A police chase and a challenge

The route to Lahore was very long.  

 

We rode into Rawalpindi at 5pm, and hit the Lahore motorway (the only main road in Pakistan).   For five minutes we were on perfect black tarmac doing 110kph on a near-deserted road, with encouraging Lahore signs ahead.  We estimated arriving in only 3 hours!!  

 

Then we got into a police chase.

It ended with them pulling in front of us and telling us over and over and over that the motorway was not for bikes.  

(This is because Pakistani bikes only go up to 250cc, and wouldn’t be capable of the minimum speeds needed.  We tried in vain to explain this.)

The officer took Adam’s driving license to the car, and pretended to need to examine it.

Then they started the engine.  

They were about to steal his license so we would have to follow them to the station, without even telling us.

I may have gone slightly mental…I got off the bike shaking with anger and stormed up and snatched the license from the stunned officers hands.  He stuttered about needing it as ‘a deposit’, and I may have explained rather loudly to his face that it was illegal to take a license from a license-holder. (NB: This is rubbish. Or not.  How would I know?)

He was a bit shocked, and let go.  Well I suppose you would.

They escorted us to the next break in the central reservation, and motioned for us to stop.  We rode off, fast.  We gunned it, and were doing ok again, albeit it in the wrong direction…

A police car sirened at us again, and we stopped and tried again to persuade the young officers we were allowed to be there. Nothing if not determined. ..

They said no.  

Then they told us we would never make it to Lahore on the other road.  

It sounded like a challenge.