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We headed out of town this morning with an escort again, hoping for better roads. We didn't get far though before the tarmac ran out and we were on an unsealed road that was having work done to it although it was Friday so no-one was actually working. We kept having to head off the main road onto small dirt tracks beside the road - it was a good day to sit in the front seat as the surfaces were shocking. We headed across a plain with mountains around - must have been quite high because it wasn't all that hot. Somewhere along the dirt road our escort left us, and soon after that we passed a sign welcoming us to Punjab (hooray, finally out of Balochistan and the desert!). We headed up to cross a mountain pass, and then down a steep rocky valley. It took a while to get down but by the time we reached flat ground we had an escort again and it was really hot. We kept getting stopped by the police at every checkpoint - communication seems to be non-existent with the Pakistani police forces, and the "these aren't the droids you're looking for" routine stopped working so well. Eventually we got to the town of Dera Ghazi Khan, which was a lot bigger than other towns we had been through so far. The police took us to their compound, asked for our passports, then made us all get off and go and sit on some chairs inside the compound. We were happy enough to sit there though, as they brought us cold bottles of pepsi and mountain dew, and were very polite and apologetic about having to hold us up. At about 8 they decided that we could go, but we would have to drive to Moltan tonight, which was about 1.5 hours drive away. They helped Steve get a hold of some samosas and fried chicken so we could eat dinner on the run, then we drove at great speed following our crazy escort through the night. The road was good so it wasn't too rough a ride, but by 11 we still hadn't reached Moltan. Poor Adam had been driving all day and all night and no-one was very impressed with the police, and these are the "elite" police with "No Fear" written on the back of their shirts. They are also the ones that were looking after the Sri Lankan cricket team when they were attacked earlier in the year so we think they are going a bit overboard on security because of that. We finally pulled into the police compound at Moltan at about 12:30, put up our tents on the grass and collapsed into bed. Even at midnight it was hot - we're expecting to feel the heat again from here on in. At least 2 weeks in the desert is over. We are still wearing headscarves since we have barely seen any women around, and the ones we have have been covered from head to toe. India is the promised land - one more day of driving and we'll be there.
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