Home > Notebook > Tea with Osama bin Laden

The air in Quetta is so thick with smog that you can touch it. At the square is a sign proclaiming „Quetta Clean & Green“. Streets are a bit dusty and curiously there are pavements almost everywhere. The city is supposed to be surrounded with mountains where Osama bin Laden himself hides but you can't see them because of that pollution.

There are no proper sights in Quetta – if we do not count few kilometers long street crammed with shops selling truck cabs (each has a cab on its roof as an ad). You go to Quetta to watch people. In the bazaars you meet Pashtons, Balochs, Punjabis, Afghans… And maybe even Osama. If you met him you would not know. Just about everybody wears beard and turban. They are not used to foreigners and if you walk around a while you attract a huge crowd following you. Everybody wants their picture taken and those who speak English have heaps of questions: where are you from, why are you here („I am tourist“), why you are taking pictures („for memories“ – I consider it safe a clear answer), are you a Muslim („no, Christian“ – but it is not true), if you respect local people („of course“) and if you like Pakistan („yes, very much, people are very friendly“). It feels like an interrogation but I believe that they mean no harm, that they are just curious. They usually end with asking if they can do anything – absolutely anything – for you. And they would not take money for it. And I do not mention the constant stream of tea and lunch invitations (about five in an hour).