Kamran
Dear Mom, it’s been exactly nine years since you left. When I was little, you would bathe me, dress me in blue Shalwar Kameez, and add Kajal in my eyes as we sat in the winter sun on our roof where I always fell asleep in your lap. How before every bite of roti you … Read more
Dear Mexico, When the immigration officer at the border gave me a six-month entry, I cycled like a mad man screaming with joy. The Mayan pyramids of Yucatan peeped out of forest canopy just to see who had arrived. I can write about your landscape, from rugged mountains to canyons, from lush jungles to deserts, … Read more
Dear Guatemala, You are my favourite country in Central America. I clearly remember the day when I crossed a river bridge from El Salvador and entered your home. Your steep slopes hugged me so tight that it hurt. Your beauty lured me from first sight. It took my fears away. Your tall symmetrical volcanoes waved … Read more
15th September is your Independence Day. Costa Rica, you are the greenest country I have ever cycled and also the most humid. Never in my entire life have I sweated so much as I did while pushing the bicycle on your steep slopes. Twice you broke my chainstay and made me walk many kilometres. I … Read more
My second marriage proposal in Tajikistan. Actually, it was Afghanistan! I am cycling along the Panj River while wearing headphones and listening to my favourite music at loud volume. In the background, I hear a shouting sound that doesn’t belong to the song. I glance at the mountains on the Tajik side to the left … Read more
Cycling the Pamir Highway in Tajikistan as I descended from a 4000-meter pass, I spotted a Kyrgyz yurt on the right side of the road. Its colour and shape stood out in the barren landscape. I immediately pulled the brakes and asked a man getting out of the yurt if I could stay inside for … Read more
Part 3 of Tajikistan Independence Day on 9 September. Tajikistan was my favourite country on my bicycle trip from Germany to Pakistan in 2015. Its high plateau landscape, majestic mountains, and hospitable people gave me the most cherished moments of the entire trip. A year later, when I cycled South America, I discovered that Tajikistan’s … Read more
In Tajikistan, I almost tied knots with the lady in the background. While cycling the Pamir Highway, I made a short stop in a lush valley to pick black mulberries from the trees. Nearby, a family was sitting on the ground having a meal. As I was tasting fresh mulberries, two women from the … Read more
Dear Tajikistan, Back in 2015, when I was cycling from Germany to Pakistan, you were the first country where I experienced pure wilderness. In your grand landscape, I felt so vulnerable. But, as I struggled to survive each day, you freed me from myself. In awe of your grandeur, I lost my ego. Your majesty … Read more
There is a knock outside. I peek through the door. Naeem Khan is standing there with a glass cup and a glass tray in his hands. A bunch of boxes tied together lay on the ground. “I am wandering from one street to another since morning, carrying this load of 50 kilos. I have been … Read more
Today, we are obsessed with time and growth. It makes sense. After all, when we get only this much time to live, why not make every second count? So we speed up in everything we do, be it pursuing career goals or travelling. I was no different. When I began my bicycle journey from Germany … Read more
In June 2019, I cycled the Dempster Highway as a part of my bicycle trip from Ushuaia, Argentina to Alaska. It is the only road in Canada that takes you past the Arctic Circle. It is a 900 km unpaved road in Yukon and Northwest Territories crossing the tree line on to tundra and ending … Read more
At Moraine Lake, ten jagged peaks surround the turquoise blue waters as if they have crowned the lake as the Queen of the Canadian Rockies. The mountain tops cling to clouds of the fear of getting stripped naked in public. I sit atop a rock and take a deep breath. Space expands, and things get … Read more
Today, we are obsessed with time and growth. It makes sense. After all, when we get only this much time to live, why not make every second count? So we speed up in everything we do, be it pursuing career goals or travelling. I was no different. When I began my bicycle journey from Germany … Read more
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