Assalam-0-Alaikum Guys,
Recently had a wonderful trip to Ormara travelling along the coast line on N-10 Makran Coastal Highway. It was a refreshing time off from the busy routine life and a memorable one. Would be sharing pics and some trip details.
Me and my cousin have been working on the plan for quite a few days and got eager in the end to do a road trip anywhere feasible. We have done several tours together in the past and Alhamdulillah all left great memories. But we always get lazy in planning the next one. Same is the case as i am writing this 
after being back but we plan to address this issue soon.
This time we finally decided to head to the south western side of our beautiful country. Most of us on the trip haven't been to this side earlier, only my father and mamo got a chance to visit these places some 8-10 years ago. So being a new destination, we decided to lock down our trip for Kund Malir which got stretched to Ormara in the end, a decision that we all admired later. Pakwheels was a great help as always in getting some info beforehand as well as getting motivated.
The travel to most of the Baluchistan has been an alien thing for more than a decade and its really unfortunate that one of our province had almost no tourism due to the unrest. Fortunately things have started to change and a lot more people are travelling now close to the coastline towns. I myself didn't have an idea until we were at Kund Malir, and contrary to my expectation, there were a lot of groups including families too. To be honest, Baluchistan travel does offer a different experience, and along with the usual elements of thrill and excitement that you get while travelling to other parts of the country, there is an additional factor of uncertainty that keep bothering you. Some take it as adventure, but it wont be incorrect if I call it a scary feeling primarily due to security concern. I do think however that the wilderness, remoteness and lack of infrastructure pose a challenge too. I say that because I have been to different places in Baluchistan and to the upper part bordering Afghanistan too, but the tourist attractions are at long distances and backward too for someone coming outside the province. This is unlike other areas where you have a town or help available every 20 odd kilometers and Telecom coverage available throughout. Since there has been an absence of travelers, the locals also aren't very used to of interacting visitors but that doesn't mean they aren't helpful. They are great people, and who wouldn't want improved economic conditions, but obviously they need sometime accommodating visitors again and getting things back to normal. With the improving security situation, I wont say that things have been completely under control where you can move around anywhere in Baluchistan in tee shirt and shorts, but certainly its not entirely a No-Go area. A very few places you need to avoid that are still troubled areas. Anyways thats a topic for another post but one has to do the homework just as you do for any new place.
For both me and my cousin, one of the motivational factor in our trips has always been the long drive and the pleasure of travelling on own rides, rather than flying to get somewhere or catching a public transport or hiring a contract carriage. A lot of people might disagree to us but i am sure a lot will agree too. This year, we got 2 cars replaced for different reasons and bought a Civic 98 and a Nissan 92, so were desperate to test them out on long route, since we don't issue a passing certificate to our cars until they proves their worth on a highway trip so trip to banta tha. However we unfortunately couldn't take Civic due to a left over work in axle (ahh.. Chinese axles) that we couldn't complete in time. Vitz 2001 took its place instead.
The first thing we decided after finalizing the destination was to drop ladies off the trip. That allowed us to cater for the uncertainty we had about the night stay and the travelling conditions. Next we got into discussions on the length of trip and decided to leave Saturday morning to reach there mid day, visit all the surroundings and Hingol, have a stay at kund malir, and get back Sunday evening while making stops in between. But we were not able to get enough info on night stay at kund malir, neither the facility nor the rates. The Friday was an off too, so my cousin came up with a suggestion to leave Friday evening to reach Uthal which was more probable to have overnight accommodation, and was only about 10-15 kilometer away from zero point. That was a good idea since it could act as a retreat point for sat night too in case we fail to find a suitable place at kund malir to stay. Plus it reduced our travel time by a couple of hours for the sat morning and provided us time to extend our tour to Ormara. I rang up one of my relatives whom with I was hopeful of having some contact in uthal to get us the reservation. He was so helpful that he not only got a us a reservation in uthal but helped us out with contacts in kund malir and Ormara as well. This encouraged us to think more seriously for Ormara. Finally it were 8 people and two Cars ready for the trip.
We started getting our cars prepared a week ago. Nissan 92 was bought a couple of months ago with work required in suspension as well as engine. I had the engine replaced with a same model 1.3 kabuli one for 35,000. I didn't change the gearbox at that time which i regretted later, and drove for about a month with the original 4 speed manual gearbox. Fortunately I got a good engine and it was having excellent response and pickup. But it was like one gear missing desperately as my speedo hit nighties. I got it replaced with a 5 speed manual for 10,000 in two attempts. Just before the trip, a week ago, i had all the suspension work done too. Couple of tyres were week , so changed them as well. Things seemed good enough and it was ready for the trip.
On the other hand Civic 98 was only having axle issue. We have generally been in the toyata club and a proponent too, but do admire a few things in hondas. We did have experience with lancers and suzukis but never kept a honda. So my cousin wanted to get first hand experience with honda and purchased it almost 6 months ago in good condition. But anyways, close to the trip, the only problem bothering us was its chinese axle that became quite vocal a few days ago. We tried our best even a day earlier to get it replaced with complete inner/outer set but couldn't get it done in time. We thought to take a chance and get the trip done but then decided against it due to our limited knowledge and experience in hondas, and the fact that it was a 'china axle'. Eventually, our Vitz 2001, a trusted companion and a proven machine had to serve once again. Even with its slip clutch plate, we didn't have any worries or concerns on its reliability. So just got the tank full and it was ready to leave. Cng cylinders were kept full too for reserve miles on both cars.
here are the trip highlights:
- dates: 23rd - 25th October, 2015 - 2 nights & 2 days.
- Left around 5:15 PM on 23rd and reached Uthal around 7:30 PM.
- Had a night stay and a BarBQ
- 24th in the morning, had the breakfast , refueled the cars and left for zero point.
- Reached Kund Malir , rested and inquired on the night stay, and then left for Ormara around 10 AM.
- Made a few stops along the way for photos on buzi pass & princess of hope, and reached Ormara at 12:10 PM.
- Had our lunch in the ormara city & got a place for night stay at our contact's spot which initially didn't look possible.
- Enjoyed the beach, had the dinner and then again a BarBQ at night which was even better than last night.
- 25th in the morning, did the breakfast at dhaaba on the intersection of pasni/ormara city around 9 AM and headed back for Kund Malir.
- Reached kund malir's fish market which was closed that day. Enjoyed the beach and then stopped over to the main kund malir spot.
- Had a tea there and then left around 2 PM to touch Hingol. However time didn't allow us and we made a stop only for zuhar before heading back to karachi.
- Got back in the city around 6 PM.
Total distance travelled: 850 kms
Total fuel/cost Vitz: 45 litres + 500 Rupee CNG - 3500 Rupees - Avg : 17 KM/Litre
Total fuel/cost Nissan: 63 litres + 200 Rupee CNG- 5500 Rupees- Avg : 13 KM/Litre
Passengers: 8 (4 in each car)
Road Condition : Excellent - Not a single meter of unpaved road.
Petrol Pumps/Tyre shop/hotels/Mosques - Road side hotels were rare from zero Point to kund malir, but did see them. Only made 1 stop while coming back at a mosque. 1 tyre shop at kund malir and that was closed too. No Pakistani petrol as soon as you leave RCD and onto coastal highway. Between kund malir & ormara, nothing. Didn't find any suitable place for night stay at Kund Malir. One hotel owner asked for 3000 per night for a barely 8x8 room in a hut but he probably played a gamble with us as people usually dont stay there. At Ormara, definitely no hotel to stay as per our findings.
Traffic : Very very light and almost none between Kund Marir & Ormara.
Telecom coverage : Zong and Telenor
Toll/Check post/Sign of Police: toll at Zero Point, coast guard check post almost 45 minutes away from zero point, guards/employees at hingol information center and entrance for nani mandir, Coast guard check post at Ormara/Pasni Intersection.
