Peshawar

Trip Start Apr 01, 2006

Trip End Aug 2006

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Flag of Pakistan Peshawar, Pakistan
Tuesday, May 9, 2006

I woke up this morning not feeling to good, as well as tiredness I am starting to get pains in the side of my stomach. I have had these before and what I do is eat meals that are high in fibre which usually means Weetabix or Shredded Wheat for breakfast. I did think that my chances of finding any food like that in Peshawar were nil but (unbelievably) I managed to get some Weetabix, when I walked into this shop and saw it on the shelf I felt like I had won the lottery.
I had agreed yesterday to go to the Khyber Pass the road between Peshawar and Kabul. To get there you need permission and an armed Pakistan soldier to go with you. We went along the Khyber Pass stopping at a few places and went as close to the Afghanistan border as is allowed and then turned back. At my hotel in Peshawar I have met a couple of people who are going to go through Afghanistan to Iran. An Afghanistan visa costs 30 dollars and is easy to obtain in Peshawar, it was tempting but I am going the other way to India

Gun Factory1

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In the Afternoon I went to Darra Adam Khel, this is a village where just about everyone is involved in the gun making industry. The Pakistan man I was with got me to dress in the baggy salwar kameez worn by most people in this country so I would not stick out in the crowd. I felt a complete idiot, my thin arms dangling through the loose sleeves looked like match sticks. Fair skin, blue eyes and no beard meant that I failed to blend in with locals at all. I would have stuck out less if I had gone dressed as a clown. The good news is that I manged to get through the day without having my picture taken so there is no photographic evidence of me looking ridiculously small inside some very big clothes.I was told I had to dress like this because the police don't like foreigners visiting here.
We visited a few gun making factories most of which were based in a few small rooms. Some of the people here were a bit grim, unsmiling and when I walked into a room I tired to acknowledge them by nodding but they did not respond and got on stone faced with what they were doing. Ocassionally guns were tested and there would be a few big bangs which made me jump but the locals are obviously far more used to it then I am and did not respond. I was given the chance to fire a Kalashnikov but said no.
I am starting to feel a bit better now but I will probably stay here tomorrow and then go to Lahore.

Peshawar hotels Slideshow