In The Tracks Of Alexander The Great

In the tracks of Alexander the Great By Osman Nasir N5 is the single longest Highway of Pakistan spanning over 1840 Km stretching from Karachi to Jalalabad, Afghanistan through Torkham border. It is the true Pan-Pakistan Highway, the very route that Alexander the Great took when he intended to raid the Subcontinent, and it can be assessed to gauge the Economic vibrancy of the country.

The Roadies

We started our travel from Islamabad at 0830 hrs on the morning of 31st April 08, Dodi (Adeel Ahmed Khan) was at the helm, and turned out to be a much better driver than I initially estimated while reciting my prayers dreaded with the thought of him driving on a highway.

M2 Islamabad - Lahore Motorway

We soon hit the Highway marker of 1524 Km [to Karachi] saying "Goodbye Islamabad", this leg of our trip was on the comparatively new Motor way, M2 from Islamabad to Lahore totaling 367 Km. Motorways are a new regime of Pakistani highways, with hugely upgraded facilities and wonderful 6 lane roads completed with all kinds of conceivable services. It was heartening to see the ever-present Motorway Police, inducing the sense of security and presence of government all along. The scenery is wonderful coupled with the fact that very modern rest areas can be found on approximately every 50Km. You can expect to find Gas and Petrol filling stations there, Restaurants with decent menu, Medical assistance and very decent toilets. Motorways are planned through M1 (PeshawarIslamabad) to M10 (Karachi-Gwadar). M1, M2, M3, M10 are operational already while M8 (Gwadar-Rattodero) will be operational in a couple of months time.

Motorway Rest Area

We stopped at Chakri inter-change's Rest Area to have our breakfast and spent a good 45 minutes there. On our right was the River Indus, and all we could see was the cultivated lands for miles on either sides. The Wheat crop in Punjab has been planted recently and in a month's time it will be ready to be harnessed. Here I realized the issue of water distribution in a country situated in a longitudinal manner. The problem has the roots in the variations of the cultivation cycles in Sindh and Punjab. The Sindh crop of wheat hits the market in early April, demanding water in late February and early march each year. While the Punjab crop is ready a month later in Late April and hits the markets in early May. Sindh starts to demand the release of water in the streams and rivers from the Dams (in north which are controlled by NWFP and Punjab Province) in late Feb and Early March, at this point in the year, the water is already scarce since the snow hasn't started to melt yet in the snow capped mountain sources of these rivers. Punjab wants to hold the water till late march so this water remains in the streams through their crop plantation. The only possible answer to end the conflict is the construction of Mega Dams up north and a step-wise construction of many small Dams with their size shrinking as we move south. This way, the large Dams can release some water to feed the smaller Dams during Feb-April period for the Sindh crop, and retain large quantity of water for the Punjab crop during March-May period.

Soon we entered the beautiful and treacherous Kallar Kahar Salt Range Mountain Area. The road has a difficult descend while curving and curling at the same time, you require a very proficient driver to tackle this part of road, as it can easily end up breaking your gear box if you go too slow or ramming the car in the mountain walls if you go too fast.

Salt Range Area on M2, picture from flickr

A small mosque fashioned from Salt bricks inside the visitor caves of Khewra Salt Mines, picture from flickr.

Ruins of Katas Temple and Fort complex

It is this area where you can find the Khewara Salt mines and the Kattas Raj fort complex (dated to 800 BC in Mahabharat era, and restored in 900 AD). Since we missed both, I am posting the pictures of them found in flickr. It started to rain as we hit the Salt Range and I could see sweat breaking on Dodi's forehead as Abbas was harrowing him from the backseat to drive carefully and directing him to use the gears efficiently and reduce speed and whatnot. But Dodi finally managed it well.

Just before we entered Salt Range

As we exited the Salt Range, I took the wheel from Dodi on the next Rest Area and drove all the way to Lahore. We could sense the terrain changing and the atmosphere becoming a bit heavier as compared to the Islamabad's light cool breeze.

Near Bhera Interchange, Dodi took it

We were doing an approximate 120 Kmph, which is the top-speed on M2. We entered Lahore at around 1245 hrs mid-day. Resting at Abbas's home till midnight we re-started our travel again at 0345 hrs on 1st April 08 towards Karachi. This time the ever-reliable Abbas was driving me took the backseat and took out George Crile's best seller Charlie Wilson's War unveiling the names and events of the Afghan War of 1980s, and the role that was played by Pakistan and the American CIA to trump the Soviet Empire into non-existence. It was this very road that was used as the main logistics channel of the Soviet defeat and the eventual independence of over 100 Million Central and Eastern Europeans and 50 Million Central Asians who were living behind the Red Iron Curtain since 1945. Yet very few recognizes the ultimate risk that Pakistan took not siding with the Soviets and faced a challenge of a possible Soviet invasion for 7 years. The war that started in 1978 eventually ended in 1989 as the last soviet crossed the Friendship Bridge into Soviet Union, six months before the collapse of Soviet Empire.

It is this war that has ruptured the very fabric of Pakistani society as we were pressed by the Saudis to influence our minds and religion with the Stern Saudi version of totalitarian Islam, as one of the basic conditions to step into the war with their funds of [upto] USD 250 Million per annum. Weapons poured in from all over the world, CIA sourced Russian originated weapons from Yugoslavia, Sweden, Poland, Egypt, Lebanon, Iraq and Central America, to conceal the American hand and made it look like as if the Mujahideens were fighting using the weapons they snatched from Russians. Alongwith the Weapons, stockpiles of food, shoes, clothing and other necessities all used to land on Karachi Sea port and ferried to Torkham border through N5 highway. Victory has a price and we paid it in full when we were faced with 5 Million displaced Afghan Refugees, the militant Islam, the drug culture and the horrors of AK47 Kalashnikov assault rifles spreading freely throughout Pakistan. Yet no Allies of ours ever said a word of Thanks. Rather we were hit with the Sanctions of Pressler Amendments. Around Sunrise we managed to bypass Sahiwal at 1100 Km [to Karachi]. From Sahiwal we entered Valley of Harrapa, the oldest most civilization found on earth. It was here that man learned to grow wheat and other crops, and I soon realized why, the whole area was lush green with thousands of Acres of crops on either sides. Harrapa Ruins, picture from flickr

Just after passing Harrapa, through Mian Channu bypass we entered the Khanewal region [1000 Km from Karachi] at 0700Hrs and immediately greeted by rain, with thick Grey cloud cover the green plains took a brilliant hew of green. We had tea there and I took some pictures of the surrounding area.

Hello Sunshine at Mian Channu filling station

Tea At Khanewal

Around 0900 Hrs we bypassed the Bhawalpur city at road mark 850 Km [to Karachi], which is the 13th largest city of Pakistan and is famous for its royal palaces and mosques, all of which has a touch of Italian architecture. At 1130 Hrs we reached Sadiqabad city, which is the last major city of Punjab, and is also a strategically important Railway Junction. Noor Mahal, Bhawalpur, photo from flickr

Here I took over the wheel after we had the roasted chicken meal that Abbas's mother packed for us in Lahore, at one of the filling stations. We crossed over the boarder of Punjab into Sindh and reached Ubaro at 1230 Hrs [590 Kms to Karachi], we found several diversions due to road maintenance, where the highway reduces into a single carriage way, and one has to deal with the head-on traffic coming in your direction. Soon afterwards Ubaro, we passed by Dharki city, which is the site of Engro Pakistan Chemical factory and after several towns we ended up at Rohri [483 Km to Karachi] at 1400 hrs, by that time I was tired enough to ask Dodi take over the wheel.

Dates Gardens of Sindh

Abbas pointed that the Dates trees which are spreaded to eternity on either sides of us, belongs to Khurshid Shah, a Pakistan Peoples Party veteran. a feudal lord, with lands granted to him by the British. I was left wondering that these feudals who were bestowed their riches during British Raj and who were extremely anti-Pakistan and were staunch loyal to the Brits, how come they still manage to rule our country labeled as patriots today, while the real freedom fighters continued to suffer?

Tea Stop at Ranipur

Wheat Crops of Sindh ready to hit markets

Around 1500 hrs we reached Ranipur [415 Km to Karachi] and stopped for some tea at a filling station. For the next 150 Kms Dodi drove like a pro and had us reach the city of Kazi Ahmed [280 Km to Karachi] by Sunset. Here Abbas took over and we reached Hyderabad [160 km to Karachi] by 2030 Hrs. We finally reached Karachi toll gates at 2230 hrs and through Sohrab Goth we took the newly built Lyari Expressway to Lyari and turned towards Clifton. HOME atlast! What I saw and experienced during this entire trip made me love my land and its people even more, i understood the importance of infrastructure and the realized the potential of a food rich country in a world where grain prices are rising everyday. It convinced me that Pakistan is, as the former president of National Bank rightly said; "Not at all a poor country, it’s a poorly managed country."