Hello from the funky wonder land of Pakistan!

Just thought I'd drop a note to the NorCal boys! It's hot and humid out here. Not quite as crappy as FL, but not far.

Bouncing around the ME, Pakiland is a pretty interesting place actually. Disparity of wealth is staggering. There are only 3 F-cars though, and I haven't seen any of them. Import duties are on Singapore and Indonesia levels. Society is a bizarre setup, not quite Arab but not western by any long measure. On the ground, it seems that amongst the educated and priveledged, they love the US. Amongst the destitute, they're really just fed propaganda by people who will brainwash them in return for samplings of food and other nonsense.

I'll try to take some pictures. People who chew off their arms and fingers to elicit just that much more sympathy than the guy next to him with no legs so people driving by might give them money. In my extreme naivety, I went to a central area of town and took 5000 rupees (about $80) in small bills to give to people. It was a MOBBING. People I was with were amazed that a) we made it out alive, and b) that i'm a bigger idiot than I look like (which, as you kids know, is pretty damn idiotic).

Beyond that, I've been moving in some rarified company. The "paper" value of people versus their real wealth are, in most cases, an order of magnitude in difference. The concentration of wealth is just that staggering. I'll be touring the country for about two weeks before heading out to that absolutley surreal area Dubai. That place is the monaco of the nouveau-riche... it's scary just how much wealth is concentrated there. Although, it seems there's no one w/o it.

Hope all is well on the west side. I'll be back in time for Monterey, where the blue beast will scream again.

--Dan

PS: Dialup sucks. It's been a long time since I've heard the sounds of a modem. I need a picture-less version of FC.

 

Bob - I feel you must for Monterey. Can't be sporting a bike rack and a "wash me" on the trunk... or can I? Actually, i broke the bike rack just before i left...

Luke - and here I thought the secret would be safe? I see I must now divulge your great tales....

Doodoo-head: ASCII pr0n rulez!

John - thanks for the story. While I haven't had as poignant a moment as yours, it certainly resonates. One has to wonder what the trappings of wealth in such extreme circumstances really affords. I went to a local establishment that for 110 of the past 126 years was a men's only repose. Acceptance is impossible at best, so it was interesting to see how absolutely incestuous the company really is. One almost thinks of russian billionaire children in Gstaad.

I'm leaving in about 5 hours for the north of the country. Supposedly it's going to be very scenic (K2, amongst other things, is here). We'll see.

One interesting thing is driving in Karachi. Rules are a pithy consideratoin at best. Most cars look like they'll fall apart. Driving on the left is fine and dandy, but there are literally motorized rickshaws and mules (now and then) on some roads. The concept of lanes is completely beyond people... cars move mere centimeters from one another, and yet amazingly despite all the chaos I haven't seen an accident. It's a lot harder to capture this in pictures. What's scary is how many people just run across the street, even in crowded intersections. I've tried my luck driving, but only at night or on more secluded streets. People honk here almost as much as in NYC.

I'll post pictures when I'm on a broadband connection, which won't be for a while. I forgot to do it earlier today.

Best,

--Dan

Edit: stupid dialup...

 

Lee you ass-less ass, I've sat in that seat and washed that car!

Today I got to look at silly museums and old temples / castles of ancient rulers (sorry, this stuff bores me to tears), enduring ~110 degrees F and some humidity to match. You really learn to appreciate shade. Lahore (sounds the way you'd spell it if you added a W) was supposedly a center of culture and education for hundreds if not thousands of years. I'll say this: it's hotter'n hell and people actually use the lanes. But, surprisingly, the area provides 75% of pakistan's agriculture (don't ask me how, I'm still trying t ofigure it out).

--Dan

 

So, after 4 days w/o internet, cell phones, landlines, etc. there's much to tell.

First, I went up to the area known as NWFP (New Western Frontier Province). That's on the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan, but the locals (Afridis) do no tconsider themselves a part of either country. They've been there for over 1000 years and are fiercely independant (I got shot at for being a trespassing idiot, the guy purposely missed to scare me).

The NWFP, if you know your drug history, was on eo fhte most important dope producing regions in all the world. Hasish too. It was amazing, naturally growing on the roadside (not even farms for cultivation, which are pretty guarded) one can find bushes and bushes of weed. So, all of you 420 kids, go. Run there. You'll be pleased. I even found some guy letting his donkeys munch on the stuff while he chewed a branch of it. Get your asses high before driving them hard, I guess...

The north of the country is pretty amazing. Trekked around a lot, and took lots of pictures. Ended up int he Hindukush mountains at about 8000 feet (despite local claims of ~11k), where the people have no pretentions about anything. In some areas (Murree, Bhurbun, etc) we were no more than 150 miles from the Chinese border. I found it amusing that chinese wares were being pawned at local shops as if they were locally made. What can yo usay, the 800lb gorilla is everywhere (apparently Pak is playing b/w the US and China quite delicately).

I didn't get to go up to K2, but I did progress on to Kashmir. This took some work, as they consider themselves independant of both india and pakistan. They were pretty stringent about security, and like an idiot, I was sporting an peach-colored polo. Not the most inconspicuous of garb. But, having cleared that, we made our way into Azad-Kashmir (the Pakistan side). I have to say, I now understand why they are fighting over the land. Rolling lush mountains (and I do mean mountains. Over 200km worth of, and this time it really was 11k ft +), huge water sources, and relatively undeveloped land.

If you like that kind of food, then you'll be enthralled here. I got to eat at this "inn" that was at ~10.5k feet up on the backside of a mountain. The guy slaughtered the chicken and made a flat corn-bread for us there and then. Well beyond anything I've had at a restaurant.

I've taken lots of pictures, but given that I am as far from a photog as it gets, I doubt they'll show the depth I wish to convey. Instead, I'll try to relate. Mountain roads climb to the top, but amazingly, you find people (old men) walking up with hay (or whatever else) on their heads the whole way. People have built their homes into the terraced mountain-sides, and in the valley (which was flooded in '92), lie two rivers; the Jalum (sp) and Neelum. They run parallel at some points, but flow in opposite directions, snaking around until they meet and run forward. It's amazing, the place where they meet, i could walk out and within 5 feet distance, stick my hand in each. The Jalum has warm murky waters, the Neelum dark, crystalline blue water which is cold as ice and supposedly equally pure. Truly wonderous.

The mountains continue onwards, and you find entire villages with their own self-sustaining economies. I'm sure there's some outside influence, but it's minimal. I was hard-pressed to find a phone. But, there does seem to be a great degree of religious intermingling and tolerance. I found plenty of churches, synegogues, etc. in many of the little towns. The people, of course, were extremely accomodating in so many respects. It was truly humbling.

It's pretty cool, in the north of the country blond-haired blue-eyed locals are just as plentiful as the darkest of the dark. The cleaner water and evolutionary "purity" provide for the lack of pigmentation, I suppose. There's one area I'm supposed to visit, I forget the name, which apparently had not been discovered for 2000 years until 1954. It was, moreso than the nordic areas, a truly pure gene pool. They had their own customs, had no currency, etc. I saw a picture of a groom - he was 90. Supposedly people regularly lived til 130-140, until of course we "civilized" them. It will be interesting to see.

Going around the country, I also got a feel for the politics a little. Seems like the same "mullahs" we used t obrainwash kids into fighting the afghans are now preaching against us. The educated people find it sickening and a perversion of their religion and culture. I found it pretty amusing that there are religious right-wingers who, I swear, you could replace with a Christian-Right-Wing member and they'd have the exact same outlook.

It's a good thing, though, that I didn't go into one of these preaching sessions, I'm not sure I would've been able to contorl myself. And getting killed in that fashion probably would've have been the best way to go. But it's good to see that there are people tryign to work against it. But, I won't get into that too much here.

My overall assessment so far: it's a beautiful country, where there aren't many people. Populated areas stink like sh|t and my biggest pet peeve: FLIES. There are ******* flies EVERYWHERE, esp. in the populated areas. Drives me up the wall. But if yo ugo to the secluded areas, I swear it makes scenic and remote parts of Europe look like overdeveloped wastelands. German countrysides are commercialized by comparison. I really wish I could convey how green, how lush it all was.

I've heard China (just past the hindukush mountains) has even more variety of topography. I won't be going there just yet, but it's in the cards. Last time I was there was almost 15 years ago, too young to remember much else than the cool caboose on the blue train or whatever it was called (i know, blue train is OZ).

--Dan