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Having had our bikes trussed up in a great ball of cellotape and packing paper by airport officials we left the freezing climate of Ankara (6C) for the 33C heat in Karachi. Our plane landed at 3am in the morning – we had to stay at a cheap hotel at the airport overnight before heading into the city of Karachi. The hotel staff were friendly and professional – but clearly in their hotel godliness came before cleanliness! The room was in such a poor state and smelt so badly that we were forced to sleep on the beds in our sleeping bags!
Awake the next day we left the place as quickly as we could and cycled into town in search of a better hotel. We also had our first experience of Pakistan – the roads here are absolutely crazy with mopeds and motorbikes darting in and out of traffic and in between cars, loads of minibuses all adorned in crazy colours and tassles and glitter, everyone blowing their horns simultaneously so that it is almost impossible to hear anything, the heat and smells of exhaust fumes almost choking us at times. However the people were still considerate and gave us a wide berth since we were so obviously crazy foreigners!
Completely dazed and befuddled we arrived in Karachi mid afternoon and found a decent hotel to rest in and recover from our jet lag. Pakistan was so different from anything we had imagined or even seen. It is hot, noisy, and very, almost desperately, poor. People are going around in what westerns would call ‘rags’, the streets are full of rubbish (and sometimes smell), a truly third world country. Yet the people are very friendly and eager to offer their services, and thankfully almost everyone understands or speaks some English. On our bikes we look strange even in European countries – here we stuck out like sore thumbs in our western outfits and clearly western faces.
On our first day here we were befriended by a couple of taxi drivers who took us individually to clothes shops so that we could change into the local dress which is cheap (about 6 pounds!), comfortable in the heat and great for cycling. It is known as shalwaar kameez and consists of baggy trousers and a tunic on top (and a headscarf for Sedef). We noticed that since getting into our local garb people have been more friendly, and giving us approving looks.
We registered at the UK embassy and were warned about the horrors of the country thoroughly! Aware of the potential risks we promised to be sensible and will be setting off on our long journey through 3/4s of Pakistan up to Lahore near the Indian border. Alas internet access may be limited so the posts may not be as frequent as they have been recently!
PS – we have just clocked up over 4000kms on our bikes! 🙂
