Journey of a Lifetime
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Our frustration and disappointment was extreme and the thought of having to go back to Pakistan and not complete our journey was depressing us no end. Bilal became so disenchanted that he suggested we go back to Pakistan.
As we walked back to Hussain's apartment, I noticed a news stand on Khayaban-e-Firdausi where a globe of the world map hung on one side of the stall. I stopped to have a look and within minutes jubilation came over as I had figured out an alternative route. I called Bilal over, who was leaning against the wall, smoking, and looking dejected. I told him I have found a way to continue our journey through Turkey, Greece, Italy, Switzerland and Germany. Bilal was jubilant and jumped up and down the street as he certainly did not want to return to Pakistan.
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About the Book
Inspired by the flow of tourists from Europe to Asia, author Ajaz Haque and his friend Bilal planned in 1963 to hitchhike from Asia to Europe. By doing this, the teenagers charted an unprecedented course, hitchhiking from Lahore, Pakistan, to Stuttgart, Germany, while carrying nothing but dreams. With hardly any money and only ambition in their pockets, they embarked on a journey about which they had hardly any idea.
In 1964, their journey led them to Iran, where they encountered an unexpected roadblock due to passport restrictions in Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, and Austria. They were dejected in Tehran, but their fortunes took a remarkable turn when they spotted a world map on a nearby newsstand. In a flash of inspiration, they decided to bypass Bulgaria and Yugoslavia, opting for an alternate route through Greece, Italy, and Switzerland, a choice that turned their mission impossible into a feat. Along the way they experienced the warmth and hospitality of Turkey, suspicion in Greece during the Cyprus conflict, a progressive and fast-developing environment Italy, and the beauty of Switzerland. Their story shares the unfamiliar cultures and cuisines they encountered, the challenges of indecipherable languages and survival, and finally accomplishing their mission and experiencing the elation of making it to Stuttgart, Germany.
This personal narrative recalls a vital journey taken in one man’s youth in the 1960s and explores the way it affected the rest of his life.
About the Author
Ajaz Haque was born to a middle-class family in Lahore, three years before the independence and partition of India. He holds a BA in economics and political science and is currently retired from a career in finance and banking that spanned the globe. He has three adult children and five grandchildren, and he lives in Toronto, Canada, spending winters in Dubai and Lahore.