Chapter 73 Barefoot like a forest

Thrilling today. It was only when I arrived in Quetta in the middle of the night yesterday that I realized that it is still very far from Islamabad. There is no straight road, so we have to go around in the south, and we will have to spend the night in Multan at the earliest tonight. However, whether you look at it from the map or ask the locals, it is more than 900 kilometers to detour to Multan! Not long after I drove out, I realized that it was bad. What kind of road is this? It takes 16 hours to drive more than 900 kilometers. The bumpy dirt road worried us, but it was the sights along the road that were most striking.

Dust is everywhere, and even every tree looks like it was carved out of clay at first glance.There is a mountain of garbage under the tree, and countless pairs of bare feet are standing on the garbage.People here don't seem to like washing their faces and haircuts much, let alone doing laundry, so it seems to be carved out of clay. It's not Sunday, but the kids are all standing here.A few were selling pieces of pasta with green dots, which were beans, and red dots, which were colors, but more black dots, which were flies. The house is all mud brick, with the luxury of a limewash, which has now come off.

Some people say that the people here are extremely poor, but a few powerful people get rich because of taking bribes.But where did these rich people build their houses?We walked so far hour by hour, why didn't we see a house that looked a little decent? I know that we are already traveling in the Indus Valley, which has a long history and is famous for its wealth.How is this possible in the Indus Valley? I keep warning myself in my heart: don't generalize, let alone make unfair comparisons with other scenes.Therefore, it is not a conclusion for the time being, but just let the car continue to drive forward, so that the landscape can be unfolded as fully as possible.Sometimes I didn't believe my eyes, so I stopped the car and took a closer look, and then exchanged opinions with my companions.

Finally, when I found that I had driven more than 1,500 kilometers in this region, I could not help but judge: however beautiful the capital of the country we have not yet reached, a very large part of the vast Indus plain is undisguised. presents a most astonishing general poverty. I am no stranger to poverty, and I have been to the most impoverished areas in Northwest and Southwest China.But that kind of poverty, at least there are signs of hard work, intentions of struggle, traces of management, and signs of rescue, all of which are hard to find here.So it's not poverty itself that's surprising.

We've come from Iraq and Iran, and it's very free in comparison.So free that there are no basic traffic rules and sanitation regulations, so free that you can build anything on the side of the road, so free that so many people are wandering around with nothing to do.We have already seen fifty or sixty small towns along this national road, and the roads of all towns are always full of a large number of unkempt people, looking at each other.From children, youth, adults to old age, it seems that they have to look after each other for a lifetime. I really don't know how they get food.

Here I can affirm that the most painful scene I felt along the way was not the broken stone pillars, the collapse of the castle, or the annihilation of the ancient capital, but the bare feet of those children who did not go to school in the fertile fields of the ancient civilization, which were as dense as a forest . There are sufficient archaeological data to prove that the Indus civilization was highly developed in the third millennium BC, that is, five thousand years ago.How developed is it?Judging from the architectural relics unearthed in Mohenjudaro, it is not only magnificent but also sturdy, with exquisite and scientific design. Many private houses have excellent bathrooms, and the drainage system in the city is also sincerely praised by today's experts.This kind of civilization has also spread to the Mesopotamia, where there are many artifacts of the Indus River Civilization in the ruins excavated there more than 4,300 years ago.

We know that the Indus civilization had withdrawn from the stage of history as early as 3,500 years ago and gave up its status to several other ancient civilizations of human beings. However, it was never thought that this place would decline to such a state. In the past, we didn't know the actual situation at all, but we were used to using formulaic theories to give unified explanations. For example, the reason for the decline was always said to be invaded and plundered by foreign races.If that explanation holds, it's been a long, long time.This country has been self-governing for fifty-three years, and it has been completely independent for forty-four years. As an agricultural country, the land has not been taken away, the rivers have not been taken away, the climate has not been taken away, and Western civilization has left it. With the world-renowned artesian irrigation system, opportunities for revitalization and self-improvement can be said to be abundant every year, but they are all lost.

As far as the recent reasons are concerned, it may be due to being caught in an arms race with neighboring countries, it may be due to the revolving political situation, or it may be due to the world-famous official corruption. No matter what it is, it needs a civilized introspection.One of the reasons for the decline of civilization is the loss of the function of reflection.Just thought about it and hit the road again.Going all the way, it can be said that walking is difficult.If there is a short section of asphalt road in the past, the drivers of each car will cheer on the intercom, but the cheers are immediately choked in the violent bumps.According to the new show host, Ms. Meng Guangmei, the internal organs are all turned upside down.

In a blink of an eye, the asphalt road was over, and there was a cloud of yellow dust in front of the car window, as if suddenly falling into the depths of the Yellow Sea, and it was impossible to swim out. There are many cars on the road, all of which are illuminated by strong lights, driving savagely, recklessly, and desperately occupying the extremely narrow road.The alarms from the first and second cars kept coming through our intercom: three seriously overloaded walking tractors were coming from the right!A camel!Three donkey carts!Two cows are at the intersection! After counting, it has been driving for a full sixteen hours, and Multan still does not know where it is.The drivers started to swear, but just after swearing, they picked up the walkie-talkie and said: At this moment, everyone, don't be impetuous, don't be impetuous!

There is no place to buy food along the way, and everyone has had nothing to eat for more than ten hours. December 3, 1999, Multan, Pakistan, overnight at Holiday Inn