TRAVEL FEATURE - P a k i s t a n
ALEX PETROV
MISPLACED PERCEPTIONS
“
No bullet holes , mate ?”, yet another person asked when I mention that I rode my motorbike across Pakistan . If I could get paid every time I got this question , it could probably fund a year of travelling .
Pakistan . What do you think when you hear of this country ? Internationally , it doesn ’ t have the greatest reputation , safety , kidnappings , and many other concerns . Its geographical position means most overlanders who move from Europe to Asia / Australia , or the other way , pass through Pakistan , and the vast majority note it was a highlight of their journey .
After spending the last night in Iran , in the city of Zahedan at the very east of the country , I set off before the dawn . It ' s only 30 kilometres to the Pakistani border and I wanted to be there when the border opened .
Riding on a perfect road in the
Iranian desert , the sun rose to my left , above the sandy mountains painted red by the morning light . Behind the mountains lay Afghanistan , the borders of three countries come together here , that between Afghanistan and Pakistan , 600 kilometres , is little more than an open desert border , often hard to control .
Local insurgent activity , as well as smuggling , means the whole area has seen its fair share of violence in the past . Kidnappings do happen , including those of foreigners . Those thoughts passed through my mind as I passed between border formalities . I knew statistically that I had a far higher chance of being run over by a truck in India … or in Germany … than to be kidnapped in Pakistan . Statistics are great when you analyse them from the comfort of home , not sitting on a bike in a blazing sun and sandy wind in a remote Pakistani village .
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