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An edited version of the following article appeared in The Ottawa Citizen on Saturday, May 26, 2001 The wonder and heat of PakistanMike
Nemesvary Mike Nemesvary, a former champion freestyle skier, is attempting to become the first quadriplegic to drive around the world - a 40,000 kilometer trek to raise funds for spinal cord injury research and rehabilitation. Pakistan After a fond goodbye to our Iranian escort team, we pulled up to the Iran/Pakistan border with some apprehension. Gunmen were posted to protect tourists such as ourselves from potential rebels. The temperature was an unbelievable 52 Celcius and we were a bit nervous about border delays. Much to our surprise, we were actually invited in to the Customs Post to cool off and have some tea. Once into Pakistan, the guys doused me with water to cool down and we were on the road once more, en route to Dalbadin. Not only do we have to get accustomed to driving on the opposite side of the road again, but most roads are single lanes, potholes are everywhere and we've become accustomed to the truck rattling. We have quickly learned that when you come around blind corners, you have to honk your horn to warn anyone coming in the opposite direction. It takes lots of maneuvering to get around some of these corners and we have to stop and back-up to let trucks through on many occasions -- incidentally, the largest trucks have the right-of-way. Scary though the driving is, the transport trucks in Pakistan are amazing in that each one is colourfully decorated. We alternate between "oh no...watch that truck!" to "ahh, look at that pretty one". We enjoyed a traditional meal and a restful night's sleep in Dalbadin, an unbelievable oasis with beautiful palm trees, quietness, and a bright star-filled sky. Pakistan is a beautiful country. Measures taken to keep cool are now in full operation as we regularly spray each other and put cool wet towels around our necks. We are also attempting to do the bulk of our driving during cooler early morning temperatures; cooler being somewhere in the 30 Celcius range! Friday, May 18th, 2001, I spent the 16th anniversary of my spinal cord injury in Quetta, Pakistan. As it is every year, it was a day of reflection about my injury – I shed some emotional tears, did some soul searching and talked to much of the home team. I was feeling a bit homesick on this day and was again reminded by Randy Waugh, Operations Manager, of the significance of this trip and just how fortunate we are to live in Canada. George and I had a jam session in a lovely park to a small impromptu audience; George on the guitar and me on harmonica. I purchased a beautiful Afghanistan oriental rug, my only major purchase on the trip, a keepsake from my journey to the east and a sentimental reminder of this day. We departed Quetta early Saturday morning, only to find out quickly that there was a gas strike in the town and we were unable to locate a gas station to fill up at. While we were trying to locate an open gas station, the entire area experienced a power outage from what we thought might be a local storm. So here we were, no gas, no power - quite the norm for this part of the world. We later found out that the power outages were in fact due to the extreme heat; Ottawa has ice-storms, Pakistan has heat storms. We finally left quiet Quetta and started our journey to Lahore. While we were on top of a mountain pass, we stopped the truck to watch an incredible storm in the distance over a remote village. It was absolutely magnificent – I have never seen anything quite so spectacular. We stopped in a few Pakistani small towns which were crazy with activity, quite foul-smelling and with primitive hotel accommodations. We decided our best bet was to quickly push on for the larger city of Lahore. The closer we got, the more the roads improved and, though the expressway wasn't the trans-Canada, we were able to get up to 100 kilometres per hour. We spent a few rest days in Lahore, revelling in our relatively luxurious hotel rooms - hot water and a bath-tub. It is hard to remember when we took our last hot bath. Hmm, maybe that explains the foul odours. Unfortunately, most of the tourist sites are not accessible so we all split up to do our own sightseeing excursions and taking care of business. During a visit to the Pakistan Orthopaedic Hospital for the disabled, I was prepared for the worst, but was pleasantly surprised with the conditions. It was privately funded, well-run and involved in an advanced level of prosthesis work. Generally the disabled gravitate toward the larger urban centers for treatment, and there is a long waiting list to get in to facilities such as this (the largest in the country). While having the ‘Beast' repaired next to a military base, a young disabled captain caught wind of what was going on next door and came to visit. He was quite proud of his flashy wheelchair and the vehicle he drove. It is quite obvious there is a huge discrepancy in the funding levels of military and civilian disabled persons. Military funding seems to be proportionate to the time of service and overall they are much better treated. We were introduced to the captain's major, who had a good understanding of disability issues and as one thing led to the next we found ourselves out for an impromptu lunch of Chinese food. We found it quite amusing - here we are in Pakistan eating lunch at a local Chinese restaurant. Next stop...India. For more information, visit www.roundtheworldchallenge.com
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