India & Pakistan

Saturday June 29th
Had hoped for letters from home, but no luck.

Set off for Bangalore about 10.00, with the Rubythons, having had farewell beers with the Captain before leaving. He has been so kind and generous to us all. He gave me a cartoon of cigarettes – no trouble with customs as we are already cleared. Will be sorry to say Goodbye.

Got to Bangalore about 5.00 – ahead of the Rubythons. Sleeping two nights in grounds of Bangalore Club, with Geoff and Chris, thanks to kindness of Mr. Eswer who was on the Ship and is on the Committee of the Club. Rubythons arrived about 6.00 and we all had a drink, & bath in the Club. They are having trouble with their wheels which are too big and they will have to stay on and try to get them changed. They have a proper loo and brandy glasses etc. Makes our shovel and plastic mugs look pretty tatty! Reckon they are a lot more comfortable than we are really. Bangalore very cool (about 3000 ft up) – a bit too cold at night.

Speedometer Reading: 11503    Mileage: 223

Sunday June 30th
Sorted out van in the morning. In the afternoon Peter and I went to the Races – disastrous – lost 100 rupees. Had hoped to augment our income instead of decreasing it. However, we enjoyed the afternoon.

Speedometer Reading: 11508    Mileage: 5

Monday July 1st
Left Bangalore Club about 9.30, taking Poonah road. Had lunch in the middle of nowhere in a howling gale (Fried Rice). Good road. Open country. Have stopped at Resthouse in Hubli for the night – sleeping in van – very nice young Indian has offered us the use of his bathroom as he is staying in the resthouse.

Speedometer Reading: 11782    Mileage: 274

Tuesday July 2nd
Left Hubli at 7.30 after cup of coffee. Drove 70 miles and had breakfast by roadside. Later in the day smelt gas and found gas pouring out of cylinder – tightened up relief valve and hope for the best. Roads mediocre. Turned up north at Poonah (nasty town to get out of) for Nasik. Drove longer than we meant, as we couldn’t find anywhere to park for the night. Finally fetched up at Narayangaon where there is a resthouse. Have parked in grounds and had a wash in one of the bathrooms. Thunderstorm in evening.

Speedometer Reading: 12118   Mileage: 336

Wednesday July 3rd
Left at 7.30 – had breakfast on the road about 9.30. Got lost in Dhulia – fetched up at Circuit House in Indore – had wash. Hideous rain and thunderstorm. Slept in van just outside House.

Speedometer Reading: 12484   Mileage: 366

Thursday July 4th
Left about 8.15 having had breakfast in Resthouse for 2 rupees each – porridge and omelette. Filled up thermos with cool water. Resthouse keeper very helpful. Bought mangos which we ate for lunch – very thirst-quenching. Roads bad to begin with and then improved. Settled for night at Dak Bungalow (P.W.D.) at Dholpur – parked on grass outside.

Speedometer Reading: 12843    Mileage: 359

Friday July 5th
Left Dholpur at 8.00 and drove straight through to Delhi via Agra. Arrived about 12.00. Had bath. Brian arrived back for lunch, but Ann is away in London – pity. Had rest in afternoon (staying with Lendrums). Peter tried to get our visas etc., fixed but it was Friday and a Moslem holiday so the Afghan Embassy was closed. Early bed.

Speedometer Reading: 13009    Mileage: 166

Saturday July 6th
Brian lent us his car and driver and we went to the Pakistan Embassy where we managed to get our road permit. No luck with Iran and Afghan visas – the former has to be obtained at Kabul, and the latter at Peshawar. Back to Lendrums.

Sunday July 7th
Cleaned the van thoroughly inside and organised packing etc. Wrote letters home. Brian left for Moscow this morning so we have the house to ourselves. Servants most efficient & helpful.

Monday July 8th
Left Delhi at 10.00 having stocked up with boiled water and done some shopping. Had my hair cut. Asked him to cut it short and now I have none left. Look most peculiar but it will keep me going. Drove to Ferozepore, about 19 miles from India/Pakistan border and put up for the night at the same Police Post we had stayed at on our way out. They remembered us and were very welcoming – giving us cups of tea and allowing us a wash. We have bought an old coach horn which we have fixed to the side of the van – (brass bulb type) but it has broken off. Peter is trying to mend it but no luck.

At about 7.00 p.m. 10 large Sikhs piled into the van and told us they were going to take us to the village for food – we thought they were Policemen off duty. However, the Chief Police Officer came chasing after us and brought us back and explained that we had, in fact, gone off with a whole lot of defaulters who had come to the Police Station for their daily report. Most of them were drunk, and up for thieving. We were very chastened and ashamed of ourselves. Were given curry (not v. good) from Police station.

Speedometer Reading: 13287    Mileage: 278

Tuesday July 9th
Worried by mosquitos all night and did not sleep very well. Something jumped on the top of the van in the night – think it must have been a wild cat. Left about 8.00 and went straight to Hussainiwala – the border between India and Pakistan. Longwinded business getting through as usual. Gave lift to two hitch hiking overlanders, as far as Lahore. Changed money – black market rate, getting 16 rupees to the pound instead of the 13 which is the Bank rate. Feeling very pleased with ourselves. Drove on and went to see the Mangla Dam, about 9 miles off the main road to Rawalpindi, which is our next big town, as we are travelling home through Afghanistan instead of taking the southern route through the length of Pakistan over all those ghastly roads. Dam well worth seeing – a quite incredible engineering feat. We drove right round the back of it and saw the lake behind it. Are now parked at a Police Post at a village called Dina. Put watches forward ½ an hour.

Speedometer Reading: 13506    Mileage: 219

Wednesday July 10th
Set off about 7.30 after cup of coffee. Stopped for breakfast about 20 miles further an. After breakfast we drove on only to hear nasty clonking noise coming from rear – in region of back axle. Stopped to investigate but found nothing. Lorry stopped to help and also a van, the latter escorted us most of the way to Rawalpindi where we limped into British Embassy to enquire for Bedford Agents – if any. Led to Garage, where, after much dismantling of back axle, which they thought originally was broken, they found the fault in three cogs of the axle being broken or sheared. No spares to be got here. We were lucky that the Manager of the Bedford Agents in Karachi happened to be in the Garage in Rawalpindi – he’s agreed that Bedfords will pay the cost – he is returning to Karachi today and if spares are available there (doubtful) he will have them flown up. Failing that, they will have to be flown out from U.K. We may get stuck here for a week or more. Have put up in tatty private hotel called Mrs Davies Hotel. Service pleasant, but everything incredibly shabby .

Speedometer Reading: 13570    Mileage: 219

Thursday July 11th
Went to Afghan Embassy and can collect Visas tomorrow – we hope. Have bought pack of cards. Had snack in snack bar of Intercontinental Hotel – Service slow. Spent afternoon resting, playing piquet and chess. Still no news of spare parts. Hotel bedroom smells – so does bathroom. We have two non-flush closets side by side – no chemicals in them – reminds me of “The Specialist”. After 24 hours of Mrs Davies Hotel we are bored stiff with it – hope to goodness we get away soon – but it does not look too hopeful.

Friday July 12th
It poured with rain in the night and our roof leaked – had to shift my bed and put buckets under the leaks. Reckon this is the most sordid dump I have been in for a long time. Service and food good, but accommodation atrocious (£3 a day all in for both of us). Collected Visas from Afghan Embassy. Went to Garage but still no news of our spare parts – we shall not know anything now till Monday I’m afraid. Tried to see film, but either we had seen them or they were in Hindi – not all that desperate yet. Played chess and started making up a crossword puzzle. Also went to Tourist Bureau this morning to find out about any tours in case we are stuck here all next week.

Saturday July 13th
Peter has got another tummy upset – thought we’d got him cured – dosing him with pills which we got from Doctor in K.L. for dysentery and hope they will do the trick. Went to Manager of Grindleys Bank this morning, and Manager kindly cashed a cheque for me on my Barclays Bank cheque – we shall have a lot of added expense with all this time in the hotel. No news of the cogs yet. Wrote letters, played chess and cards and read. V. bored with life.

Sunday July 14th
Wrote letters, played chess and cards and read. V. bored. We have trouble at meals now as we both have difficulty in controlling ourselves over the Indian at the next door table who reduces us to hysterics while drinking his soup. Makes the most incredible noise and we have christened him Slurp John B. Getting quite attached to this extraordinary place, as although accommodation is so tatty, we do have a sitting room to ourselves, and our bearer is an exceptionally nice chap – courteous and friendly, and appears at any time of the night with buckets to help move furniture and catch the worst of the water that cascades down on us each night now. No rain by day, but torrents every night and we are constantly soaked. The room is airless and incredibly hot and the fan seems to be in danger of coming adrift and flying round the room, decapitating us as it goes. All rather terrifying and it only has two speeds – stop or millions of revolutions a minute.

Monday July 15th
Went to the Garage a.m. and they were expecting the spares today and suggested we went back this afternoon. Returned 3.30 ish to find work almost completed to our relief. It was explained to us that Karachi had only managed to replace one cog – the broken, and main one. The two damaged ones have been polished and replaced. This has resulted in the rear back wheel differential being affected – have to corner carefully and see that engine does not labour – difficult on the poor grade petrol we are forced to buy. There is a possibility that the new cog will not last as the other two are so faulty, so we have been given a spare and a tin of axle oil. Only had to pay for spare cog and oil (Rs 68). Gather that Karachi have been very good and waived all formalities regarding Bedford’s payment, in order not to delay us any longer. The garage here seemed surprised that we only had three cogs in the differential but reckon that Bedfords have changed their specification from four to three. Seems odd to us. We are now dealing with water, packing etc. Will leave after breakfast tomorrow. Have done some useful stocking up on food.

Tuesday July 16th
Set off from Rawalpindi after breakfast – full of high hopes of reaching Kabul today. However, after about 30 miles we developed more noises from our rear end – a whine, as on four wheel drive vehicles, on accelerating, followed by a grating noise on decelerating. Pushed on to Peshawar where we found the Bedford Agents. After a wait during lunch hour we phoned through to the garage at Rawalpindi and got them to explain to the Garage people here exactly what had been done to the Van. Had a cup of tea and were told it would take till 12.00 tomorrow to examine trouble. Tried Dak bungalow for accommodation as they would not let us sleep on Garage premises in the Van – Dak bungalow v. tatty and no rooms vacant. Tourist Bureau recommended Greens Hotel where we are now ensconced for the night. Ghastly place – insisted on clean sheets as ours were a deep shade of grey and had been slept in by goodness knows how many people before us. Went out to nice restaurant to cheer ourselves up – Jan’s Cafe and Hotel – and had good meal. I had Chicken Korma and Peter had Chicken Maryland.

Speedometer Reading: 13697    Mileage: 127