DAY 2 SATURDAY 070707

DAY 2
Sat. 07/07/07
TORKHEM – LANDI KOTHAL
0500hrs:
The torment of a sleepless night was compounded by the intermittence of electricity, paucity of water and by extension facilities to attend to the call of nature completing a not so pleasant scenario. I had to wait in a queue to utilise a toilet whose stench was enough to throw up anything I had eat the night before. Having been in Pakistan for close to 2 years and 3 months, perhaps worked in my favour!
0600hrs:
I am ready to officially start my cycle ride as I gently cruise to the Afghan-Pak border post. Initially, the ‘Khasadar’ (Tribal agency version of the police) are reluctant in allowing me to take any photographs but when I tell them of my peace mission, they are quick to change their minds and happily pose for my camera.
As I move out of Torkhem, many people enthusiastically wave me along while others urge me stop and talk to them. After about a kilometre, I am ready for my first break along the roadside. Not having slept all night coupled with the daunting prospect of riding uphill consistently for seven kilometres to my next port of call (Landi Kotal) is not something I’m going to let faze me.
0730hrs:
The going is very slow, I am definitely struggling and the gesture from the customs official at the next check-post is enough to tempt me to stop over for refreshments and a chat. What I find quite surprising is the sheer quantity of trailers with sealed containers that pass through. I counted as many as five a minute and their frequency was incessant. These are trailers that pick up goods/material for US forces in Afghanistan. No doubt, transporters/ exporters and the Government of Pakistan are making a heavy packet out of all this.
0900hrs:
By now, the sun is beginning to make it’s presence felt. My pace has not quickened, rather it has become gradually slower and every passer-by who stops me, gives me an excuse for a welcome break. Children are particularly inquisitive, I just hope that their future is more peaceful than the past and current in which I’ve grown up.
Many vehicles passing by, offer to transport me and/or my belongings but I am resolute in politely declining each time. They all have a common question: Why are you enduring so much pain and hardship? My answer is by now monotonous: "This is all in aid of peace between India and Pakistan." As an individual, I have gone through immense torment attributable to factors totally beyond my control. Many others in this region have gone through much worse. I cannot possibly change the region but I can do my utmost to express myself and make a positive contribution.
1200hrs:
I make it to Michini, which is the major check-post of the Khyber Agency and where the officials kindly invite me to lunch. They also brief me on the history of the region, pointing out Taimur’s (Tamerlane to some) execution chamber in the mountains was particularly poignant. The head official also gives me two water bottles as well as 200 hundred rupees as a token of goodwill to help me along on my travels. I am almost astounded at his generosity as it is exactly 200 hundred rupees more than what anybody has given me thus far in this country!
1400hrs:
This has been the most strenuous bit of exercise that I’ve ever done in my life. Towards the end, my head and feet are boiling, while my eyes are emitting more water than sweat from my body. On reaching Landi Kotal, I make a dash for the nearest general store, slump onto a chair and bark at the owner for a cold drink.
The now familiar question of pain and endurance was repeated, the store owner even suggested that I should have put the cycle in a vehicle and taken the sane option. "Who would know?" he calculated.
The rest of the day was spent lazing around, answering the plethora of questions that many locals had in store for me, it was also an attempt to recuperate. As night fell, a sense of deja vu occurred as the electricity, toilet facilities and as a consequence, another sleepless night loomed.