The Road to Panjshir - Part One

Buzkashi Dreams

Kabul from the Back of a Bike

Mountain Biking to Break Barriers?
On October 3rd this year, my birthday coincidentally, I became the first woman to mountain bike in Afghanistan.   The irony of accomplishing something like this was that it started out so simply….each trip I’ve spent in Afghanistan I’ve longed for my bike.  The goat trails, the dirt roads, and the incredible mountains scream out to me to get pedalling! The non profit I founded, Mountain to Mountain, is focused on women and children’s education

Motorbikes by the Light of the Moon
The Afghan boys took me out tonight, the dark night lit up by the full moon that hit the night before.  I borrowed a baggy hoodie and wore loose pants to look a bit more ‘manly’.  Parweez and I drove out ot the airport road in his car and Hamid and Shams rode their bikes.  The three vehicles played cat and mouse all the way there at speed a bit too fast considering no one was wearing helmets or seat belts.   Hamid and his friend goofed off on the bikes– having a

The Muslim Bike Conundrum
So of course, as a Western woman who regularly rides a motorbike in AFghanistan, just purchased her own in Kabul, and has started riding her mountain bike in the mountains of Panjshir – the question comes up… can muslim women ride a bike?   I am a Western woman – obviously so, tall with blond hair and an athletic stride.  Afghan men will be surprised, even shocked to see me on two wheels with or without an engine, but many will accept it as a crazy Western thing. As a good friend in Kabul put it when I first asked the serious question of “What is the worst that could happen?”, he replied, “You have to understand, its just that it si

Desert Eagle – Afghan Bike Shopping
The time has come for me to have some transportation in this town.  I don’t want to be dependent upon taxis, drivers, or friends to get around Afghanistan So – its time to buy a motorcycle. The decision made – time to think about logistics.   How does a blonde woman purchase a motorcycle in a country where women don’t ride bikes? You ask two Afghan flatmates to pave the way.  Parweez and Hamid went down to the shop and talked with the guy.  I already had made the decision that were looking at a Chinese bike, a small 150, called Desert Eagle.  So they were there to haggle the price and set the story that the bike was for Hamid and his ‘bossâ

Desert Eagle – Afghan Bike
The time has come for me to have some transportation in this town.  I don’t want to be dependent upon taxis, drivers, or friends to get around Afghanistan So – its time to buy a motorcycle. The decision made – time to think about logistics.   How does a blonde woman purchase a motorcycle in a country where women don’t ride bikes? You ask two Afghan flatmates to pave the way.  Parweez and Hamid went down to the shop and talked with the guy.  I already had made the decision that were looking at a Chinese bike, a small 150, called Desert Eagle.  So they were there to haggle the price and set the story that the bike was for Hamid and his ‘bossâ