas burner in Tehran, so Mark is currently outside boiling the kettle and making the coffee. When we went to bed last night we joked that there would be Sunday morning football and we’d wake up in the middle of the match! Well, it’s not quite a match but Sunday morning football practice. As I’m typing in here, Mark is chatting with about 5 10-year old budding Indian Beckhams! They’re all in their kit and very excited about playing! He’s promised that he’ll watch them play when his coffee is made. They were satisfied with this and ran off to meet their coach.
It may seem rather early for a Sunday morning, but here it’s the best time of day as it gets too hot later on. We seem to wake around this time every day. Bedtime is anything from 7-9! Can you believe it? I’ve never been to bed that early in my life as I always feel like I’m missing out on something, but during the travels that’s the way things have developed.
The last blog entry was when we had arrived in Agra to see the Taj Mahal. We found a restaurant/bar with an amazing view of the Taj and spent the last few hours of daylight sipping tea, then eating and drinking a beer. We arrived on a Sunday so it was pretty busy. We could see the throngs of people even from half a kilometer away. Our intention was to see the Taj at sunrise, so the next morning we got up at 5, had coffee and then made our way up there in the dark. We had parked in the car park near the site, but motorized vehicles are not allowed within 1 km of the building as it was becoming too dirty from pollution.
We queued to get our tickets and then queued to get in. They open the doors at sunrise, which was at 6.40am that day. In the queue we got chatting to a guy named Shaun who had been in India for a few months and was on his way to Dehli. We ended up going round the Taj with him. When we went in, there must have been around fifty-sixty people who’d made it for sunrise, and we were the tenth or so people in. We got our picture in front of the beautiful pond leading up to the Taj and walked towards the back of the Taj where it drops down to the Yajuma river. The lovely thing about sunrise is that the mist rises off the river and shrouds the base of the Taj making it seem almost mystical.
It is made of white marble and has precious and semi-precious stones inlaid with the most beautiful detail. It was built as a monument to Mumtaz Mahal, the wife of a maharaja in the 1600s. She died whilst giving birth to their fourteenth son and he was left devastated. It is a huge mausoleum and is simple inside, but the way it is elevated so it has its own skyline, the symmetry of the design, the materials used to build it and the magnitude of it make it so pleasing to the eye, that you just want to sit and look at it. It is a magnificent building.
Empty stomachs pulled us away and we walked through Agra, which itself is pretty filthy, in search of breakfast. The food here is so tasty and our favourite places to eat are the roadside stalls. Dhabas or cafes are all over and offer the best value for money. Breakfast is usually parantha – potato-stuffed bread with daal or spicy omlette, samosas, chickpeas, potato curry and chai. The chai is made with milk, which is boiled with black tea, ginger and sugar. It is yummy. The origins are from water shortages so milk was used instead and you have to boil it because sometimes the milk is fresh and not pasteurised.
Update on the football. It is now a match and there are around thirty-six people playing ranging from 10 to 55. Mark’s estimation of the talent is that there are a few players who know what they’re doing! He also kicked the ball and it nearly broke his foot, it’s so heavy!!
After breakfast we made tracks for Jaipur in Rajasthan. Rajasthan is the place to come in India if you have short time and want maximum historical input. It is on the North-West of India and borders Pakistan. It is a dry state, encompassing a large desert and has rugged hills and more forts than you can shake a stick at. Almost every hilltop has fort from the Rajput and Muhgal eras, spanning at least the last 600-700 years of Indian royal history.
Our journey to Jaipur should have been straightforward but we got lost and ended up stopping on our first night in a village only 90km from Agra! We pulled in to what looked like common ground. We learnt later that it belonged to a village up the road and was their cricket ground. The crowd of people who came to see us included many young men who were all on the local cricket team. Cricket is so popular here. There is not one day goes by when we do not see at least one cricket game being played somewhere. Even in the Himalya, they play on the terraced farmland!
The village was called Punchhari. One of the young men who introduced himself was called Lokendra and was in the Indian Navy. The next morning he took us up into the village and to his fathers’ house. We were given hot milk and snacks and then taken round to meet people. One woman was cooking her chapatis for the day over a really basic wooden and clay oven. People here are so skilled in how they use their resources. We are always amazed at what they make do with.
We head off for Jaipur and decided to stick to the main roads this time instead of the back roads! The roads are a real mix of good and bad, but the use of the roads is incredible. It is a real reflection of the influence that agriculture has on everyday life. Driving down a duel carriageway it is perfectly normal to come across camels in the fast lane, (we drive on the left here – same as at home) cows asleep in the middle of the road or just wandering down the road, tractors going the wrong way up the hard- shoulder, and our worst yet a JCB being driven the wrong way up the fast lane!
People and animals co-exist here in ways that we have never experienced. In any built-up area you can guarantee to see cows, pigs and horses and half of the time, monkeys. Some of the cows don’t seem to belong to anyone; they just wander around. In Jaipur we saw a huge cow just walking down a shopping arcade!
I digress; we made it to Jaipur that day but headed for Amber Fort, which is 11km north of Jaipur. We parked up in the coach car-park, which was empty by 4pm and sat with our gin and tonics watching the sun set on this glorious fort. We went to the light and sound show that evening, where we learnt about the history of Amber and Rajasthan with a show that used the fort and palaces as a backdrop.
The next day we walked around the fort and the day after made our way into Jaipur for a touch more sight-seeing and a bit of shopping. Jaipur is also known as the Pink city. The old city is all painted in the same colour, we thought it more terracotta than pink, and is a great place to visit.
From Jaipur we headed south towards Udaipur. Chittorgarh is on the way and around 100km short of Udaipur. The town itself is not worth seeing, but the fort is the largest in Rajasthan and includes around 130 temples and around 4000 people who live in the old town and around the fort.
The Lonely Planet describes it as walking into a History Channel film set. They’re not wrong. The towers, temples and palaces are amazing. The road that runs round the fort is 13km long, so we got the bikes out and cycled round from building to building. The carvings on some of the temples were so intricate and ornate. Many of the temples you would associate more with SE Asia. On the way round as we stopped to look at a huge pool we went past a nursery and were invited in by Ajay. He showed us around and made us Chai. Mark and he had some really interesting discussions about the direction of Indian agriculture, British agriculture and farming and the encroaching GM and hybrid crops. We left with another email address – god knows how we will ever keep in touch with the people we meet! Most likely we won’t, but when you meet kind and hospitable people you leave hoping you will.
Anyhow, we’ll spend another day here as it is so peaceful and without the hustle and bustle that comes from having such densely populated towns and cities. Mark had a metal box made for the underside of the van in Jaipur and wants to fix it to the van today. I’ll do some cooking and cleaning. Isn’t this just like a Sunday at home?!
Thursday, 26 November 2009
The Himalaya to the Taj Mahal
Dear All,
Having posted a huge number of photos for us, its time to return to a bit of boring old writing! We'll post some photos of India soon. When we last wrote we had arrived in Mcleod Ganj, near Daramshala in the Himalaya. It was a beautiful spot. We managed to get a parking space in the state-run tourism hotel carpark. This it turned out was a busy little place during the day. The car park itself was not the usual concrete affair, but dirt tracks and different levels amongst a forested knoll. Every day Tibetan monks would come, sit and contemplate life or play 'keepy-uppy'. There was a small concreted area where more games were played and where one group of young people came and practised their dance routines. To top it all off, the view was fantastic and there was a troop of monkeys, say 40-50 who came every day to eat the chestnuts off the trees.
We sat for some time just watching these monkeys play. They were tumbling around, wrestling each other, jumping from tree to tree and onto the hotel corrugated roof, delighted with the racket they could make! We also met Gile there, the Tibetan Monk who gave Mark herbs and medicine for his cold. We took Gile for breakfast one morning when it had got quite cold and all enjoyed a bowl of porridge, banana and honey. There are so many cafes in Mcleod Ganj. We spent two rainy days effectively going from cafe to cafe.We decided after the rain that it was time to leave and find the sunchine, but the next day the sunshine re-appeared and we stayed another couple of days.
We really enjoyed the Tibetan food. The momos, Tibetan steamed dumplings, were really tasty. We actually spent three mornings learning how to cook momos, Tibetan soup and Tibetan bread at Lahmo's kitchen. Jo also did an Indian cooking course which was supposed to be for two days, but the second day was cancelled. Still, I learnt alot in one day and have made my first fresh chapatis since!
We, of course, visited the monastery and paid our respects to the Dalai Lama!
Mcleod Ganj was a cool place to hang out and we could have easily got stuck there. When we're ready to move on we usually try and be out of a place by 11, but just managed to leave Mcleod by 1pm! We made it 30km down the road and camped out next to a tea plantation at Palampur. We had a lovely view across a deep valley with terraced farming and palm trees.
The next day we managed to get a little further, although mountain roads are not the fastest. We stopped near Bilaspur in a hotel carpark called Sagar View. It was an amazing view of this huge man-made lake that had been created in the 1950s. We were just leaving the foothills of the Himalayas. The hotel was run by a man called Rajinder. He was really welcoming. He allowed us to park free of charge in the car park and let us shower in the hotel. He was very interested in the van as he was about to take on a franchise of Mahindra Indian cars and wanted to know about the conversion.
Mark and his dad's skills got us a free meal that night! There was local wedding on an Rajinder and his brother-in-law brought us back free food from there. They were very impressed that we liked Indian food and wanted us to try their local dishes. It was great food and we really enjoyed their company and hospitality.
The next day, after another late start due to more chats and chai with Raji, we made it to Kiratpur where we stayed at a Sikh temple. We were struggling to find anywhere and knew from the Golden Temple that Sikhs will allow you to stay and feed you. When we asked about parking the van there, they actually offered us a room each due to misunderstanding us!
We parked up and went into the communal kitchen to eat. It was a simple meal of daal and chapatis and rice pudding, but it was lovely. Mark especially liked the rice pudding! We washed our dishes after and had a quick look at the kitchens. Biggest cooking pots you've seen in your life!
The next day we head off early and made it to Chandigarh. Chandigarh is the joint capital of the Punjab and Haryana states and was built and designed in the 1950s. Le Corbusier designed the whole lot, including the huge man-made lake and grid like structure of the city. When India and Pakistan were established after partition, Lahore, the original capital of the Punjab was in Pakistan, so the Indians needed a new capital of their Punjab.
It was a relaxing few days in a cheap hotel and the final night we parked by the lake. That night we met a really nice man called Bupinder or Bupi, for short. He had been quite high up in managing tea stations for some British owners and was really interesting to talk to. We learnt alot about tea production and after a few beers and food had a real laugh together.
One of the really good sights we saw in Chandigarh, apart from the museum and modern art gallery, was Nek Chands fantasy rock garden. It was started by Nek Chand around 40 odd years ago and is built totally out of rubbish! It is believe it or not, an amazing garden with incredible moasics, sculptures and landscaping.
Leaving Chandigarh, we were headed for the Taj Mahal in Agra. We wanted to avoid going through Dehli as we had heard horror stories of the traffic there. Our scenic route took us through Baghput where we stayed in a rice field and the next night in Khurja where we were in a field of Marigolds. We have been the talk of every village we have stayed near and have a regular stream of visitors in the late-day sun and first thing the next morning. Its usually young men and in the mornings when they visit us they light a fire to keep themselves warm whilst they await our company!!
That Sunday we made it to Agra by the afternoon and sat in a hotel overlooking the Taj as the sun set. It truly is a beautiful building. We were due to visit it properly the next day and wanted to see it at sunrise. Next time we write we'll post some photos of the Taj at sunrise and update you on the next stage of our travels.
Having posted a huge number of photos for us, its time to return to a bit of boring old writing! We'll post some photos of India soon. When we last wrote we had arrived in Mcleod Ganj, near Daramshala in the Himalaya. It was a beautiful spot. We managed to get a parking space in the state-run tourism hotel carpark. This it turned out was a busy little place during the day. The car park itself was not the usual concrete affair, but dirt tracks and different levels amongst a forested knoll. Every day Tibetan monks would come, sit and contemplate life or play 'keepy-uppy'. There was a small concreted area where more games were played and where one group of young people came and practised their dance routines. To top it all off, the view was fantastic and there was a troop of monkeys, say 40-50 who came every day to eat the chestnuts off the trees.
We sat for some time just watching these monkeys play. They were tumbling around, wrestling each other, jumping from tree to tree and onto the hotel corrugated roof, delighted with the racket they could make! We also met Gile there, the Tibetan Monk who gave Mark herbs and medicine for his cold. We took Gile for breakfast one morning when it had got quite cold and all enjoyed a bowl of porridge, banana and honey. There are so many cafes in Mcleod Ganj. We spent two rainy days effectively going from cafe to cafe.We decided after the rain that it was time to leave and find the sunchine, but the next day the sunshine re-appeared and we stayed another couple of days.
We really enjoyed the Tibetan food. The momos, Tibetan steamed dumplings, were really tasty. We actually spent three mornings learning how to cook momos, Tibetan soup and Tibetan bread at Lahmo's kitchen. Jo also did an Indian cooking course which was supposed to be for two days, but the second day was cancelled. Still, I learnt alot in one day and have made my first fresh chapatis since!
We, of course, visited the monastery and paid our respects to the Dalai Lama!
Mcleod Ganj was a cool place to hang out and we could have easily got stuck there. When we're ready to move on we usually try and be out of a place by 11, but just managed to leave Mcleod by 1pm! We made it 30km down the road and camped out next to a tea plantation at Palampur. We had a lovely view across a deep valley with terraced farming and palm trees.
The next day we managed to get a little further, although mountain roads are not the fastest. We stopped near Bilaspur in a hotel carpark called Sagar View. It was an amazing view of this huge man-made lake that had been created in the 1950s. We were just leaving the foothills of the Himalayas. The hotel was run by a man called Rajinder. He was really welcoming. He allowed us to park free of charge in the car park and let us shower in the hotel. He was very interested in the van as he was about to take on a franchise of Mahindra Indian cars and wanted to know about the conversion.
Mark and his dad's skills got us a free meal that night! There was local wedding on an Rajinder and his brother-in-law brought us back free food from there. They were very impressed that we liked Indian food and wanted us to try their local dishes. It was great food and we really enjoyed their company and hospitality.
The next day, after another late start due to more chats and chai with Raji, we made it to Kiratpur where we stayed at a Sikh temple. We were struggling to find anywhere and knew from the Golden Temple that Sikhs will allow you to stay and feed you. When we asked about parking the van there, they actually offered us a room each due to misunderstanding us!
We parked up and went into the communal kitchen to eat. It was a simple meal of daal and chapatis and rice pudding, but it was lovely. Mark especially liked the rice pudding! We washed our dishes after and had a quick look at the kitchens. Biggest cooking pots you've seen in your life!
The next day we head off early and made it to Chandigarh. Chandigarh is the joint capital of the Punjab and Haryana states and was built and designed in the 1950s. Le Corbusier designed the whole lot, including the huge man-made lake and grid like structure of the city. When India and Pakistan were established after partition, Lahore, the original capital of the Punjab was in Pakistan, so the Indians needed a new capital of their Punjab.
It was a relaxing few days in a cheap hotel and the final night we parked by the lake. That night we met a really nice man called Bupinder or Bupi, for short. He had been quite high up in managing tea stations for some British owners and was really interesting to talk to. We learnt alot about tea production and after a few beers and food had a real laugh together.
One of the really good sights we saw in Chandigarh, apart from the museum and modern art gallery, was Nek Chands fantasy rock garden. It was started by Nek Chand around 40 odd years ago and is built totally out of rubbish! It is believe it or not, an amazing garden with incredible moasics, sculptures and landscaping.
Leaving Chandigarh, we were headed for the Taj Mahal in Agra. We wanted to avoid going through Dehli as we had heard horror stories of the traffic there. Our scenic route took us through Baghput where we stayed in a rice field and the next night in Khurja where we were in a field of Marigolds. We have been the talk of every village we have stayed near and have a regular stream of visitors in the late-day sun and first thing the next morning. Its usually young men and in the mornings when they visit us they light a fire to keep themselves warm whilst they await our company!!
That Sunday we made it to Agra by the afternoon and sat in a hotel overlooking the Taj as the sun set. It truly is a beautiful building. We were due to visit it properly the next day and wanted to see it at sunrise. Next time we write we'll post some photos of the Taj at sunrise and update you on the next stage of our travels.
Wednesday, 18 November 2009
Leaving Pakistan
We're off to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. It should be a few days driving. So, we'll post more things soon.
Hope you're all well.
Lots of love, Jo and Mark xx
Haircuts, trucks and camels!
The camels with carts were a new one for us too. We never realised they pulled carts! Camels were a regular feature by the time we left Pakistan, but we were so excited to see them at first. They have a slow almost nonchalant walk to them and are interesting to watch.
The truck, I forgot to put in the first lot, but just another example of the decoration.
Cotton - if you ever wondered what it looked like in the raw!
We spent a lot of time on the road!
Paskistan - the beginning showed such promise!
Gender stereotypes extend to the desert!
Camping and games in the Kaluts
The Kaluts - a stunning desert.
This beautiful desert has only 3% humidity making it the driest desert on earth. The scenery is unlike anywhere else.
New photos
Dear All,
In an attempt to catch up with our past, I've started uploading some images from Iran. The computer is pretty slow though, so it may take a while!!
In an attempt to catch up with our past, I've started uploading some images from Iran. The computer is pretty slow though, so it may take a while!!
Persepolis, Nr Shiraz, Iran
Bread and Pizza?
This advert for a pizza restaurant really made us laugh. Could you imagine going there or taking your child after seeing this?!
Imam Square, Esfahan, Iran
Saturday, 7 November 2009
Sunrise in the Himalayas
Dear All,
We made it to the Himalaya! We are currently in Mcleodganj, the residence of the Dalai Lama and many Tibetan refugees. But before we tell you about this place Amritsar deserves a little page space. I can't lie, most of our time was spent lounging around eating food, drinking beer and sleeping. The Grand Hotel wasn't really that grand but it did have a beautiful garden out the back that was tropical and quiet, a must in a city, and Kingfisher on tap. We met two fellow travellers there Pete and Caf, who have a brilliantly named website: www.curryhunt.com. They've been travelling on motorbikes and made it to the Karakorum Highway in Pakistan. Unfortunatley Caf was hit by an arrogant car driver and has an arm fracture to show for it. Anyhow, we all had a good laugh together and hope to see them in Goa.
The main tourist attraction is the Golden Temple - the holy HQ of the Sikh religion. The guide recommends you see it at different times of the day, which we duly did. After removing our shoes and washing our feet we first entered the temple during the day. We managed to go during a large festival that meant the place was packed. Travellers can stay for free for three days at the temple and the communal kitchen dishes out free food all day.
When we returned at night time two days later it was no where near as busy and looked serene sat in the water with the gold shining and the blue lights lighting the base of the temple. We decided to go in to the temple and realised that we had entered during a service, but the Sikhs were welcoming as always and we went in, experiencing a beautiful service and looking over the three floors of the beautiful temple.
We saw a fair amount of Amritsar, the most significant after the temple being Jalinwalia Bagh - Bagh means garden. This is the place where the British opened fire on protesters in 1919 without warning. I can't remember the numbers they killed, but seeing the number of bullet holes in the wall, you realised how many rounds had been indiscriminately fired into the unsuspecting crowd. Some say that this was the beginning of the end of the Raj.
The other purpose in Amritsar was to clean up the van and get the washing done. We managed to do many of these menial tasks as well and were ready to head for the mountains.
Mcleodganj, as you can imagine being the home of the Dalai Lama, attracts many tourists/hippies.. However it doesn't feel overrun and we were attracted by its location and the many courses on offer here. We have both been to our first course this morning in Tibetan food - we made momos - Tibetan dumplings. They were pretty delicious! Tomorrow morning we are returning for our lesson in Tibetan soup.
We are staying in the van here and pay 300rupees a day to park at the highest forest point in the town. The funny thing is we have monkeys for neighbours. They are grey and silver and are great to watch. You can't really make any contact or feed them as they are unpredictable. We are enjoying all the new animals and wildlife around us. This morning I woke up early and went out to see the sunrise over the mountains. It was beautiful. To top it off you see hawks and other birds of prey circling around in front of you. We've seen bright green parrots flying around too.
We've gradually got used to seeing cows just mooching about. This morning as Mark was sat out haiving a coffee he heard a gentle snoring. Realising that i was already up (!) he looked about for whom it was. There was a little calf just snuggled up in the grass near by - still sleeping and snoring away!
We're going to spend another couples of days here - Mark has a cold and a Tibetan Monk has decided that he will treat Mark with a selection of herbs, so we'll stay until he is well. We're going to head from here to Manali. From there, weather permitting, we can go up further into the Himalaya and drive the scenic route to Shimla, an old British Hill Station. We may indulge in a little paragliding and trekking along the way!
Anyway, a cup of hot sweet chai beckons, so I'm away back to my hectic life!!
Lots of love, Jo and Mark xx
PS. We have a new Indian mobile that should be cheap to text and if you're feeling really extravagant, call! We're now five and a half hours ahead if you're in the UK.
Number 0091 (0) 9780647569
Monday, 2 November 2009
INDIA!!!
Dear All,
Any of you worried about our safety in Pakistan can breathe a sigh of relief; we crossed into India two days ago. Driving through Pakistan was a tense experience. When we last wrote we were in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan. The day we arrived the education minister had been killed by terrorists in Quetta itself and the security, as you can imagine, was tight. We were not allowed to go out at night as there were concerns for our safety. This was a real shame as Quetta is a buzzing city. However, we went out the next day and had a look around. Most shops were closed. We found out later that there had been an impromptu strike over the killing of the minister.
The hotel owners also informed us that the universities, colleges and schools had been shut for three days as the government was concerned about terrorist attacks. This, however was the official line. The other reason behind the closure was that the government was concerned about an uprising against themselves. Pakistan, we were informed from all areas, was on the edge. When we went to the National Bank of Pakistan to change money the banker asked why we had had come to Pakistan and did we not care for our lives? Hmmm, food for thought.
In the evening back at the hotel we cooked our own dinner and were told that we should not be sat in the front courtyard as we could be a target. The police also turned up and said the same thing. We should not be visible to the road.
The next day we were headed to Sukkur which is through the Bolan Pass, an ancient route for trade. We had to wait for our escort out of Quetta in the morning, but then we were on our way. The Bolan Pass was a real picturesque mountain and valley pass. We travelled alongside a beautifully coloured river - turquoise and deep and light blues. It was so nice to see water and greenery after the desert landscape of Balochistan. We noticed the legacy of the British empire in many places in Pakistan, especially the railway along the Bolan Pass whose tunnels had names like Windy Corner and Cascade all built in 1894.
Pakistan is beautifully green and fertile in the Eastern most part of Balolchistan and coming into the Sindh and the Punjab. We had no idea of the crops Pakistan grew; rice, corn, cotton, sugar cane, bananas etc. We drove through endless rice fields that looked beautiful as the rice plants moved with the wind in the sun - green and golden. The cotton fields were a surprise - so many of them. The lily pads and flowers growing in ponds at the ends of fields - results of the irrigation system - and in the middle of all these crops bright bursts of colour from the women's sari's. I don't have enough words in my vocabulary to describe all their different colours.
We emerged out of this picturesque drive into a town called Sukkur and then to a police station. We had to stay there the night. We were all starting to get tired as the days were just relentless driving, so we decided the next day to only do a half day driving. We arrived with our escort into Rahin Yar Khan and were taken to - surprise, surprise - another police station. We needed to go out and get food, but were told we weren't allowed to go out. A young man was sent to get our food and on his return we started cooking. At was at this point that we realised we were in a police station that had cells and prisoners. We had managed to avoid this in Dalbandin, but here we were fairly powerless.
There was a young man being questioned the night we were there whom we saw being walked across the yard by a police officer with a wooden bat and pole in his hand. We knew at that point that he was likely to be beaten. We all fell rather quiet and our stomachs turned at the thought of what was going to happen. We heard it later that night and all of us found sleeping very difficult. The worse thing was not being able to do anything about it. We felt quite sick.
The next morning we saw the young man in the cells and gave him biscuits and cigarettes. He looked ok, but that night deepened our growing feelings that Pakistan was not the place to be at this moment in time.
We drove through to Multan the next day phoning as many hotels as possible to try and get somewhere to stay. The story was the same everywhere - no-one wanted us sleeping in the van on their patch. The security situation was too bad and unstable, so after trying in the city we were once again driven to a police station - we stressed this time - no prisoners. We slept better that night, but the next day after realising that more and more bombings were taking place in the North and that to get to the Karakoram Highway we were going to be driving 45km East of the Swat Valley, we decided that the writing was on the wall: time to go to India.
We went through Lahore that day and then to Wagah, the border town. We were in time to watch the border crossing ceremony - pictures to follow - a theatrical set piece if ever I saw one!
We were disappointed that we weren't able to see more of Pakistan, but the difference between the two sides of the Punjab is remarkable and telling in itself. After we had dealt with all the customs and passport stuff, we managed to buy some beer in duty free. We were still with Mark and Brigitta and had been travelling with them for over two weeks now. We decided that to just go our separate ways without a beer together in our new found freedom would be wrong, so we drove 200 metres up the Attari Road, pulled into a disused field opposite a lovely view of trees and rice fields and cracked open a beer. It was great to be able to relax again and camp without four walls and lots of police around us.
We didn't make it to Amristar that day, but the next! We said our goodbyes to Mark and Brigitta. We had all appreciated each others company through Pakistan and never thought at the beginning that we would be together so long. When we write up Iran, which will be soon, we'll be able to show you some of the pics of our time in the desert, it was such good fun.
We drove the 30km to Amritsar and got ourselves a hotel. It isn't just the relaxation we need but to do laundry, clean out the van and just get ourselves ready for the next stage of our trip. The Grand Hotel has a lovely jungle garden out the back and is cool and peaceful. It's pretty cheap, hey, this is India, has a restaurant attached and we've met fellow travellers from the UK already!!
We'll keep in touch with our movements but plans so far are to head towards the Himalaya at Manali. Manali is in the state of Himchal Pradesh and is the gateway to Leh, in Ladakh. We're here too late to cross that mountain pass, unless we want to get stuck there for Winter! After Manali we'll head to Agra to see the Taj and then back West through Rajasthan.
Any of you worried about our safety in Pakistan can breathe a sigh of relief; we crossed into India two days ago. Driving through Pakistan was a tense experience. When we last wrote we were in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan. The day we arrived the education minister had been killed by terrorists in Quetta itself and the security, as you can imagine, was tight. We were not allowed to go out at night as there were concerns for our safety. This was a real shame as Quetta is a buzzing city. However, we went out the next day and had a look around. Most shops were closed. We found out later that there had been an impromptu strike over the killing of the minister.
The hotel owners also informed us that the universities, colleges and schools had been shut for three days as the government was concerned about terrorist attacks. This, however was the official line. The other reason behind the closure was that the government was concerned about an uprising against themselves. Pakistan, we were informed from all areas, was on the edge. When we went to the National Bank of Pakistan to change money the banker asked why we had had come to Pakistan and did we not care for our lives? Hmmm, food for thought.
In the evening back at the hotel we cooked our own dinner and were told that we should not be sat in the front courtyard as we could be a target. The police also turned up and said the same thing. We should not be visible to the road.
The next day we were headed to Sukkur which is through the Bolan Pass, an ancient route for trade. We had to wait for our escort out of Quetta in the morning, but then we were on our way. The Bolan Pass was a real picturesque mountain and valley pass. We travelled alongside a beautifully coloured river - turquoise and deep and light blues. It was so nice to see water and greenery after the desert landscape of Balochistan. We noticed the legacy of the British empire in many places in Pakistan, especially the railway along the Bolan Pass whose tunnels had names like Windy Corner and Cascade all built in 1894.
Pakistan is beautifully green and fertile in the Eastern most part of Balolchistan and coming into the Sindh and the Punjab. We had no idea of the crops Pakistan grew; rice, corn, cotton, sugar cane, bananas etc. We drove through endless rice fields that looked beautiful as the rice plants moved with the wind in the sun - green and golden. The cotton fields were a surprise - so many of them. The lily pads and flowers growing in ponds at the ends of fields - results of the irrigation system - and in the middle of all these crops bright bursts of colour from the women's sari's. I don't have enough words in my vocabulary to describe all their different colours.
We emerged out of this picturesque drive into a town called Sukkur and then to a police station. We had to stay there the night. We were all starting to get tired as the days were just relentless driving, so we decided the next day to only do a half day driving. We arrived with our escort into Rahin Yar Khan and were taken to - surprise, surprise - another police station. We needed to go out and get food, but were told we weren't allowed to go out. A young man was sent to get our food and on his return we started cooking. At was at this point that we realised we were in a police station that had cells and prisoners. We had managed to avoid this in Dalbandin, but here we were fairly powerless.
There was a young man being questioned the night we were there whom we saw being walked across the yard by a police officer with a wooden bat and pole in his hand. We knew at that point that he was likely to be beaten. We all fell rather quiet and our stomachs turned at the thought of what was going to happen. We heard it later that night and all of us found sleeping very difficult. The worse thing was not being able to do anything about it. We felt quite sick.
The next morning we saw the young man in the cells and gave him biscuits and cigarettes. He looked ok, but that night deepened our growing feelings that Pakistan was not the place to be at this moment in time.
We drove through to Multan the next day phoning as many hotels as possible to try and get somewhere to stay. The story was the same everywhere - no-one wanted us sleeping in the van on their patch. The security situation was too bad and unstable, so after trying in the city we were once again driven to a police station - we stressed this time - no prisoners. We slept better that night, but the next day after realising that more and more bombings were taking place in the North and that to get to the Karakoram Highway we were going to be driving 45km East of the Swat Valley, we decided that the writing was on the wall: time to go to India.
We went through Lahore that day and then to Wagah, the border town. We were in time to watch the border crossing ceremony - pictures to follow - a theatrical set piece if ever I saw one!
We were disappointed that we weren't able to see more of Pakistan, but the difference between the two sides of the Punjab is remarkable and telling in itself. After we had dealt with all the customs and passport stuff, we managed to buy some beer in duty free. We were still with Mark and Brigitta and had been travelling with them for over two weeks now. We decided that to just go our separate ways without a beer together in our new found freedom would be wrong, so we drove 200 metres up the Attari Road, pulled into a disused field opposite a lovely view of trees and rice fields and cracked open a beer. It was great to be able to relax again and camp without four walls and lots of police around us.
We didn't make it to Amristar that day, but the next! We said our goodbyes to Mark and Brigitta. We had all appreciated each others company through Pakistan and never thought at the beginning that we would be together so long. When we write up Iran, which will be soon, we'll be able to show you some of the pics of our time in the desert, it was such good fun.
We drove the 30km to Amritsar and got ourselves a hotel. It isn't just the relaxation we need but to do laundry, clean out the van and just get ourselves ready for the next stage of our trip. The Grand Hotel has a lovely jungle garden out the back and is cool and peaceful. It's pretty cheap, hey, this is India, has a restaurant attached and we've met fellow travellers from the UK already!!
We'll keep in touch with our movements but plans so far are to head towards the Himalaya at Manali. Manali is in the state of Himchal Pradesh and is the gateway to Leh, in Ladakh. We're here too late to cross that mountain pass, unless we want to get stuck there for Winter! After Manali we'll head to Agra to see the Taj and then back West through Rajasthan.
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