The next day me school time friend Asif Malik had to join me for the onward journey. Around 4 p.m. we
left Islamabad and taking the Bara Kahu flyover reached Murree Express Highway. As we stopped at the
Kohala bridge Asif informed me that we were to stay the night in a nearby village called Munasa with
Adil Abbasi, a common friend who hails from Kashmir, and that Adil was also to join us for the next day’s
ride on his Suzuki GS150 along with his cousin Maaz. We had our dinner at a local roadside restaurant.
This is where Asif brought it to my knowledge, for the first time, that a small offroad patch awaited us to
reach Adil’s place. “How tough is it going to be”, I asked Asif. “Not much”, was the reply.
I have always been curious to take the roads that flank up and down the main road as we travel on the
mountain roads; curious just to see where these roads end up. Today I was on one such track. The main
Kohala-Dhirkot road flanks a path that slides down the mountain at a steep angle, in the dark of the
night I found myself on a narrow path with loose rocks spread all over like giant pearls. I knew I couldn’t
find my way through them but had to ride over them, the right foot on the break pedal all the time. This
was my first ever endeavor on a pure offroad track on a bike that weighed well more than 200kg with all
the luggage. Lucky for me, I made it without any mistake, although I told Asif that this offroad track was
too much for an unskilled rider like me who has always been on the pavements. The climb next day
would be easier, I thought, so I wasn’t much worried.
People that belong to Punjab’s plain tracts cannot think like mountain men who always keep the
weather aspect in mind. The next morning, we were awakened by heavy rain and the adventure
resumed with a wet muddy track and scattered gravel welcoming me to another nerve testing ride. I got
stuck at two points where I needed a push for the bike as the mud bathed rear tyre was completely out
of traction. Then there was this patch where a natural spring flowed down the hill where I dropped my bike for the first time since three years of owning it. But from this point onwards I rode like a
professional, now that the fear was gone. I believe that an offroad track is the mountain’s anvil, it
shapes a true rider out of you. I just hope I’ve been shaped a little, until next time.
Here is the video covering my first off road climb on this bike. I hope my off road riding skills will improve with time 
