CHAMAN is expected to be the focus of many an eye in the near future. It is going to be the last check post at the Gwadar Highway which will provide access to the Central Asian countries to the Gwadar Port. Goods worth millions of rupees will be conveniently transported to Afghanistan and to the Central Asian countries through Chaman. But that doesn’t mean that at present the city has no importance.
Chaman serves many visitors who are interested in mountaineering adventures and are keen on purchasing cheap electronic items.
A few days ago, I had the great opportunity to visit this wonderful city. My journey to Chaman started from Quetta in the company of five other friends. We hired a private car to reach our destination. Normally private vehicles charge Rs1,500, but as we were six persons and our car was a little bigger than the usual ones, we had to pay Rs200 extra.
Though Chaman is 120kms away from Quetta, a couple of stops to enjoy a cup of tea turned the journey into an approximately three-hour drive.
The moment you enter Chaman, it grabs your attention. You will immediately notice a breath-taking line of apple trees. Although one doesn’t find much irrigated land while driving towards Chaman, seeing apple trees at certain locations was striking. In fact for Karachiites like myself who hardly see any apple trees in the megapolis, this was quite a rarity.
Dry mountains are another feature of Chaman. One wonders how one can find dry mountains so appealing. The best answer to the query can only be had by travelling through these mountains. The most important and worth-mentioning experience of driving through these mountains is a several-kilometre long train tunnel. As I looked at this tunnel I couldn’t help taking a couple of snaps of the wonderful view. Although the short drive through dry mountains could scare the life out of you — but herein lies the fun of any adventure.
Another big attraction of the journey was that on reaching the peak you could clearly see Afghanistan’s mountain range. As we reached there, clear blue sky and a sunny weather was waiting for us. Along with that, we faced a tiny problem as well. You can hardly have tea with milk in Chaman as the local people like their qahwa (black tea) better. But for visitors, there are a couple of places where you can have tea with milk. Hence it took us almost half an hour to find one such place.
One of the first things we did after reaching Chaman was that we went straight to the gate through which we could set foot on the Afghan soil (had the officials allowed us). I remember once a friend of mine went to Charnan. He confronted no trouble in crossing the gate and entered Afghanistan. But since security measures have increased over the years, we were not allowed to cross the gate.
The biggest attraction of Chaman is its bazaar. Here goods, especially electronic items, are sold at inexpensive prices. We spent almost the whole day visiting the market and haggling over the rates. Ultimately I purchased a digital floppy camera, which cost me just Rs5,000. Well you don’t have to be shocked because in Chaman this is nothing. Second hand electronic items such as movie cameras, digital still cameras and laptops could be bought at really cheap rates.
It is no secret matter that these electronic goods are smuggled from Afghanistan.
After thoroughly enjoying ourselves, a little before sunset, we came back to Quetta. Visiting Chaman was a wonderful experience and has made me promise to myself that I would go there more often.
CHAMAN is expected to be the focus of many an eye in the near future. It is going to be the last check post at the Gwadar Highway which will provide access to the Central Asian countries to the Gwadar Port. Goods worth millions of rupees will be conveniently transported to Afghanistan and to the Central Asian countries through Chaman. But that doesn’t mean that at present the city has no importance.
