LONDON: British-Pakistani female biker Guliafshan Tariq is making a new history by travelling to Pakistan from London to Lahore on her motorbike, becoming the first ever female biker to do so.
Tariq, who lives in Manchester with her husband and three-year-old daughter, told Geo News ahead of setting off on her bike journey that she is taking the road trip to raise awareness about the rights of women in Pakistan and to make a statement that women can do anything they want to do when they are determined.
Around a dozen professional bikers, who travel internationally on bikes, gathered at a bikers’ cafe in London to applaud Tariq on her remarkable journey. Many of them have taken rides inside Pakistan, and they shared tips with her, who has made several records in the biking community.
The Pakistani biker who hails from Sargodha, Punjab province, is a software engineer and marketing executive by profession and a biker by passion, and is married to a Pathan family from Swat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
She told Geo News: “I made the plan before the current Iran-US-Israel war started. My husband and daughter have already reached Pakistan and are waiting for me to join them. This ride is dedicated to Pakistan and its strong women, especially rural women who are the real face of women’s empowerment. I have lived in Swat, and I saw firsthand how women in KP suffered at the hands of the Taliban when I was there. I want to inspire other women and also want my daughter to know that her mum did this, this is a message for my daughter and for women who don’t have rights, opportunities and need encouragement.”
Tariq has made a name in the local UK bikers’ community. She shared that several bikers from the UK and Europe have travelled to Pakistan and have fallen in love with the country.
Tariq holds several national records, including a 2015 cycling journey from Islamabad to Khunjerab Pass, the world’s highest border crossing at 16,000 feet.
At the age of 24, she entered the National Book of Records by becoming the only woman to have travelled to every district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Gilgit Baltistan (GB) alone on a motorbike, covering 3,000km in 20 days. She also successfully attempted a solo paragliding flight in Qaqlasht Plains from a height of 7,800 feet in 2017.
Tariq said that she draws inspiration from her father’s travels around the world.
“My father travelled all over the world. He was passionate about travelling and living his life. My family were initially reluctant for me to travel alone, but they came around and supported me all along. They were concerned about safety and hazards, and that concern remains.
“Not many people know that Pakistan has a very strong biking community. The country’s main mode of transport is bikes. Lots of women have become bike riders, and they travel all over the country out of passion. “
Tariq’s journey will take her across several countries and continents before reaching Pakistan. Starting with her ride from London to France, she plans to travel through Switzerland and Italy before taking a ferry to Greece and then continuing to Istanbul, Turkiye.
From there, her original route was to cross into Iran and then ride onward to Pakistan, either directly or via Afghanistan, eventually reaching Lahore. However, due to the ongoing conflict in the region, the route remains uncertain.
If the situation improves, she plans to proceed through Iran as initially planned. An alternative route she considered was travelling through the Middle East to Oman and then shipping the bike by sea to Karachi, though that option is currently not operational.
As a final contingency, she plans to ride from Turkiye to Georgia, store her motorcycle there for several months, fly to Karachi, and continue the final stretch of the journey to Lahore on another motorcycle.