It has been exactly 2 months since the first part of my journey concluded.

A lot has happened in the interim:

• I travelled to Georgia with my (then) fiance to get (legally) married
• we then went to Malaysia for some work related matters (it felt oddly sentimental to go back to where I had started my motorcycle journey)
• then we celebrated our love with our friends and family in Bali, staying for a few weeks afterward to work from there.

Just married!

As I write this, I am in a completely different mental state than I was when I left for the journey, and even towards the end.

It feels like I have now entered a new phase of my life;

• it feel like my wife and I are now our own family unit (whereas previously I felt like we were both children of our parents’ families);
• I am thinking much more about the future; about kids, where we live, and what type of life we want to live;
• I feel a strong sense of responsibility in this regard, and I feel motivated to get myself ready for the future today. (e.g. learning to cook so that we can enjoy healhier home-cooked meals more frequently, financial planning, being more conscious of health)

In this way, it feels strange (I would even say that I am reluctant) to go back to Kazakhstan to continue my journey.

That being said, I think it is still a good decision to continue the journey:

1. I need to get my motorcycle back to Dubai by April, to remain in good stead for my Carnet de Pasaje
2. It seems quite difficult and expensive to transport my motorcycle to Dubai from Almaty (basically no local shipping agents seem willing to help, and the main way back would be by air freight)
3. The opportunity cost of air freighting my bike back from Kazakhstan seems quite high (in the sense that, the best risk-adjusted route back to Dubai passes through the Karakorum Highway, which is one of the world’s most renowned highways), and I do have some time for the journey back.

When planning the route back, I had a few options (assuming I want to avoid riding throuh Afghanistan, and am not able to get a Turkmen visa):

• I could continue riding west and circle around the Persian Gulf (through Kazakhstan, Russia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and finally the UAE.)
• I could ride back through China, into Pakistan, and get back to Dubai via the water.

The former option would have been a significant journey; another ten thousand kilometres at least, and would be a lot more admin (figuring out visas for Russia, Iran, and Iraq, and also getting a better understanding of the security situation/safety of transiting through Iraq).

So I decided to go with the latter option; doubling back through China, riding through Southern Xinjiang to the Pakistani border, and then riding onwards to the Arabian Sea. At Karachi, I plan to ship my bike by sea to Dubai; it is a short ~5 day journey, and I will catch the next plane myself back. [I had been considering a more “fun” route where I continue riding west from Karachi through Balochistan to Iran and then crossing by ferry to Dubai/Sharjah at Bandar Abbas, but it seems like there’d be unnecessary risks and hassle given unpredictability of conflict between Israel/Iran + future US Visa issues as a result of entering Iran. Persia will be reserved for another day!]

Rough route plan in blue. Route taken to date in red.

This time around, I have done a lot less preparation, as I have a decent idea of the challenges I will face along the way and have budgeted a lot more time for the trip (which is comparatively shorter):

• I’ve arranged for Ducati Almaty to repair my bike (which should hopefully be happening as I write this);
• I’ve arranged for a guided tour through China from Irkeshtam (Kyrgyzstan), to Khunjerab Pass (Pakistan); and
• I’ve tentatively booked my shipment from Karachi back to Dubai

There are a few things that I am a bit worried about (recording them here to see if they eventuate):

• I fear that the mix up on my Carnet de Pasaje from the Thai/Laos border will come back to haunt me, as Pakistan is a CpD signatory…but we shall cross that bridge when we get there!
• I’m a bit concerned about the weather at higher altitudes in Kyrgyzstan; especially if I need to camp at ~freezing temperatures. Also hoping that there will be minimal ice on roads (it was not fun riding up an icy mountain pass in Tajikistan)
• I think there’s a chance that I end up getting food poisoning in Pakistan.

Note:

• I will be continuing my statistics from Part I; while I feel very different to how I did at the end of the last trip, technically this is the same journey.
• I will continue trying to updating my blog once per day (subject to internet access).