Vespa PX – London to Oz travel blog: part 4 – Pakistan | FEATURE

Our intrepid Irish traveller, Ross Dicker has been blogging about his trip from London to Australia since he left the UK in March this year. 

In this part, he gets escorted through Pakistan and heads into India.

If you want to recap or read the rest of the series you can catch up using the following links…

Part 1: Preparation and setting off

Part 2: Spain to Turkey

Part 3: Turkey to Iran

Balochistan

As I crossed into the Province of Balochistan it was just after 3 pm. I had no petrol, food or water left after the ride from Bam to the border and my Iranian sim card had stopped working. As it was late, I thought I’d probably have to stay one night at the border and ‘The Levies’ would escort me in the morning.

I was brought to a jail compound alone as no other travellers were crossing with me. The levies looked at my paperwork and then that evening I was escorted to do more paperwork in the offices at the border. I sat outside in the heat, waiting, and ended up meeting a group of northerners from the UK who had outstayed their visas. It was so nice to just chat with some Westerners, as I knew I’d be going back to that jail to sleep alone very shortly.

Got the hump

When my paperwork was done I asked the levie ‘Could I stay with the British guys?’ and he was having none of it. So I followed him back to the compound. It was late and I hadn’t eaten. The levies sat under the stars on mats with their rifles all scattered around them. They offered me some camel they had cooked. It was washed down with some warm water from a gallon drum as there was no running water.

The next day I woke up early. I asked the levie a few times ‘When are we leaving?’ and didn’t get a response. It was getting on in the morning and they just said “Today is a rest day, tomorrow we leave.” I was pretty pissed off as I thought we’d be leaving but then I just accepted it for what it was and relaxed for the day reading.

I was getting hungry as I had only eaten a small piece of camel they had given me for dinner as they wouldn’t take me to the town to get food. Eventually, they gave me some food at one o’clock. A stainless steel dish with some spicy beans and a piece of flatbread.

Rough sleeping

That evening the head levie took me on his bike to the town. I exchanged some money and then bought some food. I went back to the compound, had my dinner and slept. The room I was staying in had two broken couches and a wardrobe full of messages from previous travellers all over it. No fans or anything, you just slept on the floor whilst temperatures were above 40 degrees.

Petrol stop

Leaving Taftan the next day felt great but I also anticipated that Pakistan would get tougher as my first few nights were so different to any days on the road as of yet. I followed the levies to another building where we waited for some British Pakistani guys who were crossing in their cars, heading to Islamabad. We stopped for petrol before leaving and I got a fill from petrol out of a milk churn. As soon as we set off the British guys just flew ahead in their Audi and Beemers and I never saw them again.  The levies had to stay on my tail though travelling much slower.

Eating with the locals

We hit the desert straight away. I mean heavy wind and sandstorms. It was just awful trying to ride through it whilst keeping up with the escort vehicles. The sand was blowing so much that it covered the road. Riding across this terrain whilst the wind is whipping the sand up into your helmet.

After a couple of hours, we changed over levies. The levie base we stopped at was like a graveyard of their trucks. All around the offices, the blue pickups were stacked four high. I was invited into a small room that was one of their houses. The children made me tea whilst they processed the prisoner that had just come in, in shackles and filthy pyjamas.

Celebrity status

This time they wouldn’t let me ride as they said we’d be travelling fast. So we threw my bike into the truck and headed off again. The levies were sitting in the back with me taking selfies. It felt so weird that everyone wanted pictures and was smiling when there were constantly guns around. They made me feel very uneasy.

Bloomstar Hotel

We were supposed to stop halfway between Taftan and Quetta for the night but instead, they took me straight there. We travelled roughly 650km and eventually ended up at the famous Bloomstar Hotel in Quetta. We started at 8 am and didn’t arrive until 11 pm. I only got to sit in the cab once. The rest of the time was spent sitting in the bed of the truck trying to hold my bike. Some of the journey prisoners helped me hold onto the bike too. I was only allowed to ride the first and last parts of the journey.

Police escort

When I got to the hotel they had no room so I had to sleep on the dining room floor. I didn’t care though I was shattered and just happy I could have a shower and contact family, just to let them know I was alright as they hadn’t heard from me since Iran.

I ended up staying another day as I needed some rest and they got me a room. I had to get paperwork in Quetta before I was allowed to leave, (an NOC form). I was put on a police motorcycle and taken to get the form. One officer driving and one sitting behind me on the bike with a gun, it was crazy. You weren’t allowed to leave the hotel alone. I was escorted to the market to buy clothes by five armed officers. Despite the security, it was still nice to have a quick glimpse of the city as I hadn’t seen much since crossing the border.

Vespa Club of Ireland on tour

Before leaving on the 19th, one of the hotel staff went to get me petrol. I stuck my Vespa Club of Ireland sticker on the front doors as thousands of overlanders had before me. I even noticed my grandad’s old bike club had once been here.

On the way out of Quetta, we were pulling over just to say hello to other police. They all wanted pictures with me. We’d set off at 10 am and didn’t get to the next hotel until 10 pm.

Riding through desolate places where whole families just came out and looked at me in amazement. I think some had never seen Westerners before. Young kids were very afraid to see a foreigner but also couldn’t pass up the chance to come and see this bizarre-looking person on a Vespa outside their house.

Strange things happening

At the final levie changeover, we were stopped for ages. Stuck outside the town for hours. It was always the way when you’re exhausted at the end of the day. We had tea and took pictures and then it started getting dark. I was wondering why we weren’t moving. Some of the sergeants were praying. I just thought they’d be done in a few minutes and we’d be going, but it took hours. We were only 20 or 30km from the hotel. Some of the levies said there was a landslide and I did eventually see the road all cordoned off.

Safe passage

As we were getting ready to leave tensions grew and everyone seemed very alert. Guns were at the ready and the levies seemed far more serious. They wanted to ride my bike to the hotel and for me to get in the truck. I was completely against the idea. Finally, they agreed to let me ride but kept saying “Stay as close to the truck as possible”. I could tell something was up, but just did as told and kept right up the arse of the truck as we flew down into the town. I was so happy when we reached the hotel.

That night the chief of police walked into my room and said there had been a very dangerous situation. He asked if I was ok and if I felt safe. He left armed guards on my door all night and more were patrolling the hotel. I said I was fine and just wanted some food. The food they gave me was awful so I just had a shower and went to bed. I didn’t even speak to anyone that evening. I just wanted to get out of there safely.

Suicide bomber

I woke up the next morning and packed my bike. The levies said I was late but I hadn’t been given any times of when we were meant to leave. There was a handover to the next group of levies outside of town. They were nice guys and got me tea. I asked what happened last night. They said there was a suicide bomber who detonated a bomb and killed himself and injured four people. This was why I was stuck in the desert for hours under the stars last night. I kinda had a feeling it was something worse than a landslide as I’d heard the officers mention a bomb squad. I was just happy to be heading out of Baluchistan and into safer areas.

Bribery

There were short stretches I was able to ride alone, like crossing the border and leaving Baluchistan. The guards on the border were putting on my sunglasses for pictures and trying to put on my helmet. They made me sit down and eat with them too. The chief came out and started taking the piss out of me, pulling one of my earrings and laughing. Then he said “Give me a gift,” I said I had nothing for him, whilst smirking and it didn’t go down well. He got very pissed off and started shouting “GO!” I was delighted. I got to cross the border and it didn’t cost me anything haha.

Beautiful scenery

Riding through the mountains in this region was amazing. The only other vehicles on the passes were these beautifully hand-painted trucks, almost like big gypsy wagons. Some of the rock faces cantilevered over your head on the road whilst other parts of the road had just crumbled away in landslides.

Room on top?

I was coming out of the mountains to meet the next set of levies now and it was almost like desert planes. When I arrived to meet them the bonnet was up on their armoured meat wagon. It was overheating and they were trying to cool it down but it was red hot out in the sun. They then tried to bump-start it with a tractor. I had to just stand back and laugh!

An old levie I met that day didn’t even have a vehicle. He wanted to sit on my top box with his gun. I said absolutely not! So we waited for a local to pass and the levie took a lend of his Honda 70.

Blues and twos

Another set of levies that evening stuck my bike in the truck and I sat in between them in the cab. They put me in charge of the siren. They were lovely guys so I built up some energy to try and be social and have a laugh.

After crossing the Indus River I thought we would have stopped for the night somewhere in the Punjab, but I was told we were going straight to Lahore. There came a point that evening where I was just too tired to ride and told the Levies that if we continued I couldn’t ride anymore, the bike had to go into the truck. They agreed and there was only one awful section of road that I had to ride through during the night.

I was pulling my bike in and out of trucks all night. Handovers during the night were awful as the night shift workers didn’t kill themselves or rush. We waited hours at one truck stop. My battery went flat on the bike and on my phone. By the time I reached the edge of Lahore I’d been travelling for 24 hours.

Freedom

With a flat bike and phone battery, the levies let me go and I had no idea where I was going. Luckily I had the Vape ignition system, so the bike still started. I just rode straight into town and found the first hotel. It was quite fancy and there was me just standing there with my luggage and helmet absolutely filthy, looking for a room. I felt let down at the time that I rode all this way and couldn’t just ride through Pakistan. The relief of being free and safe again was indescribable though.

Mad dogs and Irishmen

It was around 8 a.m. when I got a room. I spent the next few days in Lahore just wandering around early morning or in the evening to escape the mid-day sun. Walking through the local markets, getting a haircut and shave. Trying out local food. Also organising to meet the Vespa Club of Pakistan. I even found one high-end hotel that sold beer, so I jumped in a tuk-tuk and headed over as I hadn’t drunk in months.

Delhi Belly

One of the nights I went out and had chicken Biryani for dinner. The food was definitely getting spicier but it was good! Or at least I thought so. The next morning I woke up feeling awful, with headaches, stomach cramps and diarrhoea. I knew I was bound to get Dehli belly at some stage.

I moved to a hotel closer to the border that looked nicer. I stayed till Monday so I could meet the Vespa Club and go to the Vespa garage to fix my bike. Soak up a bit more of Pakistan while I was there. I went to the doctor across the road. I told them what was wrong and they ended up giving me a shot of fentanyl in my hip and some tablets to take. I stumbled back across to my room and tried to ask one of the employees to get me some water, I made it to the toilet just in time to vomit. I stayed in the room drifting in and out of sleep for the next two days. I couldn’t keep any food in at all. On one of the nights, I woke up and heard kids playing outside my room. When I spoke to the owner the next day he told me it was an Irish woman with her child. They’d wanted to say hello but didn’t want to disturb me. I was sad to hear they’d already left.

Fried electrics

I was just trying to find the energy to even go and fix my scooter but couldn’t. I was constantly exhausted and still had bad diarrhoea. On Saturday I was at least able to go outside and inspect the scooter. Turns out a short piece of the positive cable between the battery and fuse was fried because the battery strap had snapped.

The Wagah Border

It was now the 29th of May and I’d been on the road for 12 weeks. That morning I packed up my scoot and did the short journey to the border. It felt almost surreal to be at the Wagah border, as in preparation for the trip I’d written ‘Wagah’ on the map on my bedroom wall. The crossing wasn’t too long and by this stage, I wasn’t going to fall for any border scams.

Vespa Club of Lahore

At 3 p.m. I headed over to the Vespa garage run by Ahsen. It was right beside the Wagah border I’d be crossing for India. We had the broken cable fixed in no time and everything was back working. We also fixed my side panel as the rear hook that goes into the frame had broken off.  That evening I met Ahsen and the Vespa Club as they were doing a night ride. We met up and rode through the city which was lovely as it was cool and there wasn’t half as much traffic. It felt great to be riding around Lahore with no helmet on, amongst a big group of Vespas. I was still running to the toilet every five minutes when we stopped though.

Sacred termple

I was let go and headed straight for the Golden Temple in Amritsar. It’s one of the most sacred pilgrim spots for Sikhs. I dumped my bike at the closest hostel and walked straight to the temple. Took off my shoes, bathed my feet and covered my head with the orange cloth. I just sat on the temple floor at the sacred pond admiring the golden temple that sits in the centre, feeling quite proud that I’d made it all this way.

Words and photos: Ross Dicker

To be continued as Ross hits India and Nepal…