Odds ‘n’ Sods: Dodging drug smugglers in Western Pakistan

Western Pakistan is a fascinating place. It’s remote, arid, tribal, and these days, a Taliban stronghold — not the friendliest of spots for westerners planning on coming home still attached to their heads. It was slightly safer when I was there in 1997, although it still had its moments. As a government sanctioned traveller carrying out mining related business, I was allowed to go pretty much anywhere off-road, as long as I took two guards –  known as “Levies men” — with me at all times. My job was prospecting for copper deposits hot on the heels of BHP’s massive Reko Diq discovery in the Chagai Hills (pronounced “cha-ee”). But the Balochistan desert was an iffy place once you got off the road. Continue reading at The Northern Miner.