DAY 96 - RAWALPINDI

96) SATURDAY, 1 OCTOBER 1977 : 0KMS. - RAWALPINDI

Went to check mails at the Poste Restante and got 2 letters, one from LEX(Marinsa) and one from MU(Narong) but nothing from home. It should be good having no news from home because it showed  that no one was worried or too concerned about our travelling adventure.  It was possible that  I failed to give them the  address of the Poste Restante in RAWALPINDI.

RAWALPINDI - Photo : citypictures.org / Bing images search

I was very excited today having learnt from MU and LEX’s letters  that RUDI (Rudolph Bergmeister), our friend in STUTTGART would  follow our trails soon,  with another friend -MARTIN, by driving his Mercedes and  trailer to INDIA and Bangkok, by taking the sea route from MADRAS to PENANG. They were scheduled to travel from Germany on  October 1, '77  to arrive MADRAS  by November 15, '77, expecting  to meet with us in late October '77 in NEW DELHI. It was really  good news that we were  looking forward to with much excitement.

ISLAMABAD - Photo : friendscorner.org / Bing images search

In the afternoon we visited the modern capital of PAKISTAN, ISLAMABAD - about 10 km away from RAWALPINDI.  I saw stalls selling wrapped betel nuts ready for chewing. It seemed to be  common for both men and women here having  beautiful red lips due to chewing the wrapped  betel nuts.

DAY 95 - RAWALPINDI

95) FRIDAY, 30 SEPTEMBER 1977 : 35KMS. – RAWALPINDI

Travel route AFGHANISTAN - PAKISTAN

We went to visit TAXILA  Museum and the ancient city nearby. There were many Buddha statues of Gandhara  art. They are all beautiful. I saw one Buddha statue, of which the model was copied and on displayed at the porch of the church of the Marble Temple in Bangkok.

The emaciated Gandharan Buddha image - Photo : linka-me.blogspot.com / Bing images search

 
TAXILA was the center of art and knowledges in ancient times and reached her prosperity in the Buddhist era, especially during the reign of Emperor ASHOKA  and KANISHKA or even before that  it was also under the influence of  ALEXANDER  the Great  (327 BC ).

Head of Buddha statue - Photo : Bing images search

From  TAXILA we headed to the temporary capital city RAWALPINDI. The weather was very hot and we had to stop for a rest.  There were many people coming out from their houses  lying to relax in the park. It was amazing for me to see a flock of about more than 10 parrots, green and red colors, in the middle of the park in RAWALPINDI .  They flew and cried noisily all around the park area.

RAWALPINDI - Photo : weather-forecast.com / Bing images search

 

VII. PAKISTAN – GATEWAY TO THE INDIAN SUB-CONTINENT AND ORIGIN OF BUDDHA IMAGE

DAY 94 - TAXILA

94) THURSDAY, 29 SEPTEMBER 1977 : 265KMS. - TAXILA
 
Getting up early, about 8.00 am for departure from JALALABAD to visit ancient temple ( 2-7 B.E.) in HADDA. It was ancient Buddhist pilgrimage center between 2-7 B.E. and was said that the Lord Buddha had come to visit here as well. A major Buddhist art  unearthed here were Buddhist images of ancient Gandhara period.

JALALABAD road - Photo : wikipedia.org / Bing images search

Gandhara Buddha images/statues are influenced by Greek art combined with Buddhist art . They are  the first images built up as person since the Buddhist art had not been previously influenced by the Greeks until Alexander the Great’s invasion of Asia.  Earlier usual Buddhist symbol was often characterized by a Thammachak (a wheel of Karma).

Gandhara buddha 1st -2nd C - Photo : wikipedia,org / Google images search

We drove straight to the border TORKHAM in a short period of time. No trouble in crossing the border but we had to wait a little longer on the side of PAKISTAN as it was lunch break. There were Pakistanis and Afghans walking across the border uninterruptedly. This border crossing was very busy but not so many tourists from Europe anyway. I saw trucks with beautiful painting designs and flashy colored body, not much different from plumage costumes of Chinese opera !

Border crossing at TORKHAM - Photo : Gusthed (Bo Kage Carison) / Flickriver (Google)

After passing customs check on PAKISTAN side, we continued driving across the  KHYBER PASS, an old 1,030 meters high mountain pass since ancient times from Asia to Europe. The route was full of tortuous paths and from now we had to drive on the left which is different from driving on the right in Europe. 

 http://munichtomadras1977.blogspot.com

I had to remind Tilo to keep left all the time because in other countries we passed earlier, driving was on the right the same as in Germany where we came from and it just started to change here. However, along the road side now and then there were big warning signs for drivers written to always keep to the LEFT....

KHYBER Pass - Photo : trekearth.com / Bing images seasrch

We passed over the KHYBER PASS and arrived in PESHAWAR, where we stopped to fill the tank before  continuing to TAXILA until dark around 7.00 p.m. to stop overnight.

 

TAXILA - Photo : the south-asian.com / Bing images seasrch

DAY 93 - JALALABAD

93) WEDNESDAY, 28 SEPTEMBER 1977 : 148KMS. - JALALABAD

After  many  days of rest  in Kabul, it was time to go on. We left KABUL , heading along the Asian Highway to the east . We drove through a high level  Pai Par Pass and the town SOROBI (SORUBI) along the streams , until we reached  the border town JALALABAD.

                                  Sorubi/Sorobi - Afghanistan
                                      

Kabul river in Sorubi - Photo : wikimedia.org / Bing images search

JALALABAD - Photo : Abdulhaq Noori / weather-forecast.com (Google images search)