I am writing this blog post from the living room of our local partner's guest house in Ratanabad in Mirpurkhas district in Sindh province. The journey to this remote corner of Sindh began this morning, Sunday, 2nd May 2010. Getting here was certainly an adventure – one that seems to be increasingly the norm as far as my travels go, where almost everything that could go wrong, pretty much did. However, I must say that I was grateful that the end result was positive.
The flight my colleague and I were to take was scheduled to depart at 10:00 a.m. for Karachi and the airport – Benazir Bhutto International Airport is approximately 30-35 minutes away from where I live. I planned on waking up at about 7:00 a.m. This would have left me with ample time to get ready and leave the house at about 8:00 a.m., which was when I expected to leave. Lo and behold, my alarm clock did not ring. Apparently the alarm settings on my phone were not adjusted to ring on Sundays!! I woke up at 7:53 a.m. to my utter shock and horror and dashed about to get ready and successfully did so in about 15 minutes – a record time as far as yours truly is concerned. My colleague was already up and we were about ready to go by about 8:15 a.m. Then we wondered exactly what time our driver from the office was planning on picking us up. I'd sent a text message to our office manager earlier about this but never got a response. So after a couple of phone calls, we realized that someone screwed up and forgot to schedule a ride for us to the airport. PANIC!!!! Thankfully, I remembered that a new friend I'd met a few days earlier who lived pretty close to us was also scheduled to fly to Karachi at the same time. Another phone call later and we were able to hitch a ride to the airport with her. She was truly a God-sent angel!!!
Anyway, we got to the airport at 9:15 a.m. only to find the queue getting into the terminal was LONG due to security checks. Thankfully her driver was pretty skilled at cutting the queue and managed to get us close to the terminal building and we basically ran in. Of course, the terminal wasn't any empty either. Benazir Bhutto International Airport is really quite a bloody chaotic place to be and the queues for all PIA – Pakistan International Airlines flight check-ins were just ridiculously LONG. Thankfully, one of the PIA check-in staff spotted us – very lost looking firangis (well I think my Japanese colleague stood out more than I did) and came to our aid. Since neither of us was checking-in any luggage, he was able to get us our boarding passes while we waited in a corner and got us through. The thing with airports in Pakistan is that there is ALWAYS a queue at almost every point – supposedly for security checks (which are not uncommon elsewhere), but these checks sometimes behoove rational thought on how exactly they help improve security. Mostly, they serve to create additional layers of delays. Anyway, we managed to board the bus that took us across the tarmac (no aerobridges in this airport) and we got to the plane, where we ended up having to queue up once again under the HOT BLAZING sun to get on the damn plane! Alas, we finally made it at about 10:10 a.m. Needless to say, the flight was delayed and the last passenger finally boarded the plane around 10:35 a.m. and we took off at approximately 10:55 a.m. We had the joy of sitting close to several restless children who cried pretty much the entire journey and also behind two guys who just purely obnoxious!!!! I'll leave out the details… Anyway, we arrived in Karachi at about 12:20 p.m. and met our director along with a couple of other staff from the Karachi office who joined us on our field visit to Mirpurkhas.
I must say that I am generally quite impressed with the roads in Pakistan – especially the highways. Though they are a far cry from the highways in the US, Europe or even Malaysia, the roads generally seem to be in fairly decent shape. We had to make a stop in Hyderabad (Pakistan, not the Hyderabad in India) to meet up with another member of our team who is based there. My colleague Kyoko and I had arranged a meeting there with our fellow team member. The journey from Karachi to Hyderabad took approximately 2 hours. Our director and the other two staff dropped us off and proceeded to Mirpurkhas. We were met later in the evening by another driver from our partner organization who took us on the final leg of our journey. The last leg of this journey took us approximately 1 ½ hrs and was by far the most interesting part of the trip.
I did not realize that this particular part of Sindh province is really the edge of the Thar Desert that starts from Rajasthan in India. Whilst part of the area is quite fertile, it is also very obvious when we cross into the desert-land, with the greenery disappearing almost instantly. Back tracking a little, just before we entered Hyderabad, we crossed the mighty Indus River, which once saw great civilizations of the past. This was my first time crossing one of the world's great rivers. Unfortunately due to an on-going drought situation, and also the fact that India blocks off a significant amount of the flow in the head of the river, the mighty Indus didn't look so mighty at all, which was really quite sad. Fast-forward to the journey from Hyderabad to Mirpurkhas. Because this area is so close to the edge of the Thar Desert, there are an abundance of camels in the area. Camels (and donkeys) are used as a form of cargo transportation, helping haul goods across the area. This was certainly a treat for me.
I have to say that there is something about the camel that is just amazing. When you see a donkey hauling a trailer full of stuff, you can't help but feel sorry for the poor animal. It clearly is doing a great job but you know that it is working HARD!! The camel on the other hand hauls approximately twice or three-times the load the donkey pulls yet does in stride. Its height and its stature and not to mention, its face exudes a certain care-free aura. It almost says, "You see this load I'm hauling? Well, we're coming through and you're making way for us. I don't care how big your car or SUV or truck is, I ain't moving out of your way, so you sure as hell better get out of mine." Amazingly enough, it works as huge lorries, cars, SUVs, busses etc., all swerve to avoid the camel that is occupying half the lane of a narrow road. Anyway, after a somewhat hair-raising drive, we finally made it to Ratanabad in Mirpurkhas district to our partner organization's guest house. The driver was certainly skilled. Never in a million years would I have imagined that it was possible to use the 5th gear on that narrow road. Every time he overtook another vehicle, donkey or camel, I swear my heart was at my throat just waiting to come out all the way. My Anglo-catholic sensibilities led to the second half of the Hail Mary being on the tip of my tongue. This is the part that says "Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and the hour of our DEATH, with particular pause at DEATH. Alas, we made it here in one piece.
Anyway folks, it is past midnight here and I am just absolutely knackered!!! Sleep beckons and I must go to bed and hope that the power-cut takes a break tonight. The one thing I did not mention above is that the heat in this part of the country is just unbelievable. In Karachi, it was about 40 degrees Celsius and it's about the same, if not more here. Well, till my next post. Take care and khuda hafiz!
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