Meeting in the library

Hitchhiking in Pakistan and 130 more countries

On 26 April, a meeting with the Russian traveller Anton Krotov was held at the JINR Universal Public Library. Last autumn he visited Pakistan. An emotional, colorful story about this country and its people, accompanied by a display of numerous photographs, as well as useful tips for future travellers were made at this meeting.

"I am 46 years old, I am from Moscow", Anton Viktorovich began his story. "I am a traveller, I have been travelling for 30 years. I have been to Dubna many times and delivered lectures several times. I hitchhike, sometimes by cheap ground transport, I try not to fly. I do not use the services of guides and travel agencies. I have visited 130 countries of the world, many of them more than once. I travel a lot, in 2019 I spent 11 months travelling. And then Covid-19 pandemic started, yet I had plans for 3-4 years ahead ..."

A.V.Krotov visited Pakistan in 1998. Pakistanis showed hospitality, invited to visit them. This time he used couchsurfing, a service that allows one to stay overnight in the homes of ordinary people. He planned to visit Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad and Peshawar and received dozens of messages inviting him to stay in these places: someone visited Russia during the World Cup and since then has loved our country, someone is just a rich person and someone is a Russian citizen. The fact is that there are few foreigners in Pakistan and even more so during the Covid pandemic. A foreigner raises the rating of a Pakistani, even such a one - "shabby and a little second-hand", as the narrator ironically described himself. An entry visa to the country is obtained on the Internet within 8 days, a coronavirus vaccination certificate is needed to enter and exit. "They themselves pay no mind to the coronavirus - they don't wear masks, you can buy a vaccination certificate, in terms of our money, for 200 rubles." A visa without penalties can be delayed for two weeks. Medical insurance, if it is not required to obtain a visa, Anton does not draw up - "I'm still 46 years old, it's early!"

Pakistan, according to A.V.Krotov, is the most bearded country, "there are 100 million beards", there are beardless ones, but there are very few of them. From extraordinary adornments, even buses and trucks are "bearded". Women, as a rule, wear a veil, but they are also found with open faces and it is impossible to meet a woman with an uncovered head. The Pakistani rupee is 2.5 times cheaper than the ruble and the prices are comparable to ours: bus fare is 20-30 rupees, that is, 8-10 rubles, you can eat for 100 rupees - 40 rubles. You can travel 1000 km by train for 400 rubles. Since the gauge in Pakistan is broader than the Russian one, trains there are broader too and one of the three shelves in a compartment can comfortably accommodate a tall person - the length of the shelf is 190 cm. A foreigner, buying a rail content, has a 25 percent discount.

15 km from Lahore, on the border with India, there is a border show every day. Hindus "quarrel" with Pakistanis because of the disputed territory - Kashmir, which has been a bone of contention for these countries for 70 years. At the show, several thousand spectators from each side gather daily in stands, the tallest frontier guards are selected there - under 2 m tall, in addition special turbans and high-heeled shoes, so that they are two heads taller than ordinary people. "The frontier guards are terribly staring at each other, they are marching. Special ringleaders are shouting patriotic slogans, the audience is picking up, patriotic songs are sounding through huge speakers. It goes on for three hours, then the flags of India and Pakistan go down and everyone goes home."

And here are useful tips from Anton Krotov: if you need to learn something from the locals, then you should look for a person wearing eyeglasses - he has read a lot, harmed his eyes, so that means he knows English. If there is no man with eyeglasses, then you should look for a person with the longest beard, who most likely has studied in a madrasah, therefore he knows Arabic (if, of course, you speak this language, like Anton - O.T.). "If a woman starts exchanging letters in couchsurfing, then it will just be a boom on the Internet! She will have a super choice, everyone will invite her, women there live like fighting cocks. The Pakistanis are very polite, noble, they will feed and water her, but women have to wear a headscarf so that people are not frightened by uncovered hair."

Hitchhiking, according to A.V.Krotov, functions properly in Pakistan. He hitchhiked to Islamabad on the same road as he had done 24 years before. It was expanded, turned into an autobahn, it became more fun to drive. He wanted to take a drive in vintage painted trucks and he did it. Islamabad, unlike other cities in Pakistan, was built according to the master layout, the streets and quarters there are lined up as if using a ruler. Everything is fine, but there is no subway, so he had to hitchhike around the city. All quarters are numbered, you drive or ride on, see your number and get off. In Islamabad, Anton lived at one of a few Pakistani travellers - there are travellers in the country, but there are a very few of them. Muhammad Tahir not only managed to visit Russia, but also hitchhiked to Vladivostok, flew to Kamchatka and visited the Caucasus. A Pakistani, as proof that he had been in Russia, showed Anton a Troika Moscow transport card.

In each city, A.V.Krotov gave a couple of lectures on travel. Pakistanis are not used to travel, in terms of tourism they are at the level of Russia in 1993. There are few visa-free countries for a Pakistani passport, the average income in the country is low. "I wrote in advance that I was ready to give free lectures and they immediately found places for lectures. When I give lectures in Russia, I say, "Bring something for tea!" And they say, "Come, I will feed everyone." Mohammed Tahir organised a lecture by A.V.Krotov at the Ministry of Tourism. He gave lectures at schools and universities.

In a bookstore, he found books in English, phrasebooks in Russian, as well as books about Lenin, Xi Jinping, Donald Trump in Urdu. He purchased a dictionary of the Russian language, "written by the most illiterate Pakistani."

There are no pensions in Pakistan. In many cities there are places where the poor can eat for free at the expense of Muslim Charitable Foundations. Anton at first bought food everywhere, but readers of his blog on the Internet began to ask what the poor were fed with. It turned out to be a very good meal - pilaf with meat. And during the month of Ramadan, 2.5 percent of every bank account in Pakistan is withdrawn to charity.

Peshawar, according to the narrator, is a very cool city. It is situated 47 km from the border with Afghanistan. There are very nice people, delicious food, women, wrapped themselves in their veils in Peshawar. Pashtuns - the most conservative and hospitable of all the peoples of Pakistan live there. The city bus is not a specially decorated vehicle for transporting a circus troupe, it is an ordinary bus, they do not have route numbers, in each ticket operator shouts out the final destination. Men take places in front, women are behind, you can also ride on the roof - the speed of buses is usually low. Cooling fans are spinning inside, lights are flashing outside, chains are ringing, retroreflectors are lighting up. Nowhere in the world, except for Pakistan and Afghanistan, there are such buses. "Our traffic cop, in case seeing such a vehicle, will grab his heart and die."

Pakistan is a very friendly country, very hospitable people live there, who "over the past 25 years have not gone bad: before they invited people to their house to drink tea and eat right from the street, today, you get a lot of invitations on the Internet. You can go to the mountains for free, put up a tent calmly - there are no bandits or thieves. Cops and mosquitoes are the most harmful creatures in the world, and Pakistan is no exception."

Answering questions, A.V.Krotov said that he had not yet been to 70 countries of the world, including South America, since it is the most remote from Russia. He hopes to fly there next New Year. He shared the news from the Academy of Free Travel, as well. In summer, the Academy holds a traditional gathering on the Klyazma and Dubna rivers (Vlasovo station). Lectures are given at the gathering, travellers share new information. A special project of the Free Travel Academy - "A House for All" - this year will be open from 15 July to 15 September in Alma-Ata, from 1 June to 1 September - in Minsk. People of 16 to 80 years of age are accepted, one can find more details on the website of the Academy of Free Travel.

When asked whether he was afraid, Anton replied, "Dangers live in our head. In all my numerous trips to Africa, nothing has been stolen from me. And the Internet is available all over the world, even in Chad!" But one can't hitchhike in North Korea, A.V.Krotov has found out that in this country one can have a trip only for money with a guide and under the supervision of the local Secret Police agent. By the age of 50, he hopes to visit all the countries of Asia, by 60 - Africa.

Well, the last advice from Anton is rather his life credo. "Travelling strengthens the nervous system. When you understand something in life, you will know that any sequence of events is always correct. Coming back from travels, we evaluate life differently."

Olga Tarantina