Dera Ismail Kham

Leaving for Dera Ismail Kham (DI Kham), we were looking forward to smooth roads, having been assured the worst was behind us. Little did we know that in the next four hours we would progress less than 20 kilometres. The road was blocked at six different places before we got out of the mountains. It was landslide season.

Once out, we made better progress. The two pictures below are from Fort Munro the day before.

Passing through Dera Ghazi Kham (DG Kham), we were intercepted by the police. After a brief exchange, we went on and then encountered an escort. Ten or more escorts came and went as we cruised on at a decent clip. The police was very efficient, handing us off on the fly at the various cantonments and regional boundaries. They escorted us to the hotel we specified. It was a refreshing change from earlier escorts. 

While in DI Kham, I wanted to walk to a small food store, within sight of the hotel gate, but was dissuaded by the hotel manager who sent someone instead to do my shopping. Sectarian violence between Sunni and Shia Muslims was at a peek. The police had left a guard at the hotel for us. Probably he was also there to make sure we didn't take off without them the next morning.