Moin Khan is an adventure junkie, but more importantly, he’s a patriot. While we all know about his legendary motorcycle journeys around the world (especially the one he took all the way from San Francisco to Lahore, which covered a distance of a whopping 40,000 kilometres!) what many people don’t know is that Moin enjoys promoting his country just as much as he enjoys the art of riding a motorcycle through difficult terrains.
His upcoming venture aims to combine these two ambitions in his life. In collaboration with Liza Miller, a traveller who discovered Pakistan through Moin, Pakistan’s number one motorcyclist is putting together an impressive all women tour in the northern regions of Pakistan. If that on its own isn’t enough to pique your interest, then hear this: the participating women are all flying in to Pakistan from different parts of the world! Some of them are world renowned professional motorcyclists.
Not only will the women be discovering Pakistan’s scenic beauty, the group will also be conducting motorcycle riding workshops for Pakistani women in an attempt to empower them with reliable and quick transportation. Furthermore, the group of women will be visiting local girls schools in order to learn about the lives of young Pakistani women.
Something Haute got in touch with this ambitious Pakistani who wishes to change the way Pakistan is perceived internationally to speak about his upcoming tour, the challenges that lay ahead and the big safety question that everyone wants to know: “Just how safe is it for women to travel up north?”
Something Haute: When is it? How long will the trip take?
Moin Khan: September and the trip is going to be 14 days!
SH: Where will the ride start from and where will it end?
MK: The tour will start from Lahore. We will head up to Islamabad and then ride all the way to Naran. Then we’ll cross Babusar pass that leads to Gilgit-Hunza and ride up to the Khunjerab Pass. From there we’ll ride our bikes down to Skardu, Khaplu, Hushe, Deosai Plains, Astore, Naran and finally head back to Islamabad.
SH: Who will be participating?
MK: There are 12 women from all over the world. We have the honour of having Elspeth Beard on board. She was the first English woman to ever go around the world on a solo motorcycle ride, back in 1982.
SH: What were some of the challenges in putting this together?
MK: Everyone is generally scared of coming to Pakistan and I’ve been working on bringing foreigners to our country for the last seven years now. My California-to-Pakistan solo motorcycle journey was all about introducing Pakistan to the people all over the world. The trip allowed them to meet a Pakistani, listen to our stories and see pictures of what Pakistan is really like. Over the years I’ve built up a reputation and now foreigners flock to Pakistan every year to ride motorcycles with me. I’m really excited to do this all-women tour in hopes that Pakistani women will be empowered and start getting on motorcycles too!
Moin Khan at the Khunjerab Pass.
SH: What will be some of the challenges during this trip?
MK: We have planned a lot and I feel 14 days would not be enough to see everything. I want these women to see Pakistan like we Pakistanis do. I want to make sure they fall in love with this country like I’m in love with it. I can do it in 14 days, but a few more would’ve been better. Other than that, food is usually a challenge but I’ve figured that out quite well by now as well.
SH: In your expert opinion, how safe and easy is it for women to travel up north?
MK: It’s super safe from a security point of view. Every year many women come to ride motorcycles with me and there’s never a problem ever. The main thing is you really need to know how to ride a motorcycle well because these are some of the biggest mountains in the world. You can’t be a newbie here, you’ve got to be an experienced biker to survive these mountains. It’s tough but that’s why its fun!
