Day 2
Today was magical, we first rode to Lulusar Lake under a clear sky. With stops made at Batakundi along the way, to take pictures of the valley and the teal colored Kunhar River.
At the lake we ran into a fellow motorcyclist all the way from Down Under, who started his journey from Vladivostok, Russia and had already ridden across China no less, on a GSX-R600 with knobbies! This young man is circumnavigating the world and is currently in India, you can follow his ambitious journey
here.
Moin posing with the young globe-trotter, or affectionately referred to as "the Two Idiots" by Moin's brother Mohy...
We continued our journey up the famous Babusar Pass, elevation 13,700 ft.
On the way down I couldn’t resist taking a few pictures with the adorable locals on the side of the road.
The temperature must've went up ten or twenty degrees by the time we hit the bottom of the valley immediately after Babusar, everyone changed into their summer gear. Moin gave the tour team a little strip tease~
At Chilas we stopped for fuel and a short break, a group of locals saw me and came up in admiration. Even though we didn't speak the same language, they'd smile in wonderment, and sat in the most friendly manner right next to me. At times I felt the locals were "starstruck", even when I was in Islamabad people would stop to ask if they can take selfies with me (at times there would be a line of 10 or 15 college kids).
From there we headed east and finally got to ride the Karakoram Highway, and oh boy was it worth it. Our group had so much fun railing the stretch of good pavement through the desert, Mohy had the first
serious crash on the tour shortly after crossing Raikot Bridge. When he hit the giant pot hole (see
1:33 from my video up top), both of his tires slashed open at freeway speeds, bucking him off. Passerby on the KKH found him laying on the ground a good 15 ~ 20 feet down the road from his bike. With no memories of the crash and a constant need to puke, the local good Samaritans rushed him to the nearest hospital for a check-up via their station wagon.
![IMG-3487.jpg]](http://[url]https://i.ibb.co/NnWn2G4/IMG-3487.jpg])
Because Moin, myself and two others were riding at a faster past, we were about 40 minutes ahead of Mohy's group (mostly beginner riders besides Mohy). We arrived at the lunch spot (pizza!) and waited, completely oblivious to the accident. A local man stopped by with his child and through the translation of Fahad (fellow rider from London who is fluent in Urdu), expressed his bewilderment and appreciation for me to visit his home country. Fahad told me he obviously "idolizes" me, to which I was flattered beyond belief. Upon finding out that not only was he a veteran of the Pakistani army, a body builder by hobby, also the husband of two wives. I had Fahad translate that it was I who should be idolizing his life style! We had a friendly wrestling match on the side of the road to kill some time,
Eventually it became obvious that something was wrong, Moin got in touch with group two and learned of the accident. He first led the group safely into the city of Gilgit just after sun set - where we were to spend the night, then went to meet with his brother at the hospital for an MRI. By some miracle, with the exception of being badly concussed, Mohy did not suffer any other injuries and was cleared by the attending.
Per the traditions of past Pakistan Tours, Moin took the group to get Cha-Cha chicken (charcoal flame grilled chicken dry rubbed in Masala and various other herbs) for dinner.
What a day!
