Gulafshan Tariq, 24, took off on an adventure that no girl had ever thought to perform in Pakistan. Riding off on her motorbike, she rid right through patriarchal barriers of ‘social acceptability’ and across the beautiful roads of Khyber Pakthunkhwa to Gilgit Baltistan. Tariq is a software engineer from Sargodha and managing the feat alone, she visited Shangla, Swat, Mansehra, Gilgit Baltistan, Chitral, Malakand along with the Upper and Lower Dir on her trusty motorbike.
“I travelled 3,000 kilometres on the rugged roads of Khyber Pakthunkhwa, mostly through tourist hot spots.”
“My travels have taught me much about the rich Khyber Pakthunkhwa region.”
“It was a dream to travel through Pakhtunkhawa and Gilgit Baltistan alone and show the world how peaceful these areas actually are.”
“It was difficult, I met a number of minor accidents because of the state of roads in the region, but I’m grateful to God that there was no lasting harm.”
Praising KP’s tribes’ hospitality and “warm hearts”, she said the locals were always forthcoming and appreciated her efforts.
“I have travelled nearly 4,000 kilometres up till now: my next destination is Kohat, after which I will travel to Islamabad to conclude my journey.”
Her inspiration for the tour was her father’s travel journey across the world, which got her rolling out and interested to venture across the roads of KPK, on a bike. Tariq was funded by a private organisation that decided to help her make the trip possible, as all government organisations rejected her plea for support.
Tariq claims to be the proud daughter of Pakistan to have her name mentioned in the National Book of Records and being the one and only woman throughout the country to have traveled every district of KPK and Gilgit Baldistan on the MOTORBIKE.
