Amazing Pakistan...

We have come to the end of our first week in Pakistan.   Unexpectedly my fondness of this surreal land is only enhancing as we journey deeper.  Mohammad's Qur'an states that Muslims must be kind to all travellers, but this genuine warmth and incredible human spirit I am sure is more than any ancient teaching could bestow.  On only my second day of being in Lahore when we were still adjusting to our new found location, we strolled through the local bazaar and I clumsily tripped and stumbled forward regrettably tossing an entire street merchants display of sunglasses into the air.  Cheap, designer copies were splatted over the path in front of me and I instantly felt a moment of fear as I looked at Aj and he shamefully shook his head.  To my surprise in moments I was surrounded my locals offering me their gentle hands in support and kind smiles.  The merchant refused any money even as I scanned the scene and spotted glasses that had been shattered.  This was incredible to see and for my first time in Pakistan I was able to experience their beautiful human spirit, soon to be one of many.

Several days later we find ourselves in Peshawar, where we have been faced with busy streets and constant stares.  It would seem we are the only foreigners in the entire region and our presence appears to be appreciated. 

Today we went to our first Afghan Refugee Village with local journalist and humanitarian worker Prince Mahir Ullah Khan.  On the drive out of town we made a short stop at a sacred location named Phandu where a holy sufi saint lays to rest.  As we made our way through hundreds of randomly positioned graves covered with individually placed stones, we reached the centre mausoleum where he now sleeps.  It is believed by the locals that diseases including Hepatitis C and Jaundice can be magically cured in 3 weeks if they journey here to pray, completing their visit by placing a simple necklace purchased from the entrance on a nearby tree.  There were literally thousands.

Our time at the refugee village was well spent documenting and taking photos, we were once again overwhelmed with the warmth and kindness of these beautiful people.   A short film of the camp is currently being edited and will be on our site soon.  

Surprisingly sane Lahore

After being pumped with all the travel warnings and negative media coverage concerning Pakistan we were expecting to be riding into something half resembling a war zone. However the reality so far has been totally different. Coming from India where the streets are awash with cow shit and rubbish the first thing we noticed was how clean the roads were...makes us think this has something to do with beef being back on the menu! While there is a strong Police presence everywhere the place does not feel uptight or unsafe and people seem to be going about their daily lives as normal. Everyone is extremely friendly and always quick to shake your hand, but usually that is after we have told them we are NOT from America which is usually their first question. Im sure it would be different if I was, but I am Australian and very glad for it.  

This is Lahore however, which im told is the safest and most liberal city in all Pakistan. Im sure tomorrow when we head north through Islamabad to Peshawar we will get to see a different perspective on things, where in the tribal areas things are apparently a lot more volatile than here. We will have to go through numerous Police checkposts so im sure if things are too hairy they wont allow us through, if which case we will turn around and head down south towards Multan and Uch Sharif on our way to Quetta where we are picking up our Iranian visas along with a new set of TKC80 tyres being delivered post restante to the GPO(hopefully!!) 

Aj and Bec

It has been tough...

We have finally arrived in Amritsar, about 35km from the Wagah border where we will be crossing into Pakistan tomorrow around noon.  Yesterday was extremely tough.  We managed an aggressive 520km in 10 hours, no mean feat on India roads.  Our eyes are puffy and suffering from the constant exposure to dust and dirt that was almost blinding after such a long day on the bike.  We entered the chaotic town of Amristar, home of the Golden Temple, around 8pm in the evening, and were greeted with the normal mayhem of turban toting cyclist, cows blocking our path, dogs barking, children begging and the standard hysteria that our vehicle guarantees. Our trusty Lonely Planet guide ensured a safe place to stay, although to my disappointment and frustration the bathrooms rusting shower nozzle greeted me with only a sad dribble.  That was the end of the line for me after too much filth and exhaustion, and as the tears began to swell my beloved Aj came to the rescue, as he always does.  After a room upgrade and a satisfactory rinse, our heads hit the pillow.  Today has been a day or organising as we are in desperate need to replace the bike tyres as we are already burning through the rubber extremely fast after only a month.  Unfortunately Pakistan is not an ideal location to have any bike concerns.  Alas, we are unable to find any stock here in Amristar so to our despair we are most likely to have to order them directly from Singapore and have them flown into Lahore.  My next post will be once we cross the border and hit Lahore, Pakistan.  Wish us luck!  Please note that the GPS tracker will not be working till we are in Pakistan.

and onto Pakistan..

So we have had a great 3 months riding in India and Nepal so far. We started in Calcutta then went north through Sikkim, Nepal, Uttaranchal, and down to Delhi where we parked it for a month while we spent Xmas/NY in Europe. Since picking it up in early Jan we have been riding around Rajasthan and am heading north now from Jodhpur for the Indian/Pakistani border crossing at Wagah road, which we plan to cross on the 14/2.


Its been an awesome ride so far but am really keen to get into Pakistan and see what's really going on. Its hard to tell just where is safe to travel with so much crap published in the media but im sure we will have a lot more color once we get to Lahore and speak to the locals. Assuming the north is not too dangerous to travel we will head up to Islamabad then across to Peshawar and 'up the Khyber' (as long as its not being done to me!!) before heading south to Multan, Uch Sharif and down to the ruins of Moenjodaro before heading into Balochistan and its capital Quetta, where we will pick up our Iranian Visas before heading to the pak/Iran border at Taftan.


We have loads of great film and Photos that were gonna upload shortly and if ur keen you can also follow us using the Spot GPS tracker (see links). As great as India is things will be getting more more interesting from here!


AJ and Bec