Pakistan – Solo Female Cycling Around The World

How Great It Is To Be a Man in Baluchistan

As I sit and wait at sun rise in the no-mans land between Pakistan and Iran, I patiently wait for the Iranian border gate to open.

I have learned that the Baluchi, Pakistan people are as jovial as it gets, with a laugh that jiggles their bellies, a laugh that Santa would be proud of. The Pakistani military police and I have become intimately acquainted lately when I was scooped up in Quetta in the Baluchistan province and prevented from cycling the majority of the way to the border by some surprisingly super fun police.

I cycled the remaining KM to the border at sunrise keeping a low profile. I park Pandemic the magic bicycle with the Pakistani border police, sit and wait for the Iranian gate to open. I get to chatting with one of the guards. He tells me, he is looking for a wife and the rest of Pakistan has gotten too liberal and it is not good. Funny enough, he is very handsome and has a likeable demeanor, which is, until he starts talking. He is what I would call an unique conservative man and not your average Pakistani. He tells me with a big friendly smile , that he is 25 years old, that he can’t wait to become a man, he asks me how many women the boys at home have slept with at 25, and says he has only slept with one, he tells that my downtown area has gotten too old for these sort of things because of the cycling. As the sun continues to rise, I am trying not to laugh and therefore encourage any conversation that may take us further downtown or encourage a debate about the present fitness status of my aging hoohaa.

I put on my best curious travelers smile and sit back and listen. He continues with his views about how women are to stay at home and only after having birthed two boy babies will his wife be allowed to leave the house wearing a burka with full face coverage to go to the market. She will not be allowed to have friends, an education after 10th grade, and marrying at 15 is good. He is considering having a couple of wives, he is allowed 4. However, he is not sure he can afford it. You have got to love money for at least that, I think to myself. I ask him about some burn marks I have seen on some women’s faces, he tells me she did something at home and it’s ok that the man burns and/or beats her. As my teetering smile and eye balls pop out, I force myself to keep listening. I am genuinely fascinated and try to be respectful of differences; however, I think my tongue might be bleeding.

I asked the guard what he thinks about me. As a women bicycle travelling alone in Pakistan, I have often felt guilty about my tremendous freedom and significantly concerned about my sisters of the world. He says he thinks it is fine and wonderful because I am not a Baluchi woman. I wished him well finding his 4 wives, apologized that I wasn’t a polygamist and off I went pedaling into Iran on my aging hoohaa grateful for the education and that much more concerned about some of my sisters in Baluchistan.

Pakistani My fanny

Chugga chugga choo choo….the train plugs along at the speed of a bicycle through Baluchistan province, Pakistan. A part of the world in which blending in and passing by unnoticed is a really good idea. What the hell am I doing in this desert? I am thoroughly informed by everyone, guest house owners, other over-landers and military police, that cycling the road from Pakistan into Iran is not possible but is passable in a military convoy with mandatory armed escorts. Convoys at times stop and wait for hours or nights for an organized safe passing of the area. The advice by all is to keep a low profile, “take the train, avoid confrontations with the military and the convoys, you will get there easier, safer and faster”

Long Sleeve Shirt from “The Cycle Tourists That Don’t Meet Terrorists Clothing Line”, $6USD, available at the tailor next to the Regal Internet Inn in Lahore Pakistan

I figure in order to prepare for such a stealth occasion, that new concealment clothes are in order. I went to visit a tailor, a man who studied clothing design in Toronto and London, then returned home to open a men’s tailoring shop in Pakistan. He is a funny, highly dramatic, artistic type who loves designing clothes. We chat about shirts for some time and come up with the perfect cycling shirt. The “cycle tourists that don’t meet terrorists” clothing line for women cyclists in Baluchistan, an up and coming market, I am sure of it or at least Pandemic The Magic Bicycle and I think so.

Sharif, a men’s tailor seems delighted with the girly girl gear challenge. He sent me out shopping for material with his trusted man Oman. I pick out brown cotton, brown being my all time favorite color because, it is far easier to keep clean outdoors if you just dress the color of dirt to begin with. So what should we wear for bicycle touring in Muslim countries?

Girly Girl Gear For Cycling In Muslim Countries

Pakistani Your Fanny Cover that bum with a long shirt, either a man’s shirt or any xxx-L shirt will do. Kind of like maternity wear even though you may not be pregnant.

Cleavage…How Low Can You Go- Similar to voluminous bosoms popping out in the western world, ankles in Muslim countries are considered to be oh la la sexy, sort of like ankle cleavage. Keep the shorts and ¾ length pants tucked away in the back of the drawer. Adorning yourself with long pants that cover your ankles is a legal must in Iran and highly suggested for Pakistan and recommended for India Kashmir, Muslim Indonesia and Malaysia.

Pro-tip: Try not to distract other drivers with your sexy ankles because causing motorcycle collisions while cycling can be hazardous.

Head Bang’in In Your Headscarf-Covering your head is legally necessary in Iran and highly recommended in many areas of Pakistan. I would of never imagined that pedaling in Muslim countries listening to the Beastie Boys rapping on full volume while wearing a headscarf could be so much fun. Also, choosing cycling routes in cooler climates such as high mountains helps keep me to a sane temperature while cycling in a headscarf.

Pro-tip: listening to the Beastie Boys while cycling in the summertime with a winter scarf wrapped around your head can be fun

FOR GUYS

3 piece suit, cufflinks, bowtie and a top hat. Just kidding, however, men should dress conservatively. The most respectful way to dress is to wear long or ¾ length shorts instead of daisy duke short ones, cover the spandex and wear t-shirt. The traditional shalwar kamiz worn locally is also appropriate and helps you blend in. However, whatever you normally wear is most likely acceptable as well.

Special note: The internet firewall here has my website and others sites blocked. Therefore communication will be limited. I used a special trick to check my e-mail, post this, and update FB and Twitter. I am not sure how many more tricks I have up my sleeve. Thanks for understanding, check back frequently for new news.

Paris Hilton Arrives In Pakistan With A Magic Bicycle

As I climb out of the desert and venture past the final community in China I begin to climb into the Kunjerab Pass. An expensive dark Chinese’s SUV arrives. I am immigration, it is Chinese law, no cycling the border crossing in China, you must take bus to Sost, Pakistan. No you are kidding, really? I am so lost, thank you for stopping and helping me I say with a devilish grin. My pedaling soul REALLY wants to pedal over the 5400 meter pass and silly me may have known that China wouldn’t let me and may of tried pedaling down the road into the mountains anyway.

I board the bus into Pakistan with Pandemic The Magic Bicycle tied to the top . However, the Pakistani men on the bus with me are ridiculously friendly and nice as a bus load of people I just met can be. We share chapatti bread, I am invited to stay for a visit on route, one man puts his wife on the phone for a chat and we discuss a few no go regions for magic bicycles.

Over the pass I go by bus, drooling out the windows at the snow filled pass and then descending 85 kilometers down the Karakorum Highway into Pakistan to the immigration area for my Pakistan visa stamp. Being a woman definitely has some bennies in this manly environment. I haven’t felt such a sea of friendly warm testosterone since my Alaska days, south of the Arctic Circle were the man/women ration is about 10:1. I am given the only chair in the immigration office in Sost by a man with a great hat, beautiful smiling eyes and gentle demeanor.

As I sit in my chair watching a flowing curtain of beautifully dressed Pakistani men in long traditional tops and baggy pants, I peer up and giggle hard for there is a giant friendly GEO News TV camera looking at me. I lower my head and hide, laugh and think now this is definitely one unique way to pedal a country. Off I go from immigration with a new friend, a Geo News camera man who will be taking photos and film for the news in Pakistan.

Camped a few kilometers from here and was warmly welcomed by a group of truck drivers and university students. Drank tea with new friends and talked about the mountains for most of the evening…

Geo news and I will be putting a shout out to everyone but mostly women to come out and pedal with me in Pakistan, together promoting WOW (Women On Wheels), women’s cycling internationally and locally. Tonight from outside of my little tent I was put on live TV. The irony here is I actually haven’t even had a TV in about 12 years and now apparently I am on the TV. Paris Hilton in all her pseudo fame glory has arrived among a ridiculously warm welcome to pedal the Karakorum Highway of Pakistan.