MEDIA REPORT

Some of my stories...

 

 And the most precious, is the one appear in Central Asia Times online newspaper....

COMMENTS FROM OVERLANDER OTAIS & SIFU...

 

AZMAN BAHARUDDIN -  THE PIONEER OF KEMBARA BUMI SUCI

 

 

PAK AMZAH SULAIMAN - HE HAD RODE TO 3/4 OF THE WORLD

AKI ANIS - THE OFF ROAD MASTER

 

 

 

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST.....SIFU HADI HUSSEIN, 2010 KL - LONDON; 2012 EQUATOR CHALLENGE; 2013 SAHARA (AFRICA) CHALLENGE

 

 

 

Thank you all for the comments and motivational words. It means a lot to me......

 

 

CENTRAL ASIA....BEEN THERE....DONE THAT.....

ALL PRAISES TO ALLAH ALMIGHTY.....

5 countries covered – Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Afghanistan...

6208kms distance travelled....only 810kms proper paved road, 1250kms pure off road (gravels, rocks, dirt, sands) and 4148kms badly damaged paved road...

Became the first Malaysian (woman) to do a solo motorbike ride in 5 Central Asian countries, and recognized by the Malaysia Book of Record...

Successfully ascended and descended 13 mountain passes ranging from 2200m to 4655m above sea level...

Was the 1^st Malaysian to do a solo motorbike ride on Ak-Baital Pass (4655m), Tajikistan, which was the 2^ndhighest road in the world...

Had to experience icy mountain passes, wet slippery off road due to melting glaciers in the mountains, road washed away due to landslides, floods and snow avalanches...

Lived through extreme temperature ranging from 2°Celsius to 52°Celsius...

Had to weather through sand storms in Afghanistan and extremely super strong winds while riding in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan territories...

I SURVIVED THEM ALL.....

AND I HAD LIVED MY DREAM.....

 

 

THE END OF RIDE....

19^th  & 20^th June 2013: DAY 29 & 30, TASHKENT – KUL – IPOH

The day had finally arrived. Today, I am going back home. I felt sad to leave my new friends whom I already felt like family – Ridzuan, Yati and her adorable son, Aisy. All of them including Mr Mahmud, the driver, sent me to the final door at the airport where we hugged and said good bye. Thank you all for the nice hospitality that you had given me. I will never forget your kindness for the rest of my life.

My flight was delayed, however it was not a full flight. So, I managed to get 4 rows of the seat and caught some sleep. Upon arrival at KLIA, I was so surprised to see a number of unfamiliar bikers who had been waiting to welcome me back home. Ohhh....and reporters too!!! They made me felt like a hero. I really had no idea that this solo ride that I’m doing had created a phenomena in Malaysian biking world. I was deeply touched. Some of my friends were there to meet me too. However, I was sad that my sifu, Hadi Hussein (KL – London solo rider on a kapchai in 2010), the one whom I really wanted to see, couldn’t make it due to some personal matters. I can't help tears.....

 

The next day, after clearing dusty & muddy DREAM (which he collected from Tajik, Afghan & Uzbek) at the customs, I rode my last 300km route back.....the same way that I had taken one month ago.....to Ipoh, my home sweet home....all along the way, feeling so lucky to be borned Malaysian. From now on, good paved road will be considered as one of the blessings in life.....  

With that, my Central Asia 'STANS' Solo Ride had now reached its end....
 

Some stats for this ride:

LONGEST DISTANCE COVERED IN A DAY:    635km
SHORTEST DISTANCE COVERED IN A DAY:   100km
LONGEST DAY WITHOUT SHOWER:   2 days
LONGEST TIME WITHOUT RICE:   7 days
HIGHEST TEMPERATURE:   52° Celsius
LOWEST TEMPERATURE:   2° Celsius
HIGHEST MOUNTAIN PASS:   Ak Baital, Tajik (4655m)
LOWEST MOUNTAIN PASS:   Shurubod, Tajik (2200m)
SCARIEST MOUNTAIN PASS:   Ak Moinak & Kulak Assu (Kyrgyz)

MOST CHALLENGING RIDE:  Tash Rabat - Jalalabad (Kyrgyz)
MOST RELAXING RIDE:   Almaty - Korday (Kazakh)
MOST ENJOYFUL RIDE:   Circling Issykul Lake (Kyrgyz)
MOST STRESSFUL RIDE:   Kaldama Pass (Kyrgyz)
MOST SPECTACULAR VIEW:   Balykchyi - Narin - Tash Rabat - Osh (Kyrgyz) - Kara Kul (Tajik)
BEST PAVED ROAD:   Korday - Kaskelen (Kazakh)
WORST PAVED ROAD:   Sherobod - Bukhara (Uzbek)
BEST OFFROAD EXPERIENCE:   Tash Rabat (Kyrgyz)
UNFORGETTABLE OFFROAD EXPERIENCE:   Khorog - Kulyob (Tajik)
TOTAL BIKE FALL:   10

MOST HOSPITABLE PEOPLE:   Nomads & the mountain tribes
MOST HARD TO DEAL PEOPLE:   Uzbek authorities
MOST HANDSOME MEN:   Southern Tajik & Afghan
MOST BEAUTIFUL WOMEN:   Uzbek & Kazakh
COOLEST DRIVER:   Chinese lorry drivers @ Pamir Highway
WORST DRIVER:   Kazakh
MOST BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY:    Kyrgyzstan
MOST UNIQUE LANDSCAPE:   Tajikistan
MOST HISTORICAL COUNTRY:  Uzbekistan
NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE:   Dehydration due to the heat of 52° Celsius in Tajik's low land
SWEETEST MEMORY: Visiting Saidina Ali's Mausoleum in Afghan

 
p/s: A more detailed story about my journey will be told in my upcoming book. More beautiful pics of course. STAY TUNED.....
 

 

DAY 28, TASHKENT (REST DAY)

18^th June 2013

I followed Madam Haryati to the Malaysian Embassy as I had an interview with Uzbek TV Station this morning. It was very funny because this was the first time in my life that an interpreter’s (Mr Farhod) service was needed during an interview. It was even funnier because every time Mr Farhod translated my answer, his translation took double the time than the time I took to answer each question. The interview took about 1 hour. Once done, I enjoyed the ripe plums at the embassy’s courtyard.

Later in the afternoon, Madam Hamidah the consulate, took me for some shopping at Chorsu Bazaar, the most famous bazaar in Tashkent. I bought some magnets, display plates, dried fruits, nuts, chocs and T-shirts to bring back home.

Chorsu Bazaar

Chocolate section

Herbs and spices

 That night, Madam Hamidah hosted me, some other Malaysian guests and the embassy staff at her house for dinner. She was a great cook and the dinner was really superb. Thank you very much Madam.

With Madam Hamidah, Consulate of Msian Embassy in Tashkent

p/s: A more detailed story about my journey will be told in my upcoming book. More beautiful pics of course. STAY TUNED.....

EHHH....RIDE DAH NAK HABIS??? DAY 27: SAMARKAND – TASHKENT (318KM)

 

17^th June 2013

Finally....today I will be heading to my final point for my Central Asia ride – Tashkent. I began from this city about 4 weeks ago, and now, I am completing my circle and heading back to the same place where I started. My emotions? Hard to tell. After all the challenges that I had been through, I am happy that the journey had been successful and was nearing to an end without any major problem, but regretted too that it had been too rushed. I couldn’t believe that its going to end very soon. Anyway, since I had an appointment with Pawel, my agent at 2.30pm, I couldn’t delay much. After saying good bye to Jeremy, Brentt, and the GH owner, I made my way north east via M39 to Tashkent.

With Jeremy and Brentt....very nice friends....wonder when can I meet them again?

 I was not aware that my rear ream was dent until being told by a worker at a petrol station. The dent was quite serious and I was worried if it couldn’t last until I reached Tashkent. I had to ride slowly to avoid holes (fortunately the road improved by lots).

 

The wind was still strong until I almost reached Tashkent. I had some problem to find fuel as I didn’t top up much since I am going to send DREAM straight to the cargo office upon arrival to Tashkent, meaning I must made sure that the tank was only a quarter full. There were many petrol stations along the way, but almost all were not operating bcos they had finished their fuel supply. After checking around, I got some fuel after the 5^th petrol station I stopped by. As in Tajikistan and Afghanistan, there were check points at all provinces in Uzbekistan as well, but luckily they didn’t stop me. At this point, I didn’t have the mood anymore to entertain the same repeated questions by the locals or the authorities.

At last, I arrived Tashkent after riding slowly for 4.30 hours. The funny thing was my GPS still wanted to play jokes with me. About 1km for me to reach the Malaysian Embassy, the GPS suddenly hanged and not instructing me directions anymore. I felt like throwing it away. Thank god I was already around the neighbourhood which housed lots of other embassies and it’s not difficult to find someone who could speak English to direct me the correct way. I arrived at the embassy and was given a warm welcome by Mr Ridzuan, Madam Haryati, Madam Hamidah, Mr Farhod and Mr Mahmud. They congratulated me for my success and were so eager to hear my story. However, I had to keep the stories until later as my agent had already waiting for me at the cargo office.

Syukur...syukur...
syukur padaMu ya Allah...
kerana mengizinkan hambaMu 
menamatkan ride ini dengan jayanya...

With Msian Embassy in Tashkent's staff

I rode DREAM’s final route to the cargo office and settled all the documents with help from Pawel and his friend. The process took about 1 hour, and after that Pawel sent me back to the embassy.

My agent Pawel (right), and the team

Again, I spent the night at Madam Haryati’s place. It was so good to finally able to eat delicious homemade Malaysian food cooked by her. Thank you very much, Yati, for the hospitality. The night was spent chatting about my Central Asia solo ride challenges and what I had seen along the way.

 

 

p/s: A more detailed story about my journey will be told in my upcoming book. More beautiful pics of course. STAY TUNED.....

 

 

DAY 26, SAMARKAND (REST DAY)

16^th June 2013

I had breakfast with Jeremy and Brentt at the guest house, and later, went for sightseeing together. We started with Registan, the most significant attraction in this most important Silk Road city. The buildings and the architecture were impressive, especially the mosque in the complex which had a golden decoration on the wall. There were also three famous medressas in this complex which had seen some important Uzbek educators studying and teaching there.

Registan...Jewel of the Central Asia's crown...
Can u spot a man cleaning the minaret?

Almost all attractions in Samarkand came with an entrance fee, being the priciest was Regsitan. After done with Registan, we went to Bibi Khanym Mosque, who was the wife to one of the most important 14th century ruler during the golden time, Amir Timur.  I was having some pain on my toes and couldn’t walk very fast to explore the ground.



Bibi Khanym Mausoleum 

I lost the two guys, but never mind, as I found Siob Bazaar nearby and took my own sweet time exploring it. It was a very interesting bazaar which you can find almost everything related to food and house hold items.

Dried fruits and nuts.....a must take home to enjoy with family and friends

Then, I made my way to Prophet Danial’s Mausoleum. It was a long walk and my toes were aching. Besides, after riding for so long, you tend to get lazy to walk. Fortunately, someone gave me a lift, so I didn’t have to walk very far. The prophet’s sarcophagus was 18m long. An elderly man inside the mausoleum will read some versus from the Holy Quran while all the visitors kept quiet and paid their respects.

The sarcophagus was 18m long

Then, I walked back to where I came from (this time no one gave me a lift), stopping a while to visit Hazrat-Hizr Mosque and the Afrosiab site. My aching toes didn’t permit me to walk further to Shah E Zinda, so I headed back to the guest house.

Hazrat-Hizr Mosque - the most beautiful in Samarkand

It was already 5pm then, and I spent the rest of the day resting in my room. Actually, there was another very important Islamic site to visit in Samarkand – the tomb of Imam Bukhari (we always read hadith which ended with Riwayat Bukhari & Muslim.....Yes, he’s the one). Unfortunately, it was located out of the city and the communication problem disabled me to find the way which was not listed in Lonely Planet guide book. The guest house owner who spoke some English also didn’t know the way either :(

p/s: A more detailed story about my journey will be told in my upcoming book. More beautiful pics of course. STAY TUNED.....

SILK ROAD CITIES: DAY 25, BUKHARA – SAMARKAND (380KM)

15^th June 2013

After a very filling breakfast at the guest house, I hurriedly did my city tour of this ancient city of Bukhara. I visited Lyabi House, some madressas, Kalon Minaret, Kalon Mosque and the Ark. It was a hot but windy day. I couldn’t spend much time for sightseeing as I had to rush to Samarkand today itself.

Lyabi House

Some crafts exhibitted at Lyabi House

 

 

Kalon Minaret....It was said that during the ancient times,
criminals were pushed from the top window down to their deaths

The Ark



Souvenirs sold at the Old City Bazaar

Once done with the sightseeing, I checked out and made my way to my next destination via M37. The wind was still blowing madly that I could see some trees were forced to bend very low due to the powerful blow. I had no device to indicate how strong the wind speed was, but I guess its not less than 100kmh.
 

It was easy to navigate my way, and the road condition was partly good and partly so-so, but much better compared to yesterday’s ride. All along the way, I had my favourite rock kapak era song 'Samarkand' (by Bloodshed) hummed in my mind. During those days, I had no idea that I will one day set foot in Samarkand..... what more on a motorbike and riding SOLO!!!

I arrived Samarkand after 4 hours of riding. I may not have Flecker’s poetic talents, but I could finally say that I had taken the golden road to Samarkand.

Sweet to ride forth at evening from the wells,
When shadows pass gigantic on the sand,
And softly through the silence beat the bells
Along the Golden Road to Samarkand.

We travel not for trafficking alone;
By hotter winds our fiery hearts are fanned:
For lust of knowing what should not be known
We take the Golden Road to Samarkand.

(Source: Brians World Tour)

The road to Samarkand.....May be not golden or silent anymore,
but a rare moment of solitude, and time to reflect on a dream realised.....

While cruising around to search for the guest house where I wanted to stay for the night, I spotted the first glimpse of the famous Registan, and took the opportunity for pics.

 

I checked in at the guest house, and while having dinner, to my surprise, two familiar faces walked in. They were Jeremy and Brentt, backpacker friends from Canada & USA whom I met at Osh Guest House. They had just arrived from Khojand, Tajikistan, and they both looked very tired. It was so nice to meet them again. That night was spent on catching up stories of how and what each of us had been through since the last time we met in Osh.

No idea whats the name, but sooo yummy,
tasted like our very own murtabak

p/s: A more detailed story about my journey will be told in my upcoming book. More beautiful pics of course. STAY TUNED.....