A Road Trip to Afghan Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan

Last Thursday, I woke up at 4 o’clock, took shower, changed cloth, prayed and went out from home to get a taxi till the bus station or Puli Mahmood Khan. It’s a distance of 3-4 kilometer to get there. When I got out, it was too dark and small drops of snow was falling down. I stood on the road known as Kabul-Jalalabad Road to catch a Taxi (All passengers going Jalalabad or coming to Kabul passes through this road). It was too early and I could hardly see two or three vehicles after five or six minutes on the road but none of them wanted to stop by. The road was wet and slippery and I was standing aside, to protect my clothes from the mud while vehicles passing through the road but when I spent sometime and saw that none of the driver is stopping I went to the middle of the road, left some space that a vehicle can pass and started walking towards Puli Mohmood Khan. Sometimes I was waving my hand, looking to the vehicle driver when he was getting closed to me or moving through wards the vehicles, thinking that someone may feel pity watching the snow or will pretend that I am in hurry. While walking on the road, I heard Azan and realized that I have prayed to early, didn’t think of the time but was just in hurry to reach my destination on time. Suddenly, a taxi slowly passed me and the driver asked me if I am going to bazaar. Without discussion, I sat and reached Puli Mahmood Khan within 10 minutes. In normal days you can see many corollas, standing there and the drivers could catch anybody walking on the road if he is going to Jalalabad or Torkham but that morning I counted that there were only seven and the drivers were inside the vehicles. One of the corollas already had passengers while only one person was left in the front seat. I sat in that corolla (as the weather conditions were not good and I thought that there won’t be more travelers) and started the journey to Torkham Pakistan boarder. I was sitting in front with the driver while a boy and a lady with her two sons were at the back. She was here, to see her father and mother whereas she was living with her husband in Peshawar City, Pakistan and the young boy, age 26-28 who was taking her back, was her nephew.On the way, I had my own discussions with the driver while the children were talking with her mother and sometimes to their uncle. We traveled slowly for one and half hour and reached Sarobai as the vehicles lights we too dim and the driver was looking new too. Till Torkham I was listening to the radio news in different channels, having naps and sometimes talking with the driver.
After traveling for four and half hours we reached the Pakistan boarder and was a bit unhappy as I was thinking that I am late. Paid the driver and proceed to the gate. While walking on the road (the police officers do not let vehicles from that portion to the gate, people walk and enter Pakistan) I saw bunch of people standing in the middle and at the side of the road but when I got closed, I saw that the Afghan police offices do not allow people with out passport or ID cards (given by Pakistan Government or UNHCR). I entered into the rush and started struggling to get out from there but saw that there were only two places where people could pass while others were covered with razor wires and these were the people who were with out the IDs, neither had passport nor Pakistan IDs. Among the people there were females, children and elders. Additionally, I saw that lady and the boy who accompanied me in the vehicle and were there. I tried to get out from there but the police officer pushed me back and it was repeated for the second time while I was trying to go from that section. I showed my passport to the officer by telling him that my dearest this small note book which I have is my passport after looking at my passport he allowed me to go. I walked fast and didn’t watch my back, get stamped my passport with EXIT and after 5 minutes I came to a place where Pakistani police officers were checking the IDs too. It took sometime till I reached the gate where they would check IDs and let the person to get stamp their passports with ENTRY. I noticed that some folks were transferred by paying to the officers but because of too many people standing there, the officers were assigning other representatives amongst the people, who were talking |negotiating with those Afghan after receiving payments the person or representatives of the officer within the people would have winkled the officer and then he would knew that he has received something from him and would let him enter Pakistan.

In short, from the boarder till Peshawar city it took me one and half hour and from there to Islamabad it took three and half hours to reach through GT road as DAEWOO transportation only travels through GT road and were not using the motorway which will take us only two and half hours to reach Islamabad. I called the Afghan Embassy to let them know that I might be only ten minutes late due to the traffic or of the big trip that I have. First they accepted and asked me to let them known when I am closed to Islamabad but later on, when I called they ignored me and because of these ten minutes, I stayed in a hotel, did other expenses and was delayed from the schedule which I had with myself that I will show myself to a doctor, upon return from Islamabad and will buy clothes for my friends and family in Peshawar but did nothing. In Friday, the embassy officers came at 9 and started their activities after 30 minutes as I was standing in front of the embassy from 8 o’clock. After ten the embassy gave me my degree, paid the registration fee which was $5 and reached Peshawar at 1:30 since it was prayer time. Therefore, I decided to leave soon because the shops will be opening after the prayer and will be good for me if I reach home on time. On the way to home, I bought some fishes at Sarobi, to tell my family that I have brought something as I know that they were expecting more things specially as the winter has began. It was getting darker similar to when I was leaving. Left in dark and reached in dark, it was looking like when we play a movie and then backward it.