Date: Thu, 21 Sep 2000 05:33:57 -0700
Subject: Northern + NW pakistan
From: "Anthony Butler" 



Well,

found an email place in here in rawalpindi. (Central Pakistan).

Jen and I entered pakistan 3 weeks ago. We started in Lahore. It was
a really cool city with a big old mosque (moghul, 1650 holds 100,000)
beside a cool old fort (also moghul 1650). Both were of similar design
to those in agra and delhi although the mosque is MUCH bigger and the
fort better preserved.

The old city of Lahore is cool. No trucks allowed hence there is heaps
of cattle carts and horse carts. Every few hundred meters or less is
a kebab man. Ideal snack food. The people are really frieldly and helpfull,
even if they have no idea what they are talking about.

After this we trained up to taxila. This is about where alexander the
great go to in the 3rd cent AD. THere are lots of buddist ruins from
around this time. Oddly enough buddha is depicted as wearing a greek
toga.

Then up to the karakorum mountains neselted between kashmir,afganistan,china.
Heaps of high peaks, the karakorum highway to china, the river indus.
tribal life. Up around this area we went to gilgit/hunza/passu/naltar.
Most of the area is really barren dessert with massice rocky peaks. Some
like rakaposhi rise to approx 8,000m rising from valleys of 1500m. Very
impressive. The locals were cool wool hats and live in flat roofed stone
huts.

While there we went to the "Silk route festival" a yearlly festival like
and A+P show featuring stuff from countries like iran/pakistan/afganistan/uzbeqestan/turkmeinistan/china/targikistan.
They had local food, dancing, produce and handicraft. The pashtan tribe
did a neat dance. They looked like morris dancers but they did a fast
sword dance -these guys beat the british raj in a few fights.

Then we went down to peshawar in the NW. This in a tribal area. "Tribal
area" means pakistan law stops at the edge of down and the edges of the
main roads. Tribes govern themselves and the tribe pays tax/tribute to
central government. People in tribal area don't get any say in national
politics. Its very medieval

>From Peshwar we went to the khyber pass. The khyber links pakistan with
afganistan. It is not the kind of place to wander alone at night. In
fact, during the day you need an armed guard. Many people on the street
carry guns. The tourist office here kindly organised a permit, jeep+driver,
guard (from the army) for 70NZD for the day. You firstly drive past a
massive afganistan refugee camp, then through the smugglers market (except
its in tribal land so it "legal"). This market has area devoted to guns,hash,opium
etc. All the way up the pass our guard pointed out people walking on
tracks 100m from the raod (outside government law) who where laden with
goods -mostly stolen electrical stuff from china/russia, but also heroin/opium/weapons

As you go up the pass all the villages/extened families live in compounds
with 10feet high mud/brick walls. They have guard towers (with gun slits)
and heavy steel gates. The most expensive of these cost 15 or 50 million
US dollars (our gaurd had a strong accent). This compound had 4m high
wall of concrete. The gate house (with guns slits) had HUGE steel gates.
Along the wall where gaurd towers. He apparently makes his money converting
opium (from afganistan) into heroin. The only illegal bit is taking it
from afganistan into tribal pakistan, and latter taking it from tribal
pakistan into pakistan proper. What he does in the tribal area is up
to him. After all its tribal area...

At the top of the pass you get to take a photo of afganistan and kids
try to sell you afganistan money at ridiculous prices. 
                        
Anyway.. 36hr train tonight down to quetta, then into iran.

Ants.

PS- those who like BBQs would love pakistani food