Aventures Bicyclétales ...

country overview, map and followed itinerary, the journal with the best pictures,     [chap 5] the highlight, what I liked / didn't like, useful information.
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Country overview (as of November 2008)

• Capital city : Islamabad.
• Area : 796,095 km2 (= 1.2 x France).
• Population : ~ 157 million inhabitants (= 2.5 x France).
• Density : 197 inhabitants / km2. 

• Language : Urdu and English.
• Religions : Islam.
• Human Development Index (HDI) : 0.539, the 134th country out of 177. What is HDI ?

• Government : Islamic Republic.
• President : Azif Ali Zardari (since September 2008).
• Prime minister : Youssouf Raza Gilani (since March 2008).

• Growth rate in 2007 : 7%.
• Currency : Pakistanese Roupee (INR), 1 Euro = ~ 101 Roupees.
• Main imports : oil, cars, steel and iron.
• Main exports : coton, garment and cereals.

Pakistan map and followed itinerary (in green color)




The travel journal in Paksitan with the best pictures :

• Wagah and the Indo-Pakistani border,
• Lahore,
• Aid al Adha,
• Leaving Lahore, at last ...
• South-west of Punjab (Multan and Uch Sharif),
• Northern Sindh (Sukkur and Jacobabad),
• Balochistan (Kachhi desert and Quetta),

Thursday the 27th of November : 11.00 AM, I am now done with the slow and wheezy Indian bureaucracy (I had to show my passport five times to five different people to exit the country) and I cross the line which marks the border between India and Pakistan …



The welcome gate is headed by a picture of the Nation’s Father, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who founded Pakistan and served as its first governor-general in 1947. Just below, six soldiers are standing still and are looking straight ahead, towards India.

The paperwork at the customs is straightforward and quick, the only question is related to alcohol, as its import is strictly controlled.

My first few kilometers in Pakistan are surprisingly quiet. There is absolutely no traffic on the 8 lanes highway going to Lahore. I kinda feel lonely riding on it … but gradually, life comes to the road as I get nearer to the outskirt of the city : donkeys pulling carts, pedestrians, motorbikes, buses, autorickshaws (Pakistani tuk-tuks), trucks, goats, sheep and yes, a few cars too …



Pakistan is not really a safe place, especially for politicians whose lifespan can be rather short (cf. the assassination of ex-prime minister Benazir Buttho in December 2007). Therefore, when visiting the country, it is highly recommended to stay clear of any political demonstration. I do intend to follow this recommendation, but as I fight my way through the traffic looking for a place to sleep, I end up cycling right in the middle of a demonstration. It hasn’t been two hours yet since I entered Pakistan, and I got it already all wrong … damn.

Below in Bedan Road ... looking for a hotel.




Friday the 28th of November : the wait starts. I am waiting for my Iranian visa to be issued, but it does not happen, just not yet … and I expect I will have to wait for quite some time : a week ? 10 days ? two weeks maybe or more … nobody seems to know. So I start visiting Lahore slowly, very slowly, in order to save some sights for the next day.

Although Lahore is not Pakistan’s capital city (it’s Islamabad), it wins hands down as its cultural, intellectual and artistic hub. After all, it’s certainly the most interesting place on my route to be stuck in …

With 6 millions inhabitants, Lahore is the second largest city after Karachi … and as so many other large cities in developing countries, the air and water pollutions have reached here unbearable levels. Autorickshaws (pictures below) are without a doubt the first contributors to the air pollution. Their noisy two strokes engine emits thick white fumes highly irritating. The problem is really acute in the old city where back streets are very narrow and air is confined, preventing the toxic fumes to go away.



Below on the left, a street where autorickshaws are banned … on the right, a board encouraging the use of blinkers.



Below : a new country and a new alphabet, welcome in the Muslim world …




Saturday the 29th of November : the Lahore fort (also called Shahi Qila) was built, damaged, demolished, rebuilt and restored several times before being given its current form by Emperor Akbar in 1566. The picture below on the left shows its main entrance, the Alamgiri gate ... and below on the right, next to the fort, stands a Gurdwara which commemorates Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the founder of the short-lived Sikh empire.



Below : the Shah Jahan’s quadrangle garden, located right inside the fort …



… and below, still inside the fort : the Shish Mahal, also called "Palace of mirrors".




The Badshahi mosque is located just a few hundred meters from the fort. It’s one of the world’s largest mosques. Its open courtyard is said to hold up to 100,000 people.






Sunday the 30th of November : it’s Sunday, and it’s hard not to notice it. Streets are empty, there is no traffic, no street-shops, nobody … except some cricket teams playing on the sidewalks, in between the trees, the bus stands and the few cars passing by from time to time. Cricket is very popular in Pakistan, it’s the sport number 1 … and the victory in the 1992 world cup final is a real matter of pride.


Monday the 1st of December : my visa for Iran has not yet been approved. It’s taking forever. Every morning I look at my bicycle and I am dying to ride, there are still so many kilometers to go … but instead I must wait, wait and wait. I am learning patience, a little bit more every single day, but this is clearly not something I am particularly good at.

On the plus side, I have plenty of time to visit Lahore’s old city, a real maze of narrow sneaking alleys surrounded by a 9m-high wall with 13 gates (see below on the left). Cars are too large to venture inside, and only a few autorickshaws try to get through ; invariably they get stuck in a corner, block all pedestrian traffic and poison the whole area with their toxic fumes.



Above on the right : the Sunehri mosque, in the heart of the old city.

Below, in the old city as well : the beautifully tiled mosque of Wazir Khan …






As in Nepal and India, sweet milk tea is the national drink in Pakistan … and no matter how simple it may look, the real recipe requires actually a lot of pans and decantations (picture below on the left). Making some good tea takes some time … but it isn’t quite as long as getting a visa for Iran.

Below on the right, two kids strolling with their sheep … look at the size of the ears !!



Aïd El Kebir (also called Aïd El Adha) is coming up. This Muslim-related Sacrifice festival will take place next week, and this certainly explains why there are so many sheep in the streets. Their days are now numbered !


Tuesday the 2nd of December : Lahore has a very rich architecture, with several buildings dating from the British colonial times (below on the left is the Post Office) and, to my surprise, a large number of churches in very good condition (below on the right is the Cathedral Church of the Resurrection).



It’s an interesting example of genuine tolerance in a country where Muslims account for 96% of the population … and it’s an answer to those in France and in Europe who oppose the construction of Mosques.

Below on the left, the « sacred heart of Jesus » Cathedral … and on the right, in front of the Cathedral, a fruits and vegetables street-shop, selling actually only oranges and turnips.



Below : the Jinnah library in the middle of the Lawrence gardens.




Wednesday the 3rd of December : I have been staying in Lahore for a week now … and since the zoo is just next to my hotel, I end up spending the afternoon there, together with a few classrooms on their weekly outing. Animals look OK, I mean they do not look hungry, but they show so much boredom to be locked up here that in the end, it’s quite embarrassing to watch. It reminded of a quote from Gandhi who once said : “The greatness of a [civilization] and its moral progress can be judged by the way […] animals are treated”. Well, my guess is that humanity as a whole still have a long way to go !!


Thursday the 4th of December : Thursday is a musical day in Lahore. Thursday is the day of the week where one can listen to great qawwali (Islamic devotional singing) in the Shrine of Data Ganj Bakhsh Hajveri (pictures below).

 

Later on the same day, the music continues in the Shrine of Baba Shah Jamal. Gonga Saen (below picture on the left) and his brother Mithu Saen (on the right) play drums all night long in front of a crowd smoking joints one after another. The hypnotic drumbeats together with the “magic smoke” makes the evening quite a unique experience ...




Saturday the 6th of December : 10 days, I have been staying in Lahore for 10 full days … and for the first time since I left Bangkok, I am now behind schedule ! This means that from today onwards, each additional day I spend in Lahore waiting for my Iranian visa is a day I will have to catch up later on the road …


Below : Jehangir’s tomb. It was built during the 17th century from a combination of red sandstone and marble. Next to it stands a Caravanserai of 180 rooms for pilgrims and their animals.






BREAKING NEWS : Condoleezza Rice (secretary of state of the Bush administration) is visiting Lahore today. Yesterday, two bombs exploded on a market in Peshawar (north of Pakistan). 35 persons died and 140 were wounded. The day before yesterday, an American drone fired a missile in Peshawar district and killed 3 persons. Last week, ethnic riots in Karachi (south of Pakistan) resulted in 50 deaths and several hundred wounded … even for a country like Pakistan, this is quite a week, and hopefully next week will be more quiet.


Sunday the 7th of December : this Iranian visa thing is starting to get on my nerves. Waiting is one thing, but I can’t also totally rule out the possibility of being denied entry in the country, thus the need to prepare an alternative route if it happens. I have spent the entire night trying to figure out B plans … but unfortunately, none are truly satisfying.

Option 1 : I ride north towards China through the famous Karakoram Highway and then continue in central Asian countries (Kirghizstan or Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan or Kazakhstan). Problem : the Karakoram Highway is closed during winter time.
Option 2 : I ride to Peshawar and then through Afghanistan. Problem : safety in tribal Pakistani regions and Afghanistan is not quite ideal.
Option 3 : I cross into Iran without visa. Problem : sooner or later, this will be jail for sure.
Option 4 : I fly to Tbilissi in Georgia. Problem : I really don’t want to fly …
Option 5 : I ride down to Karachi, I cross to Oman by boat, I ride to Western Yemen and then I take another boat to Egypt … and I figure out the rest of the route later. Problem : the way down to Karachi is not too safe and there is no regular ferry service between Pakistan and Oman and between Yemen and Egypt.

Practically, only options 4 and 5 are workable … and this is quite a dilemma !!


Tuesday the 9th of December : today is Aid al Adha, the Feast of Sacrifice commemorating the Prophet Ibrahim’s readiness to obey God to the point of sacrificing his own son, who Allah replaced at the last moment with a sheep. In remembrance of this total submission to the will of God, Muslim families sacrifice a sheep, or sometimes other animals such as goats, cows or even camels.



Aid al Adha is also a time of the year where families get together and have fun together.

 


Wednesday the 10th of December : this is the day after Aid al Adha. Animal skins and … other non-eatable animal parts are all over the streets.




Thursday the 11th of December : I am still waiting for my Iranian visa. I have been stuck in Lahore for two weeks now, my visa application file has been stuck in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tehran for two months, and today Thursday, as tomorrow Friday, there is no hope of good news since this is the week-end in Iran …


Saturday the 13th of December : I am 33 today … and I reckon an Iranian Visa would be a really nice birthday present.

But the day does not start too well. As I am taking my breakfast on the terrace of the guesthouse with some other fellow travelers, I read in the newspaper about the latest diplomatic performance of French President Nicolas Sarkozy. He just told the press he would never shake hands with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the elected Iranian president, because of his previous statements about Israel, and because he was not representative of the Iranian people. Of course, Iran did not like this too much, and this is typically the kind of incident that could prove fatal for my visa application, just because Sarkozy is Sarkozy and because I am French.


Sunday the 14th of December : the travel agency working on my visa application in Tehran tells me today “having great hope” to secure the Ministry of Foreign Affairs approval tomorrow. This has been three weeks now that it should happen tomorrow, so we will see tomorrow …


Monday the 15th of December : 5.00 PM, my visa application has finally been approved … at last … and I just need to pick up my visa tomorrow morning at the Iranian consulate. The end of the ordeal has never been that close …

Tonight before going to bed, I inflate my tires and I clean up the layer of dust sitting on the top of my saddle …


Tuesday the 16th of December : 9.00AM, I am queuing in front of the Iranian consulate. It’s the third time I come here, so I start to know the place pretty well. Pakistani soldiers keep the entrance and filter visitors. Bags must be left at the reception, there is a thorough body search and then all visitors wait for a while in a room where the same Iranian movie is showing for several weeks. After half an hour, everybody proceeds to another room on the second floor and waits again : women on the left, men on the right.

10.30 AM, I give my passport, pictures … and fingerprints, from all ten fingers. This last requirement is a response to the exact same requirement from the French administration towards Iranians visiting France, fair enough.

11.30 AM, I get my passport back with an Iranian visa in it, and it’s such a relief, it's hard to describe …
 


Heading west now, the Iranian border is « only » 1,800 km away …


Wednesday the 17th of December : after 20 long non-cycling days, I finally get back in the saddle … and for the occasion, I try out my new cycling look : a traditional Pakistani outfit and a two-months beard (see pictures below).

Going out of Lahore is easy and I soon reach the Highway connecting with Karachi in the far south. The road is good and the traffic is light, cycling is a pure joy ... I ride through fields of sugar canes and cotton, but the most interesting attraction of the day lies on the road itself, it’s the amazing decorations of the trucks (below on the left).



The day goes very well (130 km since this morning) and I still know how to ride, this is good news …


Thursday the 18th of December : my legs need a bit of stretching this morning, I must have lost endurance while waiting in Lahore … but after a few kilometers my muscles warm up gently and are ready for another good cycling day (120 km). Here we go again ! The sun is shining this morning, but the clouds are coming and by the beginning of the afternoon, rain is pouring … so I stop in Mien Channu for the night. I pick-up randomly a hotel, the Shalimar Hotel, and I am delighted to learn that the owner is giving free accommodation and meal to all cycling travelers ! Unusual and very generous, it’s a first : Thanks Mr Saqi.


Friday the 19th of December : it rained all night and clouds are hanging low this morning, although it does not really rain when I leave … but it will very soon, and for the whole day ! Multan, the “dust-city” as it is called, would be more appropriately called the “mud-city” today. What a mess when I get there ...



Below, kids and donkeys in Multan streets …



Below, the Bohar gate of the old city. Good luck to man in yellow ...




Saturday the 20th of December : after riding 350 km in just three days, I stop one day in Multan to get a closer look at the old city, its people and the numerous shrines and mosques.
 




Above, a pastry shop … and below, young little smiling girls.



Below, Sheikh Rukn-I-Alam mausoleum, the landmark of Multan.



Below, one of the many stalls selling nuts of all kinds … which is everything a cyclist needs to go through the day without falling short of energy.



Below, Eidgah mosque (built in 1735).






In Pakistan’s newspapers : an article about the Taliban burning vehicles carrying NATO goods. The article suggests that the Taliban burnt those vehicles in retaliation for the non-payment by the logistics companies hired by NATO of a “safe-passage” fee … which would mean that until now, NATO has paid –indirectly- those it is fighting so that it can fight them. What a joke !! No wonder why Afghanistan’s situation is so desperate after 7 years of war. The article is here.


Sunday the 21st of December : I leave very early this morning, as soon as the sun rises … I have a feeling this is going to be a long tough day.

After riding 20 km on Muzzafargarh road, I meet with Mohammed Sidiq. He’s riding a motorbike alongside me and asks me the usual questions : where do I come from ? Where am I going ? What is my name ? Am I Muslim ? How many brothers do I have ? Am I tired ? What is the name of my father ? What is my job ? The job of my father ? And how much costs the bicycle ? In the meantime, he and I try to avoid potholes, bus riding the wrong way and donkeys out of control ! After thinking it through, he looks at me and asks THE question : what is the purpose of my trip ? Because riding a bicycle on such a long distance, this seems quite not ordinary to him. Here we are, I have being waiting for this question for six months. Congratulations Mohammed. Then I explain him the purpose of my trip, and how I think travelling can be environment-friendly if one decides to commit to it. He’s satisfied and so am I. Once in Muzzafargarh, he guides me through the narrow streets of the old city and shows me the road to follow to get to Uch Sharif, the destination of the day.



I have already mentioned the amazing decorations on the Pakistani trucks, but I can’t resist showing those three magnificent specimens I saw on the road today, with the small chains hanging below the bumpers !! Aren't they pretty ?



Below, detail of truck art.



It’s about 4.00 PM when I cross the Satlej River, just after the city of Alipur. As in India, the bridge is actually a kind of dam and blocks the whole river.



On the other side of the bridge, I am stopped by the police, again, this is the second time since I left Lahore. The policeman is surprised and quite unhappy to see me all alone without a police escort. He tells me this is a dangerous area … but several other people told me otherwise. So who should I believe ? I guess it depends by what one understands by dangerous, since in a way everything and everywhere is dangerous. The policeman sends me to the police station 3 km away, so that I can give all my credentials and my father’s (very important) … but he does not come along, and this is my chance. Since it is getting quite late, I just pass by the police station without stopping. I have no time to waste, and when I arrive in Uch Sharif … it’s already sunset time, and it’s pretty.




Monday the 22nd of December : the sun is rising slowly and its light is reflecting on the green fields, pretty again …



With its name meaning "holy high place", the small town of Uch sharif (or just Uch), is famous for its superb Sufi shrines. After the arrival of Islam, Uch attracted religious figures and many Islamic schools were founded here. By the 13th century, it was one of the subcontinent's leading religious and cultural centers. Below is the Jalaluddin Surkh Bukhari mosque.



Below : Bibi Jawindi shrine ...



... or actually its best half, since the other half was washed away by a massive flood in 1817 (see at the center of the below picture, with two other half demolished shrines around it).



Uch is a really small town, but its bazaar is very lively and its streets see an uninterrupted flow of donkeys (check the hat !!), horses, tractors, bicycles and tricycles …







Below : in Uch bazaar ...




Tuesday the 23rd of December : I am heading straight to Quetta now, I plan to ride the 750 km within the next six days, non-stop. However my objective today is only to get to Sadiqabad (150 km) before the night, so I leave early, just before sunrise. Temperature is only a tiny 6 degrees this morning ; winter is definitely coming …

The road is truly pleasant, with date palms on both sides and occasionally a group a camels passing by …



... but I soon reach the Cholistan desert, and from there, it’s only sand, mud and dust, to the notable exception of this beautiful mosque (see below) planted right in the middle of the Highway !!




Wednesday the 24th of December : I go on with a second long consecutive leg today, Sukkur is about 170 km away from Sadiqabad. This is the new longest leg of my trip, and it hasn’t been too easy. The road was in poor condition and very dusty … making the ride all more difficult and rather unpleasant.

When I finally arrive in Sukkur, the sun sets over the Indus River.




Thursday the 25th of December : it’s my second –and last- day in the Sindh province, and since today is Christmas, I offer myself a short ride with just 90 km to go. This should leave me most of the afternoon free ! But Santa did not forget me either, and he prepared quite an unusual gift in the form of a police escort just for me for the whole day !!

Below on the left, the police checkpoint who organized my first escort, made of eight policemen from the special forces in a truck, each of them with automatic weapons !! It seemed rather excessive, or I thought to myself we are about to cross some real war-zones … but no, all was quiet, and the next escort had only three policemen, and the last only two on a motorbike. Everything went well, they have been truly nice with me, and they let me ride all the way ...



Above on the right, the landscapes between Sukkur and Jacobabad are desperately arid and quite uninteresting; it’s the beginning of the Kacchi desert, and camels make the bulk of the traffic.

The 25th of December in Pakistan does not come with Christmas trees in the streets and icy chocolate bûches de Noël for desert, no, Pakistan being an Islamic Republic with an overwhelming Muslims majority, Christmas simply does not exist here. It’s then my first Christmas in a long time where I am given the opportunity to escape the consumerist frenzy which usually goes together with the event, and somehow, it’s quite a relief. It has reached such a tantamount level lately, even in Thailand, that sometimes I wonder if Jesus birth is not just an invention intended at boosting year-end sales figures. So there are no Christmas celebrations in Pakistan, but the 25th of December is still a very important day, it’s the birthday of Mohammed Ali Jinnah (picture on the left), the founder of Pakistan at the time of the partition from India (1947). Jinnah, brilliant and committed to his country, died only 13 months later. This tragic event left the country without a real leader, and with so much to do : creating a state from scratch. It is commonly agreed Pakistan never really recovered from this loss.

Friday the 26th of December : an armed policeman spent the whole night in front of my hotel room … with so many precautions, they are going to finally scare me !! Is this area and the near Balochistan so dangerous !?

There is a thick fog this morning on the road, I can barely see further than just a few meters … but quickly things brighten up with the sun rays, and I can see that there is nothing to see but the desert, and an endless straight road which goes through it. I don’t know how and where, but I lost my escort, and I am all alone in the middle of the desert. This doesn’t really matter, I can’t get lost anyway.



In the middle of the afternoon, I successfully catch the draft of a truck going about 40 km/h … and partly thanks to this, I establish a new personal speed record when I arrive in Sibi : 160 km in just 6h20, this gives an average of more than 25 km/h !! But one thing is for sure, it won’t happen again tomorrow, because tomorrow, there are a few mountains on the way.

Tonight I happen to take my dinner at the same table as two students in political sciences. This is interesting, I should learn more about Balochistan, the province I have just entered today, and why it has such a bad reputation safety wise. The story they tell me somehow reminds me of Tibet : when Pakistan finally got its independence in 1947, they, at the same time, took over Balochistan, a vast territory with natural resources but very little population … and since then, the Baloch people protest – sometimes violently- against the authority of the central administration. To complicate things a little, there are from time to time fighting among Baloch tribes … and there is also a massive influx of Afghan refugees fleeing the war of terror conducted by US and NATO troops in Afghanistan. The two students I am discussing with have a very nationalistic speech, and wish to see an independent Balochistan someday … while at the same time they omit to mention that the many tribes living in Balochistan never succeeded so far to get together peacefully.


Saturday the 27th of December : I take another piece of desert this morning, with another team of policemen escorting me. Sometimes they follow, sometimes they lead, it all depends on the driver. I am not too sure what I prefer actually. When they stay behind, it feels like they are pushing me to go faster, which I can’t, otherwise I would … and when they stay in front, I end up from time to time in the firing line of their automatic weapons, which does not make me feel very comfortable. I wonder if there is a safety switch.

After 40 km of flat desert, I start to see some mountains in front of me … and in no time I start to climb.



The gradient of the road progressively reach about 5%, which is quite a lot, but the road remains real straight, with mountains on both sides. Visually, this looks really unusual.

Below, the last police escort of the day, who will guide me all the way to Mach police station where I will spend the night.




Sunday the 28th of December : I am nearly there, Quetta is only 70 km away … and since I climbed quite a lot yesterday, there is only 900 m left to climb today before reaching the Bolan pass, the south-eastern access to the plateau on which lies Quetta. I am happy to celebrate up there my 10,000th km. This is good to know, Quetta is located exactly 10,000 km away from Bangkok …




Monday the 29th of December 08 - Thursday the 1st of January 09 : I rest a few days in Quetta … and I switch to winter mode, temperatures have dropped quite a lot over the last few days. I pack all my summer gears at the bottom of my bags, including my cycling flip-flops, and I pull out gloves, hat, socks, etc. The next three months in Iran and Turkey will be cold, but I hope my first steps in Europe will be welcomed by a seasonal, natural, global warming … it should be in Greece by the beginning of April.

Quetta is the capital city of Balochistan, and the only significant city of the province. Its unique location at the crossroads of the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent and central Asia has ensured a rich ethnic mix, with Pashtuns, Balochis and more recently Afghan refugees.

Below on the left, in Quetta streets with mountains as a background … and on the right, one of the too many fire arms dealer.



Below, in the district around Kandhari bazaar.



By the end of the day, kids climb on the roof of their house and fly their kite. They are too many to count them, they are everywhere …



Tonight the sun sets for the last time in 2008 … tomorrow will be another year !




Friday the 2nd of January : I start this morning my journey through the Balochistan desert, 650 km of rocks and sand between Quetta and Iran, along the southern Afghani border.



There are only very few buildings next to the road, most of them are made with local materials and blend perfectly with the mountains around (see below a mosque).



I meet a little further with the police (see above on the right), and they tell me : “we were waiting for you” !! Well, all is well, here I am, let’s go. They escort me for about 50 km and this is it, this is my last escort for the day, this is my last escort for my whole Pakistani journey. Pakistan’s police have been very kind to me, and patient. All escorts have accepted to let me ride … even when the road was going uphill.

Below : riding alongside the railway in the middle of the afternoon …



Below : some camels grazing near Nushki.



Nushki, located about 150 km west of Quetta, is the terminus of the day. There is a government rest house in the village and I am being given the “presidential suite”, without hot water but with a very nice prayer room !!


Saturday the 3rd of January : windy day today, headwind of course. The sky is grey, the sun is far behind the clouds, the sand flies in my eyes, the road is bad … and I go only 10 – 11 km/h. It does not look like a very pleasant day ahead. On the way, Balochis ask me for pens, 10 times, 20 times, 100 times … most are kids, but some are adults, and  take all the trouble as to make a u-turn with their motorbike (!!) to come and beg for a pen. When I arrive in Padag, at last, really knackered, I am told the rest house of the village has been closed for the last 10 years … and they ask me for pens, again !!


Sunday the 4th of January : the wind is still strong this morning, but it changed direction during the night and now it’s tailwind, and it changes everything. For the same distance as yesterday (100 km), I spend 4h00 less on the bicycle !

Below : a well and a mosque in the middle of nowhere … and a few sand dunes.



Tonight I sleep in Dalbandin, it’s the biggest town in a 300 km radius. Dalbandin, as I was told very discreetly, is sometimes used by the Taliban as a resting place when the fights are too fierce in neighboring Afghanistan …


Monday the 5th of January : this morning I leave for the longest cycling distance of my trip, there are more than 170 km to go before Nokkundi, the only village before Taftan and the Iranian border …

... and it goes very well. The wind is still in my back, lucky me, and I ride the first 100 km in just 3h00 … this is rocket cycling !!




Tuesday the 6th of January : the night was good and quiet, I’ve slept in a restaurant again. My two hosts (see below) are now preparing the breakfast : tea and bread ! It’s only 2 Celsius this morning, they are cold … and so am I.



Today is my last day in Pakistan, my journey through the desert is nearly over … there are only 130 km left … and to confirm that I am going in the right direction, there is now a sign indicating the direction of EUROPE every 20 km !!

 

Taftan, 4.00 PM (picture below) : I am done with the Balochistan desert ...



... and as the sign above suggests it, Iran is straight ahead, with first Zahdan and a little further Tehran !! The adventure continues, but on the other side of the border …




The highlight in Pakistan

It is without a doubt the natural curiosity of the Pakistanis. Their conversation goes way beyond the usual “hello and how are you ?”, they quickly move to more sensitive topics related to international politics and religion. They want to understand the world and they want the world to understand them. Pakistanis find themselves in the middle of a war they have never wished for and which has been fabricated by western powers (Cf. the funding of the Taliban by the US to counter the Soviets in Afghanistan during the 80’ies). This proximity with international terrorism impacts a lot on the image of Pakistan, they know it, and they want to re-balance it, and also express their tolerance, sometimes truly surprising, when it comes to other religious beliefs. They are not fanatics …




What I liked / didn't like in Pakistan

I liked	I did not like
people	autorickshaws and their white irritating smoke in Lahore
the cultural heritage of Lahore	dust and mud on the road
bazaars	eating with the fingers of the right hand (I am lefty !)
little donkeys pulling huge carts	the limited freedom of women
camels	all the weapons in the streets
Balochistan arid mountains	the necessity to be escorted by the police in several parts of the country
extravagant truck art	hotels who refuse to host foreigners ...
sweet milk tea	.

Useful information about Pakistan :