Richard is a cyclist. For quite some time he’s been on a solo mountain biking trip to India, Pakistan, China, Tibet and Nepal.

In 2002, Richard visited the Himalayas - the roof of the world. This time round, when the cyclist visited Pakistan, I closely followed his progress on the trip and had a chance to meet, and talk to, him when he was in Lahore.

Richard is an independent traveller who doesn’t follow rigid timeframes or strict schedules. His usual route includes northern India where he plans to ride through Rishikesh, Hardiwar, Shimla, Kinnaur, Spiti, Lahaul, Rupshu, Ladakh, Dharamsala, and Amritsar. Pakistan, having the famous Karakoram Highway, is a popular destination among cyclists. Western China, with its Xinjiang and Tibet provinces, is always full of challenges requiring absolute determination and commitment, as do Kashgar and some sites that are holy to Tibetans Buddhists, Hindus and Jains. According to cyclists, Nepal too is a wonderful place to be in.

During my meeting with Richard, I had a strong urge to ask why he had travelled to faraway places. Initially I resisted asking the question because I knew everyone else had raised similar questions before him. But when I did hurl the query at him, his answer was, “I have been asked this many times. It is a fairly straightforward question, but the answer is anything but straightforward. And I’m sure, if you’d ask hundred people, you would get hundred different answers. In essence, travelling is simply a way to discover a great many human aspects. I think the only true way to achieving it is by travelling mostly alone, or in a small group of like-minded fellow ‘wanderers’. It is the only way of interacting with locals and understanding their lives better. This often means leaving behind the comforts that I am used to at home as it is about meeting unexpected challenges almost daily, i.e. overcoming language barriers, finding out and respecting local customs and cultural differences, or being a little bit adventurous when getting to taste a wide variety of dishes. To experience it fully, I have to let go off my western ways of doing things. Sometimes, just a slight change in my behaviour will bring on many memorable, even funny, encounters with the people I’m visiting.”

I found Richard to be well prepared and well informed. In Pakistan, he crossed the border at Wagah (yes, seeing the famous flag-lowering ceremony), stayed in Lahore for some days before leaving for Islamabad to get a Chinese visa to get to the Karakoram Highway and pedal all the way to Kashgar in Xinjiang. While on the KKH, he had plans to bike through the Kaghan Valley and reconnect with the KKH near Chilas. This is a difficult route compared to taking the KKH right from Hassan Abdal. He says, “I like to accept challenges.”

English is not Richard’s first language, but he speaks and writes it exceptionally well. He is also aware of the political situation in South Asia and keeps himself updated about what’s happening in Nepal, Pakistani and India.

Having read Alive and Well in Pakistan by Ethan Casey, Richard finds Pakistan and its people friendly, peaceful and welcoming. “I have not had any problems so far,” he says, “some writers exaggerate and dramatise their tales but nothing has happened to me. The only thing I can point out is that pollution is harming the urban areas a great deal here.”

Richard writes his diary regularly. “I write diary to help prepare in a more organised fashion for my adventures. But there is so much more about the trip that I know for sure I will get side-tracked into discussing history, religion, politics, current affairs, culture, etc. I guess, in essence, that is what travelling is all about. Being confronted by unexpected and different things and discovering just how much in common human beings have.”