The guys from PBC with Moritz
After visiting the Lahore Museum, my next goal was the 16th century Lahore Fort. By now, however, the temperature was back over the 40 degree mark and the prospect of spending a couple of hours wandering around the fort was less than appealing – no matter how worthy the fort may be.
Instead, I chose something with much more contemporary origins.
Within the international motorcycling community there is a highly respected website called HorizonsUnlimited which is run/hosted/maintained by Grant and Susan Johnson. This site is an ABSLOUTE MUST for anyone who is planning to go motorcycling overseas. The HorizonsUnlimited (HU) website contains a phenomenal amount of information about every aspect of overseas motorcycling including destinations, documentation, freight and choice of bike.
As well as this “nuts and bolts” aspect, HU acts as a virtual meeting place for motorcyclists on the road. Riders can contact other riders who may be in the same city/town/village at the same time. Through HU I got a message from Moritz who happened to be in Lahore at the same time I was. Moritz had been travelling on his Honda Transalp for a few months from Germany eastwards on his way somewhere else.
Independently, Moritz and I had both been in contact with the Pakistan Bikers Club. The PBC consists of a bunch of enthusiastic motorcyclists from all walks of life who meet regularly to organise rides and other social events. So Moritz and I met up with Omar and the guys from PBC and had a great time talking to them about motorcycling and motorcycle travel in Europe and Australia. Large capacity bikes are such a rarity here that they attract huge attention wherever you go.
As well as sharing some delicious local food, Omar offered lots of valuable information and suggestions about travelling along the Karakoram Highway to China (the next phase of my trip after I leave Islamabad) as the guys from the PBC have travelled this route many times and have lots of contacts along the way.
So, if you are ever in Lahore, make sure you contact the PBC. They love meeting foreign motorcyclists and will go out of their way to provide any sort of assistance they can – including trying to track down spare parts or tyres for bikes which are uncommon in Pakistan.
The plan was to then visit Lahore Fort in the cool of the evening. However, the evening still wasn’t cool (about 30-35 degrees). And so, tired but happy, that was enough social interaction for one day and I headed home for one last night of luxury at the Avari.
Tomorrow would bring a quick dash up the road to Islamabad – the Canberra of Pakistan!
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