Feb. 15 - Rawalpindi, Pakistan
Wednesday, February 15 :: Rawalpindi, Pakistan :: 148km today / 4545km total
Last night in the hotel I had a long, great conversation with some Pakistanis. Among many things, it turns out that Pakistan has a special branch of their police force dedicated to traffic and imposing international driving standards on the roads. It really shows, and today would be some of my most peaceful riding anywhere in Asia, even though the traffic was quite busy. The people I was talking with took great pride in the contrast I portrayed between Indian roads and Pakistani roads. If you want to understand the difference, try this: sit in a chair quietly for a minute, eyes closed, humming an uplifting song to yourself (Pakistani roads), then hop up, yelling and screaming at the top of your lungs, and run randomly in any direction with your eyes still closed until you hit a wall (Indian roads). Unfortunately for some reason dinner never showed up, so 7 large tangerines and a Snickers bar it was.
Off into a stiff headwind, a less than ideal start for the day. I was trying for Rawalpindi, 145km away, and fighting a tough headwind for that kind of distance was not my idea of a good time. 50km in I was stopped by the traffic police - they were a bit concerned about my safety, given the cartoon controversy. I think they also were intrigued by my presence, and it was hard to figure out if they were pushing out the conversation for the sake of the conversation, or out of concern, or how much of either. They didn't want me to travel alone, but I pacified them with the fact that I didn't plan on leaving the Grand Trunk Road, and the GTR is extremely busy (connecting India & Lahore to Islamabad/Rawalpindi) - I'm NEVER alone on it. If anyone was to "try anything" there would be about 100 eyewitnesses. They relented, and off I went.
The road started to roll dramatically, with long shallow climbs and descents, all the way to Rawalpindi. Very exhausting to push into a headwind, and be going uphill at the same time. Still, I was moving fast enough to race heavily-loaded trucks, passing them on the climbs and descents, losing them on the flats. They're a great benefit to me, actually - its extremely helpful when you're going up a long long climb to have some sort of objective or pace vehicle. With 30km to go I was completely played out and went through dizzy spells whenever I hopped off the bike for a drink. But the day was mine, and I rolled into Rawalpindi safely and soundly. Tomorrow is a VERY short ride (10km or less!) to Islamabad, after seeing the Pakistan War Museum here in Rawalpindi.
Last night in the hotel I had a long, great conversation with some Pakistanis. Among many things, it turns out that Pakistan has a special branch of their police force dedicated to traffic and imposing international driving standards on the roads. It really shows, and today would be some of my most peaceful riding anywhere in Asia, even though the traffic was quite busy. The people I was talking with took great pride in the contrast I portrayed between Indian roads and Pakistani roads. If you want to understand the difference, try this: sit in a chair quietly for a minute, eyes closed, humming an uplifting song to yourself (Pakistani roads), then hop up, yelling and screaming at the top of your lungs, and run randomly in any direction with your eyes still closed until you hit a wall (Indian roads). Unfortunately for some reason dinner never showed up, so 7 large tangerines and a Snickers bar it was.
Off into a stiff headwind, a less than ideal start for the day. I was trying for Rawalpindi, 145km away, and fighting a tough headwind for that kind of distance was not my idea of a good time. 50km in I was stopped by the traffic police - they were a bit concerned about my safety, given the cartoon controversy. I think they also were intrigued by my presence, and it was hard to figure out if they were pushing out the conversation for the sake of the conversation, or out of concern, or how much of either. They didn't want me to travel alone, but I pacified them with the fact that I didn't plan on leaving the Grand Trunk Road, and the GTR is extremely busy (connecting India & Lahore to Islamabad/Rawalpindi) - I'm NEVER alone on it. If anyone was to "try anything" there would be about 100 eyewitnesses. They relented, and off I went.
The road started to roll dramatically, with long shallow climbs and descents, all the way to Rawalpindi. Very exhausting to push into a headwind, and be going uphill at the same time. Still, I was moving fast enough to race heavily-loaded trucks, passing them on the climbs and descents, losing them on the flats. They're a great benefit to me, actually - its extremely helpful when you're going up a long long climb to have some sort of objective or pace vehicle. With 30km to go I was completely played out and went through dizzy spells whenever I hopped off the bike for a drink. But the day was mine, and I rolled into Rawalpindi safely and soundly. Tomorrow is a VERY short ride (10km or less!) to Islamabad, after seeing the Pakistan War Museum here in Rawalpindi.
posted by Graham Durrant at 6:28 AM
3 Comments:
Where else in Asia have you went? Have you gone to Korea?
Is Pakistan more "Western" then India and therefore explaining the safer roads as was said in a comment before?
What type of bike do you ride?
Hey there. I haven't been to Korea, but I have cycled through Southeast Asia (Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, and Singapore) as well as some of the Middle East.
Pakistan is not more Western than India, but it is governed with a stronger fist - its a military dictatorship here. The current "government" has decided that it wants people to drive with sanity and has set up a special police force specifically to police the roads. The police are very active, and I see them handing out tickets all the time.
There's a picture of my bike very early in my blog, in my first set of pics. It's a road bike, and I travel light.
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