Murghab – Bishkek 6292km
Ethnic violence is far more destructive than any trans-national conflict. The damage it reaps both physically and mentally on people is far deeper than a war between two nations. Immediate neighbours turn on each because of their genetics and then after it’s all over have to come back and work together again. It’s never really [...]
Dushanbe – Murghab 5927km
The ‘Roof of the World’ makes the Pamir Mountains sound like heaven. Mountains have such an allure which I, and much of the world so it seems, can’t shake off. Whether the Hindu Kush, the Karakorum or simply Snowdonia, mountains emit a luster of wildness most of our world lacks today. The raw natural living [...]
Tashkent – Dushanbe 4927km
Rumours and stories are an integral part of a travellers life. When there is little to do and travellers are clustered together they tend to tell ‘their’ story. Some are fascinating some are tedious and some end up being ridiculous. A substantial part of these rumours concern visas and border crossings and the horror stories [...]
Bukhara – Tashkent 4407km
This trip for me has a couple of highlights both in terms of landscapes and landmarks; the Cappadoccia, the Pamirs and Tien Shan. Damascus, Esphahan and Samarqand. They so far have lived upto their name. So after a couple of days in Bukhara, a sleepy town with numerous madrassas and mosques I had even higher [...]
Mashad – Bukhara 3610km
Crossing borders can sometimes be a real anti-climax for me, especially in Europe. I expect that by entering a new country you will be entering a new culture. This was definately the case entering Turkmenistan. We cycled from Mashad to the border in three days, in which time I saw England lose to Germany in [...]
Shiraz – Mashhad 3082km
The thought of riding through a desert two years ago would have sounded ludicrous to me. The idea that I could get some kind of thrill and enjoyment from such a crazy past time would have baffled me and probably still does to many people. But I had been looking forward to getting back on [...]
Tehran – Shiraz 2777km
There are many emotions on this trip I think I can cope with and overcome; loneliness, exhaustion and boredom. But I have realised over the last couple of weeks I’m not very good with helplessness. Being a typical man in that I like to be in control, I like to be responsible for my own [...]
Dogubayazit – Tehran 2773km
Preconceptions often shroud our first experiences of something new. We allow our prejudice and inexperienced opinion to influence how we approach and receive a new place, person or situation. For me Iran was definitely was one of these situations. I had obviously heard many stories of how renowned the Iranians for their hospitality and generousity. [...]
Al Qamishli – Dogubayazit 2199km
“Its too steep their sir” and “Oh no, my friend that area is too cold now” and “You can’t travel on that road, their are too many soldiers, you will die”. Whilst there may have been a vain of truth in all the possible reasons why I shouldn’t cycle through Kurdistan along the D400 I [...]