Argentina Independence Day

Dear Argentina! You were my first love on the trip through the Americas, but like any true love, you hurt me so much. Right from the beginning, your fierce Patagonian winds tested my commitment to the long paths. But I know that you wanted to strengthen me. Those roads of ups and downs, those endless … Read more

A Song of Longing in Yukon, Canada

After a long day of cycling on the Alaska Highway in the wilderness of Yukon, Canada, all I had on my mind was a place to camp and some drinking water. So when I spotted an abandoned gas station with the yellow sign “Nor Gas,” I pulled over right away. Then, I stood by the … Read more

What Drives You?

What drives you? Day after day, long hours on never-ending roads, on those freezing mornings and blistering hot afternoons, in the pouring rain and sand storms, through jungles and deserts, and mountains and endless plains. What makes you get up? With the broken body and a heart shattered a few times, with no future in … Read more

End of the World in Canada

Have you ever wondered how the end of the world looks and feels like? Just imagine cycling for over three years from the southernmost city in the world while fantasising about the north. Imagine the struggle of pedalling over a million times, covering a distance of over 32,000 km, climbing hundreds of thousands of meters, … Read more

From A Tricycle To A Bicycle Tour Around The World

One crisp winter morning, mom bathed me and applied Surma (kohl) to my eyes. She tried to dress me up in brown pyjamas with long yellow stripes. As a kid, I was only used to wearing Shalwar Kameez. So, I resisted every bit. “If you wear this, I will ask your dad to buy you … Read more

Thoughts in the Monument Valley

In the Monument Valley, sandstone buttes and mesas towered above the Colorado Plateau. A long road stretched out into the distance like a bold line on the sandpaper. It was here when Forrest Gump decided to stop after running for three years, two months, 14 days and 16 hours. He quit much to the bewilderment … Read more

3 Lessons From Peru

It was mid-September. The sky was deep blue, and the landscape had turned into dry grassland. I cycled across the border of Bolivia and entered Peru. My first city in Peru was Puno. Earlier, someone had recommended to me that I should visit the nearby floating islands in Lake Titicaca. So in Puno, I went … Read more

No Cure For The Death

I pick up the shovel and sink it into the ground. After digging a hole, I bury myself. Now I stand at my grave shedding tears at my own death. All my dreams, quests, and achievements rest beneath the dirt with me. I look around, but there is not even a single soul in the … Read more

What Is So Special About Shimshal?

“You must go to Shimshal,” Saad said to me. “What is so special about it?” “Everything.” I was intrigued. So, in November, I rode 55 km from Passu to Shimshal on a bicycle. In Shimshal, I came to know the stories of high-altitude-porters, their families, aspiring mountaineers, and community members. I published about a dozen … Read more

The Dad, The Son, And The Stars

Once upon a time, a child from a remote city of Layyah in Pakistan was afraid of the dark. Waking up in the middle of the night and not being able to spot a speck of light in the room terrified him. He couldn’t go back to sleep. The darkness choked him. He felt disoriented … Read more

You Are Not Lost In Atacama Desert

The Atacama Desert in Chile is the driest desert on the planet. There are some places in the Atacama where no rainfall has ever been recorded. Nothing can survive there, neither plants nor birds or even insects. It is not a typical desert where it’s just dunes. The Atacama offers much more. Valle de la … Read more

Passu Cones

They are Passu Cones, the 6000-m tall pointy peaks in Gilgit Baltistan of Pakistan. When I look at them, over and over again, every time, I see something different in them. Passu Cones are a fence of thorns growing from earth to protect the jewels of the north. They are the shattered pieces of glass … Read more

How Did It All Start?

In 2002, I got admission at a university in Germany and sat on the PIA flight from Islamabad to Frankfurt. The plane took off, and after crossing Iran was cruising at 40,000 feet altitude somewhere above Turkey when looking through the plane window, I was mesmerised by the vastness and the landscape below. Rivers appeared … Read more

Tajikistan Independence Day

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