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November
13, 1999
Hello
everybody this is Jeff calling from Team Around the World 1999 with the
journal update for November 13, 1999, our 38th day on the trip.
Today, we
drove from Lahore, Pakistan to Multan, Pakistan. It was my turn to drive
Hercules. The 4:00am wake up call was painful this morning. Until I
stepped out of the hotel room, I had forgotten all about the police armed
with automatic weapons who guarded our hotel floor and would be waiting
for us down at the vehicles to escort us to Multan today and through the
whole country of Pakistan. At 5:00am, after our first on-time start of the
entire trip, we immediately realized the security task force instructed
to keep us safe was very much for real. It was absolutely amazing.
There was a
lead vehicle, followed by Alaska, Hercules, and then another vehicle.
Both vehicles had a driver and at least three passenger police officers
all carrying either automatic rifles or shotguns. They sped us through
the dark city, trucks and cars and people all getting out of our way for
us. Along the 300+ km route to Multan different police vehicles would take
over through the respective jurisdictions. Efficiency was incredible. The
logistical planning involved to coordinate the passing of the baton (us),
from city to city was simply incredible. We all felt extremely honored,
humbled, and a little embarrassed at of this fuss and planning and
manpower dedicated to our safety through Pakistan, home, by the way, to
some of the nicest people on the planet.
We made
record time to Multan, of course, and checked into the Holiday Inn. The
managing director of the hotel, Dr. Ahmed, talked to us awhile while we
worked on the vehicles in front of the hotel. We needed a piece welded
and he said to bring it to his Honda dealership down the road. We did and
they kindly welded it for us for free. Dr. Ahmed also made sure we had
breakfast packed and waiting for us the next morning.
That
evening in Multan, Todd and I wanted to go downtown to buy some Pakistan
National Cricket Team sports caps. So, we hopped into the Holiday Inn van
along with two armed officers and caravaned downtown with eight other
armed police officers. We were a spectacle, but Todd and I were very
appreciative of the extra security given to us just to go shopping. We
walked the streets of Multan surrounded by armed guards. Back at the
hotel we enjoyed an excellent buffet of Pakistani food. Upon going back
to our rooms, we learned that we would again have armed police officers
guarding our hotel floor. As usual, Doug and I stayed up way too late
watching TV. That does it for this journal entry for November 13th,
thanks for tuning in.
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