Karachi is one of the largest cities on Earth, and it behaves like it. More than eleven million people live here, by the official count, and the real number is probably higher, in a sprawl along the Arabian Sea that never really stops. The traffic is a wall of buses, rickshaws, motorbikes, donkey carts and overloaded trucks, and the air smells of diesel, frying oil and sea.
It is also surprisingly layered. The old British colonial centre has Gothic and Mughal-revival buildings like Frere Hall and the Mohatta Palace, a pink sandstone mansion from the 1920s, now a museum. The Mausoleum of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, a white marble cube, stands on a hill in the city and draws visitors from around the country. The beaches at Clifton, with camel rides and food stalls, fill up on Sunday evenings. Karachi is the commercial and financial heart of Pakistan, and the port handles most of the country's trade. The food, from spicy biryani to nihari and sweet lassi, is excellent, and cheap.
For a rider the city is something to leave, and the best way is early. The Makran Coastal Highway, the N-10, starts on the western side near the Hub River and runs about 650 kilometres along the Balochistan coast to Gwadar, through desert, mountains and sea cliffs. You pass through the sprawl of the city first, and rush-hour traffic can add hours. Once out, the road is a good-quality highway with long straights and a few bends, with sea views, strange eroded rock formations and almost no traffic.
Practical matters are important. Fuel is plentiful in Karachi, and you should fill every container you have, since stations on the coast are far apart. Carry water, and carry food. Security checkpoints are common in Balochistan, and you should carry identification, and check current local advice and any permission requirements before you travel. Summers are searing, with temperatures above forty degrees, so go in the cooler months of November to March.
Start at dawn, and eat a proper breakfast of paratha and chai before you go. The city will wake behind you, and the desert will open ahead.