old tiger's Blog

So..Lahore goodbye..Taxi to Wagah border...now this border crossing
is something to remember..Pakistani side is called Attari,I believe??
Indian side is called Wagah..in between every morning a whole ceremony..
by Pakistani/Indian border patrol..well..well..changing of the guards??
I believe my friend Spacer(Ireland)got some pics of that..Spacer..HELP
India/Pakistan are playing cat/mouse games for decades..finally if you put
a Punjabi from Lahore..next to a Punjabi from Amritsar..they look bloody the
same..wooh..why this hate??long story..which I'm not going to tell here
border crossing through this border was a real hassle for me..it took me 2 hours to walk trough both borders..bureaucratic behaviour??my ass..
It was a relief for me to reach India..Amritsar..now..about Amritsar..
I can write some pages..Punjab..golden Temple..you all should SEE it..
The Sikh religion..well..very good..they are NOT allowed to cut their hair
woooh???hippies??they follow the 5 k's..I'll explain in a link below..
just have a look at these links first..
http://www.sikhphotos.com
www.sikhs.org

Lahore..the Punjab...just be careful around the Railway Station..
I don't know about the situation nowadays..but in the time I was
there..i got a warning in Istanbul from travellers who passed here..
to be extra careful for theft,rip offs..some crooks went that far to hide
dope in someone's rucksack in a hotel..then the police..hassles etc..
it was a corruption game..that said..no doubt Lahore has got history..
the Badshahi mosque is worthwhile..it dates from the Moghul period..
the old part of Lahore is worth a stroll..Anarkali bazar is full of shops..
where you definiteley smell Pakistan..if you ever have the chance to listen
to a real performance of qawali music..you should visit some tombs where
a pir(Sufi holy man)is buried..there are several in Lahore..it's music where
the performers almost get in a trance..often religiously inspired..
The Mall is a nice avenue to stroll trough as well..lots of Victorian style buildings like Faletti's hotel etc...someone had recommend me to visit the loveley
Shalimar gardens..so I did..it was O.K..but I think it was not worth the taxi
ride to the outskirts on GT road towards the Indian border..
these Mogul style gardens are a marvel of irrigation techniques..
flowers and trees..Shah Jehan certainly was a fellow with great insight how
to make gardens worthwhile looking at..after 2 days in bustling Lahore..
I had enough of it..I was gonna move into India..via Wagah border..
now..INDIA..is some place I can write stories about..I hope I'm not boring
you all for me just writing this down..brings back my gypsie heart

Tiger

I remember this sunny morning in Quetta..train to Lahore..
soon after Quetta..comes Kolpur and the Bolan mountain pass..
rough country..wooh..almost 100km.of mountain scenery...
then Jacobabad-Sukkur-Multan...pfft..it was so bloody hot..
train travelling can be quite a hassle sometimes..people constantly
bother you..they're so damned curious..hundred times..
what's your name,mister??where are you from??are you English?
do you like Pakistan???well..this area is reall countryside Pakistan..
I felt once I reached Jacobabad..I reached the Indian subcontinent..
the rivers Indus and Sutlej cross there..real nice little dormant villages..
typical scenery..forever grifted in my mind...the paddy rice field with the
farmer in loin cloth..pulling his cows..so..primitiv..but so nice though..
Multan-Sahiwal-Lahore...booh..very hot..lots of tea...and drinks..
finally reached Lahore...capital of the Pakistani Punjab..
very interesting city...bit dirty around railway Station...noisy..
overpopulated...beggars..hassles..pickpockets...a test for nerves..
got a room in the fucking Youth Hostel of Lahore..bit out of the city..
but quiet..I had nearly the whole hostel for myself..helpfull warden..
will tell you folks more later on...about my adventures in Lahore

So..finally this train was moving towards the Iranian-Paki border..
border town for Iran was Mirjaveh..lots of hassles..waiting..hot sun..
border town for Pakistan was Taftan if I recall well..this train trip goes through
desert arid area..little outlets like Nokkundi-Dalbandin-Nushki..
I recall mostly as stopping places to get a tea or some snacks for this difficult journey..in Nokkundi villagers wait 1 week to meet this train...
to sell their stuff eggs,vegetables..fruits..snacks..tea..biscuits..
the whole thing..i remember..the train had to stop in the heat of the desert..because..there was sand on the tracks..which had to be shovelled away...sandstorm..it was terrrible hot as well..but still..what an adventure it was..a real desert trip..I remember it vividly still now
Finally we reached Quetta railway station..wandered into town..and met..
to my surprise a Swedish missionary living on the outskirts of Quetta..
he took me in..for 2 days..I guess he felt left out in this damned town..
he was a protestant..loveley wife..I recall his daughter as well..teenager..
he told me..it was very hard to live in Pakistan to win souls..religion..oh my..oh my..in a Muslim conservativ place like Quetta..he said he had to deal
with lots of corruption..easy game in this part of the world..luckily he got financial aid directly from Sweden..this fellow dropped me into Quetta next
morning..wanted to see what this town was about..nothing special really..
I bumped into a Californian guy..together we had to go to the local police station to get registered for entering the area..lots of tea..waiting..
and Paki bureaucraty..well..well..still..Quetta town got some charm..
you see tribals in turbans..in traditional dress..with these funny trousers..
I went to the railway station to get information about travelling towards
Lahore in Pakistani Punjab..long train journey..will tell you later on
Tiger

So..finally left Tehran by bus..booked a ticket straight to Kerman..
via Qum..which is an important stronghold of pilgrimage(religion)
the trip to Kerman was loveley..very hot...and very arid landscapes..
specially around Yazd..Kerman is a small and very ancient city..
in the middle of nowhere..big and very interesting bazaar..I was the only
foreigner on the bus..but the people were extremeley friendly..
I stayed overnight in a small hotel..now..the bazaar of Kerman..you should
not miss..very hectic..Kerman is famous for carpet weaving...nice designs..
Kerman-Bam-Zahedan..is still a nice stretch by bus..
we got frequent control points from Iranian police..the Shah in his days had a secret police force called savak..
but these checkpoints were probably only ordinary traffic control..
I came 2 days to early in Zahedan..train to Quetta runs only once a week..
so i stayed at a sort of campsite run lodging...there were other foreigners
waiting for the iron horse(train)to Baluchistan..I remember I stocked up
food..mostly sardines..and fruits in tins(peaches,cherries)
it was a rough desert train ride to Quetta..a trip I remember well till up today..finally the train came..got my ticket 2nd class..I guess 1st class was
not available..lots of funny folks to board this train..Baluchi tribals with a
very big knife on their belts..they were using a compartiment of the train
as a cooking facility..made their own tea..food etc..they smoke a lot of weed as well..but I didn't liked to get high there..tell you more later
http://www.salamiran.org/CT/Tourism/index.html