Karimabad - Friday, June 8th, 2007

Hi All

So I think I last wrote to you from Iran the weeks are rolling by now not far short of two and a half months gone and already we're onto country number 12, Pakistan. After Esfehan in Iran we stopped at a couple more towns Yazd, Bam, and some ancient ruins at Persepolis all done under extreme temperatures even for me! Esfehan is regarded as one of the finest cities in the Islamic world and it was certainly the jewel of ancient Perdsia compared to some of the sights we have seen since! I will divulge later....

Yazd was very quaint although much of it was closed when we arrived being on a holy day, FRiday. We did our best to entertain ourselves playing cards in the courtyards of our two hotels whilst sipping on date milkshakes (by far the greatest shake I have ever tasted) both hotels had rooftops of which we slept on overnight it's just occured to me I may have already written that as I last logged on in Yazd anyway it was sound to sleep among the temple roofs as the photos will show. Our final stop in Iran was at Bam known as the mud city which was unfortunatley hit by an earthquake measuring 6.8 on 27/12/03 killing 26,000 people. Traditional methods are currently being used to rebuild the city but the 5 year plan set by the Iranian Cultural Heritage Organisation seems a little optimistic considering some parts looked as though the earthquake had just struck. The visit left us all feeling very sombre.

Back in the truck and onto the Pakistan border for our next camp quite literally at the bordsr gates, my group were on cook duty and we had an audience of several Iranian and Pakistan men watching our every move without a word, very surreal to be chopping up onions in such dangerous territory! The next morning even more eyes were upon as we tucked into fruit salad for breakfast and we then crossed into Pakistan and were then greeted by a desert sandstorm and an armed escort again in extreme temperatures. Unfortunately we were entering Pakistan in a conservative area so headscarfs were still on the agenda but not for long....

Our first impressions of Pakistan were intersting, a very barren landscape consisting of desert and wild camels not what we were expecting along with our armed guard we felt a little apprehensive considering we thought we had left the danger zones behind in Iran! We had a long escorted drive to out first hotel which quite frankly was an absolute hole! It was derelict to put it mildly and we were thankful to be able to sleep on the roof rather than in the rooms which barely had walls! (Could someone let the Inspector know I'm not swanning off around the world in a lap of luxury!!) The staff were over friendly again to put it mildly and the majority of us slept with one eye open! For those of you that ever fancy a visit scrub Dalbandin off your list!! (They did however serve beer our first for a while although we shopuld have known it'd be bad beer at that) Our next night wasn't much better due to our armed escort we couldn't bushcamp off road as we usually would so we camped in a petrol forecourt temperatures were in the 30's all night and I was aoken up by the smell of rotten eggs the only good thing that came from it was my favourite picture taken thus far at dawn which I'll highlight when I next upload pictures.

Next was our first stop in a town, that being Quetta. It was another eye opener as we drove in through the streets which were littered with poverty. Our hotel was central and a few of us upgraded from camping in the courtyard to a room with a fan and shower, a delight! We had only just settled in when I met a guy called Paul also staying at the hotel, he was in the country upgrading the new edition of the Lonely Planet guide to Pakistan, a small world he's just moved out of Bath and now lives in Warminster! So as a travel writer that he is I naturally quizzed him on as much as I could and he has said I'll get a mention in the credits of the next edition. Sound!

Quetta is the first major city you come to if you enter the Pakistan from Iran and it's where the middle east gives way to the sub continent, although poor it's set in a dramatic moutaineous ampitheatre and having visited India and Thailand before it certainly had the same feel to it with Tuk Tuk's galore! The city itself is strtegically positioned near the Afghan border and is still used as a logistical springboard for the Taliban movement...

We spent two nights in Quetta and enjoyed the food and the extremely friendly locals all of which wanted their photos taken hence so many 'people' shots to come! It was all going too well though when I lost my wallet containing driving licence and cash card whilst in a tuk tuk of all places I was all too keen to take my camera out of my bag to snap some more when the wallet must have flown out in the dark, after an horrendous time on the phone to a Barclays call centre the card was cancelled, it could haver been worse after all Nicole stated "I'm surprised you have any arms or legs left" (thanks to my Mum for sending my card onto Delhi and Kim for passing the message onto her I'm eternally grateful!)

Our next visit was to Peshawar following the longest drive thus far of 18hrs! I didn't mind that we kept on going as it meant we arrived at a hotel rather than another petrol forecourt as our armed escorts were not happy in us stopping until we reached the city. Our first day was Will's birthday and we did a city tour on foot along with an armed Police Officer whom I was more fascinated with (sad I know!) heended up taking us to his station which was another eye opener, there were occupied cells at the door for all to stare at, very strange. There are lots of taliban member sin the city and the general feel of it wasn't half as friendly as it was in Quetta, Polly and I went for a stroll to find an internet cafe and walked past what we both thought to be a human torso wrapped up at the side of the road!! needless to say we vacated the area pretty soon and I was grateful we weren't allowed out of the hotel after dark! That night we had a party on the hotel roof for Will, alcohol is hard to find in Pakistan but a local guide acquired some bootleg vodka to mark the occasion!

The next day we were back on the truck for a Sunday morning trip to the Afghan border via the infamous Khyber Pass. In certain areas of Pakistan tribal law outweighs Pakistani law hence our armed escort. To enter the tribal areas we had to obtain a permit and I've never seen so many locals walk around with AK-47's on their shoulders, again another surreal time! We arrived back ii Peshawar early afternoon and a few of us got a quick Tuk Tuk to the city's most expensive hotel to have a swim, their 'open to non guests' policy finished six months ago but needless to say I spoke to a couple of managers and we were in the pool within five minutes for half the price!

Afetr two nights in Quetta we headed north to what I can only describe as the most incredible drive of my life along the Karakoram Highway (Miss Robins you have to visit!) Basically it's the highest road in the world and cuts through the Karakoram mountain range at immense heights. It took 20 years to build and stretches for over 1,000km it is truly remarkable but also extremely hair raising when the truck drives inches from sheer drops over the cliff faces. I hope my photos do it justice if not google it and you will see what I mean!

We're now in Karimabad a small town in the Karakoram range, it's truly stunning and by far our best stopover yet, our hotel window looks out onto snow capped mountains and the valley below I'm sure the view itself would be hard to beat anywhere else in the world! It's good to also be in one of first towns where we are not the only tourists, alot of climbers come here to tackle the various peaks from all over the world and although it's always a bit of a circus when the truck rolls in we're not the only new faces this time!

We're on day two here now and we may be staying an extra day due to a truck bug. basically half of us have been ill with it including myself and we're all dropping like flies so we've asked our leader to stay on so those that are flat on their backs can recover a bit! Unfortunately I picked up the evil strain yesterday whilst climbing a 3,900m peak and I have only just recovered, I was sick several times coming down and had to stop every ten minutes to lie horizontally! I'm fighting fit again now and although I haven't eaten for 27 hours water is now staying down. Sick as I am and as hard as it was it was worth it for the views up top and I'm looking forward to Everest Base camp in three weeks or so.

So that's about it for now I have humndreds of new photos but sadly this 'tinternet' cafe is far too slow to upload them it took me 20 minutes to open and read one e-mail so hopefully I'll have more luck when we reach Islamabad the capital in a few days time. We have one more week in Pakistan then it's onto India. When we reach Delhi at the end of our first week 6 of us incl me will be leaving the truck for 18 days to do either Everest Base Camp or the Annapurna circuit , (naturally I've chosen Everest). We should arrive in Kathmandu to start the trekking the weekend of Glastonbury which will cheer me up slightly as this will be the first festival I'll be missing in 12 years which is slightly sickening!! I hope you all have a ball guys let's face it when do we not at Pilton! I'll certainly be thinking of you all...

Right I really am going now photos will follow as soon as, Mum thanks again for sending my card onto me, Dad sorry you were out! Dan thanks for calling back sorry you couldn't understand the Pakistani receptionist! Ming thanks for calling me back or thank your folks when they get their bill and question why their son called Pakistan! to all you others who had your mobiles off or were out I'm hope you got my message and I'll try again when I can. Thanks for the texts, mails and messages.

Missing you all

Rach xx