Wanderings in the Hindu Kush. Introduction. In the winter of 1984-5 I and a girlfriend swanned off to see Pakistan and India, and had some excellent adventures in unusual circumstances. Quite hard travelling then, and in retrospect, too. Still, you have to pass the time somehow ! Read more . .
New Year’s day walk to Chiltan Hill, Quetta – Ceri’s story… Diary entry 3 January… The people at the PTDC (Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation have all been very nice and helpful to us. We go there every day, have tea and talk and generally disrupt the smooth flow of business, although i don’t think they’re rushed off their feet at any time. Quetta isn’t really a massive tourist trap. Read more . .
Train to the Afghan border. The big adventure, the first of 1985, began the next day, on Weds 2nd. We’d had the idea to go to Chaman, a small village about 70 miles away, very close to the Afghan border. We’d heard various exciting stories, including one from a young man we met in the shami kebab stall, about Afghan rebels, all kinds of guns, pistols, rifles, stenguns at very cheap prices, smugglers and thieves ! Read more . .
Quetta, train to Chaman, – Bob’s story. The following day, Jan 2nd brought us to the start of a minor adventure from Quetta, viz. a journey by train up to the Afghan border town of Chaman. The journey started promisingly enough despite us thinking we’d miss the train with the ticket office crush.
Podcast version here – see also written content of Ceri’s story
Wanderings in the Hindu Kush. Introduction… In the winter of 1984-5 I and a girlfriend swanned off to see Pakistan and India, and had some excellent adventures in unusual circumstances. Quite hard travelling then, and in retrospect. Still, you have to pass the time somehow ! Read more . .
Ticket to Delhi: Even being understood was part of the trickiness, as I found out myself when wishing to travel from Agra, where I’d been staying with my girlfriend, back to Delhi to meet a new group. Now Agra, the home of the Taj Mahal must be one of the worlds most visited cities and anyone flying in to Delhi would make the detour wherever possible. Read more . .
I was asked to lead some walking tours in Hungary and as I flew into Budapest with the national airline, Malev on a flight for a four day recce of the route and accommodation I realised that I couldn’t decipher a single word of the Hungarian newspaper I had asked for. Read more . .
There were a few people on that trip who were really keen on the archaeology, and really wanted to know the inside of a cat’s arse (phrase from a Welsh girlfriend’s mother), about everywhere, and some who almost hadn’t any idea where they were. Read more . .
I was chatting to the curator when from inside the building I saw a sudden illumination and several shouts. Out came one of the group followed closely by sundry attendants who explained that the person involved had been taking photos. The curator immediately exploded with rage and demanded the camera and its contents. Read more . .
…….I had felt there was an option that needed exploring, from my first visit there. Once having climbed high enough above the slippery rocky slopes of the main valley, the ridge offered an excellent high level walk back to the shoulder above the camp, where I knew there was a safe descent, and I set about checking this route out, with a few intrepid walkers. Read more . .
