Harappa

 Harappa 

On leaving Lahore, I discovered that trucks were used to move more than just goods.

We were driving the long route to reach Multan. But we stopped at Harappa en route. It is the site of an ancient Indus civilisation. It has a continuous chronology from 4,500BC to 1,500BC Its empire stretched from the Himalayas, west to Afghanistan, south to the sea and east to India. Another sit 600 kilometres to the south west at Moenjodara is contemporaneous and displays similar potttery and art work.

The amount of finds shows that they were great traders. It is a rich agricultural area so they trade wheat and rice. They had gems, semi-precious stones, bronze and copper that are not found locally and could only have arrived here by trade. Curiously, durinf all the rchaeological digs, they didn't discover ant weapons..

Some of the excavated remains.

Some renovated sections to show haow it might have looked. It is all supposition as they left no writings or inscriptions.

Outside the museum, we picked up our police armed guard. It was a large pickup with four armed guards in the back, a driver and a captain in the front. The vehicle had more flashing lights than a Christmas Tree. We were only allowed further south through Punjab with an escort. The only instruction was to keep together. Easier said than done. The police drove at a faster pace than we had been used to and didn't slow down for speed bumps or corners. It was a bumpy ride.

There was a convoy of three vehicles being escorted to Multan, our next stop. There was my vehicle, with my driver and guide, another car with two Italian ladies plus guide and driver and a minibus with more than half a dozen French tourists.  The convoy system worked well through small towns, rural countryside, over canals and railway tracks. We were always near to the main railway but I never saw a train. I heard one pass as we had a natural break but there was a wall in the way so I only heard it, I didn't see it. 

We reached the motorway and picked up speed. One a rise, the minibus didn't have the power to keep up and fell behind. The two cars were waved on and the escort slowed to be with the minibus. Our escort was somewhere behind us and for more than an hour we didn't see it. Eventually we got a call and ordered to stop and wait to reform. We had just 40 kilometres to go to reach Multan.

In Multan it was difficult to stay in convoy as there was so much traffic, especially motorbikes that weave in and out of traffic but are slower than cars so we would get cut off. We had several calls saying that the captain couldn't see us and that we should spped up. Difficult if there are a dozen motorbikes, tuktuks and lorries in front of you, plus the dozens of pedestrians slipping in between the vehicles. We reached our hotel and peeled off from the convoy.

We were stuck in our hotel. We were under curfew and not allowed out until the morning. Anything we wanted, we had to order.