One year on the bicycle. Blimey. Where do I begin? I normally start these blogs with a picture of the route being discussed in the post, so I’ll do the same here. Below is the line I’ve cycled over the last 12 months. Would you like some stats? Distance: 19,326km Countries visited: 27 Days cycled: … More One Year On The Bicycle: A Retrospect (16/01/15-16/01/16)
Langmusi was geared towards tourists, but clearly not receiving any at this time of year. There were a whole bunch of hostels in the village but every single one was closed. I haggled an open hotel room for less than a quarter of their ‘rack rate’ but it still wasn’t as a cheap as a … More China Part 4: Most Wanted in Chengdu (Langmusi to Chengdu 19/12/15-02/01/16)
This blog begins by closing the cliffhanger I left the last one on. I returned to the PSB office in Jiayuguan to find my visa extension ready to go. I was annoyed I’d lost another day waiting for it but thrilled to find it was indeed 30 days commencing from collection date. Before giving it … More China Part 3: Tasting Tibet (Jiayuguan to Langmusi 04/12/15-18/12/15)
China is a world of opposites. The culture, the landscapes, the people… everything. Even while I’m cycling through the desert, snow-capped mountains loom over me. The friendliest people are right next to the most unhelpful in the world. The Han-Chinese natter on their new smartphones while the local Uighur people drive rusty old carts past … More China Part 2: Escaping the Gobi desert at The Great Wall (Turpan to Jiayuguan 18/11/15-04/12/15)
I was finally given my Kazakhstan exit stamp and I cycled over to China along with Bertrand the Frenchman and the Aussies Sarah & Scott (who I’d cycled across Kazakhstan with). The no-man’s-land was a pointless 7km that snaked around in a strange loop before dropping us back just a stone’s throw from where we’d started. On … More China Part 1: Welcome to the Middle Kingdom (Kazakh border to Turpan 06/11/15-17/11/15)
From Kyrgyztan’s capital Bishkek it was only a 25km ride to the border. I met up with the Frenchman Bertrand (who I’d cycled with in Tajikistan) and we headed over to Kazakhstan together. The border was a total shambles. I’ve come to expect nothing less from Central Asia’s border crossings, but the last couple I’ve … More Kazakhstan: Searching for Borat (26/10/15-05/11/15)
Between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan there’s a long 20km of no-man’s-land. Unsuprisingly there’s not much going on in there but one family, it turned out, had a tea house right in the middle. It was getting late in the day when I exited Tajikistan and I was over the moon to find some civilisation. After struggling … More Kyrgyzstan: Meeting the willy snatcher and wearing strange hats (02/10/15-26/10/15)
From Khorog you have a couple of choices regarding which road to take. The main Pamir Highway (M41) leads up into the mountains, while a southern route continues to follow the Afghan border as the Wakhan corridor narrows. Recently there was only one choice, as the M41 was closed due to big landslides a couple … More Tajikistan Part 2: The Pamir Highway (22/09/15-01/07/15 Khorog to Kyrgyzstan)
After my thorough questioning by the Iranian border staff, I cycled over to Turkmenistan. They didn’t seem to care that (having now switched back to my UK passport), it looked like I’d just magically arrived at the border with not a single other stamp in my passport. They had many more important things to do… Like … More Turkmenistan: The Desert Dash (14/08/15-18/08/15)
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)
JKB's Bike Ride 