RTW Roxy

My experience with the Indian Army

13-15 October 2019

After Mark's bike broke down he had to order new 4th gear from Holland which was going to take weeks to arrive. As it was late in the season already, I had to hurry North quickly if I wanted to ride in Himalayas at all. The plan was that I would head there on my own and Mark would fly to Ladakh in few days and rent a bike there.

From Pathankot I headed North towards the Jammu & Kashmir region. I rode through Dalhousie, Chamba, the Kihar Valley and crossed into Jammu & Kashmir.

Through Doda, then Kishtwar. It was getting late and I started climbing up a mountain pass (Sinthan pass) at high altitude, without realising what was ahead. Road started getting rougher with mud and gravel. And weather started turning really bad: torrential rain, thunderstorm, even a bit of snow. To top it off there were a lot of military checkpoints and I had to spend 10-15 minutes at each one.

It was almost completely dark when I arrived at 3rd checkpoint, freezing and wet. I had 100km to go over the mountains to the next village - I couldn't do that in the dark, on these roads, at this altitude and in this weather.

If I pitched my tent somewhere along this road I would very likely be woken up by the military in the middle of the night.

I asked them if I can sleep at the checkpoint - at first they said yes but then they found a local family who took me in for the night. I left my bike at the checkpoint and the army guys took me in the car first to their military base for dinner, and then to this local family. In the morning they took me back to their base for breakfast, and back to the checkpoint.

They also noticed my finger that looked like it was infected - half of my finger was rotten (when I went to the hospital with it they just gave me some cream which wasn't helping) but they cleaned it properly for me (to the point you could see the bone) and gave me fresh dressing for later and some antibiotic cream which actually worked.

5 years ago | [YT] | 16

RTW Roxy

Wagah Border ceremony - border crossing from Pakistan to India.

Wagha border ceremony happens every day since 1959 - it is to formally close the border and lower the flags just before sunset. Agressive stepping symbolises the rivalry between two nations as well as the brotherhood.

5 years ago | [YT] | 8

RTW Roxy

Gilgit to Lahore. True image of Pakistan: crazy traffic & hospitality of Pakistani people.

Finally got my parts for my Fireblade and left Gilgit for good. Headed towards Islamabad on Karakoram Highway and to Sheikhupura. Sat nav took us "the shorter way" and Mark got stuck in the mud.

We went to Lahore for couple of days and rode through the narrow streets of the Walled City of Lahore. I had an accident on the way back to Sheikhupura.

Back in Sheikhupura, we were invited to celebrate World Tourism Day during which we visited 17th century complex Hiran Minar where we were interviewed, planted a tree and talked to the students from the local college.

Then we rode back to Lahore where we were hosted by Guliafshan and Haider. Fast-forward few months, Gul recently visited Scotland and I was able to repay the favour!

5 years ago | [YT] | 4

RTW Roxy

Fairy Meadows hike - Pakistan. Round the World OFF a Fireblade part 22. As I was still waiting for new alternator to arrive we decided to go and see Fairy Meadows.

I jumped on the back of Marks bike and we rode to the hike starting point. But first we had to take a jeep which took couple hours. Then another 2.5 hours of hike to get to Fairy Meadows.

As we were not in rush, we decided to go higher up the next day - some 5 or 6km further, where we got spectacular view onto Nanga Parbat - the 9th highest mountain in the world at 8,126m high.

We walked back down to spend 2nd night in Fairy Meadows, and then we walked back down to the jeep stop the following morning, took a jeep back down and rode back to Gilgit hoping to finally get parts for my bike this afternoon after 3 weeks wait.

5 years ago | [YT] | 3

RTW Roxy

Deosai National Park & Skardu, Pakistan. Deosai is the second highest plateau in the world with average elevation of 4,114m asl. Since my Fireblade was not fixed yet I ended up hiring another bike - Suzuki GS 150.

5 years ago | [YT] | 4

RTW Roxy

Shandur Lake. From Gilgit to Shandur Lake, Booni and back to Gilgit (Pakistan). As my Fireblade was not fixed yet I ended up hiring Kawasaki KLX 250 for few days - my first time on an off-road bike and first time with knobbly tyres on.

5 years ago | [YT] | 5

RTW Roxy

Chapursan Valley, Pakistan. Bumped onto ‪@RosieGabrielle‬ ! As my Fireblade wasn't fixed yet, I hired little Honda CG 125 and headed back North from Gilgit with Mark. I could have done it on a Fireblade (if it wasn't broken) but it was so much easier on a little 125!

5 years ago | [YT] | 4

RTW Roxy

New video! Part 18: Shimshal Valley - one of "the most dangerous" roads in the world. It is a one-way road, 60km each way linking Passu (elevation 2,485m) with remote village - Shimshal (3,113m) in Hunza, Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan. With rough terrain, narrow road and hundreds of metres drop next to it, one mistake could end up in a certain death.

I decided to do this on probably the most unsuitable bike for this kind of road - a sports bike - Honda Fireblade.

Add knee deep river crossings, dead battery, fried alternator and burnt clutch plates - ADVENTURE!

5 years ago | [YT] | 4

RTW Roxy

Part 6 of my trip to Greece & Italy. From Kastoria to Konitsa.

7 years ago | [YT] | 5

RTW Roxy

Part 5 of my trip to Greece & Italy. Riding around Florina (north of Greece) - Edessa, Skopos, Kaimaktsalan (Kajmakčalan) to Kastoria.

7 years ago | [YT] | 6