Scootistan 2016 began for real today!
We met up with our host Mr. Moin Khan and started with a meal together. Afghani BBQ at a restaurant named Kabul BBQ. The food was absolutely amazing and this was just the beginning! I can’t wait to eat my way across this country.
Then we went to go see our scooters for the first time, meet some of the support crew that Moin has hired and have a short shakedown ride.
I picked the black Vespa 150 Super. I shall name it Darth Vespa!
The scooters are rough! I’m not sure what I expected but wow, I can’t believe that I’m going to ride 1200 through the Himalayas on a 1960’s Vespa that has been banging around Pakistan for over 50 years!
The test ride was terrifying! Islamabad traffic is chaotic mayhem unlike any driving experience I have ever had. Lanes are nearly a suggestion, vehicles driving into oncoming traffic is commonplace, large trucks try to fit into any gap and Vespas are the lowest man on the totem pole. All while trying to get my brain wrapped around driving on the left hand side of the road.
My scoot had no 2nd gear and navigating traffic while reacquainting myself with hand shifting and a foot brake rather than a handbrake. This old Vespa shook and shimmied the whole ride, It’s a wonder that I am still alive.
