Curry and I'm in a Hurry

Sorry for the lack of updating for all those concerned.

I am safe and well in Pakistan. I was in the south near the Iranian border when the quake hit.

My friend Luke and I cycled through 1000km's of some of the most stereotypical desert you can imagine. Every travel book we read advised against us riding through southeastern Iran as 3 cyclists were kidnapped 3 or 4 years ago. The locals told us it would be fine as did a seasoned traveller who has done this type of journey, so we pushed on. Sand blew across the road and into every possible orifice and spot that you wouldn't want sand getting into. At the end of one day I emptied a small pile of sand from my right ear. Man is it ever parched down there.

Without getting into too much detail, our highlights involved smashing a washroom sink up by acccident, staying at 2 military installations including accomodations in a military jail cell, passing children with AK-47 machine guns waving at us, passing many burnt out trucks and drinking 40 degree water from water bottles that feel half melted from the unrelenting desert sun.

Now I am in Pakistan about 4 days ride from the earthquake affected regions in the north. Unfortunately we will be passing through this section and seeing the aftermath. This region is very high. We rode up to a 3000m pass today and road a sweet downhill for the better part of 60km's. The road between Quetta and a town called Ziarat was bearly a road. Nightmare ride. Very bumpy, no gravel and totally dusty. I just about rattled every bolt of my bike and every ounce of my being.

The land is very arid here. The towns are dusty and crowded and we are constanly bombarded by 10-40 people at once. I counted 40 today when I went into a shop to buy some bisquits. The people are very friendly and curious and I must keep this in mind. Sometimes it is frustrating to say the least, but it is nice when i am thinking about where I am and how much fun it must be to talk to a strange freak like myself.

I feel that I am very safe. There are a lot of people here an it is alarming, but at the same time we cycle past 2-4 military and police checkpoints a day and we have been escorted twice now by police through two areas.

Luke had a bout with diahrea and nausea yesterday and we took a rest. Somehow I manage to avoid this plague of the cyclist. All that organic dirt I eat when not washing my veggies at Plan B must account for something!

So that's Mr. Kevin. Still pedallin my sorry butt onwards. Our route may shift to Tibet and the Mount Everest base camp via Kashgar in China and south through Tibet to Nepal. We'll keep ya posted. Wish us luck. Steve and I should reunite in 4 days or so.

I miss everyone!