A Letter to Pakistan on Independence Day 14 August Dear Pakistan, My story begins with you even before I was born. Mum always used to tell me that when she was pregnant, there was one Pakistani patriotic song “Har Ghari Tayyar Kamran Hain Hum” that would often play on PTV. While listening to it, she … Read more
A Letter to Ecuador on Independence Day 10 August My dear Ecuador, I first met you when I crossed the Canchis river while coming from Peru. The first gift I received from you was the steepest road with up to 25% slope. My heart knocked inside the chest like a hammer and the rear wheel … Read more
Dear Bolivia, You were my third country on the way to Alaska! I remember you for your vast landscape. Your high plateau reminds me of another country in Central Asia. For me, you will aways be the Tajikistan of South America. Your grand vistas are from another planet. The eyes are too small to capture … Read more
Travels teach us that there is a world beyond our own, not only because of different landscapes, but also in terms of cultures, religions, and belief systems. As I travelled the world on a bicycle, I felt a need to document my encounters. After more than 5 years, my catalogues contain over 250K photos/videos, several … Read more
Somewhere in Peru, after a long descent, I reached a narrow valley where it was hot like an oven. I had not experienced this kind of heat in the entire trip before. I crossed a tiny village Balsas after which the world started to blur in front of my eyes. I had been out in … Read more
It was late morning. Somewhere in the Highlands of Peru, the sun had just emerged from the fog. I was huffing and puffing on a steep uphill when a voice hit my ears, “Hola, amigo! (Hello, friend!)” I turned around and saw a woman, carrying a white chicken in her hands and baby wrapped in … Read more
My cycling itinerary in Peru followed Peru’s great divide that is the part of the Continental Divide of South America. The Andes are the world’s longest continental mountain range (about 7000 km long) and have the world’s highest peaks outside of Asia. The Cordillera Blanca is part of the Cordillera of the Andes. It is … Read more
Part 2 of Peru Independence Day July 28. Women of Peru, I saw them in many roles. Roaming the streets and mountains of Cusco with alpacas and baby sheep for some photo money. Pacing along with guide horses at 5000m altitudes, carrying babies wrapped in the shawls on their backs, wearing sandals made from recycled … Read more
Dear Peru! you were my 4th country between Argentina and Alaska. Today, when people ask me, “what is your favourite country from the entire trip?” I struggle to name a country, but in my head, I see vivid images of your majestic mountains touching skies and the road twisting and looping in them. It was … Read more
Six years ago, if somebody told me I would be travelling by bicycle for several years, I wouldn’t have believed them. Oscar Wilde said, “if you want to be a grocer, or a general, or a politician, or a judge, you will invariably become it; that is your punishment.” Once I too considered my career … Read more
During the last five years of my bicycle travels, I have spent numerous nights in the wilderness and camped in all sorts of abandoned buildings, ghost towns, churches, mosques, bus stops, deserted vehicles, and offices. In Alaska, I even spent a night inside a pit toilet. Far away from home, these unusual places became my … Read more
Somewhere in Ecuador, a swing hung over a steep rock face at 2600-m above sea level. They called it the “Swing at the End of the World” because a fall from the swing into the abyss could bring the end of the world to the rider. The swing was attached to a wooden house nestled … Read more
Today is July 21. I turn 43! Sitting by the Minor Canal in Layyah as I dip my feet in the water, the arrow of time suddenly stops and then starts flying in the reverse direction. I am only six years old and spinning a tricycle along this canal as if trying to break the … Read more
Dear Colombia, When I took my first pedal in Ushuaia, Argentina, all I was thinking about was you!For the 18 months in South America, amongst all fears, uncertainty, and aloneness, every breath I took and every pedal I pushed, I dreamed of you! You were my last country in South America, and for that, I … Read more
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