My Round The World ride (inc top blagging at Spa & The Ring)
Discussion
bloody good work 
mig25_foxbat2003 said:
The Kazakhs are pretty ace.
Your not basing that on Borat are you?If it isn't a silly question Neil, why have you chosen the route you have? The map that you posted suggests that you have gone back on yourself at one point.
(And I'm still jealous and wish I could do similar to this)
daz3210 said:
If it isn't a silly question Neil, why have you chosen the route you have? The map that you posted suggests that you have gone back on yourself at one point.
For the simple reason that I wasted to see all of the countries I've cycled through so far (the Balkans).From now on the route gets dictated to me a little bit by duration of visas, terrain, personal safety, whether the Foreign Office will come and get me if the s
t hits the fan etc. etc.Further north and I'd have to try and cycle the length of Kazakhstan in 30 days or less and would only get 30 days if my visa start date exactly matched up with the unpredictable Caspian ferry.
Further south and I could have a long wait for an Iranian visa only to be told no at the end. If I got one, from what I hear the people are the friendliest and most hospitable you'll ever meet but their government and ours aren't the best of friends and it's not unheard of for British nationals to be locked up for no reason. After Iran is either Turkmenistan where they only issue 5 day transit visas so I'd do nothing but cycle over 100 miles a day just to get across the country in time, Afghanistan (just no!) or Pakistan where the first region I get to would be tribal Balochistan where I'd be forced to have an armed police escort whether I want one or not.
Best to play it safe and go through Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan which are perfectly safe apart from the border area between the two where there's lots of fighting and random shooting going on. I'll be fine!
neilski said:
I forgot to add....
Huge huge thanks to crisisjez & the airline he works for for getting a bag of much needed stuff to me which I picked up yesterday.
PistonHeads. Helping people matters!
Glad to be able to helpHuge huge thanks to crisisjez & the airline he works for for getting a bag of much needed stuff to me which I picked up yesterday.
PistonHeads. Helping people matters!
Edited by neilski on Thursday 6th September 06:16
Keep cycling and stay warm, the weather is your biggest threat in the coming months where you are heading!!!!!
neilski said:
Best to play it safe and go through Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan which are perfectly safe apart from the border area between the two where there's lots of fighting and random shooting going on. I'll be fine!
I transited this area a while back, lots of soldiers and checkpoints everywhere and the occasional side road closed due to being dosed with landmines, but was absolutely fine no fighting or random shooting to be seen. We journeyed from Nukus, Bukhara, Samarkand, Andijan, Osh up to Bishkek. Everyone friendly, one soldier was so friendly to give us a pidjin English explanation as to why his AK was far superior to an M-16. Needless to say we smiled and agreed.Have to say the Uzbeks were the nicest people I've ever met, even the ones in Nukus.
Edited by oj113 on Thursday 6th September 17:20
5potTurbo said:
Please remind us where to send the donations?
I can't possibly mention it on PH without being in breach of "the rules" about plugging charity events but if you were to click on my profile then my blog address then look at the info box in the top left hand corner all will become obvious! 
daz3210 said:
(And I'm still jealous and wish I could do similar to this)
I stand by what I said earlier in the thread which is everyone is capable of doing a round the world ride of their own, you just have to want to do it badly enough to make it happen.Having said that, I fully understand that those with wives & kids just can't up & leave without a few temper tantrums & heartbroken kids that "Daddy's going away for a while" but I've met the odd retiree on this trip doing what I'm doing so don't rule out doing it once the kids have left home.
Financially, yes it's more expensive than a two week holiday on the Med once a year but I had to make a few sacrifices over the last 3 years and save really hard to be able to do this but each day I wake up I think how lucky I am to be able to just go cycling and see new things rather than the 9-5 to stare at a computer screen each day.
We all only get one life, remember....
neilski said:
daz3210 said:
(And I'm still jealous and wish I could do similar to this)
I stand by what I said earlier in the thread which is everyone is capable of doing a round the world ride of their own, you just have to want to do it badly enough to make it happen.Having said that, I fully understand that those with wives & kids just can't up & leave without a few temper tantrums & heartbroken kids that "Daddy's going away for a while" but I've met the odd retiree on this trip doing what I'm doing so don't rule out doing it once the kids have left home.
Financially, yes it's more expensive than a two week holiday on the Med once a year but I had to make a few sacrifices over the last 3 years and save really hard to be able to do this but each day I wake up I think how lucky I am to be able to just go cycling and see new things rather than the 9-5 to stare at a computer screen each day.
We all only get one life, remember....
Then as you say, there is the money aspect. I would expect a trip like this to take a few years, and to be able to live without working for that time must cost a fair bit.
Like I say, I'm still jealous.
neilski said:
5potTurbo said:
Please remind us where to send the donations?
I can't possibly mention it on PH without being in breach of "the rules" about plugging charity events but if you were to click on my profile then my blog address then look at the info box in the top left hand corner all will become obvious! Cheers.
Good luck with the onward journey.
The latest news is that I'm stuck in Baku waiting for the very random ferry to Kazakhstan while the number of days on my Kazakh & Uzbek visas steadily decrease one by one.
At least with all the oil money in Baku at the moment, the Caspian Sea ferry really is the latest word in passenger luxury. Can't wait.
Don't believe me? Check this out! http://www.caravanistan.com/transport/caspian-sea-...
The expat community in Baku have been great though. After checking into a hostel as soon as I got to Baku, I met loads of people at a ceilidh on my second night here so it wasn't long before I was given a spare room in someone's flat but now that he's back in the UK for a week I'm staying with another couple who I met for less than 5 minutes in the pub on Friday.
At least with all the oil money in Baku at the moment, the Caspian Sea ferry really is the latest word in passenger luxury. Can't wait.
Don't believe me? Check this out! http://www.caravanistan.com/transport/caspian-sea-...
The expat community in Baku have been great though. After checking into a hostel as soon as I got to Baku, I met loads of people at a ceilidh on my second night here so it wasn't long before I was given a spare room in someone's flat but now that he's back in the UK for a week I'm staying with another couple who I met for less than 5 minutes in the pub on Friday.
Yep, there's some kind of luxury on that ferry! 
Great that people have put you up (or put up with you ) in Baku, and I hope your visa issues are sorted soon. Do you plan on cycling around the ferry whilst it's in motion? You could then say you cycled across the Caspian.....
ETA: A load of guys I know played rugby (for Luxembourg) a few years in Baku against the national team. They were battered by the massive roughnecks, many of whom were Welsh or Scottish!
I'm told the local "girls" are cheap.
Great that people have put you up (or put up with you
) in Baku, and I hope your visa issues are sorted soon. Do you plan on cycling around the ferry whilst it's in motion? You could then say you cycled across the Caspian.....ETA: A load of guys I know played rugby (for Luxembourg) a few years in Baku against the national team. They were battered by the massive roughnecks, many of whom were Welsh or Scottish!
I'm told the local "girls" are cheap.
Edited by 5potTurbo on Wednesday 12th September 14:34
Not bad I suppose. I just had dinner with His Highness Sheikh Saif Bin Mohammed Al Nahyan of the Abu Dhabi Royal Family at his falconry camp in the Kazakh steppe.
Apart from that, the cycling is really tough at the moment with a constant headwind and unpaved roads so it's very slow going and as for not checking in, I'm lucky to get a phone signal never mind the internet.
Apart from that, the cycling is really tough at the moment with a constant headwind and unpaved roads so it's very slow going and as for not checking in, I'm lucky to get a phone signal never mind the internet.
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