French doctor takes 6,000-mile ride to promote 'soft side' of terrorism-torn Pak - India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

A French doctor is taking a 6,000-mile trip from Pakistan to Paris in order to promote tourism in the terrorism-torn country. "We want to show the world the country is not just about terrorism," The Guardian quoted Vincent Loos, as saying. The spree of recent suicide bombings have filled Islamabad with check posts, blast walls and a queasy air of anxiety, but undeterred by all this, Loos's car rolled through the streets last week. "My dream was to return by road," says the 39-year-old Frenchman, who had just finished three years' work at a local hospital. 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 restored the car to full health, then hired an artist to paint in the local style known as "truck art". Now - a 25-year-old Volkswagen Beetle, painted in an explosion of trippy colours - is the most distinctive car from Lahore to Lyons. "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," Loos said. The French doctor's car should reach Paris in about two weeks.