Feb. 27 - Besham, Pakistan

Sunday, February 27 :: Besham, Pakistan :: 6km today / 5299km total

I thought long and hard last night about continuing up the KKH, but when I read in my guidebook that the road quickly rises another 3000 feet, my decision was made. It would simply be too cold, I've pushed that envelope far enough. I was very happy to have made it this far, its been among the best rides in my life, and I think I'll be back to complete the ride into China... Gilgit, Pakistan to the penultimate Silk Road town of Kashgar, China, about 700km of riding. And I'm not doing it alone, next time... yes, you out there, you know who you are... yes I'm looking at you... don't try to hide! You're coming.

So I was up early and rode across town to the bus station, feet numb upon arrival, underscoring my decision to stop. A long bus ride, fortunately the Swiss man from the guesthouse was on the bus, and we had much to talk about. Again, like everyone else I've met who've been there, he said Iran was his favourite country to travel through. You know what that means!

A rockslide South of Chilas stopped our progress, and it was a big one that would not be cleared anytime soon. Everyone disembarked, grabbed their baggage, and crawled across the slide to the other side where a mirror of the scene was taking place. In this way buses were swapped and everyone was off and rolling again. It should have been quick, but the price bargaining delayed departure for hours. Its called Fixed Pricing, Pakistan. Please adopt it.

We rolled into Besham after dark, and it was enough travel for me for the day. I grabbed a familiar room in a familiar hotel, and went to sleep.