My Journey (blog)
Cycling around the world blog
Tom Bruce
March – December 2011
5 days to go
Only 5 days to go and the last minute nerves have set in. It's only recently dawned on me what I'm trying to do. It's very easy to say I'm going to cycle around the world, planning is fun and you get to buy a load of gadgets and gear. Actually doing it is going to be another story. Leaving is going to be the hardest bit, then it should be amazing although I'm going to spend 8 months being absolutely knackered!
Went on a short ride earlier to test my tent. It's ace - super lightweight and quick to pitch. also tried out fuel stove which is amazing. 1 litre of fuel = around 15 hours burn time.
I'll use this blog to keep people updated. I'll put long detailed posts on here when I get time. My twitter/facebook feeds will have short posts more regularly.
Thats all for now...
5 days gone
So I've set off! It came around so quickly. One day I was making final preparations, the next I was saying goodbye to family, friends and Laura. Leaving was really difficult but hopefully everything will be easier now I've made that first plunge.
After I left I cycled with my dad for about 20 miles to a pub where I met my Mum, Nan, Uncle and Cousin. Had a nice meal and pint, said a final farewell then set off realising I had no idea which way to go as my map wasn’t detailed enough to include the small village we were in! I asked someone "which way to Wrexham?" he pointed and I was off again. I cycled until dusk then found a wood and spent the first night in my tent. Pretty uneventful but sleeping bag was very warm even though it was freezing outside. Fell asleep with all sorts of thoughts going through my head, worried, lonely but sure I'd made the right decision in leaving.
The second day was mercifully sunny and lovely riding through north and mid Wales. Managed a respectful distance and finished the day with a pint, think I’m going to rate every beer I have in my diary and compare world beers!
The third day was an average morning, where I reached the coast, but the afternoon was brilliant. I followed my map up what was marked as a country lane. It turned out to be an old drovers track after about 5 miles which went into a dark wood. I knocked on the house at the end of the tarmac and the guy who lived there said I could go that way. "Turn left at the first junction right at the second and its about 10 miles". It was an ok track but the seemingly easy directions weren't that simple. I ended up having to guess which way to go on 3 or 4 forest track junctions following a south west (ish) bearing. I had no idea if I was going the right way but had to keep going or turn back for a 40+ mile detour.
Anyway 20 miles and about 3000 feet of climbing later I found the road, which greeted me with a 25% incline followed by a brilliant descent to a pub which had the Man Utd game on. 2-1 get in! I spoke to a guy there about the ride, he said he'd love to do something similar. I told him he should!
The forth day was bad! Dreary weather and a feeling of worry meant I only managed 60 miles. I gave up at 5 with a resolution to make up for it tomorrow. Had loads of food and an early night. Checked my emails and found out that my Iranian visa had been refused. Was pretty gutted but may be for the best. Will break the only biking across Europe and Asia chain though because will now need to take a boat across the Caspian Sea. Much more annoying though was the Azerbaijan embassy's email which told me my visa was ready to be collected tomorrow or Friday, oh and by the way we're on holiday for a week after that! Right- er, well thanks for the notice! So I had to get to London by the morning after next or delay crossing the channel by a week!
I woke up early and feeling refreshed and decided to get as close to London as possible to keep the inevitable train fare as low as I could. There was a very small chance I would make the 130 miles to my Nan’s house in Letchworth so I headed in that direction on main roads. After a massive day, I arrived at Nan’s at half 10 absolutely shattered but to a bath a meal and a proper bed feeling really chuffed that I'd made it. Now I know I'm capable of big days when they're needed.
This morning I went to London and got the visa although not without worry as there was a huge queue when I got to the embassy. I picked up my visa 15 minutes before the embassy shut for the week. Phew! Having an afternoon off in Letchworth now, will ditch any non-essential kit and then cycle into London tomorrow to watch England win the grand slam! Staying with family on Sunday, then down to Dover on Monday for a Tuesday ferry crossing.
That's all for now, will upload some photos soon. Feel like I’m settling in to my new lifestyle well. It's been really hard to leave but I don't regret my decision and I can't wait for mainland Europe. I'll miss you all a lot!
The end of England
The rest of England was chilled out. Started with a 40 mile morning ride from Letchworth to London, where I went to my aunt and uncle's for lunch. Left the bike there and went into town to watch England lose the grand slam, terrible performance but well done Ireland. Met up with a few mates and went for a night out.
Next day had a massive Sunday Roast at friends of aunt and uncle which was amazing after eating out of saucepans for a week!
Monday morning set off towards Dover. Kent is a really nice area of England. Love the old buildings with steep roofs. Camped in a thick forest near Canterbury. Early start the next day got me to the ferry in good time. Went through all the car check in booths. Had to go to security. My heart sank when I saw the scanning machine. I thought I'd have to unload my panniers and put them through. The guy just put my Camelbak through (water carrying backpack) and asked me to empty my pockets. "do you have any knives" - no "do you have any explosives" - no. I rode off thinking "good security" remembering my Swiss army knife and petrol container on the bike!
Waited in car lane 122 and was eventually called onto the ferry. Rode up the very steep ramp onto the ferry and locked up the bike, which I've christened Sandy by the way (it's made by Sanderson). Went upstairs and waved goodbye to the white cliffs. Won't be seeing England again for a long time. Was an emotional moment but really exciting. This is where the ride really starts!
France
France was instantly completely different. Went into Calais, which has a lovely town center. Stocked up on French cakes and meat then cycled 50 miles until dusk. Not a great campsite, just off a big road, hidden from view by a steep verge.
The days in France seem to have merged into one. The scenery through the Northwest didn't change much. Long hard slogs through vast areas of farmland, broken up by quaint but often derelict villages. Each night I've camped in woods off the side of roads. My cooking has been more adventurous than in England, including sausage ratatouille and cassoulet.
The highlight of this area of France has definitely been the larger towns and cities. Although near impossible to navigate, the town centres are always beautiful and often accompanied by massive cathedrals. The cathedral in Laon was amazing.
A couple of days ago was the highlight for scenery. I spent the day cycling through rolling hills forests and farmland, all above 1000 feet. It felt a million miles away from the large towns. I went past a huge crater like valley called the cul de clef need to find out how it was formed.
Was nice to meet up with my Dad a couple of times, first on his way to Geneva, then yesterday for an afternoon riding and an all you can eat buffet in Lure, which I made the most of!
I've enjoyed France a lot. I don't think my route has taken me through the most beautiful region but there have been some fantastic highlights. That's the great thing about cycle touring though - you end up in some places that you would never visit otherwise.
Bike is performing brilliantly and I'm happy with how I'm coping. It's been far from easy so far but I’m managing the daily physical challenge and I'm sure as I adapt to riding long distances every day it will get easier.
Right I have to check out of my hotel in Lure (first one of the trip) in 45 mins so going to have a shower and head for Switzerland. Might get there today or definitely tomorrow.
End of France, Switzerland and Germany
The last 2 days in France were great. They started off with a climb over the mountains to the east of Belfort. Had a coffee in a cafe in Belfort, which has a very impressive castle. I left France along the Rhone-Rhine canal, which I followed to Altkirch then took a road to Basel.
The change from France to Switzerland was massive. The language changed to German, but more noticeably the buildings and people were completely different. More importantly as soon as I entered Switzerland were 2 things that France lacked: a decent bike shop and a clean public toilet with soap and bog roll provided! The tram system looked good and there were some impressive buildings, the River Rhine flows through the city too. A very nice place which I'll go back to one day when I have some more money. It's not cheap!
I left Basel along the Rhine, which I followed for a while, then crossed it into Germany. Was made to feel very welcome straight away with waves and hallos! Maybe it's because I can speak more German than French (which isn't saying much) but I felt more at home here).
I headed north into the black forest and spent the rest of the day climbing up a gorgeous gorge. Ended up camping on top of a very cold but beautiful mountain at about 3000 feet. The next day I descended to the start of the River Danube, at Donau Eshingen. I've been following the river ever since and it's guided me past castles, cliffs, monasteries and lovely villages. I'd love to come back here and stay in the guesthouses and eat in the restaurants with some money and some company!
Today was a lovely morning but the afternoon was very wet. Rained for about 5 hours of riding and is still doing now. I was pretty miserable by about 4 but then a really nice bloke cycled up alongside mean and we had a chat as well as my faltering German would allow. He was one of the rare people in Germany who doesn't speak English. A bit of company was nice and the time went much quicker. I waved goodbye to him on the edge of Ulm and went to find a hotel because I couldn't face another damp night! It's a fantastic city centre in Ulm with an absolutely massive cathedral and loads of traditional restaurants and buildings by the Danube.
I found my room and got a kebab and a beer to take back to it. Won't be up too early tomorrow!
Hello!
I'm now in Austria, so here's what happened in the rest of Germany:
I've been cycling along the 'Donau Radweg' (the Danube Cycle path) for the last few days. I left Ulm and have passed through the cities of Ingolstadt, Regensburg and Passau as well as lots of small towns and villages. The German towns are gorgeous, really well looked after, lovely buildings and restaurants. The Germans obviously love their cycling too and at the weekend, the Radweg was completely packed with cyclists. A lot of them on tours. Also saw a few Cloisters, with amazing churches and other buildings but more importantly their own beer that they brew themselves. The beers are absolutely delicious!
I've cycled with a few different people since Ulm. First a guy called Christian who cycles 6,000 km a year and grew up in East Germany after the war. Was really interesting speaking to him about how different it was for him then. I cycled with him for an afternoon and left him at Donauwörth, where he had to turn round. The next day I met a guy called Michael, who has cycled in 35 countries and has been to a lot of the places I am going to. He gave me some good advice and bought me a drink! Today I met a couple who are on their way to Tibet on their bikes to cycle the Friendship Highway to Nepal - amazing. I've cycled this afternoon with a guy called Julius on his way to Istanbul so may end up with him for a few days.
Germany was a really great country to ride through. I got a mixture of the people and beautiful scenery as well as some good food and great weather, except for one day where I got soaked. In Austria now and the first day has been beautiful but it's absolutely tipped it down. I'm in Linz at the moment and I reckon I'll be in Vienna the day after tomorrow (in time for Man U - Chelsea Champion’s league).
I'm now in Vienna! Had a lovely ride in this morning and have been sorting my stuff out all afternoon. Washed everything and checked over the bike. Staying in a hostel tonight with a guy I met cycling yesterday called Nino. I met a German guy called Julius 2 days ago and wild camped with him for the last two nights. It's been great to have some company and i think I will cycle with Nino to Istanbul.
Austria has been great although it's rained a lot! I've cycled much quicker with other people to push me on and we've been riding in formation Tour de France style. It makes a massive difference to cycle in someone's slipstream.
Should be in Bratislava tomorrow. I'm on schedule so far and really enjoying it. I'm really looking forward to Eastern Europe.
Vienna to Budapest: 3 capitals in 3 days
Woke up at decent time in Vienna to get food and had a huge breakfast before leaving the youth hostel. Went to a bike shop to get my cranks tightened up because I noticed some play in them - needs a special tool. Bit of a mission to leave Vienna because the Danube is divided into about 10 channels and you have to cross them all. Some of the channels are populated by delightful nude bathers with skin far too big for them.
Still cycling with Nino, we left Vienna with the wind behind us and half rode, half were blown to Bratislava, which we had a few hours to explore. It was a fantastic contrast to the spotlessly clean German and Austrian cities and felt much more real. The people approached us to ask what we were doing and were amazingly friendly. We had a beer on the main square and looked around the old cobbled streets. Lovely! Camped in some woods on the outskirts.
The next day was good. An even stronger wind was behind us and we made 90 miles by 6 o clock. Great to explore the small Slovakian towns and to look at the new foods (and eat the cakes!) in the small village shops. The roads were noticeably worse and the Danube (now the Donaj) bike track almost non existent. We met a German lady, around 70-80, who was riding a bike with far more gear than me almost as quickly. She was clearly fit and was telling us stories of places she's been. She must have been cycling for years!
We camped in a wood near the Hungarian border and I had a swim in the river (bloody cold!). A car pulled up at around 9 o clock and 2 people got out. We were paranoid they had seen us come into the wood earlier and wanted to rob us. They didn't see us however and they drove off. I reckon they were illegally collecting firewood.
Today we rode over the border to Budapest, but more about that when I leave Hungary. Croatia's up next in 2 days.
Well done United for beating Fulham- sorry Phil and Mike
We crossed the border into Hungary and were greeted by the largest Cathedral in the country sitting on a hill above 'the Danube Bend'. Esztergom used to be the capital city before Budapest and the cathedral was really impressive. There were lots of other nice towns on the way to Budapest and the ride in was great, away from the traffic and in the sun. The bike path sometimes deteriorated to the point it was almost unrideable, but it was entertaining!
Budapest itself was a great city. We got there mid afternoon so had enough time to look around and go to a restaurant to sample some traditional Hungarian food - Butternut squash and beef stew. The buildings in Budapest were amazing - saw the castle, parliament and basilica.
The rest of Hungary was pretty non eventful but pleasant. Highlights were camping on an island in the Danube infested with wild boar (there was a bridge to it) and meeting Andreas and Johanna, a lovely German couple who were planning to cycle around the world for three years. They planned to cycle to Australia but were in no rush and we left them eating their lunch and reading a German newspaper they'd picked up somewhere. At the Croatian border, we spoke to the guard, who couldn't believe what we were doing but flamboyantly gave us a stamp in our passports and we were in Croatia.
We spent the first night in Croatia in a park next to a football pitch and fell asleep with the sounds of a ball being kicked around. It was the first time I'd ever camped in a public place and it was fine - we'd asked permission from a couple of people first. Throughout Croatia were signs in fields - a red triangle with a skull inside. Turns out they are landmine warnings and there a lot of them on the Hungarian-Croatian border. Croatia was more expensive than Hungary, more like Austria than Slovakia. It only took one day to cycle through the country and we camped near the border with Serbia. Was an amazing campsite, on a beach outside a hotel on the Danube. The staff were really nice there and let us use the toilet for a wash. Had a drink at the bar and watched the football - 2-1 to Untied, semi final, unlucky Chelsea, Torres is looking like 50 million at the moment!
Croatia and Hungary were both nice to ride through, some really pretty parts but also some poorer parts, with derelict buildings and rubbish everywhere. From now on I expect it to become poorer and poorer, but the people in these countries all seem to be really friendly, very interested in what we're doing and happy to help. All the villages and towns we're cycling through seem to have a great community spirit about them and I can't wait for Serbia, Romania and Bulgaria!
I'm currently in Belgrade, which has been great, very different again but I'll write about Serbia next time I'm online
Crossing the border into Serbia felt more serious than the other border crossings. The guards looked at us suspiciously and checked our passports meticulously. As soon as we crossed the border it was clear that Serbia was a lot poorer than Croatia. The roads were in terrible condition and a lot of the buildings were ruined. It looked like people were living in the ground floor of 2 storey houses and leaving the upper floor to fall into disrepair, with boarded up windows and missing roof tiles. Another shock was the dogs who were ferocious. They chased us, barked and growled. To begin with we recalled away from then as fast as we could then we found that stopping was better and they usually left is alone. I tried out my dog dazer, which scares them off by releasing an ultrasonic noise. It worked brilliantly (thanks very much to Dazer for the sponsorship).
All in all the entrance into Serbia was a bit intimidating but very quickly I began to love it. The people here were fantastic. They were so welcoming, every time we stopped people approached us. The best time was when we sheltered under a garage forecourt and the guys who worked there invited us in for a coffee. It was very sweet but a welcome break from the rain!
We cycled past Novi Sad and on to Belgrade. Both cities are pretty ugly to be honest but Belgrade was great. Loads of floating bars and clubs on the Danube and lots of character. Concrete tower blocks from Soviet times dominated the skyline but the city centre was pretty. We stopped to ask a guy for directions and he couldn't have been more helpful. His name was Dragan and he showed us a cheap place to eat that evening. He said if we waited a couple of hours we could stay at his house, he was busy until then. We wanted to accept but we were too tired and the lure of a showed in a cheap hostel was too much. Also we had heard that they can fine you 100 Euros when exiting the country unless you have a card proving you have stayed in some accommodation there (we needed it on the way out). Anyway - we arranged to meet Dragan at the restaurant. He told us the traditional Serbian dishes. I had meat rolled in cabbage, which was delicious.
The next morning, we met Dragan again and he showed us around the new orthodox temple in Belgrade. I say new, it's actually been under construction since 1914 I think he said. Lack of money and changing politics have stalled its construction but they've recently finished the outside. The inside will take another 10-15 years because the aren't many people who can paint the frescos on the walls in the traditional way.
It turned out Dragan was a bike fanatic and he owns 6 bikes. He showed us his Hercules, which is 60 years old and still going strong! It was fantastic. We cycled out of Belgrade with Dragan who left us near the edge and pointed the way out.
A day and a half of riding along the river brought us into the beautiful national park on the border with Romania. The river flows through a narrow gorge with cliffs and wooded valleys. We explored a massive castle built by the Hungarian when Hungary stretched this far. A huge face of the last king of Romania was carved into the rock face. A park warden joined us while we had our lunch and proudly told us about his job and showed us his motorbike which was ancient. We camped in a closed campsite with stunning views of the river. They had left the toilets open and the water and electricity on so we enjoyed a night of luxury!
The next day we cycled out of the national park to the iron gate, a large hydroelectric power plant which has a road over to Romania on it. We said a fond farewell to Serbia and crossed into Romania, skipping past the queue of cars at customs!
Romania next, I wonder what it has in store...
I was a bit surprised when entering Romania. I was expecting it to be poorer than Serbia but the roads were better and there was a lot less rubbish around. The dogs were also less vicious! The first day we just cycled through a city and got some Romanian money before finding a place to camp. We stayed on an 'official' campsite but it didn’t really have anywhere to put tents. We put them up next to a closed swimming pool and outside bar and told the lady we couldn't afford any more than 3 Euros each. That was fine by her!
We got going the next day and I was absolutely loving Romania. The people here were so friendly and there was never a dull moment! Whether it was being chased by a dog, kids wanting high fives, old ladies huddling together unashamedly staring, adults smiling and waving, shouts of 'hola', 'what's your name', 'salut' and loads of other things!
We cycled out of a town and the road turned into track. We were in the middle of a wood on a dirt track in Romania. I'd come here all the way from England! It was sinking in how far I'd come already and how far I had to go - the adventure had definitely started!
At the next town we went to buy some bread at the bakers and the guy who ran the shop spoke Italian. Nino does too so we were able to talk to him. Turned out he had worked in Italy and judging by his Mercedes, made quite a lot of money there. He took us back to his restaurant for a 'real Italian coffee!'. It was delicious, and so was the house wine he gave us (it was 11 o clock in the morning!). His name was Stefan and he looked like a vampire! Absolutely lovely guy. He must have told someone to prepare some food for us because 2 plates came out of nowhere with fish and spicy rice. Apparently it was a traditional meal eaten the weekend before Easter. Everyone was partying that day for a festival so Stefan opened the whisky. We refused because we still had around 50 miles to cycle but he had some and topped up our glasses with wine. We left him back at the bakers with a cake trusted on us and cycled through village after village. We found a beautiful camping spot with a lovely sunset. We made a fire and at dusk some shepherds brought their animals to drink at a stream. They waved to gesture we were welcome and let us get on with cooking.
The next day was more of the same. Villages and countryside. We finished in a farm and at about 6 the farmer saw us putting up our tents. He came over and, using a book with pictures called "Point It" (Thanks Laura!) we managed to communicate with him. He told us he had to go home then was coming back with wine. An hour later he returned with a bottle of wine grown on the farm and some pork fat sprinkled with chilly powder. It was delicious and I wasn’t hungry at all the next day! The farmer's name was Petre and he earns 2500 Euros a year and is an electrician. He told us that the government takes half his money as tax. He also recently crashed his car when drunk, which seemed to be a common problem in Romania! He pointed out all the animals on the farm and warned us that there were snakes, tics, and we think he said jackals about! He was another great person and an example of Romanian hospitality.
Only one bad thing happened in Romania! Today we bought some food from a supermarket and Nino left his chocolate milkshake on the side while packing food into his panniers. A gypsy child came up and stole it and ran off with it. I went and retrieved it but he'd opened it and started drinking it! I couldn’t believe he'd done it with both of us watching and his parents there too. They didn’t seem to mind in the slightest. Having heard Romanians talking about gypsies here, I think they can be a problem for Romania.
We left Romania this afternoon on a ferry across the Danube and are now in a cheap hotel in Bulgaria. Another new country I know almost nothing about!
Wow! Bulgaria ıs definitely the most beautiful country so far. We cycled out of Shivstov on a back road through some hills near the Danube. At the top of one of them the road moved away from the river from the last time and I said goodbye to the river I'd followed through most of Europe. It's been a fantastic guide making navigation easy and making the roads almost flat (with a few exceptions!!). The Danube has taken me through 7 countries and I've been through capital cities, small villages, incredible scenery, met amazing people and enjoyed some great cycling. Strangely when cycling next to the river I was always in a better mood than away from it. When our route took us away from the river for an afternoon or a whole day I always wanted to be back at the river. My one regret was that my pitiful attempt at fishing didn't bring the huge grilled salmon that I’d imagined. Someone told me sweetcorn is good bait and also that spraying the bait with WD40 is good because its made from fish oil. Whether I'm bad at fishing or I need different bait I don't know but I'll try again when I leave Istanbul!
We left the Danube and went through more hills down to a very busy road, which took us to the old capital of Bulgarıa, Veliko Tarnovo. It's an amazing place sat on a river gorge. We found our way through complicated motorway junctions then headed for the Balkan mountains. A long climb up to a 700m pass gave us a superb descent to a plain in the middle of the mountains with a huge lake. It felt so remote and the landscape was endless. I was very tempted to stop early and put up my tent but it was only midday and had to get to Istanbul so we pushed on. Another pass took us out of the mountains onto another less beautiful plain where we found a campsite by a lake. We asked a guy called Pedro (I think) ıf we could camp by his caravan where he lived with 3 dogs. He seemed surprised we asked and shrugged to say of course you can! He came over with coffee as we put up the tents followed by home made grape liquor which wasn't particularly nice but did the job! I got my hipflask out and shared some Talisker Scotch Whisky that I'd brought from England. He loved ıt! He told us that the town we'd cycled through earlier was where Dimitar Berbatov was born and he got married 3km down the road from his caravan. Turns out that neither of these things are true, Berbatov isn’t married. I think has girlfriend may come from that town but that's not quite as exciting!
The following day we cycled across the plain and up some more mountains before descending to the Turkish border. We spent our last Bulgarian money then crossed into Turkey. Had to show my passport 6 times for some reason and spend 15 Euros on a Turkish Visa. This wasn't necessary for Nino whose Swiss passport is much better to travel on than mine. My Iranian visa still hasn't come through and I've nearly given up on that route now. I think I'll be taking the Caspian Sea ferry to Turkmenistan or Kazakhstan. Will update soon.
Turkey next and only 240 km of riding before I conquer my first continent!!
I now have to make some difficult decisions. How am I going to get through central Asia? The only places I really want to go are Samarqand in Uzbekistan and the Pamir Highway in Tajikistan/Kyrgyzstan. It looks like I won't be able to get an Iranian visa so I have to either take the ferry across the Caspian Sea or fly over. I want to cycle the whole way if possible so a flight is a last resort. Here are my options:
1. Try to get Iran and Turkmenistan visas in Istanbul and cycle through Iran and Turkmenistan to Uzbekistan.
2. Get Turkmenistan visa in Istanbul and get the Caspian Sea ferry to Turkmenbashi. Need about 8 days to cross Turkmenistan from the port. Won't get a visa for more than 5 days so would have to take a train part of the way.
3. Get Kazakhstan visa in Istanbul and take ferry from Baku to Aktau in Kazakhstan. Ferry only once a week and involves crossing the desert around the Aral Sea in the middle of nowhere. Could either cross border and cycle through desert in Uzbekistan, south of the Aral Sea or go to the north and cross into Uzbekistan near Tashkent.
After researching it and contacting Stantours, a travel agency, I decided on option 3. I probably won't get an Iran visa with my British passport without having to jump through a million hoops and spend a lot of money. The Turkmenistan visa takes 10 to 14 days and it's not guaranteed. So option 3 was left. I plan to cross the border at Beyneu and cycle Karalkalpakstan in North East Uzbekistan.
It's going to be a seriously remote crossing on a dirt track but people have cycled it and its definitely doable. I'll give it a go and if anything goes wrong there is a train I can take across the desert.
So got to get visas for Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan in Istanbul. Wish me luck!!
After endless passport checks we crossed the border into Turkey. 2 more days hard cycling and then a week off! Not a bad motivation to keep going! My body was feeling the strain now though and waking up at 6 every morning to cycle all day was difficult. I needed a break. My bike was feeling the strain too. The once perfectly smooth drivetrain was loud, squeaky and needed a clean and chain replacement. The rear wheel also had a buckle from one of the potholes no doubt and needed to be straightened. I thought I could make it to Istanbul before fixing it though.
We crossed the border to a Muslim call to prayer. For some reason I expected European Turkey to be an extension of Eastern Europe with churches rather than mosques but it definitely wasn't. We were in a completely different culture and so close to Asia. We managed a few more miles that evening and made it to Erdirne, a lively town with a fantastic byzantine mosque. We met the Erdirne bicycle club who were very interested in our ride. While we talked a young guy brought us tea without us asking saying "welcome to Turkey". The novelty of a heavily laden bike encourages people to approach you and they want to share their culture with you, usually in the form of food or drink!
A guy from the bike club went to fetch his bike and took us to a fantastic campsite where they let us stay for free and brought drinks and water for us. I fell asleep with Turkish singing and drumming by the nearby river in my ears and a smile on my face!
The next morning Joachim, the security guard at the campsite saw us eating yogurt and muesli for breakfast and made a disgusted face. 5 minutes later he brought a bowl of bread, cheese, olives, cucumber and tomatoes and cups of coffee. A great start to the day!
Unfortunately the road from Erdirne to Istanbul isn't beautiful. A big dual carriageway but with a generous space on the side of the road so it was safe. The road surface had just been re-laid so we made good progress in the morning despite the constant climbs up hills. We went through more towns and got given more tea and were interrogated by various people every time we stopped. Some school girls thought we must be famous so took our photos! By the evening we arrived in Çorlu having battled against a headwind all afternoon. We went to a lorry park to try to camp there. We couldn't but a smiling fat lorry driver with a great moustache brought us yet more tea. Next we tried a BP garage and they let us camp on some grass by the forecourt. Alan Partridge would have loved it!
In the morning we set off for Istanbul, after being bought coffee by one of the pump fillers who had worked all night. We rode along the same dual carriageway all morning and arrived on the outskirts of Istanbul by lunchtime. We had made it to the Mediterranean! 40 km of manic urban sprawl separated us from the Bosphorus and Asia. We entered Istanbul on a terrifying motorway on Easter Sunday. We thought that it might be a bit quieter than usual today but nope! After crossing lanes and negotiating junctions we arrived at a bridge into the main city. We followed the sea round a headland on a bike path and in the distance the towers of the blue mosque appeared. Asia was in sight over the Bosphorus and we were so close. Then psssssh, a nail went through my tyre! I examined back wheel and found 2 broken spokes. So close but I now had to repair a wheel and fix a puncture. It took about an hour but my newly straight wheel was fine and we set of to Sultanahmet, the area around the Blue Mosque. We found a hostel with some space and took it.
I had conquered Europe! Asia is waiting over the Bosphorus and all I have to do now is get some visas. Tonight I have to decide which ones!
A week off in Istanbul sounded like it would be relaxing and a chance to rest to get ready for the next leg. It wasn't! I had to get 3 visas, which took up the majority of the first 5 days. I had to go to each embassy three times and I was delayed by disorganisation at the embassies and them being closed at random times. After much frustration, 190 dollars, and a lot of patience I managed to get visas for Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan in 9 days. I've put some advice about the Istanbul embassies on my website if anyone reading this needs to get any of these visas.
The rest of the first 5 days were spent fixing the bike, ordering parts to be brought from home and planning the next leg to Baku, Azerbaijan. I improved the bike with an air horn which is a lot louder than the bell I had. People should hear me coming now!
After 1 night in a hostel which was run by a drunk guy we moved to a much better one recommended by a cyclist, Paul, we'd met at the Uzbekistan embassy. At this hostel, Sinbad, we met 2 more cyclists, Gordon and Theo. Paul is Dutch and cycling to South East Asia, Gordon is English, from the Isle of Wight, and is off to India having cycled through Europe and Theo is French and has cycled through Turkey. Was good to have a group to hang around with and we went to some bars and watched Man Utd beat Schalke in the Champions League.
By the weekend I was getting frustrated that I hadn't had much time to look around Istanbul. Nino's family arrived on Friday night to spend the weekend with him and very kindly put me up in a posh hotel and bought me some very nice meals! I visited all the sights with them: the Blue Mosque, Aya Sofya, the Grand Bazaar, Topkafi Palace and others. It was a lovely weekend and I was overwhelmed by their generosity. I would never have been able to afford to see all the sights, the hotel was a huge luxury (particularly the breakfast buffet which I made the most of) and the company was great.
On Tuesday I finally had my visas and was ready to go. I left the others and Nino, who I'd cycled with since Austria. He's become a good friend and I'm sure we'll stay in touch. Laura is coming to turkey in two weeks to Trabzon so I've got a long way to go to make sure I'm there on time. I'm anticipating a hard couple of weeks. The Black Sea road is very hilly!
Istanbul is a fantastic city and I definitely recommend visiting it.
I finally left Istanbul on Tuesday 3rd May with 3 visas and a route through central Asia. If all goes to plan I should cycle through Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, get a ferry to Kazakhstan then cross the desert in Karakalpakstan to Uzbekistan where I should be able to pick up a Tajikistan visa. I also planned to meet Laura in Trabzon in North-East Turkey, on the 15th May so I need to get my skates on as I was already delayed by a day waiting for Kazakhstan visa.
Leaving Istanbul was tricky but the boat across the Bosphorus was exciting - I was finally in Asia. I rode hard for the first couple of days out of Istanbul, only stopping when I was offered tea, which was quite often! The weather was appalling and I got soaked and had to sleep in a wet sleeping bag a couple of nights. On the 3rd day out of Istanbul I woke up, cycled down a big hill then got to a cafe where the lovely lady who owned it made me a cheese and ketchup toasty for breakfast.
Unfortunately the day got worse from then. My gear changer locked up and I couldn't change gear. I took it off and changed gear with a spanner but I had to get off the bike every time I did this so was riding single speed most of the time. I tried this for a while, I wanted to get to a campsite in the evening then have a look at it. Then it started chucking it down so I pulled into a bus stop and fixed it. Had to remove the cables and oil them. It had been blocked vy a frayed bit of cable so I cut it and put it all back together. It worked but it was lunchtime and I'd only done 7 miles.
I was plagued by mechanical problems all the way to Trabzon. My tyres were wearing out and the sidewalls collapsed on both of them. I had one spare but I had to fix the other one with gaffer tape and a tea towel. I also got about 10 punctures and 2 inner tube blowouts (where it explodes). One of these was at a garage with an audience of 5 blokes. They found it hilarious that the stupid English cyclist had overinflated his tyre and blown it up using the air compressor-i hadn't, it was a dodgy tube but they wouldn't let me put more than 20 psi in the next tube, which is a pretty flat tyre, it's supposed to have between 40 and 60. Other problems included the front pannier rack bolt coming loose, a disc brake pad failing, my light holder snapping and a broken spoke in the back wheel.
The road between Amasra and Sinop on the Black Sea coast is absolutely beautiful. I had a few days of good weather and it was fantastic although really hard work. I had to make at least 100 km per day to get to Trabzon on time and after a few days it really started to wear me out. The road is so steep it’s unbelievable, 20% inclines in some places. The hills are constant too, the road is either up or down, with no flat bits. It would be fantastic to go back with a lightweight racing bike and whizz along it but on my fully loaded beast it was the hardest part of the ride so far, but also one of the best.
One of the nights I was waved over by a posh car, where a very nice guy started talking to me. He's an engineer who works in Turkmenistan. He took me to a campsite and bought me dinner. The campsite owner wouldn't take any money and when I started pitching my tent he took me to a dormitory and gave me a bed for the night. More kindness from total strangers!
Sinop is the last town on that stretch of the coastline and is named after a Greek lady, Sinope who according to the legend died a virgin. Zeus had taken a fancy to her and granted her one wish to impress and seduce her. Sinope knew what he was up to however and wished that she could live the rest of her life as a virgin. Zeus reluctantly kept his promise!
After Sinop the coastline has been completely destroyed in favour of a dual carriageway. It's a massive shame because it must have been beautiful, but now tunnels and sea defences have replaced beaches. It is quick and easy to ride on though and has a large hard shoulder so I made good progress.
It was a fairly uneventful few days between Sinop and Trabzon. The worse part was when I took apart my rear hub to fix a broken spoke in the back wheel. When it was in pieces it started raining so I moved into my tent. A cog dropped out of the hub which is essential for changing gear. I didnt realise until the next morning after I'd pushed the bike down a steep bank that I camped on top of. I raced back up the bank in a panic and luckily found the small cog lying in the grass. If I hadn't found it I would have been stuck. No-one in Turkey sells Rohloff components, and ordering one would have probably taken ages delaying me and potentially meaning that my visas for Central Asia would run out!
On the day I got to Trabzon I met a Croatian guy, Josep, who was apparently telepathic! He said he had had contact via telepathy with a man in India so he was cycling there to live a spiritual existence. He had all he owned in a small backpack on the bike. No tent or stove. He slept in bushes, mosques and petrol stations. He said he had left all his material possessions behind, including his glasses, so he couldn't read! He doesn't like computers and the internet so he won't read this - I can say that he was completely bonkers. He said that his mind was 20% more powerful than a normal human and he was on another intellectual level!
When I arrived in Trabzon, Josep and me were offered lunch in a restaurant for free. He was given a pair of glasses and we talked about football - the international language! I cycled off to a hotel, very excited. I was going to pick Laura up from the airport later on and couldn't wait to see her!
Trabzon with Laura
I managed to barter a cheap lift from the hotel porter to the airport and picked Laura up at half 1 in the morning. Think she was pretty much the only girl on the flight! Was so great to see her after 2 months.
We spent the next day chilling out and using the hotel pool and beach. The following day we moved to a cheaper hotel in central Trabzon and stayed there for the rest of Laura's stay.
There was enough touristy things to keep us occupied, we visited an amazing monastery in the mountains which was built into a cliff face. There was a lovely old church with frescos in Trabzon as well as a villa given to Ataturk, although he only stayed there for one night.
Other highlights included the culinary specialties, such as brain, tongue and grieved runover. God knows what the last one is! Our two favourite places were a great fish restaurant and a bakery where Laura became a bit of a celebrity! We went there twice and the first time we had a big meat pizza thing, which was tasty but very filling - Laura only managed a bit of it. The woman there loved Laura's fringe and kept hugging her, called her beautiful and made sure that she was looked after. When she went to the toilet the lady announced it to the whole (mainly male) restaurant and got someone to take her there. Pretty embarrassing! I didn't get the same treatment! The second time we went Laura was made a special small cheese bread thing because of her small appetite from the first time!
Laura got her results and found out she's a doctor so we went to celebrate. Couldn't find any wine so went for a beer and someone shared their birthday cake with us.
It was a lovely week and very hard to see Laura go. Don't know how long it will be until I see her again. The rest of Turkey passed as quickly as I could and I felt pretty lonely and sad. It wasn't helped that the last part of the Black Sea coast is ugly with uninspiring towns and huge rubbish heaps. It also rained for two days which didn't help. I was very much looking forward to Georgia though, I've heard great things and had planned to meet up with a friend from uni, Henry, who is teaching English in Gori.
Georgia
I crossed a pretty chaotic border into Georgia at Sarp. It took ages because they thought my passport was fake because there are creases around the photo. Got through in the end though and into another country!
I liked Georgia straight away; the road wasn't a groomed dual carriageway but a smaller bumpy road which hadn't destroyed the scenery. There were waterfalls and statues and churches instead of mosques. I won't miss the morning call to prayer before sunrise! I got to Batumi that evening and was offered a cheap bed in someone's shed. I had a shower heated by a wood boiler and then went round to a guy’s house who could speak English. He was called Mareb and had a love for heavy metal music! Spent a great evening drinking coffee, Georgian cognac and Russian vodka and watching videos of Iron Maiden on his massive TV!
The next day I woke up at 9 with a hangover and there was a monsoon outside. I used it as an excuse to have a lie in and got going about 12. As I rode through Georgia I fell in love with it! The scenery was amazing, great people and incredible food. I decided not to rush through the country which is very small. I rode about 60 miles per day at a leisurely pace and stopped every time I was offered tea, wine or beer.
It's impossible to describe how beautiful the country is. The Georgians somehow manage to build fantastic old churches on top of mountains which make the scenery more spectacular. I visited a few and saw a lot of ancient frescos.
The highlight of Georgia was being invited into people's homes. I stayed in a small village with a history teacher. His wife was a fantastic cook and we had a huge meal with pork, cheese, fish, salad, bread and great home made sauces. An American guy called Sean joined us and told me about life in the village. He is spending a year there teaching English and is living with a local family. In the recent winter there was lot of snow and they often get snowed in because the road gets closed. Not a problem though because every house there grows grapes and makes wine which is stockpiled for winter! Breakfast was interesting! A cup of coffee and some cointreu! I managed to get away with only having a shot. My host however downed 3 full glasses before going off to school to teach - incredible!
The next day I climbed over a beautiful pass and got my first view of the Caucus mountains. The snow capped peaks were stunning. I descended to Gori, which is where Stalin was born. I met my uni mate, Henry Roe and we went to a restaurant to celebrate! We had a blow out meal with wine and it cost about a fiver each! After the meal we were invited to join a table of middle aged local men for a piss-up! Zaza offered me a place to stay in Gori for as long as I wanted. I was impressed with how much Georgian Henry had picked up in 7 weeks. He is also teaching in a school here.
The next day we met at the Stalin museum which is very interested but a bit surreal. There is no mention of Stalin's appalling treatment of his own people and he's portrayed as a God in the museum! There is a split view in Georgia about Stalin. Some people loved him because they had a job and a car and stability. They were able to ignore the huge number of people he killed - around 20 million, many of whom were Georgian - because they had a good life. Now unemployment is Georgia is high and the country is stuck in a rut, not really going anywhere. There are also a large number of people who detest Stalin though.
The museum included his death mask, outfits, letters, photos, a statue of him and a train carriage where he met Roosevelt and Churchill after WW2 to discuss governing the countries they had liberated. There is also Stalin's childhood home which is in its original place. The rest of the neighbourhood was knocked down and a temple was built over his house so that it now resembles a shrine.
I left Zaza's and cycled towards Tbilisi. I wanted to stop at Mtsketa on the way which is the old capital and spiritual home of Georgia. I spent the afternoon there, looked around a very impressive old cathedral and relaxed in a park. I was invited to camp there and a spontaneous party started, inevitably involving large amounts of Russian Vodka! I cooked rice for everyone on my stove, which interested them as it runs in petrol. I played music from my phone and educated them in Pink Floyd and Bob Dylan!
The next day I met Henry again in Tbilisi, which is a fantastic city. It's beautiful, with loads of ancient churches, hills, a bustling old town with great restaurants and bars, and a great atmosphere. Unfortunately I watched Man U get annihilated by Barcelona in the Champions League Final, but other than that we had a fantastic time.
The last part of Georgia was great, over some more mountains, then a long descent to a very hot, semi desert plain. I saw snakes on the road as I crossed the plain to the base of the Caucus mountains and the Azerbaijan border.
Georgia has been the most incredible country. It's beautiful, the people are unbelievably hospitable and the food is fantastic. Go there soon, Ryanair are going to start flying there I hear and I can't help thinking that the inclusion of Brits on stag do's on the streets of Tblisi won't improve the country much!
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan started off very hot and with lots of Mosquitoes. I got loads of attention at the border and then at the first town. I was shattered and really wanted to have a relaxing evening and an early night. As I passed a house I heard more people shouting after me but they beckoned me over and I decided to see what they wanted. Straight away they offered me a place to sleep and dinner so I accepted and enjoyed a Georgian meal on my first night in Azerbaijan. It was delicious, pork, cheese, fish and bread. We had a couple of beers but I managed to keep my vodka glass empty thankfully! An incredibly drunk guy drove off and came back with 3 girls. They went into an outhouse. An hour later he drove away again, I didn't ask what they were doing there!
I slept in the front room with the father (Islam) and his son. It was really hot in there and the window was shut to keep out the mosquitoes. Islam also left the TV on all night so I didn't get much sleep! I got going early the next day and cycled along some small country roads. I say roads - they were really just tracks. I had to ford a river because the bridge had collapsed. It was slow progress but I enjoyed it immensely. I stopped for yet another free cup of tea, which I didn't have to drink with sugar thank God! They also forced a shish kebab on me, which would have been welcome if I hadn't just had a massive lunch! I enjoyed it anyway though. The temperature reached 32 degrees, the hottest it had been, it was muggy and I was tired.
At Saka, I climbed up a huge hill to try and find a Khan's Palace. It took a while and a huge climb and was a bit disappointing so I whizzed back down and asked a shepherd if I could camp on his land. He said yes and his son turned up with a huge pot of tea. I was offered a place in a house but I really needed a good night’s sleep so I turned it down and slept in the tent.
On the next day, the 1st of June, I felt much better both physically and mentally. I followed a great road through the steppe and everything was much drier. I saw loads of lizards and snakes, many of which are poisonous apparently so I gave them a lot of space when I rode past a sleeping one on the road. In the evening I reached a beautiful thick forest and was chased by two huge sheep dogs. Pretty standard except one of them stopped in the road and was hit by a car at about 40 mph. Incredibly the dog survived, and looked unhurt as it rushed off back to its master. I didn't feel too sorry for it as it would have bitten me if it had got the chance. The car was a mess though. The front of it had caved in and the headlight was smashed. Thankfully they didn't blame me at all and I had a chat with one of the passengers who spoke good English.
That night I asked another shepherd were to camp and he took me to a bit of land surrounded by a river on one side and a fence on the other which was accessible by a tiny thin bridge. I was safe from wolves here apparently! Eziz the shepherd told me about the Caucus mountains he loved and the wildlife around. He showed me a new born lamb and brought a load of small kids over to see me. I let them have a go in my tent then had tea cooked on a fire before going to bed.
After that Azerbaijan really started to grow on me. The scenery was spectacular. That day I passed through forests, mountains, plains and desert. Azeris have no idea about distance though, I asked one how far to the next town, which I hoped to camp in and he said 2km. 15km later at dusk I turned up in Cegrankegmaz and was invited into a house to sleep. I gratefully accepted and was offered a shower and given a feast! Unbelievable hospitality again. I was only 40 miles from Baku so expected an easy day the next day.
It wasn't! I fought a gale force head wind for 9 hours to get to Baku in the early evening. The ride through the desert was beautiful though. I checked into the cheapest hotel I could find, which wasn't that cheap as Baku is expensive. That evening I went to the port to try to get a ferry ticket to get to Kazakhstan and was told to come back tomorrow.
I went back and had to go to the new port 5 km away. I waited for about an hour for the office to open and when it showed no sign of doing, the queue of people retreated for a tea. I had one with them and made friends with the guy who was in charge of the order that people got tickets. He assured me I'd get first choice of the passenger tickets. I went into Baku and tried to get some replacement disc brake pads but no bike shop in Baku has them so I'm going to have to get some posted out.
I got back to the port and after waiting about 3 hours and having a cup of tea at Arif's house I got my ticket for 110 dollars. I rushed to the other port as the ferry was apparently about to leave from there. When I arrived I was told the ferry wasn't even there yet and I had to come back tomorrow so I went back to Arif's house as he had already offered me a bed for the night.
Arif was the best host I've had so far. We had a great meal with some other stranded passengers and he is a mechanic so he let me use his tools to fix my bike. I switched the cog on my Rohloff hub round and changed the chain. I had a shower and his wife washed all of my clothes. He gave me an entire outfit to wear that night and when I tried to give it him back the next day he insisted I keep it. Amazing people!
At 9 the next morning I went to the ferry port again and was let on the boat about midday. The boat left at 5 and took 2 days instead of 18 hours to port in Aktau. I'll blog about my experiences on the boat soon. Next up is the desert so I've got to get my bike ready and find a way of carrying 20 litres of water and 5 days of food.
Will update soon, but I may disappear for a few days because I doubt I'll find the internet anywhere in the desert, which looks to be pretty remote. I hope I can make it across to Nukus, Uzbekistan, without having to take a train.
The Caspian Sea Ferry
I wasn't expecting it to be easy! I've heard nightmare stories of other travellers being stranded in Baku for a week or more waiting for a ferry to Aktau. I was expecting pointless waiting and sucking up to 'important' officials to get a ticket. It didn't disappoint!
I went to the old port near the centre of Baku on the day I arrived to be told that the tickets for the Aktau ferry are sold at the new port 5 miles away even though the boat leaves from the old port. Makes sense! The ticket office was closed so I had to go back the next day. I did at 9 and was told yo come back at 12, I did and was told to come back at 3! In the meantime I managed to male friends with the guy who decides who's first in line for the next tickets. He assured me I'd get the next. I was also offered a bed for the night from a lovely guy called Arif.
At 3 I went back and the office, which opened at 4 and I finally got my ticket. I was told the ferry was about to leave so I packed up my stuff and cycled as fast as I could back to the old port. They told me the ferry wasn't leaving until tomorrow and I should come back at 9 the next day!
I went back to Arif's and enjoyed a great evening with him and his family and managed to fix my bike using his large array of tools!
The next day I went back to the port and got on the ferry at about 12. It left at about 7 at night.
On board I had a great time though. The ferry was full if Kazakhs importing German cars from the Caucuses. The import laws are changing so there are loads of people buying old BMW's and Mercs while it’s still cheap.
Needless to say there was a lot of alcohol on board the boat. I managed to avoid a lot of the drinking but not all! Luckily my cabin mates were a guy who slept for almost the entire crossing and an Azeri called Rachmed who didn't drink much.
I was taught a game of cards which I never had any idea how to play but I bizarrely won both games I took part in! At night I went up to the deck and saw the stars above the sea. Amazing. There are also a lot of oil rigs, so many!
The next day we arrived at Aktau in the morning but stayed outside the port all day. I used the time to look at maps and read. Nobody on board thought I had a chance of making it across the desert on a bike!
At about 5 the captain announced we'd be spending another night on the boat. More drinking, which I completely avoided this time and inevitably some tensions. Rachmed was insulted by a drunk Kazakh guy, something about Azerbaijan and the Kazakh wanted to start a fight in the restaurant. He was very drunk. I escaped to the deck and read until it calmed down.
The next day we were finally let off the boat in the afternoon. I was on the boat for over 2 days instead of the 18 hours it was supposed to take. Clearing customs and persuading officials to prune back on the boat to get my bike took more time and I finally got to a hotel that evening!
The time in Aktau was spent preparing for the desert. I had to register with the OVIR, a stupid ex soviet office which records where foreigners are in the country. I'd love to know what they do with the files of traveller’s passport details!
I was ready for the desert after 2 nights in Aktau and looking forward to getting moving again. Not really sure what to expect but let’s see what happens! This is the first time I’ve been worried/scared about part of the trip. The desert would really be entering the unknown.
The Kazakh Steppe - Aktau to Beyneu
After 43 km, I turned off the road which followed the Caspian Sea and started heading East towards Shetpe, the next significant town. I cycled until late and found a little metal hut which I slept in. I was feeling ill with tummy problems but well enough to carry on tomorrow.
The next day I got to a small village were the road to Shetpe turned off, it was another 63 km until I got there but I still had plenty of water. My tyre went down, I think the heat had heated the wheel rim so much it had melted a small hole in the inner tube!
Shetpe isn't anything to write home about but there's a decent bazaar so I restocked with bread, jam, cheese and a new inner tube. That night I slept in the desert on my foam mat without the tent, there was no chance of rain. The stars were absolutely beautiful, so much brighter than at home. It really struck me how far I'd ridden.
The next day I felt much better and had a huge breakfast. Surprisingly the road was still tarmac, I was expecting gravel by now. A guy in a big pickup truck pulled up to talk. He couldn't believe I was there on a bike. He said "where are you going", I said "Beyneu", he said "do you want to die out here! This road is like hell!" then drove off. Great, thanks for that I thought!
He was right though, after the small town of Zhatmysh the road deteriorates. There was still about 300 km to Beyneu and the road would be like this all the way. Its difficult to describe the road. I think if you tried your very best to make the worst road you could possibly think of then this road would be worse. The Kazakhs have succeeded in creating the worst road in the world! It was corrugated, with gravel on top and sand traps on the sides. Riding the bike was slow going, max speeds of 10 mph on good sections and usually around 7 mph.
I wobbled along constantly looking for the smoothest part of the road. Sometimes there were dirt tracks along the side of the road which were often better than the main road so I often swapped between the two.
This progress continued for 3 days. Temperatures in the afternoon reached 43 degrees c. I slept in pipes under the road in the afternoons when it was too hot to ride. They were big and there was room for the bike in there too. Chaihanas (tea shops) were a welcome relief whenever they popped up.
I think the longest distance I had to ride between water points was about 70 km but water in the desert tea shops is overpriced. The lowest my water supply got was 7 litres so I could have got away with 13 litres but it was better to have more to be safe. There is a lot of traffic on the road so I never felt unsafe and could have got help if I needed it. I was targeting 100 km per day and I managed to achieve this distance by getting up before sunrise and riding all day until sunset. I was putting in about 12 hours a day on the bike and it was tough. The hardest cycling I've ever done.
The landscapes were amazing. There were large rock formations from an ancient sea, gorges, white salt cliffs and endless horizons. The sunsets were the best yet and at night the desert had an amazing silence.
On the last day before Beyneu, there was a thunderstorm which reduced the dirt road to a quagmire. It was so muddy and I was walking through. 3 inch deep sticky layer of gloop. It got everywhere and jammed up my bike wheels every 100 meters or so. I had to push, straining my shoulders and arms, for 100 meters, stop to clear out the mud then carry on. This progress continued for about 2 hours where I covered 2 km! I was beginning to despair. I still had 40+ km until Beyneu and I wad shattered. Then miraculously the tarmac started again! I couldn't believe it. I stopped at a Chaihana and celebrated with a pot of tea. A little boy ran after me and gave me a note that two French cyclists had left for me. They had heard I was behind them and offered that we could cycle on from Beyneu together. Company would be great, especially in the next bit of desert, which I expected to be even tougher.
As I left the Chaihana, I noticed my little Nokia phone was missing with my Kazakh sim card in. I confronted the owner about it and he said it must have fallen out as I was ridings. I said that I definitely had it at the table I'd been sitting at. He looked insulted I had suspected he'd taken it and I went back to the bike to have another look. Nope, not there so I went back in and sat down. I wasn't leaving until I got it back. He took me outside to 'help' me look for it then he spoke to his son who amazingly appeared with the phone a few minutes later. It was on the table apparently. I asked the owner where it had been found. He said on a ledge under the table. It didn't exist. They'd obviously taken it and hoped I wouldn't notice. Not a great end to West Kazakhstan!
I sped off to Beyneu and found the cheapest hotel. I found Marc and Camille, a French couple, cycling around the world on a similar route to me. They were easy to find. I asked a group of kids if they'd seen any other bikers and one made a sign of man with a beard and long hair. That would be them I thought. I was expecting Sebastian Chabal, the French caveman rugby player!
I was disappointed to find a short bearded and not very long haired Marc sitting with Camille in a cafe. I shared a beer with then and we arranged to meet the next morning so I disappeared for some much needed sleep!!
The Karakalpakstan Desert - Beyneu to Qongirat (Kungrad)
Marc, Camille and me left Beyneu at around 10. Marc had bought new Tyres in Beyneu but they were absolutely awful and ripped apart when Marc pumped them up. He had to put his worn out old ones back on.
We rode out of Beyneu on another appalling road. It was even worse than before! Corrugated with no dirt tracks to ride on and nowhere to escape the bumps. It was great to have some company though and we talked about our rides. Marc and Camille planned the same route as me except for the Pamir Highway. They will go straight from Uzbekistan to Kazakhstan. Coincidentally Marc is called Marc Beaumont, like the British world record breaking cyclists. He had some funny email exchanges with possible sponsors who originally seemed very interested until they realised it was a different Marc Beaumont! Their website is www.lacaravaneapedales.com.
We cycled the 85 km to the Uzbek border, planning to cross it the next morning. I was feeling smug - I'd planned to get to the border on the 14th June in Istanbul when I got the visa. It was the 14th June!
We met some Russian motorcyclists and they confirmed what some Belgians told me in Beyneu - the road was all tarmac from now on! I couldn't believe it. At some point in the last few years they must have built a tarmac road for the 500 km across the desert.
We went and found somewhere to camp ready to get going early the next day. Unfortunately the next morning the 24 hour border was shut until 10 then a load of pointless waiting and filling in more forms took two hours. Every official wants to prove their power by meticulously checking passports. One, who couldn't speak English spent about 10 minutes looking at the page where I'd written my Nan's address for emergency contact details. Eventually he nodded and gave it back. I have no idea what he thought he was looking at!
Finally through the border we got going. Cycling with Marc and Camille was very pleasant. We rode at a good pace, sometimes in formation if there was a headwind. We took long afternoon breaks and finished early in the evening. It was nice to spend some time off the bike. I had enjoyed my dash across Kazakhstan, the physical challenge was rewarding but it was nice to read and chill out.
One night we were treated to an incredible moonrise. A huge, bright, orange moon appeared on the horizon and rose up into the sky.
A town in the middle of the desert, Jasliq provided a place to rest and buy water. The Chaihana there was incredibly busy. We arrived at lunchtime and the whole place was covered in sleeping bodies. We found a place to sit and got some food. When we went back outside, all three of us had rear punctures. It must have been the heat. After spending a long time fixing them in front of a crowd of about 25, we escaped!
The ride across the desert was hard, very hot, but amazing. The barren landscapes which haven't been touched by humans are great to be part of. I saw meercats, scorpions, hawks and loads of desert rat things!
Although there is a tarmac road, this stretch of desert was more isolated than in Kazakhstan. It took careful planning and we needed a lot of water. I plan to write an account of distances and water points on my website when I get a chance (www.tombrucecycling.com). The furthest distance without a water point was about 150 km, or a day and a half.
When we finally got to Qongirat and saw green trees on the horizon it was a great moment. The three of us stopped and cheered then took some photos. It was great to be out of the desert and we celebrated in a Chaihana. I decided to carry on alone. It had been great to cycle with Marc and Camille but I needed to press on as I have a Tajikistan visa to get. I planned to get to Nukus that evening, the capital of the Karakalpakstan region. I hope to meet up with them again in Samarkand.
Nukus to Bukhara
I had a look around the Karakalpakstan art gallery in Nukus. It's a bizarre location to have such a good art collection. A soviet artist called Igor Savitsky collected it all and set up the museum. I particularly liked the crazy wood carvings of people's heads using the roots as the hair!
I left Nukus about midday and bumped into Marc and Camille on the way out. I directed them to my hotel, which was cheap, only smelt of mild urine and I didn't see a single cockroach, not bad for the price! The area around Nukus is irrigated and it was great to be cycling in fields and trees again. Lot of people were out and about and children were swimming in the irrigation channels.
I stopped at a market to buy some stuff for dinner and entertained a group of local people. They were unbelievably ugly (not a trait I can link to Uzbekistan in any way it was just this village)! For some reason the women drew monobrows onto their foreheads with makeup and I met a man with hair all over one half of his face! Anyway they were lovely people and I got some free fruit from them.
I carried on and went to a shop to buy the stuff I couldn't get from the market and they invited me to sleep there that night. I gratefully accepted and they showed me to a raised platform around the back where I could unroll my sleeping mat. They cooked me eggs and sausage for dinner (seems to be a staple here) and then the neighbours asked if I was still hungry and came back with a second meal of plov, a rice dish (the other staple). I haven't been blown away by Uzbek food yet but it was great to be shown more hospitality.
The next day I got to Khiva by the early afternoon. It's an amazing place, an ancient Silk Road trading city but it's in incredible condition due to a Soviet restoration programme. The buildings are stunning, amazing tiled mosaics, minarets, domes, huge city walls and archways. The atmosphere of the place has been sapped away though, its like a big musuem.
I had planned to spend another day there but its quite small and I didn't fancy wondering around the museums so I left the next day. After a morning ride I was back into the desert. This time the road was terrible though. It was sometimes tarmac that had been ripped up, sometimes melted tarmac and sometimes no tarmac at all. Sand had been blown across in drifts and it was really hard work. It was even hotter than the last desert, up to 44 degrees and there was absolutely no shade. It was also sandier and drier, my mouth was constantly parched no matter how much water I drank. I got into a routine of cycling 2.5 miles, taking a swig and then getting moving again because the only was to cool down was by moving so that I was creating a breeze. There were also loads of flies to make things worse, oh and a headwind for 3 days!
I met a Uzbek cyclist going from Tashkent to Nukus and back. He was in a bit of a rush! He stopped me for a photo, didn't speak then sped off mentioning something about an interview!
I got ill on the second full day after Khiva. I don't know if it was something I ate or drank or just exhaustion. There was lots of water available in Chaikanas (teashops) so I just drank as much as possible. I was still dehydrated though and there was nothing I could do about it. I was sick in the afternoon and was running on Coke because I couldn’t eat anything solid. I didn't eat that night and finished riding just before dark before collapsing into my tent.
Thankfully I felt better the next day and my appetite was back. Shame I only had stale bread and chocolate spread to eat! I had eggs and sausage and a soup and bread in the first Chaihana I found. I ate and drank so much that day and felt much better although absolutely shattered by the afternoon.
Finally the desert ended. It was a kind of mental torture for 3 and a half days. I didn't enjoy it at all but it was great to overcome the challenge. I get some satisfaction from putting myself through that sort of thing for some reason! I could have gone slower or stopped once I got ill but I'm determined to make it round the world only using a bike and I have to get a Tajik visa in Tashkent so time is ticking!
I arrived at Bukhara at around 5 and checked into the cheapest hostel in town. Only $5 a night and not bad at all. Looking forward to a day off tomorrow then I'm off to Samarkand and Tashkent to hopefully get some visas.
The day off in Bukhara was fantastic. What an amazing place! The buildings are incredible, huge Medrassa and minarets and an old fortress. Unlike Khiva, Bukhara is a bustling city, full of life, although it has a great central square with a large pool with restaurants all around it. I spent the day wondering around the amazing buildings, eating good food and I had a couple of beers too. I met a few other travellers in the cheap "B&B" I was staying in. I used quotation marks because there was no bed or breakfast. You sleep on a mat on the floor and the owner seemed surprised when I asked if breakfast was included! He was an interesting guy though an ex-Soviet Olympic sprinter and trainer.
After a day off I was feeling great again and I managed 105 miles towards Samarkand. It was a fairly uneventful stretch although I met a team of amazing Chinese runners. They are currently running the silk road from Istanbul to Xian, China. It will take them 5 months and they are averaging 70km per day. I chatted to their Aussie medical support team for a while and it sounded amazing. I can't imagine how difficult it must be to run 70km in 45 degree heat every day. Those guys were seriously fit - good luck for the rest of the trip, their website is http://www.runsilkroad.org/home/en.
That night I stayed in a Chaihana (tea house) and provided entertainment for 6 kids who were amazed to see a crazy dirty smelly British cyclist turn up at their quiet village tea house! I ate tasty Jasliq (sheep meat kebabs) and slept in a back room. The toilet was the worst one yet though and I had to hold my breath when I used it!
The following day I had about 50 miles to get to Samarkand and it took me until 2 o' clock despite setting off at dawn. I fought a headwind all day and climbed through some hills along a beautiful road. I was getting frustrated because I needed to get to the train station in Samarkand in time to get a train to Tashkent that evening. It was Sunday and I needed to go to the Tajik embassy on Monday (I'll take the train back to Samarkand and continue riding from there next week). I was in a very bad mood when I arrived in Samarkand, mainly thanks to some absolutely extraordinary driving. Blind overtaking around corners, swerving randomly across the road, pulling alongside me for a chat and holding up a line of very impatient angry drivers who are forced to make a dangerous overtaking manoeuvre rather than waiting 10 seconds for a safe overtake - not to mention the constant refrain of horns doing their best to deafen me. The Uzbeks have definitely won the 'worst driving in the world award' so far, but I hear the Chinese will give them a run for their money!
Anyway - I got to Samarkand train station about 2:30 and bought a ticket for a train at 5. It was supposed to take 3 1/2 hours so I should have arrived at 8:30. After a 5 hour breakdown, I got into Tashkent at 1:30, without a hotel booked. They train journey was very interesting though, I sat in a carriage of very friendly Pakistanis, one of whom spoke excellent English and we were able to talk for about 3 hours! I was welcomed as their guest so I wasn't allowed to pay for any drinks or food on the train - amazing people. I talked to Amjedali about Pakistan/UK relations. He told me that in general the UK was viewed well in Pakistan although there are a minority of extremists who are very anti-UK. The Pakistanis are grateful for the infrastructure the British built during colonial times and many older people remember a better life back then. Unfortunately due to corruption in Government, the country has gone backwards since then. They are looking over their shoulders at much more successful India and frustration is growing with the current regime.
He also told me of the problems that relations with the west (particularly America) have caused. Terrorist attacks are common from Afghan and Pakistani extremists due to collaboration with NATO forces and the country has become much more unsafe due to them working in partnership with NATO during the Afghan war. He found it incredibly unfair that Pakistan have had bad press over the possible sheltering of Osama-Bin-Laden, but admitted it was very unlikely that someone in Government didn't know he was there.
We talked about America and the opinions in Pakistan. Some of the things he was saying about America were the result of anti-American propaganda, which he acknowledged but in general the view of America in Pakistan is basically hatred. I found myself defending America and although I'm against the war, I talked him round to agreeing that we do need a way of policing countries if things turn bad, i.e. Libya and that George Bush had to do something after September 11th, even if what he did do was possibly not the best cause of action.
Enough of that - but it was a very interesting chat, I enjoyed learning more about Pakistan, which is a country I'd love to go to if things settle down in the future.
The breakdown of the train was hell! There was no information of how long the wait would be, I was getting worried about turning up in Tashkent after midnight and having to find a place to stay and secure the bike. The worst bit though was that the air conditioning was turned off. The power saving didn't stretch to turning the appalling Uzbek pop music off though so I was sitting in a sweat box with an assault on my ear drums for 5 hours.
Eventually the train started moving with a round of applause from the much-more-patient-than-me other passengers and we pulled into Tashkent at 1.30 am. Luckily there was a very cheap hotel in the train station ($7/night) where I stayed for the next 5 days. I got to sleep about 2 and planned to get up at 7 to go to an internet cafe to print of the visa application forms and cycle to the Tajik embassy for 9.
Tashkent - The visa nightmare stage 2!
Everything went to plan on the first day. I arrived on time at the Tajik embassy with my application form filled in and was called to the front of the queue because I was a tourist! The ambassador showed me to an office around the back of the embassy where I had my passport photocopied and was helped to write a letter on a Russian form saying how wonderful Tajikistan is and why I wanted to go there. I handed in my passport and was told that I'd get it back at 5 with a visa and GBAO permit for the Pamir Highway. Unbelievable! The rest of the day went well too, I found the DHL office and was told my parcel containing bike spares was on its way and if it wasn't here by Friday then I could redirect it to Samarkand. I found a great bazaar for lunch and managed to get some dollars for a very cheap commission rate. I picked up the visa at 5 then went to meet Paul, a Dutch cyclist that I met at the Uzbek embassy in Istanbul. We kept in touch and arrived at Tashkent at the same time. We plan to ride the Pamir Highway together.
We enjoyed a meal and a beer then I left for a sleep! The next day I headed to the Russian embassy with A LOI I'd bought from Stantours, a Central Asian travel agency. Stantours were incredibly helpful and have given me loads of free advice which has worked out great, Unfortunately on this one they got it wrong though. I went to the Russian embassy and was told that British people can't get a Russian visa here or anywhere abroad. I explained that I couldn't get one in the UK either because you have to apply less than 3 months before entering the country. The staff were nice and as helpful as they could be but they couldn't bend the rules and I left feeling very down. I didn't know what to do next - the options were:
1. Try again for the Russian Visa in Dushanbe, Osh, Bishkek and Almaty (unlikely I'd get one though)
2. Send passport home for visa and stay in Tashkent for 2 weeks (not really an option because don't have time and it would be too expensive to stay in a city that long and can't leave Tashkent because need passport for police checks)
3. Scrap the idea of going through Russia and fly over the small bit separating Kazakhstan from Mongolia (not ideal because I've got this far only using my bike and it's been bloody difficult! I don't want to have to use a plane.)
4. Scrap Russia and Mongolia and cycle through China crossing either from Kyrgyzstan or Kazakhstan
I decided to go to the Mongolian consulate and see if I could get a visa before making a decision. I found the consulate after cycling halfway across the city to the wrong address from the internet, then took a taxi to the consulate. They don's issue any visas in Tashkent and the guy helpfully told me to go to the consulate 1,000 km away in Almaty in Kazakhstan. He did give me a cup of tea though!
That made my mind up, Mongolia would have to wait, I'd go to the Kazakh embassy tomorrow, if I could get a visa in 1 day I'd go through Kazakhstan to China, if it took more than 1 day I'd scrap Kazakhstan and cross in Kyrgyzstan. I'd prefer to cross from Kazakhstan though because it would give me more time in Kyrgyzstan and I could see Charyn Canyon in Kazakhstan.
The next day I got my Kazakh visa and the following day I got a 3 month Chinese visa. Fantastic! My path around the world is now set and I don't have to deal with any more stupid embassies. The last night in Tashkent was fun. Paul and me went to a few bars, including an appalling imitation German beer hall and a great place with the Wimbledon semi final on. Predictably Murray lost to Nadal - better luck next year! We ended up in a rock bar with a Swiss guy called Rene, who worked in Tashkent. He was a very interesting guy and we had a great night with him. I lost Paul at about 1 and walked back to the hotel thinking he'd gone back there. At 5 o' clock I woke up and Paul still wasn't back. I was a bit worried - we had a train at 7 to Samarkand! At half 5, a very merry Paul turned up, having slept in a field in front of the President's house for a couple of hours! It was hilarious going to the train at 7, at least we slept for most of the journey!
We pulled into Samarkand early afternoon and I cycled to Bahodir B&B, the cheapest place in town!
I was very excited to be in Samarkand. It's the city I was looking forward to visiting most on the trip. The buildings sounded amazing and the history as a major trading city on the Silk Road makes it sound so special. I wasn't disappointed! The hostel was full of other travellers including Damian and John, I'd met in Bukhara and Marc and Camille again. Was great to see them and we had a few days to wait over the weekend until my package arrived. There were about 12 other cyclists there, Samarkand is on everybody's route through Central Asia. Over the weekend we visited most of the sights. The Registan with it's huge medrassas and tilting minarets, a huge mosque, the tomb of Timur and an avenue of tombs with amazing mosaic tiles.
One night we bribed the guard to let us up one of the minarets in the Registan at sunset. It was an amazing climb up a spiral staircase in the dark and then there was only room for us to poke our heads out the top one at a time for an incredible view over the ancient city. I read a poem in the lonely planet guide which really captured the moment and the journey so far. Apologies - I'm not usually into poetry but this one was perfect for that moment!
"We do not travel for trafficking alone
By hotter winds our fiery hearts are fanned
For lust of knowing what should not be known
We take the Golden Road to Samarkand"
My parcel finally arrived on Tuesday and Paul and me planned to leave the next day. I got stung by a bee and my arm swelled up and was very painful especially when I cycled over bumps in the road. We had a goodbye meal with Marc and Camille and a Swiss couple and left early the next day with a Portuguese couple who were also on the way to the Pamir highway.
The ride out of Samarkand was beautiful, quickly the road started climbing up a mountain road with small villages and people everywhere. We stopped at a shop and bought eggs to cook for lunch then slept for a couple of hours during the hottest part of the day. Over the top of the pass, the road was amazing, looking down we could see it snaking its way down to a plain to the city of Shahrisabz, Timur's birthplace. Paul and me stopped for a Chai before riding down to the city where we arrived at dusk. We were offered a place to sleep by an old man who we followed on our bikes to his beautiful house. They grew all their vegetables in the garden and had a cow for milk. His wife quickly made us some food although we'd already eaten and we slept outside under grape vines.
After an early breakfast we went to Timur's tomb, which was built for him but he wasn't buried in it because the mountain pass was covered in snow when he died so he was buried in Samarkand instead. There was an amazing mosque and ruined palace with the same architecture as Samarkand, but unrestored. We headed out of the city across the plain and again slept through the hottest part of the day. The next couple of days were great. We didn't cover much distance but ate lots of food and drank huge amounts of Chai! One night we stayed in the garden of a Chaihana, and the next in a farmer’s field. All the time people offered us food and one even gave us money despite our protests. On the last full day in Uzbekistan we crossed an amazing desert near Boysun, with rock formations, canyons and huge mountains. It was a tough day with lots of climbing but 100km later we arrived at the farm, having been given 3 melons, 6,000 sum (about 3 dollars) and some bread.
The next day we set off at about 5 and passed the city of Denov, a bustling market town which was infuriating. I looked after the bikes while Paul went to get his passport copied for his Kyrgyzstan visa which he needed to get in Dushanbe tomorrow. Within 5 minutes I was surrounded by a crowd of about 200. It was unbelievable. They were all over the road and the cars couldn't get past. They just stared at me until some policemen came and moved them away. It was only so they could have a look at the tourist though! Not many cyclists pass this way because most cross the border between Samarkand and Penjikent. It's closed at the moment though so we had to detour this way.
After this unpleasant experience we escaped from the city and got to a Chaihana 10 km from the Tajik border. My love of Uzbekistan was restored when we were invited over by 3 old men who bought us a huge lunch and tried to give us vodka although we resisted!
10 km later we were at the border and crossed it easily, with no fine for our lack of registration papers.
Uzbekistan was an amazing experience. Infuriating at times but on the whole great. Lovely people, amazing cities, desert, mountains, good cycling company, visa success and unbeatable hospitality (unless you go to Georgia!). The downside was intrusive staring, being treated like an attraction rather than a person, unbelievably bad driving, bad food, terrible heat and illness. That's travel though and the good definitely outweighed the bad!
Dushanbe to Khorog
After crossing the border to Tajikistan, we cycled 20km to a large river where we asked for a place to camp. We were invited to stay in a shelter by the river, which belonged to a large Tajik family who lived in the nearby house. One of them spoke English and brought us a second dinner of plov (the central Asian staple). We'd already cooked and eaten one! We talked about Tajikistan, England and Holland (Paul is Dutch) then had a wash in the river and a great night sleep.
An early start and a very fast ride for the first 3 hours of the day got us into Dushanbe for 9 AM. Paul went to the Kyrgyzstan embassy and came back half an hour later with his visa - unbelievable service! We met a Swiss couple who have been on the road for 5 years. I'd already met them in Khiva, Uzbekistan. We had a late lunch with them and spent about 4 hours talking, and then we were finally heading for the Pamirs. This is the most remote part of the trip and the part I am looking forward to the most.
After leaving Dushanbe, we passed a power plant belching out a disgusting amount of pollution and arrived at a village. We asked for somewhere to sleep and after about 45 minutes of deliberating (I have no idea what they were talking about) the elder of the village introduced us to our host, Rhadijon. We walked with him for about a mile, followed by a trail of children, including one who had been ordered to carry a watermelon for a gift for us. It was massive and the poor boy was obviously struggling to carry it all the way to the house! We were shown to a room and served a fantastic dinner of pasta, watermelon, nuts, yogurt and sweets as well as the obvious Chai! The next morning we had a look around Rhadijon's land. They had a few cows and piles of dung to burn in winter. They had crops and it looked like they were almost completely self sufficient. Rhadijon was some official in the village; he called himself the 'President' and he had a stamp which he proudly used on my diary!
We left the village and climbed up a fantastic river valley. At every village we stopped for an ice cream (they were very cheap!) and in the early afternoon we came across an irrigation canal. There were loads of kids and teenagers there swimming so we joined them. An aqueduct with holes in the side formed a perfect shower. There was a fairly deep pool where the kids dived and flipped to show off to the weird foreigners. 3 older guys showed up in a Lada, blaring out hip hop and came out with aviators on. It was very funny; the kids were obviously in awe of them. They proceeded to do a workout in the canal then shared a watermelon with us. That night we found a fantastic campsite by a river and cooked a great dinner. A small boy galloped up to us on a horse and stared at us, he'd evidently never seen anything as strange as two very white people speaking in a strange language and sleeping in 2 weirdly shaped cloth houses!
The next day, we followed a great road to the town of Obi. We stocked up on food and Paul put his phone on charge in a shop saying 'I must remember not to forget it'. We left the town and after 15km of fantastic descending Paul cried 'Aggghhhh!'. He'd forgotten his phone. He hitched back up to the town while I watched the bikes and he returned in a lorry an hour and a half later with the phone! That night provided another fantastic campsite and a ghostly moon silhouette as it rose over the mountains.
The next day was more climbing and descending on tarmac, dirt roads and rocky tracks. The river in the valley was really powerful, very impressive to see the rapids. After two police checkpoints, one of Paul's rear panniers broke and he had to tie it on with rope. We found another fantastic campsite and got a good night sleep preparing for a large pass tomorrow.
The next day was one of the best of the trip so far. We started fairly late and the laid-back start continued after four miles when we stopped for a second breakfast. We climbed an alpine valley up a track which was beautiful but unfortunately the views were spoiled by a hazy mist. We cycled through wild flowers and the smell of herbs, past donkeys, calves and herds of goats. We met a Ukrainian journalist cycling the Pamir Highway who was pushing his bike uphill and a girl who had cycled from New Zealand on a 4 year trip doing the route in reverse. We stopped for another couple of Chai's and after passing a couple of false summits, we eventually reached the top.
The other side was amazing! An incredible descent down a rocky road which clung to the cliff edge and followed the valley down a series of switchbacks. We dropped 2,000m altitude in 1 1/2 hours and found a nice home stay in Kalaikum to end of the best day of the trip so far.
We had a long breakfast and started riding around 11. We joined the raging Ak-i- Panj River on the bored with Afghanistan and followed a good road along a stunning valley. We passed through beautiful villages growing fresh fruit, which kids sold to us. Their mothers let us barter with them and we taught them lessons in business! I got 2 flat tyres because I was using rubbish inner tubes from Denov bazaar and I put my final tube in hoping it would last until Khorog. It had a puncture which I fixed and I prayed it would last a couple of days.
On the river I passed a nice sight. A Tajik girl was playing a game with 2 Afghan boys on the other side of the river. They were throwing stones and communicating with each other across the river despite the nearest crossing being over 30km away. That night we cooked our culinary highlight of the trip as 'Team Beer', a fantastic fish curry.
One night in the valley, we camped just across the river from Afghanistan and were invited to a concert in the village and were promised Tajik music. We turned up and weren't allowed to pay for the entrance ticket. The music was absolutely awful. Truly terrible. The guys couldn't sing except for one of them. The girl introducing the acts spoke into a microphone which was put through an echo synthesizer. The highlight of the show was two rappers who were trying to be as American as they could - not very Tajik. They were good though, until the backing track skipped and we found out they were miming! It was a great experience though and the locals loved it!
A short ride the next brought us into the town of Khorog, the capital of the Pamir region. It's an amazing place, considering the location. The Aga-Khan, a Swiss born man who is regarded by the Ismailly Pamiris as a living God donates a lot of money to the town and has prevented a certain famine for a number of years, as well as opening schools throughout the region and a University. On the way into Khorog I got stung by a bee again, this time inbetween the eyes. During the stay there I had to go to hospital because my face swelled up so much I couldn't see. I had to stay an extra day in the hostel in Khorog too because I had terrible stomach problems including vomiting and fever. I met an amazing British guy there called Alex, who was blind and travelling from Beijing back to England by public transport. Inspiring guy and puts what I'm doing to shame.
After 3 nights in Khorog, I was well enough to leave for the Wakhan valley.
The Wakhan Valley
I left Khorog after spending a day in bed feeling pretty ill still but I had to keep moving and I was on the mend. I knew the town of Ishkashim was a couple of days away and there is a hospital there so I could always stay there a while if needed. On the way out of Khorog I went to the market and stocked up on decent food for the last time in a couple of weeks. I bought a litre of petrol to cook with then entered the Wakhan valley. The river is much narrower here, only about 10m wide, it would be very easy to enter Afghanistan!
The road was about 50% tarmac, 50% dirt and riding was tough, especially with low energy levels because of the illness. I was managing to make slow progress but I needed to get better soon so I could leave Tajikistan before the visa expired.
At the first police checkpoint I was cheered up. They handed me a pot of tea and some bread, which really helped my morale! 10km later I was really low, no energy at all so I gave up and lay down on a warm boulder on the side of the road and slept for half an hour. I woke up and managed another 10km to the next village and asked for a place to camp. They showed me to a lovely orchard and I put the tent up and unloaded the bike. To make things worse that day I discovered my rear pannier rack was broken. The hole where you screw it onto the frame had snapped. I swore loudly and the two teenagers who had taken it upon themselves to look after me (really nice guys) came to investigate the problem. I said 'problem', pointing to the damage, and one of them said 'no problem!'. He took it away and after an hour came back with a new component he had made in a workshop. It fitted perfectly and the rack was as good as new. Amazing! I gave him a big smile and thanked him before crashing into bed!
The next day I was woken at half 6 by an overexcited child who had brought me tea for breakfast. I went to use the toilet and was followed. He waited outside while I was on the loo then escorted me back to the campsite - very strange! Anyway, I left in better spirits but still not well. I limped on to another village at lunchtime and ate a bit then slept in a bus stop before I was awakened by some middle aged women shouting 'tourist' at me! Very annoyed I carried on and struggled into Ishkashim where I bought some antibiotics. I met a Polish cyclist called Paul who rode with me to the next village where he knew a doctor. We knocked on the door and I was ushered in. I lay down on a mattress in his beautiful Pamiri house. It has 5 pillars, to symbolise the pillars of Islam. It's open plan with the kitchen in one corner, a TV and roll out beds. It was a lovely place.
The doctor made me a herbal medicine which I drank and then ate some rice and milk. I had a shower and then fell asleep. The next morning I felt a lot better so something had worked. Still not 100% but I was ready to get going again. The doctor was another example of amazing hospitality that I've been shown on the ride so far. In the morning before I left, a baby was brought to the doctor to be examined. He had a cough. The doctor checked him over and it seemed didnt ask for any payment. An amazing guy!
I left the doctor's and rode up an amazing valley. The side valleys on the Afghan side showed off views of the Hindu Pradesh mountains in Pakistan, with peaks over 7,000m. They were stunning, snow capped peaks with bright white rivers falling from them into the valleys in Afghanistan. It's an amazing place. I climbed an appalling dirt road for an age and had another energy crash. I struggled to a shop and found some coke, biscuits and CRISPS! I bought 4 packets and got my salt and sugar fix and was able to continue.
The next morning's I was better! Tummy troubles over I cycled along more terrible roads but through more beautiful scenery. I passed a museum with a Pamiri house and a solar calendar from the 1800s. It worked by aligning some rocks and the shadows told the date somehow. In the afternoon I found a waterfall and had a refreshing shower under it. Next up along the valley was a mineral water spring. It was delicious, with naturally sparkling water.
I passed the village of Langar, the last settlement in the Wakhan valley and stocked up with 3 days of food from a very expensive shop! The road climbed out of Langar to reveal even more spectacular views of the mountains in Afghanistan/Pakistan. I cycled up a series of switchbacks, the local boys pushed me up from behind to give me a boost! I found a flat bit of land o the inside of one of the switchbacks and lay down on my mattress. There was no need for a tent. I made a fantastic soup for dinner and fell asleep under an amazing night sky. I saw 3 shooting stars and the Milky Way was as bright as I've ever seen it.
The next morning the road continued to climb up to 3,000m. It turned into a terrible sandy track, which wasn't all rideable. With a mixture of pushing and slow riding I managed around 35 miles a day for the next 3 days. The road climbed up the river valley and was as beautiful as ever. I saw camels on the Afghan side of the river. There was really nothing except nature and beautiful scenery. The only sign of man was the track, there was no other traffic except 3 French cyclists I saw before the final police checkpoint. It was a very tough but fantastic 3 days. After the police checkpoint, I started the difficult climb up to Khargush pass, at 4,320m. The altitude was beginning to affect me. My breathing became short and I had to keep stopping to get my breath back. The climb was hard but very very difficult due to the altitude and the appalling road surface.
Eventually I reached the top and met Martin, a German cyclist I'd met in Khorog. We had lunch together and celebrated beating the pass. He had tummy problems now so he carried on slowly and I went ahead to begin the descent to Alichur. I decided to finish a bit early at a Lake on the Pamir Plateau. I came down from the pass and was on tarmac again. I let out a cheer as I cruised along the amazingly smooth road surface! It was wonderful to be moving fast again. I cruised down to the lake and enjoyed a beautiful night camping. I'd beaten the illness and the Wakhan valley and experienced the most beautiful scenery of the ride so far. Next up is the Pamir Highway. Can't wait!
Pamir Highway
I woke up to an amazing view over a 4,000m high lake on the Pamir Plateau, surrounded by huge mountains. Unfortunately the breakfast wasn't as good as the view. All I had left was sweets and biscuits so I ate them and got going.
10km later I got to Alichur and had a proper breakfast in a cafe. I met Martin again there and we decided to cycle together for a while. We crossed a 4,100 m pass and I was beckoned over by a family living in an isolated house in the middle of nowhere. Martin decided to carry on because he had some lunch in his bags and I went into the house. It was really warm, they had the stove burning yak dung and there were 14 people in one small room! The family living there are two brothers and their wives, their 10 children and mother and father, so 16 people living in one small house! They are almost completely self sufficient because they have no way of getting to the other towns, their only contact with the outside world is the road and the passing traffic. One of the men told me that they buy some food from a passing lorry sometimes but basically they eat food made from yak milk, bread and eggs. They can't grow fruit and vegetables in this climate. They gave me bread, yak cream and apricot jam, the apricots had come from the lorry. It was really nice, especially the cream! I thought about what the future was for the kids in that house. There was nothing for them, they'll just end up staying there their whole lives and never getting educated or knowing anything except that barren plateau. Maybe they'll be happy though, the family was very close and they seemed happy, or maybe they'll marry someone from Alichur.
I left the house, met up with Martin again and we cycled on. I noticed the altitude because my breathing was much heavier than normal. The ride in the afternoon was amazing, massive mountains and beautiful valleys. Unfortunately we had a strong headwind to battle against but we made good progress and begun our descent to Murghab, the largest town in the East Pamirs. We followed a river and turned around a corner in the early evening and saw Murghab 10km away. The wind was brutal now and it was getting dark as we arrived at the police checkpoint before Murghab. It was very funny. The police checked the passports from their beds, they were napping and it didn't look like a difficult job! We struggled into Murghab absolutely shattered and stayed in the first homestay we could find. We had a decent meal then sleep.
The next day I headed up to the META building in Murghab. It was a really interesting place, built in a traditional style, the building resembles a Pamir house. There is a shop with traditional crafts for sale and a very dodgy internet cafe! META promote traditional living and help with community schemes in Murghab and the surrounding area. At lunchtime I headed to the bazaar with Martin and met Paul there again. Was great to meet up and we bought some provisions before heading out as a team of 3. The headwind was really strong again so after struggling along a valley, we stopped at a fantastic campsite by a river and cooked a great meal of chips and plov.
After a late start the following day, we set off for the biggest pass on the Pamir Highway and my trip. We'd had to fix a broken spoke in Martin's rear wheel. The White Horse pass is 4,665 m high and I was expecting a tough day. At least the wind had died down a bit though. We climbed all morning, had lunch then set off at our own paces for the final part of the climb. About 300 m of altitude from the summit I met Polish Paul again and it was snowing heavily! He had turned back when he reached the top of the pass because his rear wheel was damaged, he planned to cycle to Murghab then get a taxi back to Khorog. I carried on up a gravel track which got really steep. I cycled as far as I could in stints, before stopping to let my breathing and heart rate drop then carrying on again. After a very steep final switchback I made it to the top. 4,665 m and it was a blizzard at the top. I was exhilarated to have got there, the highest point in my trip. I felt like I was on the way home now!
I waited for the others and the sun came out. We celebrated, shook hands, took loads of photos then descended into another beautiful valley on the other side. It was freezing cold and the wind was back. We got to the valley floor with numb fingers and found a yurt to stay in. It was amazing inside, so warm and they brought us delicious food, noodles and mutton.
In the morning the sun was out and we had a fantastic view up to the pass and of the surrounding mountains. With the yurts and the yaks in the pastures around it was a great moment.
After a slow start, we headed off again into the ever present headwind. After lunch we met up with Brigitte and Clemance, a Swiss couple we'd met in Khorog. As a team of 5 we carried on to Karkakul, the highest lake in Central Asia. Karakul is also the name of the small town by the lake and it's not a
nice place! It looks like a ruin, but we found a homestay where Brigitte and Clemance planned to stay and we had some food. We left the Swiss at Karakul and continued around lake. It is stunning, maybe the most beautiful part of the Pamir Highway. It's a huge lake and is surrounded by snow-capped mountains.
The wind was unbelievable and we struggled for 10 km until we found a sheltered campsite behind a sand bank. The terrain was desert now, loose sand and little vegetation.
Woke up at 5 for an early start in the last day of Tajikistan. We had a big pass to climb first thing and I was feeling great so I tried to make it in one go, without getting off the bike. I made it - think I must be getting acclimatised finally! At the top when Paul arrived, we sat down to wait for Martin. We waited an hour and he wasn't there so we left a message in the road with stones that we'd meet in the next town and carried on. A passing car had told us that there was a group of 4 cyclists coming behind so we knew he'd be OK and assumed he'd had another broken spoke.
Needless to say the wind was still in our faces and after a lunch in the shelter of the raised road, Paul and me carried on. Looking back we saw Martin behind us. He'd had a energy crash on the climb and got really dizzy so he'd had to stop for an hour before continuing. I decided to carry on alone because we were cycling at different speeds and I needed to get into Kyrgyzstan that day. After leaving the others I battled up a gravel track to the Tajik border control. It was so tough, the hardest climb of the trip, mainly due to the wind. I rounded a bend and saw the Tajik customs ahead. I got through pretty quickly and continued the final 2 km to the top of the pass. At the top was the Kyrgyzstan border. It felt amazing to reach Kyrgyzstan, it was all downhill to Sary-Tash now, the town at the end of the Pamir Highway. It felt like a big achievement to beat the mountains!
The descent to Sary-Tash was fantastic. I was off the Pamir Plateau and it was green again. A large river came down from a huge mountain with a glacier and there were Kyrgyz yurts dotting the base of the valley. The road was also great, gravel but switchbacks and river crossings made a fun descent. about 20km later was the Kyrgyz customs, where I was given some dough dumplings to eat! I cycled through the valley to Sary-Tash into the wind again. There were loads of nomad families there and kids ran up to the road to demand photographs! I arrived at Sary-Tash around 6 and found a cheap homestay. Paul turned up shortly after me and later on Martin arrived. I was starving so ate loads of food and chocolate from the first decent shop for weeks!
The Pamir Highway has definitely been the highlight of the trip so far. It was amazing. I'm looking forward to Krygyzstan now though, I'll leave for the city of Osh tomorrow.
China Part 1 - Korgas to Urumqi
I arrived in China at last! It was instantly completely different, not just because of the new alphabet, language and people’s looks. I felt like I was back in civilisation for the first time in ages. Korgas, the border town was developed, clean, had loads of food in the supermarkets and great places to eat. I checked into a hotel and went to explore. The first night in China, I had a delicious noodle stir fry and for breakfast the next morning I had a massive pile of delicious meat dumplings for 80 pence. I left Korgas in the early afternoon and cycled down a road built especially for bikes next to a dual carriageway. It was great to whiz along perfect tarmac for the first time in ages, with Chinese people on bikes and electric scooters for company. I found an apple tree with the best apples ever and ate 3 then found a wood and decided to take a break. I woke up 3 hours later and it was quite late so I took a well deserved evening off and put the tent up.
I got going early the next day. Early is now 9 instead of 7 - the whole of China operates on Beijing time so I have short mornings now, but long evenings because of a 2 hour time change from Kazakhstan. I got some boiled water from a shop and bought some snacks, not much choice though. I joined a brand new dual carriageway and cycled up the hard shoulder. The road is half finished so a lot of the time there is an empty carriageway which I can lift my bike on to and have my own private road! The road started climbing into the mountains and I got my first glimpse of the unbelievable scale of development. The new road they are building is a massive undertaking. There are long tunnels and an absolutely massive bridge spanning a whole valley. The bridge wasn't finished so I climbed the old road, dusty and bumpy to the pass at 2,129m. On the other side of the pass is Sahram Hu, a huge and beautiful lake surrounded by Kazakh nomads living in yurts.
This part of China is historically not Chinese, the population is mainly Uighur Muslims, who look more Kazakh, eat differently and speak Arabian, so all the road signs have two languages on them. I found it difficult to connect with them, although they were very nice, it didn't seem possible to stay with families in this part of China, I asked a couple of times for places to camp or stay but they always pointed me towards expensive tourist hotels. Unfortunately tourists aren't allowed to stay in cheap hotels in Xinjang province so I mainly camped or slept in drainage tunnels under the motorway. The tunnels were great, concrete and usually very clean, with a roof and out of view of drivers they were a perfect place to sleep and it saved having to put the tent up.
From the lake, I enjoyed a 40 mile descent, I saw camels and overtook lorries until I reached the desert plain at the bottom of the mountains. I stopped at a village for lunch and got a plate of excellent hand pulled noodles. I watched the chef make them, he starts with one short, fat noodle then passes the end from hand to hand, stretching them out by bashing them on a steel worktop and repeating this until he has a pile of long and thin noodles. Halfway through the meal, a coach load of Chinese tourists pulled up and ordered food. The restaurant went crazy, all the staff were worked off their feet. The table manners were appalling! Spitting on the floor, unbelievably loud slurping of the noodles and soup, people were shouting. It was crazy and I liked it! My chopstick skills were improving too!
After a night in the tent in a wood by the roadside, I got going, did a couple of miles then found a restaurant for breakfast. I was ushered in and sat down with a group of 6 19-20 year olds. One girl could speak English OK and translated for me. I had tofu and pumpkin soup and when I left the girl asked her parents how much I should pay. She was upset that they charged me 10 yuan (about 1 pound) for the food and went off to buy me some pepsi to make up for it. I tried to pay her for it but she wouldn't take it and said that she was sad her parents had tried to charge me. It was a lovely gesture, it seemed that the young generation in China were generally very nice.
I was struggling to connect with the older generation. For some reason, the sign language and the pointing at pictures that had worked so well in Central Asia didn't work at all here. It seemed that when they saw a Westerner approach they instantly shut down and assume there is no way they can communicate and don't try. It's a shame because I don't think they are being rude, maybe they are shy or it's just a massive cultural difference that I don't understand. Maybe it's just this region of China. It happened a few times when I tried to ask directions, I was completely blanked, even when pointing at my Chinese character map. Another odd thing is that when you manage to start communicating and don't understand something, they often write it down in Chinese characters and are surprised you can't read it. Anyway all this contributed to a pretty lonely few days, I was looking forward to meeting my cousin Phil in Urumqi in a few days.
The next few days, I just got through the miles on the motorway hard shoulder. It was boring and I listened to music but I made good progress and ate great food. One morning I woke up in a tunnel and there was a thunder storm outside. I got about 3 miles to a petrol station and was completely soaked. I went into the shop and they sat me down with a massive breakfast until the rain stopped. I also got a free massive dinner a couple of days later, two portions of laghman noodles and ice cream for dinner. I was absolutely loving eating well again!
Unfortunately my phone was nicked from a cheap hotel room when I was in the bathroom so the music dried up and I rode the last couple of days into Urumqi very bored. Not much to report and I arrived at Urumqi late in the evening. I tried to follow a map but it was impossile with the map scale I had so I just wondered in and stopped on a random street at a random cheap hotel in a neighbourhood I liked the look of. Urumqi is the capital of Xinjiang Province and is massive! There's about 1.5 million people there and it sprawls for miles. The bit I was at was great though. I went out to the street stalls in the evening and ate 44 kebab sticks with meat, veg, seafood and all sorts of other stuff on them. It was a huge meal and it cost 2 pounds!
I had a rest day in Urumqi and spent time sorting stuff out, buying another phone and gorging on delicious food. I had planned to visit the SOS Children's Village in Urumqi but unfortunately the Government permission for me to visit hadn't arrived so I wasn't able to. Hopefully I'll be able to visit the one in Beijing. The following morning I packed up and cycled off to the airport to meet Phil. I was guided out by a guy on a fancy road bike and waited for Phil to arrive. He appeared looking tired but normal and I think he was a bit shocked by my appearance! I haven't had a haircut for 6 months and needed a shave. We put his bike together and hit a cafe for lunch before heading into Urumqi. Phil's brake broke, maybe something happened to it on the flight so we stopped at a bike shop, bought a new one, then headed out of the city and camped in a big grassy area off the side of the motorway. We had to put a pipe over the end of a spinkler so it didn't squirt us in the night! It was great to have some company and we caught up then went to bed. I was looking forward to cycling as a team for the rest of China.
China Part 2 - Urumqi to Dunhuang
Now with Phil, we packed up after a bit of a lie in and had pot noodles for breakfast. I sorted out my stuff and realised I had about 4 kg of stuff I don't need and I'm going to post home. I forgot to mention in the last blog that last night we had a massive plate of chicken organs! It was actually quite tasty but a bit too garlicky and the texture meant we didn’t finish it.
The first morning together was uneventful, we arrived at a town for a late lunch, another plate of chicken, not organs this time but too much garlic again. The noodles were good though. In the afternoon we started descending a huge descent into the Turpan depression, the second lowest point on the planet after the Dead Sea. For some reason, Phil bought a pea flavoured ice cream, which was a disgusting as it sounds! Mine wasn't much better, an orange one which didn't taste remotely like orange and it was brown!
The descent went on and on and we had a roaring tailwind which sped us up even more. We saw another massive Chinese project - a huge railway line, completely raised off the floor on stilts climbing up and tunnelling through mountains. Unbelievable! The wind was really strong now as we rode through a massive wind farm. When we turned with the road, the wind became a cross wind although it was still behind us. We were leaning into it about 20 degrees and getting blown at about 25 mph. It was great fun but pretty dangerous when a truck came past and blocked the wind, sucking us toward it. We retreated into a tunnel for the night and didn't get much sleep because of the wind rushing down it.
The next day, we still had a tailwind and we arrived at the ancient silk road city of Turpan. It was great there although very hot, it's statistically the hottest place in China. On the way in, we stopped at an irrigation canal for a swim and I washed my clothes in it. We went straight the market and ate loads of food, delicious noodles, dumplings, ice cream and dates. We could barely cycle afterwards but managed to get to the Emin Minaret, an impressive 44m tower joined to a mosque, made from clay. Once we'd digested our ridiculously big lunch, we climbed out of Turpan, past some Buddhist caves and a large cemetery to another tunnel. Phil was settling into the pace of the riding great, he was faster than me with my extra weight and we were making good progress.
Had a great breakfast in the tunnel from the Turpan market, onion bread, pineapple jam and dates. The houses in this part of the region were really strange, made from clay bricks with gaps inbetween and all the same rectangular shape. There were hundreds of them and they made an impressive sight. We descended again to the city of Shanshan for lunch, more noodles and then we had what we thought was coke flavoured ice cream but turned out to be frozen coke syrup - the highly concentrated stuff! We got a massive sugar rush and headed out, via another, very fast flowing irrigation canal. We stocked up on food and water that evening, preparing for a couple of days in the desert before the next town.
The next day the headwind was ridiculous. We limped on for 20 miles, which took us about 7 hours. It was pointless carrying on into the evening, we were both tired and Phil was ill and short of energy so we stopped at a tunnel and found that there were some Chinese road workers living there while constructing the new motorway. I don't reckon that that would go down to well in the UK. They were living in a concrete tunnel, didn't have any toilet facility, had to cook all their own food, which I assumed must have been delivered to them and living away from home! They were very nice and jolly people though and we took up there invitation of staying there for the night. They cooked us delicious bean noodles and one super-strong guy carried our fully laden bikes down a very steep slope into the tunnel on his own. There's no way I could have done that, we were both shocked!
After a good rest and a great breakfast from the road team, we headed out into the headwind again. After a while, we reached a climb that was sheltered and we made pretty good progress. We found a truckers cafe for lunch, which was dirty, surrounded by rubbish and human poo but served very tasty food! The afternoon was a struggle against the headwind, pot noodles for dinner in a petrol station and a puncture for me to fix.
The following day was more desert riding, nothing happened until we reached the city of Hami. We got some dinner and used the internet then Phil went back to the hotel room and was sick. After a late start the next day and a good rest, Phil felt better and we headed out after buying a huge amount of food from a rare good shop! I got blanked when asking for directions again but then a truck driver chucked a couple of bottles of mineral water to us then drove off. This is typical of China - contradictions - odd behaviour but also great, kind and friendly people.
Phil was still ill the next day so we took our time and plodded along against the ever present headwind. More disgusting truckers cafes with unbelievable hocking up and spitting going on all around us. I nearly got hit by a big melon that some idiotic trucker threw at me for absolutely no reason. That night I watched James Bond on Phil's iPod, ace! We spent the next few days speaking like Sean Connery! The following day was more of the same - desert, headwind, climbing, trucker’s cafes. Whenever we stop at a cafe, groups of Chinese people come over and grab our stuff, take our maps out of the map cases, touch the bikes and check the tires are hard. It's a different culture completely and at home that would seem rude. We just had to keep an eye on our valuables but it was really annoying. Phil's map case was already showing signs of wearing out!
We were looking forward to reaching the town of Xingxingxia that evening for a decent meal and a wash. We arrived there eventually and were thoroughly disappointed! It was basically a big rubbish tip, toilet and truckers stop. We got a hasty meal and did a runner to a camp site behind a sand dune! We vowed never to mention that town again, it was a low point!
Things didn't improve the next day. After a morning of cycling along a half finished, dusty road, we spent the afternoon fighting a heading to another truckers stop. The highlight of the day was the plastic policemen on podiums directing traffic! Finally though, we left the motorway and with it the truckers cafes and piles of rubbish. We cycled down a quiet road through beautiful desert landscape and found a place to sleep behind a wall. The stars were amazing that night, loads of shooting stars and we were delighted to be off the motorway at last.
We woke up to a decent breakfast and headed out of the desert into a large fertile swamp. It was great to see fields and agriculture again, and suddenly we saw the GREAT WALL! It wasn't like the touristy restored sections you see on the photographs. It was crumbling and only present in patches, but great to see. It looked like there were a number of parallel walls at one point and they must have been seriously impressive when they were new.
In the afternoon we passed a town where thousands of melons were grown, packaged and taken away on trucks. They gave us loads of free melons and I had tummy ache for the rest of the day! For some reason the melons were packed in dolphin boxes. We're still pretty close to Urumqi, which is the city furthest away from the sea in the world, why an earth are there dolphins on the melon boxes? Another unanswered question to add to the list of unanswered questions that China is providing! By late afternoon, we reached the city of Dunhuang, where we found a hotel, I sent 4 kg of gear home that I didn't need any more and we ate in the night market. It was an amazing place, we saw an opera being performed on the streets. It was spotlessly clean but for some reason foreigners were banned from using the internet - very odd. Anyway we had a great evening, good food (a sort of burger, sheep’s entrails and a pizza sort of thing) and a good sleep. We planned to visit some Buddhist caves the next day.
Loving China so far, it's so different but great to experience it. Next up we climb into Qinhai Province, which is the same culturally as Tibet, is high altitude, full of monasteries and should be stunning.
China Part 3: Dunhaung to Delingha
After the night market gorging session, we went back to the hotel after getting refused entry to 3 internet cafes, foreigners aren't allowed online in this city. The next morning we headed to the amazing Mogau caves. There are over 200 Buddhist caves, with paintings, statues and sculptures. It's one of the best examples of Buddhist art in the world apparently. It was really impressive. We saw a massive Buddha statue, the 3rd biggest in China. There was also the library cave with a hidden chamber that has only recently been uncovered. The monks hid loads of books in there to protect them from being destroyed.
We got back to Dunhuang, had delicious noodles in the market, got ripped of in a few shops for rice and things like that, then left the city and camped among some trees next to the ancient site of Dunhuang. There is still a walled town there, which was really impressive at sunset.
I was woken up the next morning by a toad on my pillow. I'd only slept under a mosquito net that night and it must have climbed in somehow! We carried on to a ridiculous town at the foothills of a large mountain range, leading up to the Tibetan Plateau. It was a modern manufactured town, spotlessly clean, with fake trees and covered walkways and a huge mosque. There weren't many inhabitants - not sure why it was there or what it was for but it had an ok cafe where we had lunch and shops where we ate ice creams and bought supplies.
We left in the early evening and began the massive climb to Qinhai Province. Qinhai is basically Tibet. It's on a high altitude plateau, it's full of Buddhist monasteries and Tibetans and has the same culture. We climbed a few hundred metres through some ace sand dunes then camped behind a slag heap on a building site for a new road. The next day we continued up the excellent brand new road. There were amazing switchbacks and it was fantastic cycling, the best in China so far. It would have been road biking heaven! Sweets fuelled us up to the top of the pass at 3,665 m. It took us 4 hours to climb 1.5 vertical km, pretty good! We had a great descent down to a desert plain, which we whizzed across with the help of a strong tailwind. We felt sorry for the Chinese cyclists heading in the opposite direction. After a while we arrived at a town, which looked like a bombsite but there was a well hidden restaurant where we got a cheap dinner and then a second cheap dinner noodles then egg fried rice.
The next morning we woke up in a road tunnel and cycled 15 miles through barren desert on a completely straight road. Seriously boring riding. Eventually we reached a CORNER! the corner took us up a great climb through desert mountains, to the top of one of the best descents of the trip so far. Pamir-like scenery, with huge stony mountains, some with snow on the peaks. The road went down steeply through more dunes to a short climb where we stopped for lunch. We climbed out of a bowl, through more amazing desert scenery to the town of Iqe. We were expecting a bit more from our map than a half finished toll gate, but the road workers gave us bread dumplings and water. 10 miles later we were in another tunnel under the road! It was a cold night but sleeping bag still working well so I was warm. Phil only has a thin one though so he was wearing everything he had and was inside my survival bag!
Had a small breakfast in the tunnel then got going. We were pulled over by a couple of very unprofessional soldiers in an army truck who shouted no photos and demanded to look through the ones on Phil's camera. There was a massive convoy of army trucks heading east, 100s of them. The morning was pretty uneventful other than that until we reached a decent town. Got lunch, stocked up, Phil bought a balaclava, then headed out into a fantastic tailwind, which blew us 60km uphill! We climbed to 3,700m and stayed in another great tunnel. Very clean and totally hidden. I took a picture of Phil as a Basque seperatist in his new balaclava.
We sorted through our food the next morning. Shopping in China is always a bit of a gamble because the pictures of the food on the packaging have absolutely nothing to do with what is inside the packets. We therefore acquired loads of terrible biscuits and other snacks which we had a great time disposing of by lobbing them down the tunnel. We also experimented with putting ginger in our tea, which was delicious.
The next morning we had a short 3 mile climb then, 17 miles downhill against a freezing headwind to a poor town where we got some delicious port. After an uneventful afternoon we arrived in our first big city for a long time, Delingha. It was odd as soon as we got there! We tried checking into loads of cheap hotels but no-one wanted us there, they all pointed us to the same big official, expensive looking tourist hotel. In the end we went to see how much just in case we could afford it. It wsa cheaper than we expected, about 7 quid each which is well over budget but OK for a single night. We had to wait in the lobby for about an hour until the police showed up. It turned out that Deingha is closed to foreigners. Not quite sure why, something to do with a nearby army base I think. Anyway, the whole city was closed and we were only allowed to stay in this hotel, and not allowed out without a police escort - excellent!!
We had an hilarious evening! After a wash we met tweedledum and tweedledee, two young policemen who had been given the exciting job of taking 2 foreigners around for the evening. Useful use of their time and resources! Anyway, we were driven around in an electric milk float style police car. It was so funny, they could speak OK English and they soon forgot their orders to take us to the nearest shop and restaurant and took us on a grand tour of Delingha. It was big and a nice place, we went to two great restaurants, didn't get ripped off at all with two police escorts! They had been given orders not to let us go to an internet cafe, but one of them let me use his phone to try to check my emails! He then showed us his pistol and took the magazine out in a full restaurant! We got them to put the siren on and eventually we ended up back at the police station, waiting in a minibus for them to come out to go out for a beer! We were taken to a dance club thing in a hotel and sat down on the top floor with some beers we'd bought from a shop. They wouldn't serve us at the bar! We were drinking with them, one wouldn't drink on duty, the other drank only 1 shot of beer, actually about 10! Then their boss turned up. He was off duty, they weren't. We did a runner and I reckon they probably got into big trouble the next day! They took us back to the hotel and a maid saw us to our room to make sure we were safely in our room! Excellent but unbelievable night!
China part 4: Delingha to Linxia
We left the hotel after the worst buffet breakfast in history, soggy, cold and spicy vegetables and cold dumplings. We hit a couple of food shops, then I went to use the internet in a China Telecom shop - breaking the law by using the internet! More police found us after about half an hour because Phil was outside with the bikes. Anyway we were escorted out and then we had the pleasure of their company for lunch. We were eventually escorted out of the city and they waved goodbye to us from the outskirts! What a ridiculous experience!
On the road out of Delingha, we noticed we were being followed by a guy on an electric scooter. We kept ahead of him for a while then tried slowing down, he did, then we went faster and he did. Very strange, so we stopped, waved at him and he came over. We swapped bikes and Phil and me both had a go on his electric scooter. It was very slow, eco-friendly, but I wouldn't want one. It was funny though, he wanted our autographs for some reason, we signed a piece of paper 'From Russia with love, Roger Moore and Shaun Connery. We found a nice campsite that night and had a coal fueled fire.
Had a breakfast of jam, bread, biscuits, then followed the road and had a decent lunch in a Muslim restaurant. Got a bit fiery, a load of firecrackers went off across the road then the chef had a fight with a customer who wouldn't pay for the food! I bought a 'Red Oxen' energy drink! That evening we reached Ulan and bought an entire cooked duck in the market, very fatty but delicious. Camped in a wood on the outskirts that night.
The next day, we were back in the mountains and we headed up a pass. We stopped at a shop with a lovely old couple who sat us down in their living room and gave us water to take with us. We climbed up a beautiful green valley all morning, saw a Buddhist Monastery, then reached a massive factory. It was so big, they had a massive town just for the workers on the factory sight. We had lunch in trucker's cafe, delicious chicken. Great descent that afternoon to a plateau with a strong tailwind. We had a wash in a freezing river then headed uphill, following a railway line. We found loads of coal and a big bundle of straw and made a massive pyromaniac fire in a dry river bed.
The next morning disaster struck. I checked the spoke tension on my back wheel and found that my Rohloff hub was damaged. Major problem, one the eyelets where the spokes go through was snapped and another cracked. Two spokes weren't doing anything so my wheel was basically dead. It would last a big longer but it was a time bomb waiting to break. The hub has internal gears so replacing the wheel with one I can get here isn't an option, I have to fix it, which will involve getting a replacement hub body sent from home. We had a think what to do and decided to try to get to the next town. After about 1 hour my wheel was wobbling horribly so we did a bodge job. We wrapped a length of chain around the hub, connected it to itself and wedged a bit of metal cable between the spokes to hold it in place. Then we bent two new spokes into the chain and connected them to the rim. It seemed to be a descent bodge and I reckoned it would hold for a while.
We continued on and got lunch in another trucker's cafe. I went to use the internet in a petrol station and emailed Rohloff and sent them some pictures of the damage. The rest of the day was fantastic. We climbed up to a new China record of 3817m and had an amazing switchbacked descent and the wheel held out OK. There were loads of Buddhist prayer flags on the top of the pass. We descended to Qinhai Hu, a huge high altitude lake and got to a town. After dinner, I searched for the internet again and was allowed to use it in a police station - massive irony compared to Delingha! Got a fantastic response from Rohloff, great company, they will replace parts for free and send me the tools I need to fix it. It's probably not even their fault it broke but the bike shop that built the wheel. We were offered food by a lovely Tibetan lady, delicious soupy stew with dumplings. We slept in a tunnel under the road that night just past a toll gate.
The next morning it was pissing it down and we got going about 9. We did a very fast 17 miles and got invited into a monk's home to shelter from the rain. We were given noodle and yak meat soup, absolutely delicious and had 3 helpings! We had a second lunch in the town 10 miles further along the lake then spent 2 hours trying to find food. There was almost nothing in the town that wasn't 2 months or more past it's sell by date. We continued to the end of Qinhai Hu, arguing about how many points a broken Rohloff Hub was worth on the point accumulation game (you get different number of points depending on the scale of bike problem, most points buys beers in Beijing airport). We settled on 2, maybe raising to more if more problems occur. That put the score on 4 - 1.5, not looking good for me! That night we camped around the back of an English speaking shop owner's shop. Good place, with the view of a Buddhist monastery with a huge golden statue of the future Buddha.
The next morning we battled 20 miles against a strong headwind, got noodles for lunch, sorted out postage for Rohloff bits, will get them sent to Xi'an (thanks Mum & Oli!) then spent another couple of hours looking for non-out- of-date food. After a frustrating shopping session, we climbed over a 3,500m pass and descended to a small town just off the motorway. We were offered food by a very friendly guy and went to his amazing house! He's a trucker; they must get paid well judging by his massive TV and sound system. After endless portions of fantastic noodles we climbed another beautiful valley to a brilliant campsite by a stream, it reminded me of the Highlands in Scotland! Having a bit of a gear crisis at the moment though, my tent ripped as a put it up, in one of the corners, where a peg strap attaches to the fly sheet. It took me an hour to sew it u again, using a strap to reinforce it. Should be as good as new I think. Phil made tea as I was doing that and then it started snowing.
In the morning the tents were covered by a couple of cm of snow, which started up again as we left the campsite and it was really cold. I was wearing everything I had except my overshoes, which I gave to Phil after a couple of hours when he was worried about his toes falling off! Phil's coat isn't very waterproof so he was wearing a plastic sheet tied around him like an apron, he looked hilarious but it seemed to keep the wind off! After a couple of hours we stopped to warm Phil's feet up. My Jamaican couloured walking socks were keeping mine warm but Phil's were freezing. We took it in turns to rub them and after about 20 minutes the colour came back. He put my overboots on after that and was OK for the rest of the day.
We reached the top of a pass and did a clockwise lap of the Buddhist shrine, we needed good karma, no more broken equipment and good weather would be good please! We descended to a town and it started warming up, excellent! We stopped at a shop, had pot noodles there and watched Mongolian archery on the TV. We were doing well and were aiming to get to a town called Zebar in the evening, still about 90 km away so I could talk to Laura on Skype for what would be the first time in a month. We climbed another massive pass into the cold mist again then a fantastic descent into dream China. Massive tree covered peaks in the mist, monastries on the mountains and switchbacks down over a vertical km.
We cycled straight through the town at the bottom and started another massive climb up a series of switchbacks. We passed a squealing piglet in a bad on the back of a motorbike. A group of teenagers in a jeep stopped and showed us their huge bag of weed that they'd picked somewhere nearby! We continued up the pass, gobsmacking views! We got to the top then went up and down a series of smaller passes, got to a shop and gorged about 2,000 calories each. More up and down on small passes until it got dark, fantastic scenery still. We climbed for over an hour in the dark it was confusing, no idea what we were cycling through or the gradient. We reached the pass and cycled 10km downhill into the town arriving about 9.30. I got to Skype, had a nice chat, then back to the hotel absolutely shattered!
The next day was short. We were tired after the massive previous day and it was raining again. We sheltered under a bridge and decided to take the afternoon off. Phil went off to get wood, I spent time reinforcing the rip in my tent - only did 7 miles. In the morning my stove took 20 minutes to get going, think it’s getting blocked, the gear crisis continues! We reached a reservoir at the top of an amazing gorge with huge sandstone formations that we followed down to a Muslim community. It was very different from the Buddhist monasteries. The road took us down to the Yellow River and a big town where we bought loads of dates! That night we camped in the Yellow River gorge and the stove packed up. Bread and dates for dinner then!
After a similar breakfast the next day, we followed the Yellow River in the rain. A Belgian guy stopped his Taxi, gave us directions and told us he was terrified by his driver's driving! We followed the track along an amazing gorge, through some tunnels. We had lunch in one and were passed by a digger with a terrible driver who kept nearly crashing into the tunnel walls! We had lunch in a cafe run by Muslim boys, which was very nice, then climbed in the rain, pass after pass all afternoon until dark. We did another massive night ride through terrible roads. Sloppy mud over hard packed mud made the riding pretty dangerous. I fell off twice as the road got slippier and Phil fell off once. We were covered in mud and the bikes were seriously dirty. Eventually we reached the city of Linxia, in a complete state. We arrived at a reasonably priced hotel, tried to find a cheaper one but were put off by the horrible assistant behind the reception and the naked man in the foyer! We went back to the first one and booked two nights. We put the bikes in their massive boiler room and had a much needed wash. We plan to visit Labrang Monastery tomorrow in a nearby town. It's the second most important Tibetan Buddhist monastery after the one in Lhasa, in Tibet. Really looking forward to it.
China part 5: Linxia to Xi'an
We got up early and had a breakfast in the hotel room of fake croissants and biscuits. Got to the bus station, got a lift to another bus station then got the bus to Xiahe, where Labrang Monastery is. It's the second most important Tibetan Buddhist monastery after the one in Lhasa. We had lunch in a cafe, Tiibetan soup and watched the Tibetan monks in their maroon robes on their shopping trips out of the monastery from the balcony we were eating on. We headed up to the monastery and saw western faces for the first time since Dunhuang. The monastery was amazing, beautiful buildings in mountain scenery, Buddhist artwork and sculptures and bizarrely yak butter carvings. This is a traditional gift from local Buddhist families to the monastery. They are kept in a specially designed room to keep them cool and to stop them melting. There was an odd smell but the carvings were amazing!
Our tour guide, Tin Jin, was a nutter - no other word to describe him. He'd been a monk since the age of 13 and had been at Labrang for the last 5 years, studying a Philosophy degree there. The degree takes 25 years! It involves debating and discussing ideas with the teachers. A degree in traditional Chinese medicine at the Monastery takes 15 years, they have to collect the ingredients and manufacture the medicine as well as knowing how to prescribe it. We saw tombs, a large prayer hall that could hold 1,000 monks at a time. Unfortunately didn't have that much time as the last bus was a 5 o' clock, we got on it and got back to Linxia in time for a great dinner. We went to a cafe where they have heated plates in the middle of the table. You put a wok on it, buy a soupy broth and cook seafood, meat and vegetables in it. It was good fun and tasty.
We had a long lie in the next day, left the room covered in mud, not much we could do about it unfortunately and checked out. We had to argue our way out of being charged for a chip on a mug in the room we're pretty sure we didn't chip then were allowed to use their boiler room to wash our bikes. I discovered my headset was falling apart and took it apart, greased it and had to replace the ball bearings individually. Phil had to fix his gears that were full of dirt and not working properly. We cleaned the bikes using a hosepipe and toothbrushes from the hotel room. After fixing all the problems, the points score of the bike problems were 5 - 2.5, not looking good for me!
We left Linxia via wonton soup and noodles then bought loads of snacks to take with us. We found an amazing bike shop, a large workshop with bits of bike lying around everywhere. I bought some bolts to fix my panniers and some ball bearings to top up the headset bearing which was missing a few. We got onto the motorway into the evening and found a campsite just off the side in a wood. Two Muslim boys came over and "helped" Phil put up his tent. We made a fire and cooked tea on it - Ace day.
It was pissing it down when we woke up so we lay in a while then had breakfast in a tunnel under the motorway. We left the tunnel, cycled along the motorway for 10 miles and left at a town and got noodles soup for 60 pence! We went to a workshop and got the pipe from my stove blasted with a compressor, which unblocked it. We realised the problem, we'd been given diesel rather than unleaded petrol at the last petrol station we filled up at. It was blocking the pipe. We bought some unleaded and that evening got the stove burning again. We camped in another wood by the motorway, had a fire and cooked marshmallows on it and used the stove to make some tea.
In the morning, we lifted the bikes up a very muddy bank back onto the motorway and got going early. Uneventful morning on the motorway until it ran out and turned into a main road. Went past loads of building work on the outskirts of Huichan. We had absolutely appalling food - just awful - from a street stall: fried gelatine, and gross noodles, we thought it was potatoes! We then went to a bakery and the baker tried to overcharge us by about 300% so we left the town quickly. We went down a nice road that evening, past a few villages, and saw a group of old men, still wearing the communist-style blue suits from the time of Mao. They were playing some card game with some complicated looking symbols on them and gambling. We bought a load of delicious muffins that night from a bakery that didn't overcharge us and had a beer at a nice campsite on a hillside. Luxury!
We woke up on the hill and had a decent breakfast, finished the muffins and obviously had jasmine tea, as we do every day. A man with a herd of goat and sheep was snooping around the tents in the morning. I thought it was Phil so I said hello and he scarpered. We descended for a while in the morning and followed a reasonable road for a few miles but got deafened again by the bus and truck horns. We tried to get on the motorway at lunchtime but the toll gate guard wouldn't let us through so we cycled along a country road for a while then lifted the bikes onto the motorway at a bridge. We spent the rest of the day getting some miles done on the motorway, going through tunnels (we got shouted out in one by a lady on the PA system). The police stopped us and told us to leave at the next junction, we said of course we will, we didn't. I passed 10,000 miles and took some photos of the occasion, not a beautiful place but great to get onto 5 figures on the speedo! We stopped at a service station and were allowed to put our tents up around the back.
We left the service station and used the fantastic new bathroom there! We continued along the motorway all morning including a 8km long tunnel. Not beautiful but great to miss out on the massive mountain in went through! In the middle it was pitch black and I was glad of my brilliant Hope bike light. We left the motorway at Tianshul and got a big lunch, cycled through and left the city on a small road along a railway. The road switch backed up and down hills, it was amazing cycling but slow. We stopped at a garage to shelter from the ever present rain. We got coffee there and carried along the Yellow River valley. We camped under a railway bridge and it was dry but it was a bit noisy when the train went over. I fixed my tent zip using the zipper off my wallet and we had pot noodles for dinner.
More rain the next day. The railway bridge had done a good job of keeping us mostly dry. Unfortunately trains woke us up about once an hour all night because they honked their horn before crossing the bridge. We had jam and bread for breakfast then cycled along the Yellow River valley. It was good and flat/downhill and we made good progress. We stopped for a coffee with a man who had 2 seats under a parasol. We passed a small town, ate wontons, and fried bread with veg in, dead good and cheap. Phil got 3 punctures from some glass, fixed two on the front wheel and one on the rear later on. That evening we reached Boaji, a large city and camped in an industrial wasteland next to the motorway. It finally stopped raining!
We woke up, lifted the bikes onto the motorway and got going, Phil fixed his rear puncture, score now 5 - 4 looking better for me, I stand a chance now! I had to contact DHL, the parcel has reached Xi'an but there is a problem with the delivery address. Not much happened that day, or the next, we followed the motorway into Xi'an and camped in a maize field. We saw a huge spider/tarantula at the campsite. The ride into Xi'an was easy enough, we reached the old city and went through the city walls. We found a cheap hotel for 4 quid a night on the 8th floor near the West gate. We planned to visit the Terracotta Army that afternoon.
China Part 6: Xi'an to Pingyao
The cheap hotel we found in Xi'an was on the 9th floor of a building near the ancient city walls. As soon as I got there I phoned DHL on the hotel phone and was told that they would deliver my parcel, with the replacement Rohloff hub casing that day - excellent!. I really hoped they did because if not, the two weekends either side of the week long national holiday next week would mean I wouldn't be able to get the replacement part for 10 days, by which time, we'd nearly be finished in Asia.
After cleaning up, we walked to the train station, via a couple of food shops, and got a bus to the Terracotta Army. It was incredible, the amount of work that must have gone into making every one of the life-size warriors. The Terracotta Army is 2,200 years old and was buried with the first emperor of China to protect him in the afterlife. Wikipedia says 'Current estimates are that in the three pits containing the Terracotta Army there were over 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses and 150 cavalry horses, the majority of which are still buried in the pits.' It was an amazing thing to see.
We left the Army and headed back to Xi'an to hopefully return to the DHL parcel and an evening of bike maintenance. It wasn't there. I eventually tracked it down to the DHL warehouse on the outskirts of Xi'an and was told it was too late to deliver it and the reason it couldn't be delivered earlier was that I hadn't paid the £17 import tax on it! A double-blow, that was a lot of money for me compared to my £5 per day allowance in China. Anyway, after eventually finding an operator who could speak good English, I was told I could go and pick up the parcel tonight. The hotel phoned a Taxi and Phil and I whizzed off to DHL, the Taxi driver didn't disappoint us with his driving speed and made sure we arrived before the warehouse shut! I picked the parcel, paid the "import tax", and headed back to the hotel thoroughly relieved. That was the start of getting the bike fixed, next I had to rebuild a hub then a wheel, two things I've never done before! I couldn't afford to pay a bike shop to do it, and anyway I doubt they'd have seen a Rohloff hub here before.
The next morning I got up early and followed the manual to take the hub apart, fit new seals, put the new casing on, change the oil bath and reassemble it. It looked good and seemed to work OK! Next I used my bike as a wheel jig and attached a cut off cable tie onto the frame, positioned next to the rim of the wheel. This would show me how close to straight the wheel was. I followed instructions on which order to put each spoke into the wheel and eventually got them all in the right positions. I did the spokes up to a tension which pinged at the same note as the ones on the front wheel and put it on the bike. It worked!
Very pleased with myself, I chilled out for the rest of the day. Phil and I found a roadside BBQ that night and we celebrated reaching Xi'an, it seemed like the beginning of the last leg of China.
The next morning, after a bit more bike maintenance and ordering a few replacement bits for Laura to bring to me when we meet up in San Francisco in a couple of weeks, we set off. We went to a bike shop on the way out and they let us use their tools and hydraulic fluid to re-bleed Phil's rear brake which wasn't working. Really kind people, they wouldn't take any money for it and gave Phil a free bell!
It started pissing it down in the afternoon. We got out of the city and found a sheltered place under a railway bridge to stay for the night. The next morning I woke up to find that Phil was really ill with a tummy bug and had thrown up a few time in the night. We stayed there and rested for the morning, hoping that Phil would feel well enough to move on in the afternoon. A local guy walked past around 11 and looked concerned when he saw Phil. He returned an hour later with 2 policemen - brilliant! The asked us for our passports, I stalled them while Phil had to go behind a bush for a number 2! They were so annoying and asked for all our details and wouldn't leave us alone, so we followed them off the field and cycled off, very slowly because Phil had no energy at all. We stopped at the first hotel we saw and got a room. Phil relaxed, I went and updated my blog in an internet cafe.
We were both feeling the pressure a bit. We had to get to Beijing by the 16th if we wanted to see both the Great Wall and the Forbidden City and still had about 600 miles to do in the next 9 days - very possible unless you're ill. Phil was a bit better the next day and we cycled through pretty average scenery, a few nice hills and small gorges. To Phil's massive credit, he managed 63 miles despite being very ill. I could tell he was knackered. Luckily that night we were given a back room in a Shell garage to sleep in and the use of the kitchen which was brilliant timing. Phil told me later that he was close to stopping and hitching a ride to catch up with me. It wasn't an option to stop for any more rest days or we wouldn't make the coast in time.
Over the next couple of days, Phil got his strength back and we cycled through some boring scenery and huge industry. Massive coal power stations spurted out pollution and coal dust, which we got covered in! We reached the Yellow River again, which we couldn't see across because of the huge amount of pollution. It was considerably bigger than when we'd left it a few hundred miles ago. We tried staying in a SINOPEC petrol station, after our success Shell. To our delight they gave us a large cupboard to use. Unfortunately the manager for the night shift came along after about an hour and wasn't so welcoming, telling us we had to leave. After arguing for a while (we'd been given permission by the other manager and had unpacked everything, brushed teeth and about to go to bed) we realised there was no way we could stay there. The manager called up his son, who could speak English OK and told us he would put us up in a hotel in the next town. A nice gesture but unfortunately it meant packing everything up and cycling another 10 km in the dark. We did it in the end and the hotel was OK, it was good in hindsight to have got that extra bit of distance done.
The next day was uneventful in the morning. At lunchtime, we got a free lunch, really nice boiled chicken stew. This was in exchange for photos of us with the restaurant staff! They were planning to put them on the wall. I'd love to go back there one day to see if they did!! After more flat road with not much to look at, we found a place to sleep, in a wood with loads of huge black and yellow spiders in webs strung between trees.
After escaping the wood without spider bites, we lifted the bikes onto another motorway and nailed a few miles. We spent the whole day on the motorway, anxious to catch up miles and stopped to eat in service stations, that were gradually improving as we approached the rich cities of the East. England got knocked out of the Rugby World Cup by France, bugger!
Finally the next morning, it wasn't raining! More motorway riding brought us to the ancient walled city of Pingyao. It was fantastic, although very touristy. The walls were in good condition and it was a lived in city centre, with traditional houses next to the tourist sites. We had a looked round and chilled out, ready for the final stretch to the coast. We'd now settled on Huanghau Port on the East Coast as the best place to finish. We'd get a bus from there to Beijing.
China Part 7: the end of Asia
We arrived in Pingyuo at lunchtime and had some soup in a cafe that served such delicacies as 'fried mushrooms with rape', pulls out rottenly' and 'cold vegetable in sauce cow tendons'! We found a hostel then looked around the town. I bought a fan and tried to negotiate a good price for a replica little red book.
We wondered around, although it was a touristy town, it also had a lot of normal people going about their lives in the old walled town. It had a great atmosphere. Needless to say we spent most of our time eating. We had a huge feast in the cheapest place we could find, mainly consisting of pork dumplings. In the evening we chilled out and played pool at the hostel. Neither of us got 7 balled, which was a good job because the forfeit would have been running around the table with trousers down!
The next day we left early and found a little family run cafe for breakfast. We left in the rain along the G108, a road we'd be following for the next few days. We had lunch in a posh restaurant and chose the cheapest food on the menu then left again in the pouring rain. It finally stopped in the evening and we found a wood next to a motorway to camp in. There was a huge queue of lorries backed up on the motorway for ages, must have been an accident, but was difficult to sleep with the headlights and noise.
The next morning I turned 25! October 11th. It wasn't a particularly memorable day. We spent it riding on the motorway. We'd covered 50 miles by lunch, which we had in Yangquan. An English headmistress took us to a cheap booked place where we had soup, and then we went next-door and stuffed our faces with pork dumplings!
We carried our bikes back onto the motorway trying to avoid the numerous human poos left by the truck drivers stuck in track jams. It was seriously disgusting. We sorted our way though a queue of trucks waiting for a toll gate and darted between them stealthily to avoid being seen by the police and chucked off the motorway. We spent the afternoon on the motorway, got another 45 miles done then left it at a small town called Janxing. We found a great shop, bought dumplings for dinner, loads of snacks, rice wine and beer to celebrate birthday and candles. We left to find a place to camp and were rewarded with the best campsite of the trip so far. We found a ruined Buddhist temple carved out of a cliff. We climbed up and lifted our bikes into a cave. There were statues there; their faces had been defaced, probably by Muslims raiding the temples, like in the caves we saw in Dunhuang. We made dinner, lit the candles and table rice wine. Fantastic birthday evening!
In the morning I spent a while readjusting the spokes in my back wheel. It wasn't quite right after I rebuilt it in Xi'an. It had rained all night so it was good to be in the Buddhist cave. What wasn't good was that the road was now covered in a thick layer of wet coal dust, which we got covered in very quickly.
We whizzed downhill to Shijiazhung (very hard to pronounce when asking for directions!!) where we joined the motorway. We followed the motorway to bypass the city. After 35 miles we stopped at a service station which had an amazing all-you-can-eat buffet. We went to town on it and ate about 3x as much as anyone else there! We also managed to slip a plastic bag full of duck into my handlebar bag. We carried on along the motorway and got chucked off by the police at Gaocheng. We ate the duck sitting on a wall and fed the scraps to puppy. We got on to the G307, the last road in China; it would take us to the coast. We camped in an orchard that night, really nice campsite.
The next couple of days we followed the G307 all the way to the coast. Had some really cheap food. Dim sun for about 60p for a massive bowl of them. The road followed the motorway on the last afternoon. We passed huge sand flats and tidal channels and could smell the sea. We had fun blocking the narrow road to see how long it took to get honked at (not long).
Web passed harbours, boats then arrived at the port of Hunhuang and cycles East to try to find away to the sea. We ended up at a dead end at a power plant and they wouldn't let us through. We attacked about 5 miles against a strong headwind. I realised it was possible we weren't going to be able to get to the sea, which would have been a massive shame. We asked around using a picture of the sea, nobody knew where to go. Eventually we explained to a couple of guys that we'd crossed the whole country and we wanted to get the coast. They smiled and told us to follow them. They got in a minivan and drove at bike pace for 6 miles. We finally reached the sea. It was an amazing feeling. I put my bike in the water, we'd made it all the way from England to the other side of China! 2 continents crossed, one to go. Phil had cycled from Urumqi the city furthest away from any ocean in the world, to the sea.
We didn't have long to celebrate because we wanted to get a bus to Beijing. We got in the back of the van with the bikes, Phil's was half out the back door, we were holding on to it from inside! They drove us to the bus station. It turned out that there were no busses to Beijing that day but there was one very early the next day, which would get us in about 11. We went to look for a hotel but China wasn't finished with its unbelievable restrictions and ridiculous rules yet!
It turned out we were in another city that was closed to foreigners. No hotel would take us except an official tourist one, which cost about 40 quid a night. We were taken to the police and we explained to an English speaking policeman that we had just cycled here and we needed a place to stay but we couldn't afford to stay in the expensive official hotel. He suggested we should stay in the expensive official hotel. Great! We asked if we could stay in the police station, he said no. We asked why tourists couldn't stay in cheap hotels. He said because that's the rules. We asked why is that the rules, he didn't know. He never questioned the rules and took them as gospel. Common sense had gone completely out of the window. Having read a great book (Wild Swans) about Mao's communist party that was still around until the 70s, it was obvious that despite China's massive recent development, some things would take a long time to change.
In the end we were offered a place to stay by one of the guys who had guided us to the coast for about 8 quid. Was strange to agree to pay for a room in someone's house after the unbelievable hospitality in Central Asia and Tibet but we were happy and the family cooked us a big meal!
The next day we took a bus to Beijing. We stayed in a cheap hostel near Tianammen Square. Mao's face still looks down from a big portrait having from the gate of the Forbidden City. I was really impressed by Beijing though, lovely atmosphere, much greener than expected and brilliant to cycle around.
We saw the Forbidden City, ate Peking Duck, packed our bikes away into boxes, took a bus out to the Great Wall (spectacular), then bought knives and meat cleavers as presents. Before we knew i was time to leave China. Phil was flying back to blighty, I'm off to USA, flying to San Francisco for the next leg. I'm nearly home, just the small matter of crossing America. First though, a week off in San Fran with Laura. I haven't seen her for about 5 months, which is far too long! Can't wait.
China still hadn't finished making things difficult. We paid a guy 2 quid to take our stuff to a metro station on the back of his tried thing. He didn't take us all the way so we struggled with the bikes down to the metro. They wouldn't let us on, but a girl and a man who worked there helped us carry our bikes and get a taxi that wasn't a complete tourist rip off. We loaded the bikes and realised there was only room for one of us with the bikes so I got in and Phil took the metro. As soon as Phil left, the taxi driver could see I was stuck unless I took his car so increased his price by 2 quid. At the airport we were offered a new iphone 4 for about 100 dollars. Good deal, except no charger, the "Malaysian" guy selling it to us looked and spoke Chinese and he had blatantly nicked it from someone.
It was a shame to leave China on that note. I was pleased to be leaving, looking forward to the next challenge but China was fantastic. Having spent 2 months there I got to know it more than any of the other countries. I saw different people, different religions, very varied landscapes and climates and probably learned more and gained more than any other part of the trip. It was also very difficult at times, with some of the crazy rules, and that was when I valued Phil's company the most. Alone, they would have been hard to deal with but with Phil they were just funny. We made a great team, so thanks for coming Phil!
2 continents down, 1 to go...
San Francisco
The flight was great! I got a meal in the airport at the gate and two more on the plane. I also sat in one of the seats by the wing which is an emergency exit so has loads of legroom - back of the net!
Got through security after a lot of questions from the border guard. Think all the 'Stans' visas may have caused suspicion! I got my bike and bags and rushed up to the BART train system to get on before the rush hour. I took the BART to the Caltrain station which I took to Palo Alto, where my friend Sam, who I went to school with lives.
I rebuilt the bike in the station car park then cycled to meet Sam on the Stanford uni campus. We caught up, Sam was shocked that I'd been sleeping in drainage tunnels but otherwise very interested in the ride, he helped me plan the first part of the route through the USA. I cycled to Sam's house, met his landlady, had some food and caught up on emails. I reflected on how different it was here! I had a kind of reverse culture shock, getting back to living in a developed country was strange, having been out of the developed world for so long.
The first things I noticed as being strange were:
1. Drivers giving way to bikes, something I hadn't experienced since Western Europe.
2. No honking horns everywhere!
3. Water in toilet bowls, and always a Western style toilet, with paper and soap provided.
4. Being able to speak to people again, and hear their conversations. It makes such a massive difference!
5. Cleanliness
6. Not being stared at and blending in.
7. Polite people.
Sam got back from uni, gave me a San Francisco guide and an American phone to get me started - very kind. Then I went to bed in the spare room, which had a tank with pet turtles in it, I reflected that a tank with animals in a house in China would have probably been for eating!
The next day I went back into the city, checked into the hotel Laura had booked for us and went to the airport to pick Laura up. I hadn't had time for a haircut but otherwise was looking (and smelling) the best I had in months! I arrived about an hour early so I waited around until Laura arrived.
It was amazing to see her after 5 months. We took the train back to the city and got a takeaway pizza and a bottle of wine. We spent the next 3 days in San Francisco, ate well, went to a diner with a brilliant jazz band, cycled over the Golden Gate bridge, looked around union square and fisherman's wharf, took a ride on a cable car through Chinatown and chilled out. Laura was having a much deserved break from working the crazy hours of a recently qualified doctor and I was shattered!
For my birthday, Laura hired us a car and we went for a drive down the unbelievable Route 1 on the Pacific Coast. It's an amazing road with perfect beaches every couple of miles. We saw sea lions at Santa Cruz, then drove up to Henry Cowell State Forest and camped there for two nights under the giant redwoods. It was an amazing place. We walked around the forest and had a barbeque on an open fire. Fantastic birthday present!
We drove back up to San Francisco and stopped at a beach for a few hours for a picnic. Back in San Fran, we returned the car and went for a meal in Chinatown. We saw Alcatraz the next day, really amazing place. The stories of the prisoners who tried to escape on a home made raft and by stealing an army uniform were great. On the last night we ate in an amazingly posh French restaurant who had a deal on because it was Monday.
It was really hard to say goodbye again the next day but this was the last time. Laura's flight was delayed, which meant she'd miss her connection on Chicago so they put her on an earlier one that gave us 20 mins to change terminal and check in. We just made it and there was no time to say goodbye properly. I was really sad heading back into San Fran. Luckily Harry, my flatmate from 5th year at uni was arriving that afternoon so I wouldn't have long to be down!
I spent the afternoon fixing my bike and checked into a cheap(ish) hostel. I met Harry at Powell St station, we had a massive burger that night. Was great to see him again, we caught up, built his bike then got an early night, back on the road tomorrow - I can't wait to get going again.
California
A new continent! I was really excited to be on the road again and Harry was very enthusiastic about starting. We left the "Backpacker's Hostel" and cycled through San Francisco. We went via Fisherman's Wharf and the Golden Gate Bridge.
From there we headed south down Highway 1, the fantastic Pacific Coast highway. We passed Pacific and cycled up and down with breathtaking views of the perfect beaches on the way. We arrived at Half Moon Bay for lunch then headed inland. We climbed a hill, then whizzed down, Harry almost hit a fawn that invading of him. We cycled round a lovely lake then camped behind some trees near the freeway.
I had peanut butter sandwiches for breakfast, something I'd really missed for the last half year! We cycled downhill to Woodside, then over the Dumbarton Bridge, which took us to the other side of San Francisco Bay. Found a bike shop, I bought a new pump, harry pimped his ride with a horn and a squeaking tortoise. Found a campsite on the bend of a road, very dry ground, so different from the coast.
Next day we entered desert, cycled over some small hills and met a couple of Swedish guys who'd cycled from New York. Over the hills was a totally flat plain. We followed some small roads around farmland and reached a dead-end at the interstate. We had to lift our bikes on and rode along it for a few miles. 10 minutes into our motorway adventure, the police came and chucked us off. The next junction took us to Manteca anyway, which was where we planned to get to for lunch. We reached Yosemite Avenue, the road we'd follow for the next couple of days all the way to Yosemite National Park. We found a nice deserted woodland that evening to camp in.
We woke at sunrise and I cooked bacon butties for breakfast. Someone was shooting in the woods so we made a quick getaway and started climbing into the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. Great riding, fantastic road over lots of small hills. We stopped at a motel with "girls girls girls" advertised to fill our water bottles up! A lovely old lady gave us soup. Her sons, tough looking guys covered in tattoos talked to us - really nice gentle people who respected the UK because "you guys have sensible sized cars"! After lunch we climbed Old Priest Grade. The steepest hill of my trip so far. It was very difficult! I set myself the challenge of climbing it without stopping. I made it up feeling great, it was tough but I managed to get up in one go. I doubt I'll ever be as fit as this again! We talked to a guy on a Harley, "it's downhill all the way to Yosemite from here boys", 3,000 ft of climbing later, the next day we arrived at Yosemite! That night we camped in a campsite that was closed for the season. Beautiful forest. We were worried about the bears so we put all our food in a bear locker and camped away from it.
Woke up wet because of condensation in tent. Harry went for a wild number 2 and started a forest fire while burning the paper! We ran back and forwards to the tap with our water bottles and managed to put it out, lesson learned me thinks! We spent most of the morning climbing through beautiful forest, I saw a cafe where I ate with my friend Ed when we came here a few years ago on a road trip.
We entered Yosemite around lunchtime and spoke to the ranger at the park entrance. Tioga Pass, the 10,000 ft highest park of the road going through the pass was still open, we were worried it may be closed my now due to snow, great stuff. We somehow managed to buy 24 Clif energy bars for 7 dollars, delicious. The ranger told us the campsites were all shut on Tioga Pass road and we weren't allowed to wild camp. We assured him we'd get the 67 miles uphill done that afternoon and wouldn't wild camp. After an amazing ride through the forest and past the unbelievable cathedral like cliffs we found a fantastic wild camp site. We hung our food in a tree to keep it safe from bears, imaging them trying to reach it by standing on each other's backs! We slept outside under amazing stars on a smooth rock formation.
Happy Halloween! Woke up to an amazing view and walked up to the peak of the rock formation to see the sunrise. We ate breakfast up there after retrieving our bag. It was a spectacular morning ride through the forest, around the cathedral peaks and past a beautiful mirror like lake. We saw Elk running through the trees but unfortunately no bears.
We climbed the last 1000 feet to Tioga pass in the early afternoon. It was fantastic, Yosemite was one of the highlights of the entire trip for me. The descent from the pass was brilliant too! It hugged the side of the mountain and was steep enough to build up some serious speed. We passed 2 beautiful lakes and I got up to 51.5 mph, a new trip record! We descended to Lee Vining, a cool little place in the middle of nowhere with a massively overpriced shop and a big lake. We passed through and started heading south towards Death Valley. This morning we were in amazing forest scenery, this evening we are in the desert. Amazing contrast! Great campsite that night, amazing shooting stars and big fire. No tents again.
We woke up the next morning with frost on that sleeping bags. We got going, over a small pass then started a long downhill where we lost over 3,000 feet. I got another new top speed of 53.9 mph. I looked back when I got to the bottom and Harry wasn't there. Turned our he'd got a puncture. In the meantime I had a conversation with two really nice women, Diana and Tabatha. I told them what we were doing then they went back to see if Harry was OK.
That night was bloody brilliant! We found some hot springs. There was a. Series of pools at bath temperatures which we swam in for ages in the dark. We washed all our clothes. It was fantastic to get clean and really warm, until we got out onto the freezing night air that was!
Woke up with a fantastic sunrise over the mountains. Harry was feeling ill, he had a migraine coming on. When he felt better we left, while he was resting I had a morning swim in the hot springs. The desert was amazing as we cycled to Lone Pine. We saw Mt Whitney, the highest peak on continental USA and lots of snow capped peaks. At Lone Pine we stocked up on food and water for Death Valley before climbing up past Owen's Lake and finding a dry river bed to sleep in for the night. My culinary camping skills reached a new level, I cooked delicious (although I say it myself) fajitas while Harry built a massive fire. Harry had downloaded Blackadder onto his phone, which we listened to. Lord Flasheart is fantastic.
The next morning we climbed a 5200 ft pass into Death Valley National Park. Fantastic descent to Panamint Springs, where we stopped at the cafe there for lunch. We left on a dead straight road that looked to curve up into mountains about 2 miles away. 15 miles later we reached them! The horizon takes a lot longer to reach in the desert. Harry raced up the climb and I could see he was really getting into it now and getting fitter. I couldn't keep up with my extra weight so we met at the top. I had to stop halfway up for a peanut butter calorie boost.
Another fantastic descent took us into the next valley along, the main valley of the national park, containing Badwater, the lowest point in the USA. We camped at Stovepipe Wells that night with a Lithuanian couple who were driving around the country having won US citizenship in a prize draw and a Dutch couple on a motorbike tour of the USA national parks. We shared a campsite and some crisps and beers and talked about our trips.
Bacon butties got us going the next morning and we needed the energy to fight one of the strongest headwinds I've had on the trip. We took it in turns to ride at the front and made a mile at a time. There were beautiful views, sand dunes, canyons and mountains before we reached the park HQ at Furnace Creek. We got some food there, then climbed another pass out of Death Valley. We camped in an old abandoned campsite. The next day we cycled to Death Valley Junction then to the Nevada border. The end of California, Vegas in 1 1/2 days though, can't wait!
California was just awesome. San Francisco has to be one of the best cities in the world, after that the amazing Pacific Coast, Yosemite then Death Valley had made for 10 days of the most stunning and varied riding imaginable. Where else in the world could you find that mixture of world class places to visit? To be able to cycle between them is amazing. Anyone got a spare 2 week holiday? Fly to San Francisco, cycle this route in Spring or Autumn and fly back from Las Vegas. Would be one of the best holidays ever!
Nevada
We crossed into Nevada just after Death Valley Junction. It was a pleasant desert road, which climbed up and over a small pass to Pahrump. We found the first Wal Mart supermarket of the trip and ate a roast chicken each! Back in the desert, we cycled along a dual carriageway for the afternoon and started climbing the final pass before Las Vegas. Was a good climb, we listened to Blackadder for a bit using Harry's speakers. We cycled into the the night and climbed to about 5,000 ft where there was a layer of snow on the ground. We found a low tunnel under the road which was amazingly warm compared to outside. It felt like a heater was on in there! We cooked lying down looking forward to Vegas the next day.
It was an eventful night! Harry went out for a pee at about 2 am and climbed up onto the bridge to look at the stars. For some reason he fainted and fell about 2 metres. He bashed his leg, arm and more worrying, his head. I heard him cursing when he came back round, obviously in pain. We don't think he was unconscious for long though. He was bleeding a lot and shivering in the cold. I helped him back into the tunnel then cleaned and bandaged the head wound. It wasn't bleeding badly and we decided to see how it was in the morning.
Harry could ride OK when we got moving in the morning so we rode down to Vegas. We saw other cyclists coming up the hill as we descended in the snow. Vegas loomed ahead of us, a huge city in the desert! It felt great to arrive here on bikes. We cycled up Las Vegas Boulevard aka "The Strip". The massive and hugely impressive hotels flashed past, Mandalay Bay, Luxor, New York New York, MGM Grand, Venetian, Bellagio, Paris, Caesar’s Palace, The Stratosphere and loads more. We found a cheap motel near the Stratosphere and had a relax before heading out.
We looked round the casinos on the strip, saw Flamingos at the Flamingo casino and Lions at the MGM. We saw someone screaming with delight after winning a jackpot on a slot machine and old lady gambling addicts feeding coin after coin into them. Poker players, roulette, black jack and other games I don't know. There's fantastic theming all over Vegas, a replica Manhattan skyline, a replica Eiffel Tower and the amazing Bellagio fountain water music show.
In the evening, we went to downtown Vegas, where we went to town on a buffet, then tried our luck on the casino floor. We started with 20 dollars to gamble with and played Roulette. We got up to 30 and a couple of free drinks then tried Black Jack. Not a good move, lost 21 dollars and down to 9. Back to Roulette we eventually got up to 35 dollars and lost a bit. We left on 26 dollars, 3 dollars each winnings, but better to have beaten Sin City and not lost any money!
The next day we chilled out in the morning then left the city, not much to report. That night we slept in a drainage channel under a bridge, really clean and an easy place to stay.
The following morning we joined a bike trail to Lake Mead via Boulder City. Was a great ride. It weaved up and down hills and into a storm drainage channel that was great fun because it was like a half pipe. We reached Lake Mead then descended all the way to the Hoover Dam. We cycled onto it. It was seriously impressive, massive! We spoke to a lady who works there, she told us that 95 people died building the dam. Apparently there's also a big problem with suicides there and as it is on the state border, depending on where they jump, either the Nevada or Arizona police have to come to sort it out.
We climbed back up to the main road and onto the new bridge they've built which orders an amazing aerial view of the dam. We crossed it, having to lift the bikes over barriers and reaches Arizona. We were only in Nevada for 3 days but it had been brilliant. Vegas and the Hoover Dam within a day of each other, the US has been great so far.
Arizona
We arrived in Arizona and had to change our clocks forward an hour. We were straight into the desert, climbing up from the Colorado river. We got to a fantastic viewpoint and stopped for some food. A crazy guy from Chicago came to speak to us, he had Sicilean relatives who'd been in Chicago for years. Wonder if they knew Al Capone! He was driving an old dodge car from San Francisco to Chicago to sell it for a profit.
We had a tailwind all afternoon and whizzed 70 miles through the desert. We got to Kingman and joined Route 66, there were loads of awesome looking Diners and Motels with the Route 66 logo, touristy but cool. We got through the town and slept in a tunnel under the road. 101 miles today.
Route 66 was amazing the next day. We cycled north through some really isolated towns in the Indian Reservations. We got a delicious lunch in a Route 66 Diner with unlimited amounts of coffee. I left on a caffeine high! I remember as we cycled up a hill seeing an Indian guy with long hair standing on a cliff with the sun behind him. Was like a scene straight out of a Western film (minus the touring bikes). We went to a bar that night. Got a beer, then another on the house before going to sleep in an aircraft hanger!
The next day we rode the rest of the Route 66 loop to Seligman before we joined the Interstate 40. We saw the first American Civilian carrying a gun. He had a pistol attached to his belt and was wearing camo gear. We nailed a few miles in the dark. I really went for it that night, pounding the pedals! We climbed 2,000 ft pretty quickly and arrived at Williams, the town 40 miles south of the Grand Canyon. We had a roast chicken at Safeway then did another 10 miles and camped under a bridge where we ate an entire caramel tart.
We got going by sunrise the next day and did the 30 miles to Flagstaff by half 10. We went to a car hire shop to get a vehicle to drive to the Grand Canyon with because we didn't have time to cycle the detour. The smallest vehicle they had was a Cheverolet Silverado pick-up truck. It's without a doubt the most pointless, stupid and useless vehicle I've had the misfortune to drive.
For a start it's massive, far bigger than any car in the UK. It has a HUGE bonnet which makes the driver very safe but would crush any normal sized car or person it hits. To counter this most Americans buy a car the same size so they are also safer. It's like a country having nuclear weapons to defend from another country's nuclear weapons.
It's also terrible to drive. It only has 4 gears but a massive V8 engine. It crashes through the gear changes revving ridiculously loudly. This goes someway to explaining how we managed to get an incredible 12 miles to the gallon out of it. There are loads of other reasons why it is so utterly awful but I won't bore you with them. It's just a shame that so many people in America drive these vehicles as a family car or to commute in. It kind of makes the efforts other people are putting in to save energy pointless!
Anyway, the drive to the Grand Canyon was great. We drove through the desert, and stopped of at another smaller canyon on the way. We got to the visitor centre at about 3 so we had a chance to see a few different views by cycling around and then watched the sunset. It's amazing, it's impossible to describe it here so your better off looking at my photos.
We slept in the pick up that night then watched the sunrise in the morning. We took a different route back to Flagstaff and got over 8,000 ft. The road went through snowy forests, very nice. We said am emotional farewell to our fantastic pick-up and went to Safeway. I spoke to family on Skype and found out that England had beaten Spain 1-0. Amazing!
We left Flagstaff on the I-40 and made up some good mileage with a tailwind going downhill. Harry got 2 punctures but we still did over 50 miles and got to Winslow (from the Eagles song "Take it Easy"). We did another 20 miles in the dark and cooked spaghetti in a road tunnel.
The next day we got to Petrified Forest national park. The fossilised trees were amazing but were outshone by the cat on a lead, going for a walk around the national park trail. It was hilarious. The owner boasted how it was a trained cat that loved walking. It could also sit and roll over. He tried to make it do these things but it just stared at him looking annoyed. It wouldn't walk either! It stood still until the owner dragged it along! Crazy people!
The next day we saw a old guy with a long walking stick walking the 20+ miles between two towns backwards. Harry shouted at him "why are you walking backwards", "something different" he replied, and left it at that!
That night we saw some amazing shooting stars. The next day we cycled into New Mexico and the Rocky Mountains. Arizona had been amazing, stunning scenery, crazy but friendly people and good cycling. I've never been to New Mexico before so excited and not sure what to expect.
New Mexico
We entered New Mexico with a climb into the Rocky Mountains. We went to a Diner and got a massive burger followed by the biggest brownie I've ever seen. The waitress didn't think we'd eat it, we proved her wrong, obviously.
We met a couple of guys at a petrol station. They were really interested in our trip, we chatted to them for a while and the conversation turned to war. They assured us that if it wasn't for America, we'd be speaking German!
We continued climbing and reached Pie Town, a little village in the middle of nowhere. We were told about The Toaster House, a fantastic house owned by a lady called Nita. She's moved out to a nearby town but leaves her house open for passing travellers. It's such a nice thing to do. She has loads of her possessions in there, including a sound system with a great music collection. The house is kept stocked with food and bathroom stuff. We lit a fire and listened to Bruce Springsteen, the Eagles and Pink Floyd. Unbelievable place!
We left the Toaster House after leaving a donation in the donation box and writing in the guest book. We had an amazing tailwind that day and a big descent to Soccorro, where we met Mrs Burliegh in a supermarket. She asked us straight away if we needed a place to stay then went back around the supermarket to double the amount of food she'd bought! We had a great night with the family. The eldest daughter, Erika had just been cycle touring herself, along the Pacific Coast so we shared stories. David, the Dad, told us the history of New Mexico, it used to be Mexican, then owned by Texas when Texas was a country. Texas gave New Mexico to the USA and it became a state.
Erika guided us out of the town the next morning and we started climbing over the final mountain range of the trip. The Burlieghs were a great family, bright, very sociable. They didn't have a TV, maybe this made them more outgoing, none of the family were in the slightest bit surprised by having 2 strangers sleeping in their living room.
The climb up was fantastic and very remote. We had lunch on the side of the road. There was a headwind up the rest of the climb and it was tough until we reached the top at 6,700 feet. The descent at sunset was amazing.
Next day we climbed the last big climb of the trip. No more mountains! It was a big moment, downhill and flat from now on. We descended to Lincoln and saw the courthouse where Billy the Kid had been captured, imprisoned, then escaped after killing a load of policemen. There is a hole in the wall still where his shotgun shell exploded.
We made fantastic progress that evening and did 111 miles. We reached Roswell, a city famous for the supposed crash landing of a USA just after WWII. As we entered Roswell, we noticed people giving out free pizza so went to get some. They turned out to be the Salvation Army and put us up in a Motel for the night! We went to a pub to try and meet Alien/UFO fanatics and were told to go to the UFO Museum tomorrow.
We did, and went into their library, where we talked to someone about Aliens. She believed that there were 5 different types of Alien and that one had lived in Roswell after crash landing in 1947. They can apparently communicate through telepathy with humans! More realistically, most people think what happened was that a US Army weather balloon was being tested and crash landed. There was a big cover up because they didnt want the new technology to get out.
We left Roswell and camped in a guy called Dallas' garden that night. I pitched my tent underneath his massive RV! The next day we reached Texas after about an hour.
New Mexico was brilliant. It's a big state with population of about 2 million so it's really remote. The desert mountain scenery is awesome and there's loads of interesting history of gangsters and corrupt policemen. The best thing were the people though. Everyone was so friendly. Really looking forward to Texas now.
Texas
The first thing I noticed about Texas was that there were oil pumps everywhere. The air smelt of oil. This state is massive and sits on a huge oil reserve, they're a rich state because of the oil and a lot of people have jobs in the industry. It's no wonder fuel is so cheap and they all drive big trucks, it keeps their economy rolling.
The first town of note in Texas was called Plains, a suitable name! We went to a supermarket to buy dinner and a lady called Estelle invited us to the Thanksgiving church service and after service meal! Estelle was married to a really nice guy called Evertt and we met their son Michael and his family. They were an interesting group of people, and we chatted to them while eating the excellent thanksgiving food!
Michael and his family have renounced their US citizenship and don't use money. They believe that Western society is bad, that people are becoming far to reliant on imports and other people and can no longer look after themselves. They are trying to become self sufficient on a small farm. They believe that sooner or later, there will be a war that ends society as we know it and when that happens they want to be prepared. So while that doesn't mean they can't use modern technology, they try to not rely on it. It's an interesting idea, and while I definitely think people in the West are becoming too reliant on technology and other people, I'm not sure how the family will benefit by removing themselves from it. Interestingly, although devout Christians, they follow the laws of the Torah, for example; circumcision and not eating pork.
Evertt was a really good guy. He was very knowledgeable on American history and told us about Texas, the civil war and slavery. He's a strong republican and had some very sensible arguments supporting Bush and against Obama and although I didn't agree with them, I could see his points. He also told us about the current drought in Texas, which was ruining farmers crops and had caused animals to be shot because there wasn't enough food to feed them. Him and Estelle were great hosts and we really enjoyed our night there.
Rain! The next morning we experienced the first rain in 3 months in Texas. The family were delighted as was the rest of the state! We weren't and couldn't help being a little bit annoyed by the rain's timing! As we left, Michael gave us a letter to read later on that day.
We cycled through the plains to Brownfield, where we got out of the cold and the rain in a Mexican restaurant. It was really cheap and the fajitas were delicious. Dave, the really friendly waiter gave us unlimited hot drinks and desert on the house. He also told us he'd be on Austin at the weekend. And if we were there, we should meet up.
We read Michael's letter and it was very interesting although contained a lot of animosity towards the US society. Also it told me that he and his friend Dallas had been praying and detected "pain and suffering" in my heart. I was a bit shocked they'd told me this and very confused because as far as I know I'm very happy right now!
With a lot to think about, we cycled to Samesa, where we met a guy called Arthur who phoned his church who offered to put us up in a Motel. It was really kind. I told the pastor we only needed a place to pitch the tents and he said he loved what we were doing and wanted to give us a comfortable night out of the wet and cold! Great guy!
We woke up in the Motel then headed over the road to a burrito cafe where Arthur had told us he'd buy us a couple of burritos for breakfast. Really generous people in Texas so far. We cycled on with nothing exciting to see and arrived at Big Springs, a thoroughly average place full of fast food restaurants. We went to a thoroughly appalling Mexican restaurant with the worst service I have ever seen. They brought the wrong drinks, then the wrong food for Harry, added the bill up wrong and charged Harry extra for food he hadn't ordered!
We cycled through some pleasant farmland that afternoon and saw deer running through fields. We camped on a ranch that night. We woke up wet in the tent the next morning. It was really hunid. After a slow start we cycled 18 miles to Sterling City, so many stupid trucks! We decided to take a route via Austin, it's supposed to be a cool place and we could meet up with Dave there.
Advertising Americans fantastic geographical awareness, a man who I was asking about where to eat told me there was a good place when we got you Sterling City. I pointed out that's where we were, there was a big sign saying so behind us! We had an utterly appalling burger at Dairy Queen then spent the afternoon cycling to San Angelo and playing 20 questions to pass the time. I got a puncture. We went to a supermarket for dinner then we left the town shouting Alan Partridge quotes. Texas was very monotonous by this stage!
Nothing happened all morning the next day. We arrived at Eden around midday on Thanksgiving day. We were invited to a Motel for lunch. A really nice family who own it put in a massive thanksgiving lunch for anyone who wants to turn up. We were welcomed in and ate turkey with about 20 other people. A girl who'd been on American Idol sang and we were educated in the ways of American Football. The mother owned a caravan in the next town, about 30 miles away so we cycled there in the afternoon and stayed there that night.
Finally, the following afternoon, Texas delivered some pretty countryside, hills and woods. We enjoyed the riding for the first time in a few days despite the headwind. We got talking to a fantastic family outside Maccy D's and the forces 20 dollars into our pockets to "buy a good meal". Fantastic people!
That night we found our good meal! In fact it was the best meal I've had on the entire trip. A pit BBQ called Coopers. We enjoyed massive pork chops, BBQ'd jacket potatoes and salads. We got talking to a family who'd been hunting, the local people's favourite hobby. We were told how they pay money to a land owner then are allowed to hunt deer. They are taught as kids, how to track, shoot and prepare animals. The father uses a bow and arrow. Really cool thing to do. The state has laws limiting the number allowed to be hunted and they can take the meat home to eat. At the restaurant, another 20 dollars was donated to our food fund and as we left, we were given a massive steak each, "for the road"! It might not be the most exciting state, but the people are so kind.
That night we slept in a tunnel under the road again. Unfortunately at about 11 o’clock it started raining, heavily! The tunnel started filling up fast and everything was in danger of getting soaked. We rushed out, put the tents up and moved everything in. The only casualty was a corner of my sleeping bag, which fell into a puddle, but on the whole, not bad! It was great being in the tent with the thunder and lightning outside.
That day we cycled into Austin. Dave contacted us and told us where he was staying, the doubletree hotel. We cycled there and it turned out to be the Hilton! We pushed our dirty bikes through the sparkling reception and amazingly were allowed to take them up to the room. We had a quick wash and found the most respectable of our clothes, half of which were damp after the thunder storm the last night. Then we headed out into Austin, we went to a few bars, then the famous 6th street. Was a good night and good to get off the bikes for a night.
The next day, we had a slow start, watched Star Wars in the hotel reception then did about 20 miles in the afternoon. We camped at an RV park that night.
The less said about the next couple of days, the better. It was incredibly boring cycling around the outskirts of Houston, the 3rd biggest US city. I think we must have seen over 100 Mcdonalds. It was one big shopping centre. There was drive-thru/drive-in everything: restaurants, banks, pharmacies, churches, cinemas, liquor stores, a place where u can buy an alcohilic drink, post offices. I just don't understand where evolution decided that it would be great to be so lazy that getting out of your car becomes such an inconvenience! You can even get married in a drive-thru wedding chapel in Vegas. Unbelievable.
We were so bored that we tried to work out how much packaging Mcdonalds gets through in Houston. We guessed 500 restaurants in the city area; most are 24 hours, they probably average at least 30 people being served a meal every hour so that's 360,000 meals per day in Houston. If an average meal packaging weighs around 50 grams, that's 18 tons of rubbish per day and 6570 per year!
The gas-guzzling trucks were more present than ever and the worst thing I saw was a church flashing the following message in LED light on a sign outside: Christ has risen, Christ is the Son of God, therefore Islam is false. There was a mosque down the road, I wonder what they think of that! I never experienced any animosity towards Christianity in Asia, but here in supposedly good and great America they are flashing that message past millions of commuters every day.
I was becoming disillusioned with American society but it's important to remember the great bits of the country I've been through too. The final night in Texas restored my faith in Texas! We were invited into a young guys house, who was BBQing a deer him and his mates had shot with a bow earlier that day. It tasted amazing; we talked to the hunting group about stalking deer and whether they preferred shooting with a bow or a rifle! There were a lot of weapons around, but I have no problem with people owning guns for hunting, it's only when they own them for 'self defence' that I don't think it's right.
One more days ride brought us into the swamps near the Gulf of Mexico and finally the Louisiana State border. We cheered as we escaped Texas! Not the most exciting bit of the ride, but important to have experienced. The main positive to take from Texas is the Texans, who although often unusual are almost all very kind and friendly people.
Louisiana
Finally out of Texas, the first thing to notice about Louisiana was the mosquitoes. Every time we stopped, a swarm appeared around us! We crossed into Louisiana on the interstate and then followed 'Old road 90' through the swamps. It was amazing scenery, with a lot of wildlife, mainly large birds nesting in the swamps. Back on the interstate, we found a state information office and acquired a couple of maps. We cycled late that evening, trying to make a big day, despite the headwind. We illegally crossed a motorway bridge, which had a closed lane for roadworks and whizzed down the other side into Lake Charles. We experienced our first cajun cooking at a gumbo restaurant. Gumbo is a delicious spicy stew/soup served with rice. That night, we asked a couple of dog walkers for a place to stay and they gave us their workshop in the garden.
It took a while to get going the next morning and we were both getting tired, trying to get big miles in every day was taking it out of us. Just a couple of days to New Orleans though, then after that it should be more relaxed. That day we cycled along a small country road in Cajun country. It was beautiful, very flat land but historic towns, much more interesting than Texan countryside. We stopped at a restaurant for lunch and were given alligator by the friendly owner. It was delicious and tasted a bit like chicken with the texture of fish.
We reached Franklin that evening and camped in an RV park. A drunk living there, David 'helped' Harry put up his tent. He was a nice guy though and very lonely so we talked to him for a while as we cooked.
More headwind the next morning so we were destined for another struggle! Most of the day was spent on the US90 dual carriageway. It was mainly through swamp again. We saw a group of alligators sunning themselves on a rock and then swimming through a swamp. There were turtles in there too. Not much more to report that day other than a good place to camp around the back of a Shell garage, we could use their facilities. Bloody shattered!!
The next morning we set off for New Orleans on the 90. The heavens opened and we got absolutely soaked within a couple of minutes then dried off by the powerful sun over the next hour. We arrived at the bridge that took us into the city and were told we couldn't ride over it by a policeman. It was monitored both ends so there was really no way around it. The other option was to take a ferry across the river further east and we reasoned that getting a lift over a bridge was no different from taking a ferry and it was also free so it didn't count as cheating as there was no other option! We cycled to the traffic lights and asked a guy who looked like a rapper if we could throw the bikes in the back of the truck and get a lift over. We put the bikes in and were in the back of the truck when the lights changed. He revved the engine and shot off with us standing in the back of the truck! Nutter. We lay down, trying to hide from the police and he drove very fast over the bridge with us in the back. He stopped at the lights on the other side of the bridge and we jumped out, thanking him! It was very funny.
We cycled along the storm levies that protect New Orleans from floods (it wasn't these ones that failed in 2005). The huge pumping stations along them show the engineering effort it takes to keep the city from flooding, although unsuccessful during Hurricane Katrina. We continued to the French Quarter and had a drink at a Parisian style cafe on the side of the street. It's a beautiful place, with load of atmosphere.
As we cycled through the city to Louis' house, a guy we me through www.warmshowers.com, I didn't notice any affects of the hurricane, except the appalling road surfaces. Some neighbourhoods didn't look the safest though. We met Louis, had a beer and some excellent homemade pizzas, then drove round in his vintage BMW. We drove through the neighbourhoods that haven't been redeveloped since the hurricane. There are whole blocks with ruined and abandoned houses and some plots of land with no remnants of a house at all, they were simply washed away. Some neighbourhoods have been forgotten about, some have people living there still and some are being redeveloped with fantastic new eco-homes, which are really interesting architecturally.
We went to a bar with a live blues band, which is what New Orleans is famous for. They were fantastic and we enjoyed a few local beers before heading back to Louis'.
As part of his job, Louis designates cycle lanes in New Orleans. We followed one of them out of the city, over a load of bridges through the swamps and past lots of buildings on stilts to protect them from high water. After a few hours riding, we reached Mississippi.
Despite only being in Louisiana for a few days, I'd really liked it and would love to come back. New Orleans is a fascinating place and well worth a visit and the local French food is delicious.
Mississippi
We arrived in Mississippi late in the day and it was almost dark. I'd stupidly forgotten to charge my bike light up in New Orleans so I followed Harry's rear light along the side of the road, dodging potholes and bumps by trying to follow his line exactly. We went to a Wal Mart and ate a roast chicken on a bench in the entrance and had a chat with a complete nutcase who had obviously taken a few too many chemicals in his lifetime! We camped around the back of Wal Mart.
The next morning Harry had a really bad migraine and couldn't cycle. We managed to pack up and cycle to a McDonalds at around 1 and stayed there until about 3. While we were there, I listened to the radio. Man U got knocked out of the champion’s league, unbelievable! If we had more time, we'd have taken the day off and found a hotel room where Harry could recover. Unfortunately time wasn't on our side, so we got going at 3 and managed almost 40 miles that evening which was a great recovery. There were loads of floating casinos in Biloxi. If they're on the water (offshore), they get past the Mississippi gambling laws and it was like being back in Vegas. We cycled straight past them and over a long bridge over an estuary to Ocean Springs.
We found a wood to camp in and set up the tents. Unfortunately, somebody had seen our torches and called the police - it was an abandoned bit of land so very strange that the police responded to a call about two torches in a wood! Anyway, they came and were really suspicious. They warned us to keep our hands where they could see them and made us tell them where our ID's were in the bags because they didn't trust us to get them out ourselves. We were being treated like suspects to a crime; it was way over the top. Anyway, after they'd run a criminal record check on our driving licenses, they started treating us like humans and let us stay in the wood, assuring us that if any crimes happened in the local area, we'd be prime suspects - nice!
We left early in the morning and had breakfast in a Burger King, pretty good and cheap syrup pancakes. The manager looked up the ferry timetable that we needed to take later on that day. Not much happened for the rest of the morning. We saw a bike which had been converted to be driven by a petrol engine! It went about 30 mph and did 150 mpg. I want one!!
As we were approaching the Alabama border, we found a huge scrapyard - a number plate goldmine! Harry asked the owner if we could have a couple and was told he wasn't allowed to give us them. We took that as an invitation to help ourselves so we left with a Mississippi and Alabama plate each and feeling a bit like thieves!!
Only spent a couple of days in Mississippi, the coast was very nice but a bit touristy. A short spell in Alabama next then, the last state, Florida.
We fled into Alabama with our stolen number plates! Alabama was beautiful. We passed through coastal swamp land with houses on the water, people fishing and loads of wildlife. It was peaceful. After a pizza, we cycled out into the sea along a series of long bridges and islands to Dauphin Island. We arrived there just in time to get the last ferry of the day over to Fort Morgan. It was a beautiful sunset over the island and there were loads of oil rigs, lit up in the dark.
There was nowhere to buy food when we got off the ferry, except for a very overpriced and tacky restaurant. We got some food and started speaking to some of the locals. A lovely couple said we could stay in their holiday home that they usually rent out because it was empty that night. We cycled ahead and they met us at the house 3 miles down the road. It was amazing - the guy who owned it built it himself. It was on stilts for flood protection and triangular shaped with a huge glass front and a big ship steering wheel. There was a huge TV + surround sound and really comfy sofas. It was a bit different from what we were used to!
In the morning we got going at a good time. It was hard to drag ourselves away from the house. The coastline was amazing though, white sandy beaches along peninsulas. More big bridges across estuaries linked the peninsulas, we had a headwind but made good progress and by lunchtime we'd reached the end of Alabama. Now we're at the last state of the USA, Florida! I really felt close to the end now.
We spent the first afternoon in Florida riding along more beautiful white beaches on the Gulf. We had lunch on one of them. Then rode along a dodgy road to Pescacola and over a big and very windy bridge onto a large peninsula nature reserve where we found a great beach to sleep out on without the tents. In the night a couple came down to the beach for half an hour or so. They sat down within about 5 meters of us and didn't notice us there! They were arguing about something then ran off back to their car!
In the morning we fought a head wind along the peninsula and sand was being blown across the road. The scenery was amazing all day. The beaches turned into a forest full of deer and then lakes with jumping fish. We found a state park that night and slept in a hut on a raised walkway.
Only 6 days left now until the end! We got up really early so we wouldn't be caught in the state park and followed more beaches to the not-very-nice Panama City. On the way out of Panama City we crossed another bridge and saw a flock/herd/school (or whatever) of dolphins. They were having a great time diving and jumping around. I could have watched them for hours. We cycled along a long boring straight road all afternoon and a storm was brewing. It starting tipping it down when we got to Port St Joe. We sheltered in a Burger King, not much chance of finding anything other than a chain restaurant unfortunately.
We asked around and looked miserable for around 1 1/2 hours and despite hinting heavily, nobody offered us a place to stay or suggested anything. Resigned to getting soaked, we had a quick look round and found another hut over the sea. It was perfect and we couldn't believe nobody had told us about it, it was just a wooden platform with a roof but it was dry. I guess fishermen used it during the daytime.
More nice coastline followed and nothing much happened til lunchtime the next day were we walked out along a pier to eat. Some woman stopped on the road and started shouting at us that it was private property before driving off. I don't even know if she owned it! After that, we cycled through a wood all afternoon and passed some beautiful rivers with more jumping fish. In the evening we stopped in a small settlement called Sopchoppy for the night. We found a free campsite at the park and spoke to the caretaker who warned us he'd seen a bear there not too long ago!
We cooked our dinner on the campsite and got our tents up. I picked up all our rubbish then carried it all over to the bins on the campsite. I was almost there and a saw a huge outline of an animal about 5 meters away. It was the bear and it was bloody massive! I retreated backwards slowly while watching it and threw the rubbish away so the bear wouldn't follow me! I got back to the table and was buzzing, I told Harry "I think I just saw a bear!" We both went back over with a bike light and had a good look at it then made loads of noise and it ran away then up a tree. It was so impressive to see something that big move so quickly, it went flying up it and stood on some big branches about half way up. We went backwards and made more noise then it came down and ran off to the back of the campsite. We saw it skulking around there later on and eventually it went away. We went back to the tents and tried to sleep! I didn't sleep well at all!!!
The next morning we had a great breakfast and discussed the bear. It was so good to have seen one. I thought we'd missed our chance and wasn't expecting Florida to be the state where we saw one. The whole of the day was spent in forests. In the evening we met a homeless guy who was living on his bike. He'd attached a cart to the back of it, which he kept everything in. He seemed happy though, he told us he just wondered around the states. We warned him about the bear and to keep his food away from where he slept that night. We also saw a ridiculous truck that had been raised about 5 ft on springs! We got to Perry that night and had run out of money. A really nice Motel owner let us camp behind it, use their bathrooms and gave us 5 dollars to spend on dinner.
A boring morning fighting into a headwind was improved by the brilliant all you can eat roast dinner buffer at lunchtime. In the evening, we arrived at Fort Allute and were given free pizza in a petrol station. We searched the town for a place to sleep, were turned away from the firestation but a guy called Rocky let us stay in his mobile home for the night. We walked the 30 meters or so from his door to the mobile home, Rocky drove in his Chevrolet Silverado Pickup! He opened the door for us then drove back to his house! Lovely guy but unbelievable he drove that distance. It took more time than it took us to walk it! Bacon butties for dinner!
Rocky came round at 7 in the morning with 2 cooked breakfasts for us from the petrol station. They were horrible but again, a really nice thing to do! On the way out of the town, one of Rocky's employees gave us a battered Florida number plate. This was our penultimate day on the bikes, nothing much happened but my excitement of finishing was growing. I was really happy to be near the end. It's been a fantastic adventure but I'm really up for seeing everyone at home again now, and it's nearly Christmas! We arrived at St John's Campground for the evening and I put up my tent for the last time. We had a great dinner and a beer and talked about what to do next! It's gonna be weird to be back in the real word, I dunno how quickly I'll re-adjust to it.
We got up on the final morning and packed up quickly and got moving. We had arranged to meet a guy from warmshowers.com, Jerry Everetts, who had offered to put us up at his house for a couple of nights - more amazing generosity. On the last morning we were approached by a journalist on the road - for the first time! She was really interested and told us we'd be in the Daytona Beach News Journal the next day! We cycled towards the coast all morning until finally we climbed up the final bridge and could see the end of the world - Flagler Beach! From the top of the bridge we sprinted down the hill and cycled as fast as possible to the end of the road. I cycled down onto the beach. My amazing bike had made it - it's a bit tired, gears are skipping, the bottom bracket is wobbling all over the place but on the whole it's been perfect.
It was an amazing, emotional feeling to have made it. A bit of an anticlimax - I felt lost. What an earth do I do with myself now - the routine of waking up, eating, packing up, cycling 70 miles, searching for a place to eat, setting up camp, eating, sleeping had become my life. It's an easy way to live, a really simple life and has brought fantastic experiences to me. I was ready to finish but also sad that it was over. We still have a couple of days in Florida though and I was determined to make the most of them. Harry and I put the bikes down on the beach and ran out into the sea! I put the piece of driftwood I'd picked up in San Francisco the Atlantic Ocean. We took photos, then went up to a cafe for a celebratory beer.
After a beer, we managed to hitch a lift to Port Orange, where Jerry lived. We had a relax that afternoon, talked about America with Jerry and his wife, found some boxes to take the bikes home in and got an early night! The next day was great. Jerry took us shooting. We went with a group of Jerry's mates and fired a great variety of guns: Pistols, including a magnum which had a ridiculous recoil, a few 2.2 rifles, an assault rifle, a horrible little sawn-off shotgun which could have blasted a hole through a wall and last of all an 18th century British rifle! It was great fun, but a little disconcerting to see a group of men whooping and cheering as they fired entire magazines from the pistols while drinking beer! We went to an absolutely rammed gun shop afterwards - Harry bought a pocket knife.
On the way home, we went to a convenience shop and bought the Daytona Beach Journal to read the report about us. It was rubbish, we'd been misquoted but it was cool to be in the paper! As we were buying it, the following conversation took place:
"You guys have a great accent, where are you from"
"England"
"I love England, so where did you learn to speak our language so well?"
Unbelievable!
Anyway we went back to Jerry's, got everything packed and watched a film. The next morning Jerry very kindly drove us to Orlando Airport, we checked our bags in, the American customs confiscated my stove which really annoyed me and we left America! I'd made it round the world and completed my dream.
Thanks so much for all the support, to everyone who's sponsored me and everyone who's given me personal donations, to my amazing support team (Mum, Dad & Laura!) and most of all to all the incredible families who've helped me out around the world. The Orthodox Christians in Georgia, the Muslims in Tajikistan, the Tibetans in China and the Republicans in Texas as well as all the other fantastic people. I've spent nights in people’s houses all over the world, eaten amazing food, been given clothes, seen photos of USSR soldiers in front of statues of Stalin and everyone who helped me along the way made this trip possible.
This is the end of the story - I intend to write a book and do some presentations on the trip, so if you're interested, contact me. I'll put details up on my website/twitter/facebook. Any more donations would be greatly appreciated - more info at www.tombrucecycling.com.
THANKS FOR READING!!
Daytona Beach Journal Report: http://www.news-journalonline.com/news/local/flagler/2011/12/17/blokes-pedal-through-flagler-county-in-trek-across-united-states.html