Location: Jhelum, Pakistan
| Lat/Lng: |
32.92633, 73.72711 |
| Kilometers: |
118.74 |
| Time in the Saddle: |
06:11:18 |
Today was another day of unbelievable hospitality and kindness. After we woke up and said goodbye to everyone, it was much later than we had planned, probably around 7:00 am. We decided to stop at a small street stall in town before riding out. After ordering some rice, dal (lentils) and channa (chickpeas), we sat down and ate.
As we were eating, the owner, an older man in his 60's or 70's brought over a huge lassi (yogurt shake) for us to drink. When we finished and asked him for the bill, he shook his head no and shook our hand. Wow, we couldn't believe it! To us, this generosity seems even more overwhelming coming from India, where things are much more business-like, and you unfortunately always have to be on your guard to keep from getting ripped off.
It was warm riding, but not as hot as the last few days somehow. We stopped for drinks quite often to fend off dehydration. The gifts continued as many people offered to buy us tea. One man and his wife walked over to us and handed us some sodas as we were sitting in the shade at a gas station. At another gas station, we were given more sodas, water, and even two face cloths to take with us and use to wipe off the sweat as we rode.
In fact, the offers of gifts got to be so many that we had to start saying no because it was getting late and we weren't sure if we would make it to Jehlum in time. One guy wanted to go and have a tea together, while another offered to buy us more orange juice as soon as we finished ours and another man asked us to sleep at his house...so incredible.
As we were about to leave one gas station, Meredith discovered she had a flat tire. The owner wouldn't let us patch it, instead he took it over to the tire shop and had it repaired free of charge. What a day of kindness. Even with all the stops, we made it to Jhelum by 6:00 pm and found a place to stay.
We decided to take a walk around the small city and spotted a fruit stand. After we bought some peaches, the owner put a big bunch of a special fruit we haven't seen before in the bag and it said it was a "gift". Then as we sat at a small restaurant and Keith ordered some dal and rice, the owner brought over some tea as another "gift from me to you". This was getting to be crazy and this was all only in one day! Tomorrow, we will head to Islamabad and spend a couple of days there getting things in order before heading north on the Karakoram Highway...
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