A challenging day from Naran through Kagan Valley and Abbottabad to Islamabad, marked by hotel disputes, difficult traffic, and thoughts about the rest of the journey to Karachi.

As part of my (last minute) plan to stay at Fairy Meadows, I was up at first light so that I could hike to the jeep track, and then reach my bike by ~9:30AM, enjoy some breakfast, and then set off.

I was surprisingly well rested when I awoke; the lodgings for the evening were not clean at all. It was like the place had not been cleaned between guests (apart from a change of sheets on the bed); bins were not changed, toilets were not cleaned, and i found other people's hair on the sheets.

It only struck me this morning that I have been in disputed territory for the last few days. Where I am currently riding (Gilgit Baltistan) is only a few hundred kilometres from the "line of control", which divides India and Pakistan, and the entire region is claimed by India.

Riding in Pakistan gives me a strange sense of comfort and joy. It is a complete and total adventure, but at the same time it feels quite safe and comfortable.

The journey must continue on, and today my destination is Pakistan.

The few days I have in China are coming to an end. Today I travel towards the border with Pakistan, along the famous Karakorum highway.

Today was scheduled as a rest day in Kashkar, and I was very happy to have one more day in China to eat nice food and rest before continuing the journey.

It was another rough nights sleep; a combination of time differences (i think all of China runs on UTC+8, whereas Kyrgyzstan was UTC+6), and also thin walls at the hotel. I was awoken by yells at 1:30AM "喝醉了！！！", loud voices and laughter…

It was a rough nights sleep; while it was cosy, the ergonomics of a sleeping mat and a hard pillow is similar camping, not to mention a blocked nose; oh and as it turned out, I was sleeping in the same room as the elder son. His phone went off at 5AM, giving me a fright (I thought it was my phone).

Back on the road after resting in Osh. Joined Alex and Mauricio for the ride to the Kyrgyzstan-China border. Explored landscape changes since my previous trip and made the decision to continue to Nura for better conditions.

Spent the last few days resting in Osh, dealing with flu symptoms after long riding days and cold temperatures. Explored Osh's property market, prepared for the road ahead, and made minor bike repairs.

Today was another one of those days where I have very little idea where the day will finish, and just "play it by ear" as the day progresses. I had originally planned to leave at ~10:30AM latest, leaving a lot of time to get up, make coffee, have breakfast, the morning constitutional, etc, before it was time to hit the road.

Great riding conditions in Kyrgyzstan continue as I make my way from Cholpon Ata to Kyzyl Oi, enjoying the autumn scenery and contemplating route options for the journey ahead.

One of the reasons my route is structured the way it is, is so that i can spend some time exploring the surrounds of Issiy-Kul lake. This is the second largest mountain lake in the world (after Lake Titicaca in Peru/Bolivia), is situated within the Tien Shan mountains, and is a popular destination within the Russosphere, with lakeside resorts that fill up during summer.

A day of well earned rest. I spent today sleeping in, mindlessly scrolling, and route planning at a cafe in town.

Sleep was in short supply today; I was up at 4:50am for a dawn hike in the canyon to make the most of my stay (after my morning coffee of course). “Hike” is probably a generous way to describe it; the guide, a Singaporean couple and I rode in an electric buggy to a few viewpoints, and then at the final viewpoint we went along a 1.3km trail to one of the canyon rocks, and then back...

Today I set off! After finalising my repairs in Almaty, I start my ride towards Kyrgyzstan.

I have now come back to Almaty for the second part of my journey, where I ride my bike to the closest sea port (Karachi) for its final conclusion.

It has been two months since the terminus of my journey. I am now married, have a bike that is currently broken in Kazakhstan, and some spare time to continue my journey onward to Dubai!