My Round The World ride (inc top blagging at Spa & The Ring)
Discussion
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!
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....
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.
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.
There only seems to be a signal close to a village and the villages are over 100km apart so if I have a problem out in the desert I'll have a long way to walk or a slow death.
Internet is practically non-existent outside of the cities so this is the first chance I've had to get on line since Aktau. All courtesy of HRH of course!
Internet is practically non-existent outside of the cities so this is the first chance I've had to get on line since Aktau. All courtesy of HRH of course!
He got his driver to pull over next to me then asked if I was ok and if there was anything I needed. Well what else would you do when you're a sheikh and you see a heavily loaded cyclist riding along an unpaved road in the middle of nowhere and I do mean nowhere!
I said I was fine but thanks for asking and he was on his way. It wasn't until the next morning when I met his accountant who asked if I was hungry that I got invited to the camp then spent the day there eating, having a shower and having a look round while the sheikh was out hunting. When he got back in the evening and heard I was at the camp I was summoned to meet him to tell him about my trip then invited to join him and about 50 of his friends and family for dinner.
I said I was fine but thanks for asking and he was on his way. It wasn't until the next morning when I met his accountant who asked if I was hungry that I got invited to the camp then spent the day there eating, having a shower and having a look round while the sheikh was out hunting. When he got back in the evening and heard I was at the camp I was summoned to meet him to tell him about my trip then invited to join him and about 50 of his friends and family for dinner.
^What Minemapper said.
Right now I'm camping next to a lake in the mountains of Kyrgyzstan with no-one around for miles & miles. I should be in Bishkek in the next few days so if I can find a decent internet connection I'll do some updates with some photos from the Stans.
Some good news last week though.... The photo I posted of me with the stripey head from riding into a headwind in the desert won me a new Giro Aeon helmet in a "best photo wins" competition so all my suffering that day wasn't in vain.
Right now I'm camping next to a lake in the mountains of Kyrgyzstan with no-one around for miles & miles. I should be in Bishkek in the next few days so if I can find a decent internet connection I'll do some updates with some photos from the Stans.
Some good news last week though.... The photo I posted of me with the stripey head from riding into a headwind in the desert won me a new Giro Aeon helmet in a "best photo wins" competition so all my suffering that day wasn't in vain.
I've now made it as far as Almaty but I think I might be in for a bit of a rough winter....
I'll try and get some updates with photos up over the next few days.
For more up to date updates, it's best to follow me at https://www.facebook.com/IWereRightAboutThatSaddle...
I'll try and get some updates with photos up over the next few days.
For more up to date updates, it's best to follow me at https://www.facebook.com/IWereRightAboutThatSaddle...
For those of you not on Facebook or Twitter, here are a few photos from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan & Kyrgyzstan....
Camping in the Kazakh desert.
Kazakh sunset.
The main road out of Aktau, Kazakhstan.
The sheikh's falconry camp, Kazakhstan.
Getting up close & personal with a falcon.
The above falcon getting treated for a sore throat.
Dinner with the sheikh.
Khiva, Uzbekistan.
Hats for sale, Khiva.
Slippers for sale, Khiva.
A wood carver at work, Khiva.
Intricate detail, Bukhara, Uzbekistan.
Checking out the ex-Soviet military gear for sale, Bukhara.
Luxury accommodation, somewhere in the Uzbekistan desert.
Uzbek kids from a family that hosted me and three other cyclists, Uzbekistan.
The Registan Ensemble, Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
Camping in the mountains, Kyrgyzstan.
Enjoying the view, Kyrgyzstan.
Camping in the snow, Kazakhstan.
Frosty morning, Kazakhstan.
Camping in the Kazakh desert.
Kazakh sunset.
The main road out of Aktau, Kazakhstan.
The sheikh's falconry camp, Kazakhstan.
Getting up close & personal with a falcon.
The above falcon getting treated for a sore throat.
Dinner with the sheikh.
Khiva, Uzbekistan.
Hats for sale, Khiva.
Slippers for sale, Khiva.
A wood carver at work, Khiva.
Intricate detail, Bukhara, Uzbekistan.
Checking out the ex-Soviet military gear for sale, Bukhara.
Luxury accommodation, somewhere in the Uzbekistan desert.
Uzbek kids from a family that hosted me and three other cyclists, Uzbekistan.
The Registan Ensemble, Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
Camping in the mountains, Kyrgyzstan.
Enjoying the view, Kyrgyzstan.
Camping in the snow, Kazakhstan.
Frosty morning, Kazakhstan.
HereBeMonsters said:
neilski said:
I estimate the whole trip will be about 3 1/2 years and I'm 9 months in so far.
9 months in to a 3.5 year trip, and you're already in China? Where are you going to go for the other 2 and a bit years then? All the way up and down the Americas? Africa?Gassing Station | Pedal Powered | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff