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French doctor traveling from Pakistan to Paris by car

* Journey meant to promote better image of Pakistan

Daily Times Monitor

LAHORE: A French doctor is embarking on a 6,000-mile trip to promote a better image of Pakistan, the Guardian reported on Monday.

“It's not all about terrorism,” said Dr Vincent Loos, referring to the country. “Low-key is good in Islamabad these days, where the threat of Taliban suicide bombings has filled the capital with checkposts, blast walls and a queasy air of anxiety. But one proudly conspicuous car rolled through the streets last week – a 25-year-old Volkswagen Beetle, painted in an explosion of trippy colours. At the wheel was a defiant doctor, Vincent Loos, headed for Paris,” the Guardian wrote.

"My dream was to return by road," says the 39-year-old Frenchman, who had just finished three years' work at a local hospital.

The newspaper said his ride had been a dust-smeared wreck six months ago, collapsed at the bottom of an Islamabad street waiting for a final trip to the scrap yard. Loos, an intensive care specialist, restored the car to full health, then hired an artist to paint in the local style known as "truck art".

Now the car is the most distinctive car from Lahore to Lyons, the newspaper wrote.

“The body is covered in a psychedelic array of flowers, waterfalls and the faces of famous Pakistanis. The idea behind the 6,000-mile trip is to promote the "soft side" of Pakistan,” it added.

"We want to show the world the country is not just about terrorism," Loos said.

The French doctor's car should reach Paris in about two weeks. His team is equipped with an ample stock of spare parts and a line of Urdu poetry inscribed on the bonnet that says, "Every mother's prayer is a breeze from paradise."

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