Sanaullah Marwat

“Do not judge me by my success, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again.” – Nelson Mandela

I always thought of Saudi Arabia as a desert country, but Abha proved me wrong. The city is surrounded by high green mountains and is often covered in clouds. People i met were also very chill - like the Syrian mechanic who fixed my bike but refused to take any money for the work and also invited me for dinner.

Saudia Arabia motorcycle travel, solo biker, Middle East, Al Abha, motorcycle touring

You dont need the biggest bike for the longest journeys.

My Suzuki DR650 aka Naik Parveen isn’t the fastest, strongest, or sexiest bike but I will never forget how she brought me to the tops of mountains, to the edge of oceans, to the middle of the worlds largest desert, and all the way up to a 57th floor fancy apartment in Dubai.

Naik Parveen is not the last adventure bike I will own, but she will always be my first who gave me courage to go around the world.

Crossing Saudi Arabia’s Empty Quarter which is the world largest sand desert was one hell of an experience and completely mind blowing. 750km of straight roads through dunes more than 1000ft tall, and only 1 petrol station along the way. Naik Parveen and I have camped in many different places on my bike journey but this might be the most remote camping site of them all.

Winter can be tough when you’re riding in the freezing cold. I’ve ridden through blizzards, ice, and snow. Sometimes it makes me want to quit, but with the right ride and enough determination, you can get through anything.

This picture is from my last ride with friends to mountains in end of October. I always imagine how this place would be during December to May month when these passes are closed with massive snow. Do you think they would be haunted - maybe a winter creature lives here?

I have been to Istanbul before, but it was another experience entirely to drive into the city on my own motorcycle Naik Parveen. After riding 22,000 km from Pakistan to Turkey, we officially crossed from Asia into Europe.

Met amazing couple from romania again who i hosted in pakistan. It was fun to meet again and we had one of the biggest foot long donar.

Crossing with my bike on ferry was one amazing experience for me. Never did this before was confused and excited same time. I was told that you need to hold or strap bike but the sea was calm and ferry was smooth so had the time to go up on deck and relax - enjoy the amazing view.

While roaming around in Istanbul I spotted Pakistani resturant - immediately pulled over as i was craving for biryani (BTW i m not a rice man - very rarely i eat rice.

Would like to thank Shazia and Aykut for hosting and feeding the best ever Turkish breakfast 🙏🏼