We took a 3 hour ride in a minivan from Murree to Abottabad. There were 4 pax per row (designed for 3 pax), 5 rows including the driver’s cab. All together 20 people in a Toyota Hiace. Along the way we had people hold on to he racks at the back of the van as paid passengers (no doubt discounted). In rural communities, there aren’t many alternatives.
Abbottabad is our first stop on the Karakoram Highway; I thought it would be a good staging post without having to get back to Rawalpindi. The downside is that buses for the KKH leave from Pindi and we may have trouble getting a seat by the time it gets to Abbottabad. Wish us luck for tomorrow.
More recently, Abbottabad is know as the place where Osama bin Laden was killed by the US troops. I call it Osamaville 🙂
On the 3 hour journey from Murree, I sat to a military cadet who told me a little bit from the Pakistani point of view; as the US had launched the attack from Afghanistan without Pakistani consent it was a slight on Pakistan’s sovereignty. Osama’s residence was in Habib Colony not far from the Pakistan Military Academy!
Once in Abbottabad, I toyed with the idea of visiting Osama’s former residence. I know that it has been reduced to rubble by the Pakistani authorities but I thought it would be a little interesting but morbid. There are no tuktuks in this town and that left me with only a minivan or taxi. It seemed like a creepy thing ask the driver too so I went for a walk in the market instead.
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- Stop for a car wash before arriving in Abbottabad.
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- Pakistani truck; a work of art.
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- Pakistani truck; a work of art.
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- The bazaar at Abbottabad.
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- The bazaar at Abbottabad.
