KARACHI: A German woman who has traveled through more than a dozen countries on a bicycle praised the vibrancy of Pakistan’s southern Karachi port city, where she spent some time before leaving for Lahore in Punjab province on Thursday.
Madeline Hoffmann, 33, started her bicycle journey from Sydney to Turkey in August last year after discovering her Turkish roots. She said that her parents had separated at her birth and did not know that her father was a Turk until she turned 26.
Born and raised in Germany, Hoffmann moved to Sydney, Australia, 10 years ago. Within four and a half months, she traveled through 12 countries to reach Turkey in January of this year, where she met her father and paternal family.
She stayed there for seven weeks before continuing her journey through Middle Eastern states, including Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. More recently, she flew from Dubai to Karachi with her bicycle, making Pakistan the 18th country on her travel list.
“I really love the vibrancy of [Karachi],” she told Arab News in a conversation. “I really liked the historical buildings that still stand. It gives the city a kind of mix between the old and the new. There’s food and people everywhere. I had some local food like Aalu Paratha, Halwa Puri, and had a lot of chai. It’s amazing to discover the culture.”
She said that she spent the last seven months traveling through several Muslim states and found their hospitality “really great.”
“My time in Saudi Arabia was really wonderful,” she continued. “Saudi Arabia now has a special place in my heart because of the people. The people are very hospitable. I loved cycling through the vast landscapes of Saudi Arabia.”
Hoffmann, who lived in Germany with her mother and two sisters before moving to Australia, wanted to meet her father in 2020. Initially, she planned to take a train or rent a car, but everything was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The borders in Australia were also shut,” she informed. “So, I started to ride my bicycle more. And I also started to watch bike touring flocks. I really got intrigued and thought, ‘Wow, this is something I would like to do.’“
She pointed out traveling by bicycle was not easy.
“There are physical hurdles, mental hurdles, mountains, rain, snow, extreme heat in the desert, distances, men, problems with my bicycle. I have to repair when I’m in the middle of nowhere, countless flat tires.”
Hoffmann said she made sure to have some knowledge of repairing bicycles before embarking on her venture. Traveling solo as a woman, she also remained careful while selecting the location of the tent where she slept.
“I don’t think you can really train for a journey like this because cycling with a lot of bags is completely different from cycling with an unloaded bike,” she said. “The most important thing is definitely the mental space. If I have a day where I’m mentally weak, which obviously happens, then it’s the most difficult day. My body can be weak from a lot of cycling, but then my mind takes over. But if my mind is weak, then it’s very difficult.”
Hoffmann roughly carries around 45 kilograms of weight with her to meet her needs during the trip. She has five packs on her bike. The two at the front contain her wardrobe, the middle one has all the tools she needs, while there are two large ones at the back. One is called the “Bedroom,” which has her tent and sleeping bag, while the other is the “Kitchen” with all the pots and groceries.
The German bicycle adventurer left for a 1,200-kilometer ride to Lahore from Karachi on Thursday. She plans to cross the Wagah Border to India before traveling to Nepal and covering the mountainous Annapurna Circuit.
