Road trip!

For me, being young and adventurous, road trips typically would occur on a whim and the outcome of the adventures now have many memorable moments and stories of the journey. For those that have been on a road trip with me in the past know the adventures that occur in traveling with me. Running out of gas is usually one that is unforgettable experience many of you might recall. Brian Duvardo has probably had the greatest amount of experience with me running out of gas; Brian started being my gas guage after multiple encounters with this gas phenomena. For the rest of those brave souls, crazy people, or unwilling participants, I am sure your mind can transport you back into the past to a moment of experiencing an adventure in travel with me. I remember Michigan to Florida for a space shuttle launch, Minnesota to help a friend of Steve, my brother-in-law, after a graduation trip to upper Michigan and Canada, moving Mom to California, going to see a Dodger Game in San Francisco, Several Yosemite trips with various people; Victor and Ernie, Kerri, Students, and trips to Mono Lake, and the list goes on.

My Pakistani road trip started out typical to many other trips that I have had in the past, at 4:00 AM.  The first leg was to travel an hour and rendezvous with the rest of the team. Once we arrived, I transitioned into the van where a total of 8 men began the journey into the Frontier Land and No Man’s Land of Pakistan. The traveling group was quite an eclectic group of people in age, occupations, and diversity, with even a “band of brothers” on board. On the surface, this sounds great but when traveling in Pakistan this eclectic type of group appears to outsiders as suspicious. During this excursion, I got the complete experience of a Pakistani road trip. One critical aspect of a traditional road trip is the “traditional Pakistani air-conditioning”, hot outside and hot inside the van with the windows open as much as possible. I was fortunate to be seated where I could have my head by the window to get the wind blowing enough to capture some sense of coolness. Another tradition in Pakistani road trips is how many people you can cram into a small vehicle for a road trip and still fit in your gear.  To accentuate the fullness of traditional road trips in Pakistan, you may have a seat that was fully padded at one time in history, but after years of people crammed into the vehicle, you search for what little padding there is left under you bum.

The human aspects of the road trip travel experience began not more than ten minutes into the trip when all of the Pakistani men burst out in song. Once they gained their momentum then they begin clapping their hands, snapping their fingers and performing hand gestures. They move from one song to another and this continues for quite some time. After each song is completed, the laughter is contagious and the ice is definitely broken. After the singing ends, then comes the telling of stories, interspersed with jokes, and poking fun at one another throughout the entire trip. This cycle occurs several times during the journey.  If you could not laugh when others are laughing at you, by the end of the trip you will have learned to laugh at yourself.

A logistics factor about road trips in Pakistan is due to the use of CNG as the fuel source. Your trip is guaranteed that you make a stop about every 150 KM. Stopping is nice since the quarters are tight.  This allows for periodic stretching of your legs and for making a stop for food and bathroom.  The bathroom is something I did not take a picture of for various reasons, but it is definitely an experience that one must have at least once in their life, or for as long as you stay in Pakistan. As with all road trips, there has to be a breakdown, but as usual it is an opportunity to experience something else while you wait for the repair.

A road trip is not fully complete without the element of finding yourself in a little bit of trouble in a minor manner.  After we had passed out Lifestraws in the tribal colonies, Mustava happened to notice river stones along the side of the road and had the driver stop the van. Mustava jumped out and loaded about twenty stones into the van for a fountain he wants to make at his house. A thought crosses my mind, “I am not sure, given the demographics of the group, that having a van full of rocks is a great idea. Protest in Pakistan typically involves rock throwing from what I saw in the local newspaper.”  Since we are in route to Islamabad, I could just see us trying to explain why we had the rocks.  Enroute to Islamabad, we approached  a river and, once again, Mustava had the driver stop at the edge of the river and everyone joined in the collecting of river rocks. By the time we left, the entire floor of the van is covered in two layers of rock.  I must say it is important to be careful of what you think about, for it might actually happen. We arrive in Islamabad, eat, and as we are leaving some police officers notice (when the side door is left open accidentally) that the van is full of rocks and we are a very odd looking group. After several tense moments of questioning, we are sent on our way.

Road trips anywhere around the world bring people together in a manner of the shared experience of travel, the journey, and the points of destination along the way. The journey was more than simply going from point a, b, c, and ending up at z. This journey created a unique bond of friendship tied to extraordinary experiences that will be fond memories the rest of our lives.

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