DAY 113 - QUETTA TO ZAHEDAN, IRAN

CRAZYJOURNEY ARRIVES IN IRAN

The boys take a quick stop in the arid Baluchestan Desert

We were up very early to hit the road and head through the Baluchestan desert en route to the Iranian border at Taftan. This was definitely one of the most desolate drives on the trip so far, skirting the Afghanistan border for most of the day. At times there was nothing to see in any direction except desert and mountains. Our only stops on this drive were at army checkpoints where we needed to sign in and register our passports. It was interesting to see the nationalities of the book of signatures, but we were definitely the first Irish people through here this year.

Dave and Rhys registering at the Pakistani Army checkpoints

By about lunchtime, we reached Taftan, the grim and isolated border town between Pakistan and Iran. This place is an absolute hell hole and we all agreed that it was probably the worst place we’ve been to in the world so far!

Rhys on the long desolate road through the desert!

Luckily the Pakistani customs formalities were relatively painless and we weren’t stuck in this dusty mess for too long.

Finally arriving into Iran

Upon entering Iranian territory, we immediately encountered the beast that is Iranian bureaucracy. Army officials demanded through broken English that we have an escort of two armed guards with us in the Hummer while in Iran’s Sistan Province. This is actually standard procedure for western travelers given the recent history of kidnappings in this near lawless South Eastern region of Iran.

From the border, we had no choice but to let two young soldiers into the Hummer with us. They were also trying to take our passports but we wouldn’t let them. To say the least, none of us were too happy about this forced invasion into our ‘home’! We had no idea how long they’d be in the car with us as they didn’t have any English.  At first we found this situation quite novel but it began to wear on us as every 20 kms, we were forced to stop for long periods at army checkpoints where our passports were taken by seemingly overcautious soldiers.  Who were we to argue though? They were the guys with the Kalashnikovs!

The young army soldiers we had to squeeze into the car!

At most of these checkpoints, loads of young soldiers came out for a look at us and chance their arm at getting any free stuff from us such as western music or movies. Two guys in particular were keen on Chuck's sunnies!

The Iranian army men try on Chuck's sunnies at a checkpoint

Low on fuel, we had to make our first fill-up in Iran where we were told the petrol prices were ludicrously cheap in comparison to most of the places we’ve been. We were directed to a petrol station and had no idea of the ordeal that was about to unfold. First of all, there was a huge queue of cars in the petrol station. We found out that this was because Iranians are given a ration card for fuel where they can obtain a monthly allowance of petrol, where each litre of petrol costs only 1000 rials (€0.07!). Compare this to € 1.20 cents a litre back in Ireland! But since we were foreigners and didn’t have a ration card we would have to pay a standard rate of 4000 Rials / €0.28 which still wasn’t too bad a deal!

Soldiers still onboard, we arrived in Zahedan, our first stop in Iran. With 75% of Europe’s opiates passing through this region from Pakistan and Afghanistan, Zahedan is a major focal point of this drug trade and obviously very dangerous. We were told by the local army officials for our own safety, to remain in our hotel until the morning where they would come to escort us again!

DAY 113 Routemap

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DAY 112 - QUETTA DAY 2

Dave and Fintan with Zohair and his mates

With the ferry across the Persian Gulf from Iran not leaving for a few days, we realized that there was no point pushing it trying to wake up early, so we decided to wait another day in Quetta to get ourselves together and have a look around. After taking it easy and reading books for most of the morning, we headed off to a nearby hotel with internet access to catch up on blogs.

Dave’s mate Ali had arranged for us to meet his friend Zohair who lives in Quetta that afternoon. He brought Fintan, Rhys and Dave out to dinner in a local Pakistani restaurant and we had an interesting chat about general life in the area. Zohair was even applying to study in Trinity College Dublin, where Fintan had been.

We were introduced to one guy who was quite knowledgeable about the opium and hashish situation in this region. It’s not far from here in the tribal regions of the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan that the majority of Europe’s opiates and hashish is produced. He was telling us that here, for only €1.50 you could buy a block of hashish, the equivalent of which would cost about €400 in Ireland! 

DAY 111 - BAHAWALPUR TO QUETTA

CRAZYJOURNEY REACHES THE MIDDLE EAST!

Rhys, Dave and Fintan in an amazing valley in the Balouchestan Province on the way to Quetta

We were up at 6am to hit road Northwest towards Quetta, the capital of Pakistan’s Balouchistan Province. For security reasons, we were told not to travel through this tribal region at night. About 3 hours into the drive, we spotted a herd of camels on the side of the road. We stopped to get a few photos with the incredibly smelly animals and pushed on again.

Camels grazing on the side of the road towards Quetta

Approaching the arid but starkly beautiful mountainous region towards Quetta, the transformation from Indian Sub-Continent to Middle East became evident. The mountainous ascent is littered with small tribal villages with all buildings made from clay. There’s plenty of security checkpoints along this stretch which runs very close to the Afghani border. We had a laugh with one security guard who let Rhys hold his gun!

A Pakstani Security Guard lets us borrow his shotgun!

Coming down from the mountains and not far outside Quetta, we entered an amazing green valley which was quite strange since we’ve travelling through desert for most of the day. As we stopped for photos, we were approached by two suspect looking guys on a motorbike, with their faces covered in Taleban-esque scarves! We were a bit worried they had guns and were after us, but in fact they were very friendly, spoke fluent English and just wanted to get in a photo with us.

Getting a photo with the Dodgy looking guys in Headscarves

Heading closer to Quetta through the Balouchestan desert, the presence of gun turrets and armed men became more apparent. We even came across one checkpoint, manned with a massive machine gun, that looked like something from a Rambo movie. The army men here were nothing but nice and kindly offered us tea with them.

A rambo-esque gun turret  near Quetta

We arrived into Quetta, just as it was getting dark. Located only 60kms from Afghanistan, Quetta has the air of a frontier town and is a melting pot of tribal groups, a large proportion of which are Afghani refugees.  Driving through the town, we were a bit taken back when a tank patrolling the streets, passed us by. Yet again, our accommodation was arranged by Toheed and we organized to stay in a train-driver’s guesthouse. 

DAY 111 ROUTEMAP

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DAY 110 - ISLAMABAD TO BHAWALPUR

The Hummer with one of the Detailed Pakistani Trucks

We left early from Islamabad heading back towards Lahore on the magnificent highway. Saying goodbye to Ali and his driver, we headed Southwest from Islamabad and began our drive to Bhawalupur, our first overnight stop on the way to the Iranian border.

With absolutely no ATMs in Iran, we were worried that the small towns on the way there wouldn’t have any either, so we needed to stock up on cash and change some of our money to US dollars, a currency widely accepted in Iran. This turned out to be a bit of an ordeal, as only one bank, CitiBank, would accept our bank cards.

The roads weren’t too bad on this stretch, especially when we consider some of the roads encountered in India and China. While on the long drive to Bahawalpur, we noticed the beautifully decorated Pakistani trucks. Their owners take great pride and care in decorating them in great detail. At night these trucks, covered reflective decorations, glow like a Christmas tree on the road, which was a great help to Dave who pushed on till 2am when we arrived at our stop.

One of the reflective trucks along the way

Toheed, our contact in the Punjab Government had arranged our stay at a government rest-house in Bahawalpur. After a quick feed, we were out like a light, intending on only a quick 4 hour sleep before hitting the road again.

DAY 110 ROUTEMAP

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DAY 109 - ISLAMABAD DAY 3

Continuing with our infinite struggle to keep up-to-date with blogs, we spent most of the day at the Marriott Hotel, one of the few places with good a good internet connection and food. Ali was off on business for the day and Chuck and Rhys remained at home both feeling a bit under the weather.

Later on, Dave, Fintan,Rhys and Ali had a Japanese dinner at the hotel. Ali insisted on bringing a bottle of vodka with us to have a few drinks. Surprisingly enough, it is quite easy for locals to get alcohol from dealers and Ali informed us that the main source of the alcohol is diplomatic offices importing excessive amounts and somebody then selling it on. The waiter camouflaged the vodka in a jug which was left on table for us to look after!

DAY 108 - ISLAMABAD DAY 2

Chuck at Murree, high in the mountains surrounding Islamabad

With Rhys and Fintan still bedridden, Chuck and Dave departed the guesthouse with Ali to Murree, a town high up in the mountains surrounding Islamabad with panoramic views of the surrounding countryside. It was an interesting drive through mountain villages on the way and the boys had lunch up there in a restaurant overlooking the dramatic scenery.

 That evening, with Rhys and Fintan feeling slightly better, we took a drive to see the government buildings. These are all relatively new as Islamabad was only created as a city in the 1950s after Pakistan gained it independence. We had arrived to Pakistan in the aftermath of national elections and while visiting government buildings, we were struck by the intense level of security. Although we never encountered any problems, the overwhelming presence of weapons and checkpoints is a constant reminder of the current security threat.

Pakistan House of Parliament, Islamabad

After sightseeing, we decided to go back to the same hillside restaurant as the food and views were so great that it would be a shame if Fintan and Rhys completely missed it. We had another great evening chatting away, enjoying the views and smoking sheisha afterwards.

Dave and Rhys at the restaurant with Islamabad below in the distance.

DAY 107 - LAHORE TO ISLAMABAD

The view of Islamabad's Faisal Mosque from the hillside restaurant above

This morning, Fintan and Rhys were struck by another severe bout of acute dysentery, vomiting and fever. We were debating the cause of it and narrowed it down to a salad in the hotel the previous day. Whatever it was, it completely hammered them, with both needing trips to the toilet every 15 minutes.

With a pending 4 hour drive to Islamabad, the lads were struggling to keep their composure and last the entire drive without creating a situation uncomfortable for everybody. Luckily the 8 lane motorway from Lahore to Islamabad was probably the best road we’ve encountered on CrazyJourney so far and averaging a speed of 145kms was no problem (India and China eat your heart out!). Rumour has it that when the construction of the motorway was complete, the Pakistani Government landed F16 fighter jets to test it’s durability! We’re sure this was completely unnecessary but interesting none the less.

Arriving that evening in Islamabad, the administrative capital of Pakistan, Ali had arranged accommodation in a Guesthouse and arranged to go for dinner in a restaurant the mountains with a brilliant view of the whole city. Rhys and Fintan, still destroyed from their terrible infliction had no choice but to stay in bed. Dave, Chuck, Ali and his driver headed up for a lovely evening of local Pakistani food and great shisha.

DAY 107 ROUTEMAP

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DAY 106 - LAHORE DAY 3

The sun sets over Lahore Fort

Today we spent most of our time in a nearby hotel trying to organize the car ferry from Iran to the United Arab Emirates. The ferry company we were dealing with didn’t speak much English so we even had to find someone who spoke Persian to talk and translate for us. We established loose dates for the sailing and realized that we had bit more time than we thought so we could stay a bit longer in Pakistan where Ali wanted to bring us to Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, a city we hadn’t intended on visiting. There had been a few bombings there in recent weeks and earlier on we jokingly decided that any city whose name contains the words ‘Islam’ and ‘Bad’ couldn’t be too safe!

Our Pakistani Legend Ali

That evening, Ali brought us to a surprisingly chic steakhouse in Lahore where we had a great feed for next to nothing. We’ve been really surprised by what’s available in Lahore and it’s standard of living and relative organisation here in comparison to India. We didn’t really know what to expect in Lahore but we’ve really been pleasantly surprised.

DAY 105 - LAHORE DAY 2

We meet the captain of a local cricket team in Lahore

We were awoken this morning by our escort from the Punjab Government who was in charge of today’s itinerary. We had an invitation to visit Fountain House in Lahore, a charity organisation looking after people with Mental Illness. They’re doing great work here dealing with the Mental Health issues of people from all over Pakistan. Knowing most of the Islamic rules relating to conduct and women we had probably one of the funniest moments of the trip so far. When being introduced to the female manager of Fountain House in front of a crowd of Pakistani Officials, Fintan stuck our his arm to shake her hand, only to be left hanging with her awkwardly replying ‘I can’t do that’! Dave, Rhys and Chuck did their best not ot heighten the awkwardness by bursting out in laughter in front of everybody. Without a doubt, Finto will be copping a lot of abuse over this incident for the rest of the trip.

The TV Cameraman was nuts, going to extremes to get a good shot!

After Fountain House we had a brief stop for lunch in Subway in Lahore. In fact, every Fast Food Chain under the sun seems to have opened shop in Pakistan, all with armed security men outside. The man wielding a pump-action shotgun outside McDonalds was a classic example.

We found it really interesting t see the sign in the pic below, stating that goods made in Denmark are essentially made in Hell! This derives from the cartoons slandering Mohammed published by a Danish Newspaper. This led to huge anti-Danish sentiment in many Muslim countries and this is eveidence of it.

The anti-Danish sign in Lahore!

After lunch we went to Dawn News, the first English speaking TV station in Pakistan, who were keen to do a story on the drive. Their British presenter organized for us to play cricket and have a mess about against a local team. We were all crap at cricket and all the cricket obsessed Pakistani’s couldn’t understand how Ireland could have beaten them in last year’s Cricket World Cup!

Rhys, looking in great form on the crease, Ricky Ponting has nothing!

Next they brought us to a busy market, where we were filmed trying on some traditional Pakistani clothing. Rhys liked his blue number so much, he went ahead and bought one. With his huge amount of facial hair, he looks fairly Middle Eastern anyway so he could pull this off no problem!

Dave and Rhys in the traditional Pakistani kit

Finally, we went to Pakistan’s most famous monument, Minar-I-Pakistan, which commemorates the founding of Pakistan as a separate sovereign entity from India in 1956. We were watched by a huge crowd which was pretty awkward. The reporter explained to us that they thought we were royalty from overseas.

That evening, we met Ali, Dave’s Pakistani mate from Sydney Uni, who took us out to a nice restaurant where to our surprise; you were allowed to drink in if you brought your own booze. After this, we went for some Shisha, which is flavoured tobacco, filtered through water and smoked through a tall pipe. We all found this very enjoyable and relaxing and it will no doubt play a large part during our Middle Eastern leg.

DAY 104 - AMRITSAR TO LAHORE, PAKISTAN

CRAZYJOURNEY HITS PAKISTAN

Rhys reflecting by the Badshahi Mosque, Lahore

We were up early in Amritsar to head west and hit the Pakistan border. This was a relatively painless process. The Indian and Pakistani customs officials were wondering if we had any magazines or DVDs with western women in them, not for confiscation but for their own viewing pleasure, so we gave them a copy of Playboy that was lying in the back of the car. Needless to say they were delighted and let us through without any problems!

The Hummer enters Pakistan

On the Pakistani side we were met by an official from the Punjab Government. Our whole Pakistani itinerary and accommodation had been kindly arranged by Toheed Ahmad, the former Pakistani ambassador to Ireland who is friends with Fintan’s parents. It was a nice to have an escort into Lahore as we were a bit apprehensive coming into Lahore due to recent suicide bombings in the city.

We weren’t really sure what to expect, but were genuinely surprised by the relative organisation and cleanliness of Lahore in comparison to most Indian cities. We were escorted to our accommodation at the Gymkhana club near the citys Canal Road, where we would spend a few days.

Us with Toheed, his wife and some other members of the Punjab Government at Cuccos

That evening, we were brought for dinner by Toheed and his wife Nausheen to Cucco’s Den, a famous rooftop restaurant in the city centre with magnificent views of the Badshahi Mosque. Built by the son of the Taj Mahal’s creator, this remarkable red sandstone and marble structure is one of the world’s largest mosques. After dinner, we took a stroll around the Mosque and went to bed to get some sleep before a busy day in Lahore tomorrow.

The view out of the Badshahi Mosque

DAY 104 ROUTEMAP - Amritsar to Lahore, Pakistan

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CRAZYJOURNEY INDIA HIGHLIGHTS VIDEO

It's been a long time since our last video! Dave has been working like a man possessed to bring you this Indian Highlights Video. Enjoy below...

If you can't see this video please visit
http://crazyjourneyhummer.blogspot.com/

DAY 103: KARNAL TO ATTARI

The high-kicking border ceremony at the Pakistan/India border in Attari.

After a few hours sleep in the abandoned waterpark hotel, we were back on the road at 5am in order to push on to meet Paul and his Dad, ‘The Big Serge’ in Jalandhar where the Sokhis are orinally from. After a much needed breakfast and shower in their hotel, Serge brought us with his cousin to do a fit-job on our broken wing mirror. Using a bathroom mirror, duck-tape, a few pieces of metal and a cordless drill, Sokhi’s uncle did a remarkable MacGyver-style DIY job that should last us until we get to a Hummer garage in Dubai.

Serge and his cousin check out the Hummer's Mirror

With the Pakistan border closing at 4pm, we were in a bit of a dilemma. If we took a trip to the Golden Temple, the glorious home of Sheikh religion and probably one of the most beautiful structures in the world, we would probably miss the border crossing. We couldn’t miss the opportunity to see the Temple as Dave had promised his mate Ish (who’s also Sheikh) that he’d make a trip there.

Paul and Serge at the Golden Temple

After removing our shoes, washing our feet and covering our heads, we caught our first glimpse of the incredible structure. Glistening at the centre of a sacred pool, the marble temple is coated with 750kg of pure gold. Devout Sikhs travel from all over the world to visit this site and we were genuinely moved by its spiritual atmosphere.

The boys at the Golden Temple

From the Golden Temple we hopped back into the Hummer and legged it to Attari in a last-ditch effort to get across the border in time. Attari, only 30 kms from Amritsar is the only border crossing between India and Pakistan. However, we had arrived way too late for the crossing but luckily just in time for the border closing ceremony.

The border closing ceremony at Attari

The extraordinary ceremony is a bizarre battle of bravado as soldiers from both sides engage in a theatrical routine involving marching, stamping, high kicking and even a yelling contest. This daily ritual has become so popular with both locals and tourists that grandstands have been built to watch the ceremony. We headed back to Amritsar after the ceremony and found a hotel for a good rest before heading into Pakistan tomorrow.

DAY 103 Routemap: Click on pointers for details

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