At 4,114 metres above sea level, Deosai is one of the highest plateaus in the world. I rode across it alone. No phone signal. No other vehicles for hours. Just the plateau, the sky, and the distant shapes of Himalayan brown bears moving through the grass. Nothing in my life has felt more like freedom. What Deosai Is Deosai —
Most people drive to Kaghan. I will never understand this. The valley is made for motorcycles. From Balakot — the gateway — the road begins climbing immediately, threading through pine forests that press in on both sides like green walls. The air changes within minutes. That Lahore flatland heat simply dissolves, replaced by something cool, resinous, alive. You breathe
The sign at Thakot said: Skardu — 472 km. I looked at it for a long moment. My odometer already read 847 kilometres from Lahore. My chain needed oiling. One of my panniers was making a rattling sound I’d been choosing to ignore since Mansehra. I turned left toward Skardu. The Indus, Your Constant Companion From Besham onward, the Indus
I had been riding for three days straight when Hunza finally revealed itself. Not slowly. Not gently. All at once — like someone pulled a curtain off the sky. The Karakoram Highway had been punishing me for hours. My back ached, my visor was cracked from a stone chip somewhere near Besham, and I hadn’t slept on a proper bed