Gwadar and Turbat

We arrived at 1.15am and it was very dark. I had not heard from my contact and I felt a bit vulnerable. I stood by the bus waiting as all the passengers descended. Two men approached me and said something inaudible. I asked them to repeat and he said you are to come with us. I was shocked as they looked like they were on drugs. Their eyes were red and their teeth brown. Their clothes were far from clean. I asked who sent you but I got no name. They were not aggressive but not the sort of men I would follow in the middle of the night. I phoned my contact and only then did he confirm these men were safe and he had sent them.
I followed them into a house which was the transport company’s office and they said we don’t have anywhere comfortable for you to stay and if you need a hotel we could try finding one but it is late and they may not be open. I was given a charpahee, foam mattress and a thin blanket. It was not the most comfortable or cleanest place but it was better than nothing. I slept outside in the veranda. I was still wary about them but not enough to stop me sleeping.
I woke up about 7am and realised I was safe and my bag was still there. I was given a breakfast of tea and a paratha. It had been a total of 24 hours since I had last eaten. I was very hungry but wanted to move on to Turbat a town just under 3 hours north.
The bus I boarded crept through the arid mountainous landscape. Surprisingly there were some ponds on the way and they obviously supported some waterside vegetation. I doubted these were permanent but one hosted a flock of Coots. The locals would not hunt them because they found the meat tasteless. One of the locals pointed out some of the destruction caused by the floods in summer 2007.
The bus pulled over. All I could make out was the word “puncture”. It was surprising how English words had penetrated areas which may contain very few English speakers even as a learned language in school or elsewhere. Within 20 minutes we were ready to roll but after thirty minutes it pulled over again. This time it was taking longer to fix. My contact from Turbat named Saeed phoned and asked where I was. He decided to pick me up as we were not very far from the town. There was no way of knowing how long it would take them to fix the tyre. It was a good thing that mobile phone reception was available in the area. A few years ago there was no mobile reception here. Now a couple of companies operated and not just in the main towns too. I would have been lost without a mobile here considering what time we reached Gwadar last night.
The supposed 3 hour maximum journey to Turbat from Gwadar had taken over 5 hours in total. Travelling to places was time consuming and the bus drivers did not seem to care what times their passengers reached.
Turbat is a small city. It is the administrative capital of the Turbat district which is quite large but with a small population. The Mekran mountain ranges could be seen not far from the city reminding us of the wilderness here. The town was not overcrowded and there were quite a few hotels here. The hotels were quite cheap and of a low standard.
Turbat felt like a frontier town and in reality it was. It was in the south-west corner of Pakistan and fairly close to Iran. Some of the people living here were both Iranian and Pakistani dual nationals. They were allowed to enter certain portions of Iran with no problem. It was not surprising really as those across the Iranian border were also Baloch.
Turbat was quite famous for the quality its dates. Dates were one of the speciality crops in the region. There were a lot of date trees around in this dustbowl valley.
I got a call and it was from Saeed, one of my contacts. Saeed was someone I had known online for around 4 years. I was last planning to meet him in November 2004 when I had visited Quetta. I had booked a flight to Turbat but then it had been cancelled and the next flight was 4 days later.
It was strange meeting Saeed after so many years. In a way I could not believe 3 years and 4 months had passed since I last tried to visit. Time flies by for sure.
Turbat was a small town but the administrative centre for the Kech district. The district was big but population sparse. It was hard to etch a living in this terrain but the hardy Baloch tribes succeeded.
Turbat has been ruled by the Gichki tribes since ancient times. Turbat was the capital of the Mekran state until it was dissolved.
It was time to find a hotel. The first hotel was full although there was a double room which was empty. I turned it down because of the dusty smell that came from there. However, this smell as quite common over Turbat. The second hotel was better. I had settled in and decided to freshen up by shaving and having a bath. I got a nasty surprise. The toilet flush was nt working and when I lifted the lid I felt sick. The smell spread. I complained and was given a new room. However, it was a double and they expected me to pay that too. I told them them I have paid for that room and should pay no extra cost as it was not my fault their service was poor. The manager disagreed so I decided to walk out leaving him gob-smacked. “You can keep the money!” I retorted.
I did find a third hotel and decided this was the place for me. It was a bit more basic but at least the toilet was clean. I had a bath. I changed into western clothes. As we toured the city of Turbat I realised one thing – the people did not constantly stare as in some areas of Pakistan even though this area probably such a small number of tourists and a very small number being foreign. I know I looked totally out of place but I had rather stupidly left my other traditional dress in Karachi.
Saeed took me to the Gerdoshia Institute. It was where he worked on a local branch of a national radio station part time. The building also contained a basic IT suite with some old computers. It was not the most technologically advanced but it was a start and progress was taking place. I felt very humbled how in a neglected and poor part of the country people did feel the urge to push themselves forward.
I had almost forgotten I had eaten and we ate at a local place – fish was quite popular here. The fish dish was nice. We ate two fish dishes – one fried and the other cooked and seasoned with local herbs and spices.