Globe Gallivanting- motorbiking across the world

The route to Lahore was very long.     We rode into Rawalpindi at 5pm, and hit the Lahore motorway (the only main road in Pakistan).   For five minutes we were on perfect black tarmac doing 110kph on a near-deserted road, with encouraging Lahore signs ahead.  We estimated arriving in only 3 hours!!     Then we got into a police chase. It ended with them pulling in front of us and telling us over and over and over that the motorway was not for bikes.   (This is because Pakistani bikes only go up to 250cc, and wouldn’t be capable of the minimum speeds needed.  We tried in vain to explain this.) The officer took Adam’s driving license to the car, and pretended to need to examine it. Then they started the engine.   They were about to steal his license so we would have to follow them to the station, without even telling us. I may have gone slightly mental…I got off the bike shaking with anger and stormed up and snatched the license from th...

  We left Gilgit as planned.  The massive problem with the bike turned out to be the starter motor.  It was a good job we had Brock the mechanic to help, and a mechanic scraped the carbon off some important bit, and it was all go again.  In England they would have just replaced the starter motor completely.  Here, anything is possible.  With Manfred purring happily again, we bombed it down the hill.  There were no major hiccups, and it all went a lot easier the second time.    We bounced over the same holes and through the same rivers, and whizzed through checkpoints with made up visa numbers and silly occupations like ‘gymnast’ and ‘dictator’.     We raced all the way through to Besham.  We stopped for lunch in Dasu.  We met a guide, who advised us against staying in Besham & Batagram because of the Swat Valley fanatics.  He mimed a giant beard, to explain.   (The Swat Valley has its transport hub ...