The cold now feels like a distant memory. Even in late October, the interior of Pakistan is still very warm, with morning temperatures high 20s, and low 30s during the day.

Today’s route in blue

Today’s ride was to Multan, a city about half way down the length of Pakistan. It is next to the Chenab river, which at this point is slowly converging towards the Indus River, and its surrounds resemble the agricultural heartland of Pakistan.

One thing I noticed as soon as I set off this morning was the presence of smoke / smog. It was almost suffocating; I had seen people wearing face masks in Lahore and now I understood why. It ranged from the smell of smoke, to the acrid smell of rubber burning, and burning waste. I had purchased a number of n95 masks that had been unused this entire time, and finally put this to use today. I have almost put every single thing to use now, which feels quite satisfying.

I spent most of the time listening to a new audiobook, Daemon by Daniel Suarez, which was recommended to me by a friend. It is striking how plausible the eventualities of the book are in the world of today, after having been authored in 2005 (I will not go further into detail as I think it is a good book you should read). It rates lesser on my scale than the Three Body Problem trilogy (which I rate 8, 9, 8/10 respectively); I would say this would probably shake out to a 6.5-7.5/10 once I finish the book.

Quite common were these tall kilns for making bricks

My first stop was after ~3 hours of riding, at the local Mcdonalds at the town of Sahiwal, approximately half way through today’s route. It was one of those new corporate-owned style McDonalds, complete with an armed security guard in the car park, possibly the cleanest interior of a restaurant I’ve been to in Pakistan thus far, and air conditioning. While I ordered and then ate my food, I was approached by successive patrons who were very curious about my route and wanted photos with me.

Commonly requested photo pose

I have not been counting, but here in Pakistan, it feels like every single stop I make, there is at least 1 interaction with someone, who is incredibly curious. They are generally very kind, and offer to help however they can. The most common questions (almost universally asked here in Pakistan) are: (i) where are you from? (ii) where did you start riding from? (iii) are you a vlogger? (iv) where are you riding to?. Less common but also frequent are (v) do you like Pakistan / Pakistani people? (vi) how much did your bike cost? (This one definitely took the crown in China though).

After lunch, I took a short detour to the town of Harappa, which had the ruins of a Bronze Age Indus River civilisation.

Museum inside the Harappa archaeological site

There was a museum with artifacts discovered in the village, and the uncovered ruins of the village, and I had an English speaking guide and security guard escort with an AK47, (I am not sure entirely why this was necessary, I think it was because he spoke English as well). I was quite impressed by what they had; the ruins were so well preserved that I thought that these were reconstructions (when in reality they seemed to be mostly from 2500 BC).

Thumbs up!

Thumbs up! (and a few more family members)

Eucalyptus trees at the site, reminding me of Australia

Where the markets were in old Harappa

Granary and storage sites

It was another few hours until I reached the outskirts of Multan, where I stopped for fuel. After purchasing some snacks at the station, I sat in one of the seats next to a middle aged gentleman, who turned out to be the owner of the nearby restaurant. He made a few gestures to staff, and to my surprise, the attendant came back with the cash I had paid for the snacks! He invited me in for a meal (which I needed to politely decline), and asked to video me endorsing his restaurant.

More photo requests

the proprietor and I

I have also not been allowed to pay for a single meal or thing when in the company of Pakistanis here. I have never seen a place where this is so strictly enforced; restaurant staff will not allow the foreigner to pay usually. After encountering this a few times, I have since resigned to simply showing my appreciation for the hospitality (rather than trying to pay). Pakistanis are truly a generous people.

There was quite a large planned community with perfect roads in the “Defence Housing Authority” (which is an army run housing unit? but targeted at civilians?)

Replica of Khunjerab Pass at the roundabout

The Airbnb, while fitted out nicely, also had some hygiene deficiencies. This is 2/3 Airbnbs thus far now, which I feel like is not a good track record…I think people mean well but there is a general lack of attention to detail when it comes to cleaning.

footsteps! this was meant to be clean!

Tomorrow; Sukkur!

Some stats:

• 366 KM travelled
• 7.6L fuel
• 30g coffee consumed
• 10 unique interactions

Part 2 route progress

Complete route to date