Dr. Memsaab

The tiny kingdom of Chitral is isolated and inaccessible. It borders Afghanistan on the west and is nestled in the Himalayas. It is towered over by mighty peak of Tirich Mir (25,230 ft), The only way in is by air and one unpaved road, if the weather is good.

Our medical team was anxious to make a return visit, since the only doctor there invited us back to hold clinics again. Irene, Wendy and I set off very early the morning of October 8, 1971, for Peshawar to meet the Ringers. We actually boarded the plane for our forty-minute flight, with an “Insha Allah” (If God wills) by the stewardess. The scenery was just getting spectacular when the plane turned around and headed back to Peshawar! “Technical Failure” we were told. No more flights for four days. We engaged a “taxi” - an ancient Chevy, to take us to Dir state. The long, torturous road took us through Mardan and Malakand to Dir. We had a flat tire in Tukht Bhai which the driver had fixed right in that frontier village. During the break we had chicken curry at a “greasy spoon.” By now it was well after dark.

We still had the long mountain road to traverse at 5-10 miles an hour, arriving in Dir city about midnight. Jack Ringer with difficulty aroused an innkeeper who made room for us in his minus five star hotel. The innkeeper had to rouse five men from their beds in a room for eight, and sent them out to sleep in the courtyard. We were given their beds, including their pre-warmed greasy bedrolls. After the eviction there were only three remaining men with whom we shared the room. No use being squeamish at midnight in a wild, frontier village! We did ask the man where we could relieve ourselves, a task which was quite urgent after the long ride. He looked at us women, puzzled, not being used to this gender at his establishment! Then he gave two options: Outside the courtyard in the unpaved street (after all, it was pitch dark and no one about!), or on the mud rooftop over our sleeping room. We opted for the latter and climbed a rickety wooden ladder leaning against the wall. But what would we do in the morning light? Either spot would be quite visible! No use worrying at that time when we were so tired that the dirty beds actually seemed inviting! We dropped, exhausted, and all was quiet.

Sometime in the wee hours we heard Irene scream, “There’s a man trying to get in my bed!” One of the three men guests in our room had to go outside. On return he was confused in the dark as to which rope bed charpai was his. After apologies and sorting out of beds, we settled down again. I was absolutely shocked and amused the next morning as we laughingly discussed this event to hear our staid, prim sixty-ish New Zealander Alma Ringer say to our Swedish single lady, “Irene, you missed the chance of a lifetime!”

Picture #15

In the morning we found there were forty or more men sleeping all over the veranda, courtyard and other rooms, so we ladies deferred our bathroom options, and stayed right in our beds while we were served tea. Later, while Jack was arranging a jeep, we took a walk and found a stream nearby which served as our flush! We even had time to visit the Civil Hospital, which was a fairly nice building, but without a doctor, equipment or medicines!

We set off with nine people and mounds of baggage. One passenger (all men, of course), managed to sit on a bag in which he felt the point of Alma’s bread knife. Unknowingly, he even ground our medicines from pills to powders! We stopped short of the Lowry Top (the pass into Chitral) for tea, and I asked them to boil the eggs I had received in Dir for seeing a patient.

From there we went up, up, over the 13,000 foot pass and down the torturous switch-backs, backing up on some of them to make it around. The dust was terrible, tinting us a light brown to match the local populace. We arrived at Darosh mid afternoon. While we waited for a cup of tea, our host, Dr. Sardar, appeared. He had arranged for us to stay there for a few days and took us to his ancestral home nearby, where we washed up and had a nap. He is of royal descent, so his home, an old dwelling with past elegance, was rather posh for this area. We ladies had supper with his wife and other female relatives and gratefully went to bed.