https://amp.scmp.com/lifestyle/trav...teenager-who-found-her-freedom-through-travel
“It’s funny how afraid people are of other people, especially countries in the Middle East. The countries we are taught to be afraid of the most are where I’ve met the nicest people.”
“I rarely stay in hotels or hostel accommodation, because I either camp in the wild, stay with locals who invite me into their home, or couch surf.”
At 21, she rented a donkey and trekked with just the animal’s owner for 19 days through Afghanistan’s Wakhan Corridor, one of the remotest places on Earth – there’s no postal service, mobile signal or internet access – visiting nomadic communities along the way. That same year she cycled solo across Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and northern Pakistan.
“Barely knowing how to cycle, I spontaneously decided to buy a bicycle and cycle across Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan along the legendary Pamir Highway. That’s the second-highest ‘road’ in the world, tracing along part of the ancient Silk Road. Most of the road is unpaved, with many high passes to cross. The highest is at 4,655 metres (15,272 feet) above sea level. I stopped every three seconds to catch my breath,” she writes in her blog.
“It’s funny how afraid people are of other people, especially countries in the Middle East. The countries we are taught to be afraid of the most are where I’ve met the nicest people.”
“I rarely stay in hotels or hostel accommodation, because I either camp in the wild, stay with locals who invite me into their home, or couch surf.”
At 21, she rented a donkey and trekked with just the animal’s owner for 19 days through Afghanistan’s Wakhan Corridor, one of the remotest places on Earth – there’s no postal service, mobile signal or internet access – visiting nomadic communities along the way. That same year she cycled solo across Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and northern Pakistan.
“Barely knowing how to cycle, I spontaneously decided to buy a bicycle and cycle across Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan along the legendary Pamir Highway. That’s the second-highest ‘road’ in the world, tracing along part of the ancient Silk Road. Most of the road is unpaved, with many high passes to cross. The highest is at 4,655 metres (15,272 feet) above sea level. I stopped every three seconds to catch my breath,” she writes in her blog.
