Laugh Until You Bust but Pedaling In Pakistan is A Definitive Must…Top 5 Reasons To Pedal In Pakistan
Number 5. Road Side Bombs For some road side bombs and the Taliban is what is conjured when one thinks about Pakistan as a must see bicycle touring location. However, as the media drops bombs of bad news about Pakistan you can be content to know that you are part of a brave posey of bicycle tourists. Travelers, shielded by the adventurous spirit are rewarded with a hospitality that will quickly detonate any misconceptions the media has fired up about the place.
Number 4. Karokorum Highway (KKH) The construction of the KKH is considered to be the 9th wonder of the world, an engineering feat of friendship between the Chinese and Pakistan. Not only will you make a lot of local friends on the KKH, you will be pedaling by glaciers that touch your pedals, cascading rivers and white snow capped mountains. I am a solo female who pedaled the KKH in a headscarf in July 2011 and the views were almost as beautiful as the people I met along the way.
Number 3. Down Hill From Here Visas are available for most nationalities on arrival at the Sost, Pakistan/Chinese border or in your home country. The road cascades downhill from China with no real climbs all the way into Islamabad. A lot of folks stop at Gilgit, I pedaled the final 470km of the KKH. into Islamabad on a decent half dirt, half asphalt road. I continued pedaling to Lahore and crossed into India.
Number 2. Got To Love A Good Adventure The KKH north of Karimabad in the Hunza valley was washed out by a landslide which caused a lake. Board your bicycle on to a boat and experience the added bonus of an adventurous boat ride with your bicycle. While peering at rock cliffs and glacier fed crystal blue water, the boat will brings you back to the main KKH road.
Number 1. Peace Go now and hope for world peace and harmony while you are at it. The KKH is a doable bicycle tour (2011). However, cycling some parts of Pakistan remain not possible. After all, my website skalatitude.com is described as “when humans and nature are living in harmony there is magic and beauty everywhere”. That’s why this solo female continues to cycle around the world on a magic bicycle.
About the Author
Loretta Henderson is a Canadian female who has been cycling around the world solo since 2009. She is pedaling her way through Pakistan for the second time and into Iran after cycling a detour loop of the India Himalaya. Check out the new Girly Girl Gear For Guys Too section on her website. www.skalatitude.com
