Skip to main content

Threading the KKH


Thrusday, January 19, 2012

Suddenly I heard Azaan in the air and hurriedly got up and what came into my mind was that I have missed the flght. It was one hour to go and I in all haste I gathered my belongings laptops etc and just ran crazily towards the road and to my bafflement there was no taxi on the road. I dragged my bag and almost ran towards saddar. I got my first taxi who complained that today was the first day of weekly gas loadshedding and how he has been able to get last gas filled after waiting for hours. However he agreed and took me to airport quickly. I checked in and srated to wait in the watign room. Suddenly my started to pinch and to my further bemusment I saw I was wearing Siraj Shoes in the haste. Those were too tight and pinching my foots. The flight was going to happen and we were asked to board the plane. I happily went and suddenly we were in the air. I was rejoiced and was thinking that how quickly I will be in gilgit and that I will do some preparation before training starts. I was also enjoying the ride and that the kind Alfaf Sir had priviledged me by booking an economy Plus seat for me which is the same as the rest but just to give an impression of highness those are placed at the front. There was another AKRSP man accompanying me who was internal auditor at core office. The sort of cold drink was served to us which was somewhat different from Chitral pershpas us being the special ones of the Economy Plus class. The travel here was in the karakoram ranges and these were more indimidating than the hindukush ones which are in the way from Chitral. I was enjoying the scenes and taking photos and while we just were done with the refreshement when the captain announcement fell like a bombshell on me. He was saying” Dear passengers we are going back to Islamabad becuae of bad weather” I thought of crying and jumping out of the plane. I was boiling from inside and was hardly able to keep my emotions hidden from the gentlemen with me who are perhaps used to it and did’t show any such reaction as if it was usuall to them. I kept on my photo taking and was thinking that what I will do now. The thought of the training starting tomorrow was just sinking me down. With all the worries and deliberation I proudly came out at the arrival section for the 3rd time in 3 days and met Younis who was there to attend to attend the 2nd flight. His was ofcourse not going to happen as ours. SO quickly he and I got a taxi and left for Pirwadhai thorugh the street of Rawalpindi. Once there we booked our seats in the NATCO and had time with us to roam around because it was 2 hours for it to go. We wandered in the big area of Pir Wadhai and ate some street food and came to the bus which was going to depart.
Here starts the most ardous and difficult journey of my life. The big bus with half filled and was quite bumpy at the start even the GT road is quite good. It passed through taxila, wah cantt, Hassanabdal , Haripur and then reached abbotabad. Thereafter came Mansehra etc and some small town before it was dusk. In the night following I had the most difficult one. The road started to become smaller at it was just as the width of the bus we were travelling in. The night was longest given that it is now the winter and we in the dark was being shaken by the uneven road beneath. I cant express this journey on the much publicized KKH and once it stopped at a place called Bisham where a liitle boy was earning a Rs 20 profit on a chips pack. I commended him for his business acumen by purchasing and getting to the otherwise nauseating BUS. It again started its ride and believe me it was worst than even riding a mule or a horse was far better than it. I went to sleep for sometimes and once it made a stop at Kohistan I went out. It was very cold and then I again slept and it had its frequent stops before at 7 o clock we reached a place where all those coming from downcoutry were being parked.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Rawalpindi-Islamabad Metro Bus

The much awaited Metro Bus Service is now functional in Islamabad connecting it to the twin city of Rawalpindi. The PKR 45 billion cost (USD 4440 million) of the project was criticized mainly by the opposition parties led by Tehreek Insaaf. However the record time for completion of the project is something which justifies the the financial outlay. In Pakistan Public Sector infrastructure projects are plagued by delays and some are altogether abandoned after partial work. The 23 KM long metro has 24 station. Today I had a glimpse of Pakistan Secretariat Station of it. There is quite excitement among the travelers and many are travelling just to have fun. Few pics here. Although secretariat is closed today being Saturday, still large number of public was seen buying tickets and Metro-Bus Card.  To avoid queuing up the line to buy ticket, a better option is to get a Metro-Bus Card. The card can be reloaded and costs 130 Rs for the first time and subsequently rec...

PHD in Economics

Not many universities offer PHD program in Economics in Pakistan. And of those offered only a few can be said to produce quality PHDs. So the other choice remains is to go for study in Abroad. But it not comes at free. There are requirement of GRE and Toefl which are a hard to do job for a Pakistani student. Here are few advice for the aspiring Economists. A lot has been said & done already. Study for your GREs because they're very important -- get multiple computer practice exams. Take courses & obtain research experience that you think will prepare you well for grad school. This might include graduate economics classes, or finding some offbeat & compelling research topic for an undergrad paper. Or maybe just trying to fill some deficiencies in your mathematics training (like, e.g., if you haven't taken multivariable calc & linear algebra). I think the econ courses are better preparation than are the more sophisticated math courses, but probability & math ...

From Pindi to Chitral

Date: 24 January, 2012 The day was a rest day. I saw off Arsalan at his school and then came back to home. I heard that flight had gone to Chitral today after a couple days of interval. I should have gone today as I had no official business left but some private matters were there to be do away with before I go to Chitral as there seemed no immediate retour of twin cities. I went to saddar and took out the last remaining 4K rupees from my account and proceeded to Raja Bazar which is the commercial hub of Rawalpindi and the main wholesale market of Rawalpindi. I strolled through the market asking for anything helpful to counter the extreme cold weather of Chitral. At last after many efforts  I ended with a gas heater which was converted to LPG by the shopkeeper for some additional amount. I took it and a lot many other thing from the the market where the prices were more attractive than Gilgit. With a heavy shopper and an empty pocket I went to saddar. From there I got some mino...