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TRAVEL BLOG ENTRY
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“Osama, he is our friend. You think good?” |
The 15 hour bus from the Pakistani border to Quetta was certainly an experience. The door of the bus was left wide open for the desert sand storms to blow in just in case anyone was expecting to get some sleep. The top of the bus was packed with cargo taken over the border from Iran. Inside, under every seat was stuffed that last little bit that they could get onto the bus, a sack of corn or whatever they could make their profit from on the Pakistani side.
The route through the mountains has a reputation for passing through some trouble spots. Bandits sometimes decide that there might be some loot on the bus for them. The guy from Lahore that was sitting beside me seemed very nervous through the mountains because he was probably carrying close to Eu2,000 in cash with him from his business dealings in Iran. "Inshallah", he would say of our prospects of getting to Quetta, God willing. About four in the morning we hit a problem though. The bus ground to a stop trying to climb through the mountains. Half the people got out, but still no good. The bus was just too heavily loaded. Stuck in the middle of the mountains that are to be avoided at four in the morning, not a good situation. Within a few minutes, Mr. Tow arrived on the scene. By the way he hooked on and towed us through the mountains, it didn't seem to be that rare an occurrence for a greedy bus owner to need a tow through the mountains. Eventually we got to Quetta, I got myself a hotel and got some proper rest.
Quetta has a reputation as a bit of a bandit town. Walking around it does look the part. Stares from every angle from guys dressed in the stereotypical look of terrorists: long uncut beards, long draping charwal chemise (local dress for men, like night clothes), topped with small cap. The reception from them was something totally different though. Walking through the markets, they all wanted to say hello, and even those without a spark of English always had a warm smile and wave.
Most loved to have their photos taken. I took a photo of a man with his horse and carriage, and the next thing I felt was someone pulling the handle on the top of my day pack, like they were trying to rob it off my back. But no, it was just another guy with a horse that thought he was worthy of a photo also! I got stopped a couple of times in the market and was just asked to take a photo of someone. One guy asked, "Why not" about ten times before I eventually took his photo.
The buses and trucks are a real spectacle. They say that the owners look after them like a wife. Special painters yards work full time to keep the buses and trucks looking their best. All over, on every possible place, they are painted and decorated in the brightest colours that they can get on there. Hanging from the front bumpers a row of chains with little charms on the ends, chiming at every turn. The buses with a physical division inside, the women in the front and the men in the back. Women were very scarce on the streets. I was told that those that come out of their homes shop mostly on the women's street. There was nothing to bring them into these bazaar areas!
Walking through one market I was called aside by a guy behind the counter of a small clothes shop. Quickly there were another couple of people around. After the normal where are you from questions he pointed to a photo of Osama Bin Laden on the glass counter. 'Osama, he is our friend. You think good?'. It was just an invitation to try and see my reaction. What can you say in a situation like that, absolutely nothing! As a reward for my diplomacy, he pulled a pair of socks from under the counter. 'Gift', he said. The label read, 'English: Computerised Socks'. Suitable attire for a Taliban fighter?
These locals are ethnic Pashtun. They have a reputation for being passionalty hospitable and offering any protection required to anyone that comes to the area as their guest. I was told this many times. For a people that are so poorly educated, it really is an invitation to any bandit that needs to hide away. There are also a very large number of Afghan immigrants in the area. Talking to them, you can see how easy it is for their tribal leaders to twist an attack on anything in an Islamic country into an attack on the religion. They are totally uneducated, and blindly lead what they are told. The west is America and all of the west is the same.
previous travel blog entry
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