Polish | Pakistan

Polish cyclist Paweł Małaszko, aiming to be the first person to cycle to the K2 base camp from Karachi, started the final leg of his journey on Sunday. Małaszko, Aged 46, is cycling to the base camp as part of his adventure to cycle across Pakistan — from the shores of the Arabian Sea to the K2 base camp, the Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Court provided a permit to the Polish cyclist to complete his adventure earlier this month. The legal battle between tour operators and GB tourism departments had stopped the issuance of mountaineering and trekking permits for foreigners. Talking to Dawn, the cyclist said he started his final adventure on Sunday morning from Skardu. “It is a challenging expedition, my goal is to cover this whole route on a bike. without additional support. If I succeed, I will be the first man in history to do so,” Małaszko said. Earlier, the Polish cyclist reached Skardu, travelling 3,250 kilometres from Karachi on a bicycle. “I am an athlete and an avid traveller, deeply engaged in challenging cy...

GILGIT: A Polish cyclist, granted permission by the Gilgit-Baltis­tan Chief Court to cycle up to the K2 basecamp, will start his journey within the next few days. Paweł Małaszko arrived in Gilgit on Saturday as part of his adventure to cycle across Pakistan — from the shores of the Arabian Sea to the K2 Base Camp. However, his adventure was stalled as the required permit to go to the popular tourist destination couldn’t be issued due to an ongoing legal battle. On Friday, the GB Chief Court ordered the government to issue the trekking permit to Mr Małaszko. Last year, the GB government hiked permit fees for mountaineering and trekking expeditions by 300 per cent under the GB Finance Act, 2024. The region’s tour operators challenged the decision in court, which issued a stay order, effectively suspending the issuance of new permits. Mr Małaszko had filed an appeal in the GB Chief Court for the trekking permit, according to Asghar Ali Porik, a tour operator. View this post on Instagram An official of the GB tou...