Quetta 2004 (4x4 Offroaders Club Karachi)

Saroona Lake

Tue, 06 Apr 2004 01:08:06 +0500

A view of Saroona lake from the highway. It stretches for many miles alongside the road, and starts about 10 kilometers after Winder. The bank is muddy, and in many places is quicksand. The lake is stagnant sandy water, so although it looks good the entire area around the lake is inhospitable and barren.

Yellow Brush

Tue, 06 Apr 2004 01:14:20 +0500

MO and SO... a pitstop next to a lunar landscape.

Local Transport

Tue, 06 Apr 2004 01:20:55 +0500

There are more people in this pickup truck than a typical New York subway train. Mind you, this is on the main highway to Quetta.

Driving 1

Tue, 06 Apr 2004 01:25:10 +0500

A picture of the road from the front passenger seat.

Speed Demon

Tue, 06 Apr 2004 01:28:35 +0500

The roads were completely empty... so Abid decided to see how fast the Kia goes...

Road 1

Tue, 06 Apr 2004 01:31:40 +0500

A picture of the highway. I've been told it violates the photographic law of two-thirds or some such thing, but here it is.

Alleyway in Bazaar

Tue, 06 Apr 2004 01:33:29 +0500

Walking somewhere inside the Quetta bazaar.

Fuel Stop on the Higway

Tue, 06 Apr 2004 01:36:17 +0500

A typical fuel station on the highway.

Laq Pass 1

Tue, 06 Apr 2004 01:37:43 +0500

View from the Laq Pass.

Icey Roads

Tue, 06 Apr 2004 01:40:51 +0500

The roads were slippery with the melting snow turning the unpaved roads into slipfests. This picture is on the way to Ziarat from Quetta.

Signs

Tue, 06 Apr 2004 01:45:35 +0500

A typical billboard in Quetta... Pakistan is becoming quite liberal these days. Suprisingly enough there are lots of adds similar to this one all over Quetta.

Train Pic from Riverbed

Tue, 06 Apr 2004 01:51:08 +0500

Train Crossing. This railway line was built by the British sometime b/w 1901-1908, and has been going strong since then. I doubt this bridge has undergone any maintainence work since partition.

Quetta Main Road

Tue, 06 Apr 2004 01:54:36 +0500

A shot of the main Quetta road. It's an impressive tree lined road built how the British would have done it.

Dolphin Bakery

Tue, 06 Apr 2004 01:59:54 +0500

MO standing at the counter of the Dolphin Bakery. This is the place to shop for food items in Quetta. Just about everything is here, and it's always been spotlessly clean. (the last 8 years at least since we've been going there).

Portrait

Tue, 06 Apr 2004 02:05:07 +0500

Picture at the Quaid-e-Azam residency in Ziarat.

Dinner at Restaurant

Tue, 06 Apr 2004 02:07:55 +0500

Dinner at a restaurant/hotel in Quetta.

Quaid-e-Azam Residency

Tue, 06 Apr 2004 02:10:46 +0500

A picture of the Quaid-e-Azam residency. It's beautiful. Back when it was built, it must have been really amazing.

Alternative Medicine

Tue, 06 Apr 2004 02:15:09 +0500

Recognized by W.H.O and U Know Who

HO next to Jeep

Tue, 06 Apr 2004 02:16:52 +0500

Just outside Ziarat.

Lunch at Ziarat

Tue, 06 Apr 2004 02:19:50 +0500

Picnic on the way back from Ziarat to Quetta. This tree is about 10 km from Ziarat on the main road.

Train at Windy Corner

Tue, 06 Apr 2004 02:28:29 +0500

The train is about to enter a tunnel called 'Windy Corner'. This railway track is a real work of engineering.

Closeup of Picnic

Tue, 06 Apr 2004 02:31:41 +0500

A very nice picnic spot. Most of the food was from Dolphin Bakery.

786 Biryani House

Tue, 06 Apr 2004 02:42:53 +0500

There is where we got the fried fish for dinner - trucked all the way from Karachi. I think the rarified air of Quetta is good for the fish - they taste better here.

Prince Road

Tue, 06 Apr 2004 02:47:28 +0500

Liaquat Bazaar at night.

Picnic Spot Redux

Tue, 06 Apr 2004 02:52:01 +0500

Yet another shot of lunch.

Diversion

Tue, 06 Apr 2004 23:51:10 +0500

Down down down...

The Sea

Tue, 06 Apr 2004 23:53:51 +0500

A view of the sea on the way to Hub. This is the only point on the highway where the sea is visible.

Shoe

Wed, 07 Apr 2004 00:51:37 +0500

Poor chap, left a shoe behind.

Setting Out

Wed, 07 Apr 2004 00:54:22 +0500

Setting out from Karachi, 38 kilometers into the drive.

Lasbela

Tue, 13 Apr 2004 00:59:25 +0500

Welcome to the Valley of Minerals.

Road to Ziarat

Tue, 13 Apr 2004 01:05:25 +0500

It was a really nice drive with all the snow. A few places the road got very slippery though.

Ziarat to Quetta

Tue, 13 Apr 2004 01:09:54 +0500

We're headed back to Quetta now. The road looked really beautifull at this time - doesn't really reflect in the picture though, it was taken from a moving car.

Kia in repose

Tue, 13 Apr 2004 01:19:54 +0500

...

Kia 2

Tue, 13 Apr 2004 23:28:38 +0500

On the way to Ziarat, next to an apple orchard.

Cherokee under a Tree

Tue, 13 Apr 2004 23:39:01 +0500

Somewhere on the way to Ziarat...

Snow Covered Field

Wed, 14 Apr 2004 23:54:16 +0500

Tonto, we're not in Karachi anymore... Picture shot from a moving car at about 20km per hour with a Canon SLR 28-90mm EF lens at 40mm 4.0 Aperture.

More snow

Thu, 15 Apr 2004 00:17:21 +0500

More snow covered roads. Another shot from a moving car.

Fruit

Thu, 15 Apr 2004 01:46:20 +0500

yummy

Kuchlak Bazaar

Thu, 15 Apr 2004 01:57:02 +0500

On the way to Ziarat. This is the turning from the Quetta road.

N40 N25 Highway

Thu, 15 Apr 2004 02:11:26 +0500

A highway sign nearing Quetta.

Lens Flare

Fri, 30 Apr 2004 19:31:59 +0500

Picture along the way. Another fine shot by KO.

Overturned Tanker

Fri, 30 Apr 2004 19:39:30 +0500

Another overturned tanker... once again the culprit was a broken tie-rod end. Of course, the tie-rod end also broke due to excess stress placed on it by the driver suddenly realizing the upcoming bend which looked just like the previous 100 bends was a lot sharper. I think this is why in the west they have all those road signs warning off exactly such things.

First Snow

Fri, 30 Apr 2004 19:42:14 +0500

The first snow on the way to Quetta. Well, the first snow we stopped at actually. There was snow on the ground half an hour before this stop.

Diesel Fillup

Fri, 30 Apr 2004 20:00:15 +0500

A local filling station. They also give proper receipts and all. A police mobile was also filling up there. Irani diesel was at approx 8 Rs. as compared to Karachi prices of 25 Rs.

Superintending Engineer

Fri, 30 Apr 2004 20:02:54 +0500

And people wonder why nothing gets built properly around here...

Bazaar Street

Sat, 01 May 2004 15:39:14 +0500

A view of the Quetta Bazaar.

Lourdes Stickers

Sat, 01 May 2004 16:08:55 +0500

Travellers from all over the world pass by here. Here being the Lourdes Hotel in Quetta.

Cleaning Kia

Sat, 01 May 2004 16:12:29 +0500

On the way back from Ziarat.

Cherokee Midst Snow

Sat, 01 May 2004 16:20:16 +0500

On the way to Ziarat.

Snowed Road

Sat, 01 May 2004 16:45:16 +0500

On the way to Ziarat we encountered a lot of snow.

Kia Snowy Road

Sat, 01 May 2004 16:52:08 +0500

Another picture of the road. This was the heaviest snowfall in Ziarat after many years.