30 Day

Monday 22nd October: Quetta - Sukkur

Started early after our day's rest yesterday. The coach was very cool and fresh as the bus's air condition got a helping hand from the fresh mountain air that makes Quetta such a pleasant town. We hadn't been driving very long when Bilal announced we were entering the Bolan Pass. John informed me that a Scottish regiment marched through the pass to enter India by an alternative route to the Khyber Pass in the 19th Century. Unfortunately same result, 15,000 were slaughtered and it wasn't very long before I new how. The pass is over thirty miles long and doesn't rise as you would expect but cuts its way through the most amazing rock formations. These stretch down the mountainside and enclose the road in a menacingly way that no previous road has done. Anyone wanting to ambush us could very easily jumped from the rocks onto the bus roof or roll large boulders down at any number of points. High on the top of enormous rock stood two very large boulders that only needed a slight push to wipe-out the entire road. Our escort disappeared as we entered the pass. We didn't really need them because there were army posts of riflemen and machine guns every few hundred yards above the road and stretching all way through the pass. Although their presence was comforting it was however strange to think that not a great deal's changed since the poor Scots made their attempt all those years ago. Bilal remarked it is just as much a strategic route today as ever it was.

Once out of the pass the valley widened out to accommodate a very large river bed strewn with large boulders. In the rainy season this must be a very impressive and somewhat dangerous river. We made a wee stop at a large modern looking concrete bridge which had buckled and v shape. Down in the bottom of the river bed miniature trucks and ant like figures made their way to the road at the far side. This surely is only possible in the dry period and even then fraught with danger. The broken bridge was not totally redundant as motorbikes and bicycles made their way across and down and back up the V section and a makeshift ramp made of stones. If this was an example of Pakistani road engineering then they could do worse than learn something else from the Irish.

The journey from here onwards was continued through some stunning scenery that became more green as the dried up river bed supported a steady stream of clear water that became more and more significant as we got closer to the Indus. Before long the hot driy desert gave way to green fields and crops.

Sukkur is a city of four million, surrounded by green arable fields and filled with the most appalling poverty. Our hotel sits by the mighty river Indus at the entrance to a very long barrier which spans it, was built by the British in 1921 and is the source of the amazing irrigation system that feeds all the fields around. Bilal considered it to be a piece of engineering brilliance. The barrier is as it was built over 80 years ago. A group of us led by Bilal set off across to the other side which according to him is nearly two kilometres long. It is indeed a major construction but I doubt it is that long. It was long enough for the young ones to get tired and Bilal comandeered a donkey and cart for them to finish the journey. We were given the chance to use it but declined. As we were crossing Ben ran into the middle of the road to rescue a large Leather Neck turtle from the oncoming traffic. The poor thing refused to be stopped and set of at quite a fast pace. Ian however was having none of this and picked it up and took it to drop it back in the water. As the poor thing belly flopped back in to the river we noticed many more dead ones floating against the enormous steel barrier blades which are raised in the wet season. Bilal admitted that there is a serious problem with the turtles and river Dolphins in the area but didn't blame the barrier.

Returned to the hotel to find it didn't have a drinks licence and if we wanted booze we would have to go and fetch it from downtown Sukkur. Jim and myself were chosen to carry out this task because we were the most verbose in times of drought. This was a good opportunity to see the central shopping area of a large Pakistani city. After only a 15 minute rickshaw ride we arrived at the centre which if anything was more run down than the other areas we'd seen on entering earlier. I went to bank to use the ATM machine and it was surrounded by little mesters shops welding, fixing car parts etc. The actual beer wholeseller was just like the welding shops but had a grill to protect the drinks. Once we had ordered the 150 bottles we needed to transport it back. After a few words of negotiations with Bilal the company was quite happy to deliver. By the time we arrived back for dinner the bottles were reclining in a large bucket type container filled with iced water and protected by two amused hotel porters. The two not only protected but them but opened and disposed of the empties and refilled the cold vessel when needed. For this service they received the odd small tip and were overjoyed when I gave them four bottles to share. Our reward for masterminding this operation was to return to find most of the food had been eaten by those we were fetching beer for. But we did get our own back by refusing to share our stock with those who thought they'd drink without having to pay.