Making it to Shikarpur

When we left Hyderabad at eight in the morning we hoped that the six-hour drive would be uneventful and we would make it to Shikarpur in six hours. It was nice that my mentor, Terry gave us a ride. The alternative was a bus or train, which could have been adventurous, but also would have been stressful with having all our stuff we brought from Canada with us and not really knowing the cultural norms when it comes to public transit (I am sure there will be plenty of other times we will have to use the bus or train).  So we were thankful for the ride. So the car was packed down with suite cases on the roof and we started off on our trip.

            The super highway, which runs from Karachi to Islamabad, is a great idea in theory, but it has some kinks to be worked out in practice. The divided portion of the highway is great, but as we were traveling we would often have to switch to the other side of the median onto oncoming traffic or oncoming traffic would have to switch sides and come towards us. This often happened without any warning. It was quite scary all of a sudden to see cars flying at you honking and blinking lights telling us we had better get out of the way. A few times it got really scary with huge holes on the side of the road and there was no place to move over.

The reason this was happening was because they were redoing the pavement on the opposite side. Terry told me that due to the lack of workmanship the first time the pavement was done the road is constantly getting repaired. At one point we saw Chinese people working on the highway. Terry was telling me that Chinese companies were now being hired to oversee the paving of the road because they were known for better quality. However, the Chinese foremen needed an armed police guard at all times because they would constantly get attacked by the jealous Pakistanis.

            Then there was the sugarcane. Apparently it was time for the sugarcane harvest and as such many trucks and carts pulled by camels were all loaded down with sugarcane. In one area there were so many trucks and camel carts waiting to get into the sugarcane factory that they blocked the super highway. Thanks to my mentor’s quick reflexes and driving ability we were able to go around them by 4x4ing with his Honda Civic. This happened in a few places, with truck after truck blocking the highway. The other side of the road was blocked too and so even the small pathway we were able to find for us to get through was becoming blocked by oncoming traffic trying to get through the other way. If we had been 10 minutes later we would have certainly been blocked in for a very long wait.

           

After getting through the sugarcane, we travelled freely for a while. We even stopped for lunch. This is where something remarkable happened. We all sat down to eat and our food came, but Abigail was fussing and usually this means one of us has to feed her while the other one eats. However the waiter came over and took Abi from us and watched her the whole time we ate our meal! It was a bit uneasy at first, but I was assured this was normal. The waiter even brought Abi into the kitchen to meat the kitchen staff. She came back out with candy. Fantastic! Where’s this kind of service in Canada?

            We moved on from lunch and came to another problem of backed up traffic. This time my mentor got out and asked around what was going on. He found out that due to strikes a few days earlier the highway was still backed up and traffic was moving slowly. By the looks of the drivers out and about and having tea it looked like a very long wait. So we decided to go around the back way. Political parties usually cause the strikes that happen in Pakistan. The party’s supporters will block the roads, blow things up, and threaten shopkeepers with guns if they keep open during the strike. This is a normal monthly occurrence here. There are many times when we are told it is not safe to travel between cities because of strikes.

            As we were traveling through the bumpy dirt back roads of the Sindh, Terry told us he had phone ahead and asked if the highway was open, and they said it was. However, he also told us that he had read in the newspaper that because of the traffic being stuck for days because of the strike, people were being robbed and looted. This explained his hurry to try and get to Shikarpur before nightfall.

            We made our way driving through the countryside and being on “tour” with Terry for a few hours until we had to go back on the Super Highway.  finally did arrive at Shikarpur, just before the sun set. We were very thankful for God’s protection and that Terry was able to find his way through the traffic and get us safely to our new home.

           

Our home in Shikarpur is quite nice. There are definitely things we are missing, but for being in Pakistan, we like Shikarpur much better then the big city of Hydrabad. It is much quieter and relaxed on the Hospital compound. As well we are right next door to other westerners who have come to help out at the hospital and it is nice from time to time to retreat from a world that is so different from what we are use to a place that is familiar among Canadian friends, and well our American friends as well (They are a bit different though J)

            Next time I will write about being a shepherd, not only for God, but also for….