The Armenian side of the border was a chaotic shambles, but within 5 minutes of cycling I was cycling in peace and quiet. In the evening sun everything looked golden – the fields a deep yellow and the mountain peaks different shades of blue as they faded in the distance. In one village not far … More Armenia part 1: From the Georgian border to Yerevan (03/07/15-08/07/15)
Turkey had been great, but enough was enough. I was excited about travelling somewhere new and the Caucasus seemed like a perfect place to detour while waiting for Ramadan to pass. The border official took an eternity looking at my passport, calling his boss over to check things but eventually I was let through – … More Georgia: Dodging cows, cars and thunder storms (21/06/15-02/07/15)
I left Samsun just after the election results had come in at the weekend. From what most people I’d spoken to had predicted the verdict was a pleasant suprise. Very few of the folks I’d stayed with were voting for the current party AKP, (choosing main left party or HDP) and so I was happy … More Turkey part 4: Samsun to the Georgian border (10/06/15-21/06/15)
I left Ankara with a clear target – to cycle approximately 450km to Samsun (where I always intended on passing) by Saturday, five days away. Then I could get the bus back to Ankara on Sunday, try for the second time to get my Uzbekistan visa on Monday and return the same day or Tuesday. … More Turkey part 3: Ankara to Samsun (02/06/15-09/06/15)
Well rested and with a much less hair than when I arrived, I crossed the Bosphorus and began my adventure into Asia. Istanbul had been a great city for a break, but the size and busyness of it had been a shock to the system. The city’s traffic is crazy and it was a horrible … More Turkey part 2: Istanbul to Ankara (22/05/15-01/06/15)
If the border change from Bulgaria to Greece was dramatic, the crossing into Turkey was something else. Finally I was out of the easy EU borders. This crossing had a long no-man’s land, rusty barbed-wire fencing and large ‘no camera’ signs against military personnel stencils. There were soldiers around the buildings and for the first time … More Turkey Part 1: From the Greek border to Istanbul (08/05/15-22/05/15)
With my brakes working again, we crossed the Macedonian border back into Bulgaria again. Just passed the border we found a what looked like a perfect picnic spot by on old bridge over a river. But the picnic didn’t last very long – a shepherd arrived out of nowhere shouting at us to move so that … More Bulgaria & Greece: Mountain climbing (27/04/15-08/05/15)
It felt like spring had come and gone within a week. It was nearly 30 degrees when we crossed the border from Serbia into Bulgaria and I was struggling in the heat. We still had ages to go until our first stop near Vidin, and light would be running out soon so celebrations for ‘100 … More Bulgaria & Macedonia: 3 months and 15 countries (16/04/15-27/04/15)
Szeged (in the south of Hungary) was a cute town. I enjoyed having a day off there, but mostly because I was so happy to be having a break after a busy week cycling. The town had a natural charm and I spent a nice afternoon exploring the centre and buying some ‘essentials’. The cycle ride … More Romania & Serbia: Following the Danube (07/04/15-15/05/15)
I’ve been busy since my last update – cycling ten days straight around Hungary’s borders with no less than five other countries. I was looking forward to a ‘social-break’ from the Couchsurfing routine, and had treated myself to a couple of nights in a hostel in Vienna. I was looking forward to an early night … More Vienna to Szeged: Austria to Hungary via four other countries (24/03/15-06/04/15)
JKB's Bike Ride 