Afghanistan

Well close enough!

I have now arrived in Pakistan and can not believe how different it is to Iran!

We left Yazd heading for the boarder and travelled all day before bush camping for the night close to a town called Bam. We visited Bam the next morning. Bam was hit by a massive earthquake in December 2003 killing 26,000 people and leaving 2500 orphans. Until that day the town had been a tourist town due to the Arg, a 9th century mud citadel which still stood in pristine condition. Driving through the town it looked as if the earthquake could have happened a few months ago with rubble and building going on everywhere. We drove through the town to the Arg and I was surprised to see so much still standing. It has now been declared a UNESCO site and much of the rubble had been cleared out allowing visitors to see the foundations of many buildings. In the centre of the citadel there is an impressive amount still standing tall but I am not sure if this has been restored. It was actually frustrating that there was no longer an entry fee as I wanted to give some towards the rebuilding of the Arg and the town (I don't think that there has been much aid from anywhere else). I managed to buy a few bottles of water and cakes from a local shop set up in a steal cargo container (like the ones you see on ships) but didn't even spend 50p!

We headed straight for the boarder from Bam but were too late to cross that evening so after actually driving through the smugglers route (with police guard) we ended up back at police stop point in Iran and camped there. Our last night in Iran was just a bizarre as our first. It was incredibly dusty with strong winds so we were all covered before going to bed. Breakfast was due to be at 5.30am but we were woken as early as 4am by the sounds of pick up trucks and lorries hoping to cross the boarder. There was a good 100 when I woke up and that was not an exaggeration! They were all honking there horns etc! And there wasn't a woman in sight! About 7am after much scuffling and trucks going forward and back to let us through we crossed and made our way to the Iran side of the boarder crossing. (Strangely all the trucks disappeared and seemed to use the back route, I don't think that the authorities seemed to care too much as there was fully tarmaced roads to be used bypassing the passport control areas!) We then had to wait an hour before it opened. It all ran smoothly from there and we were into Pakistan! Pakistan was immediately different it felt like we had moved into another part of the crystal maze with it suddenly being 100 times more sandy and dusty! The buildings were also more shoddy! We were not aloud to leave the crossing without a Police escort (complete with guard on the back with an AK47 gun!) we travelled about 300 or 400K inland to a small town were we spent the night. We stayed at perhaps the only hotel in town and didn't leave it or the shops very close buy for security. (The area between the boarder and the first main city Quetta in bandit/Taliban area so we weren't taking any chances). We all had chicken curry for dinner (my first really authentic curry and for the grand sum of 1 pound 30p!) it was dead tasty although it did blow my socks of a little! Oh and we had beer! It helped take away the heat of the food! We were not sure how readily available it would be in Pakistan as it is only tourists and non-muslims who are aloud to buy it.

Today we reached Quetta again under Police escort and it really dawned on me that I am in Pakistan. I am still shocked at how different it is to Iran. Everything is a lot louder and there are very few women on the streets (any who are are completely covered, including there face!) Oh and all of the trucks are decorated and look like circus trucks! (I'll get some pictures up soon!)

I can't remember if I said in my last blog that whilst in Iran everyone kept saying I looked Iranian. I thought now that I am Pakistan it would stop but two people have already pointed out that I don't look British but Muslim! Very funny!

Anyway that's enough for now as the Internet is very slow here! Will update again soon!

Lots of love Nicole xxx