A hitching hiking break

Four months, 8500km, and four border refusals later,
I needed a little time away from Cindy,...

After bumping into Stevo, a jolly Austrian who was hitchhiking through Asia, I quickly accepted his invite to hitch up into the Tajik fan mountains and walk until we either found something worth walking for or got lost.

The Ups and Downs of Tajikistan

Me and the guys head in completely opposite directions,
 so I can get a taste for Tajikistan...The plan was to meet back up and just over 10 days in Kyrgyzstan. But we all know what Central Asia thinks of plans...

This trip has had its fair dish up of breathtaking beauty,..
of heart wrenching generosity...of euphoric happiness and of sitting back in unbelievable awe as the building blocks of life pile down and land in perfect unison,....
"Everything always works out" I say...

But sometimes...
Apparently....
When you make "plans" in Central Asia...
You get this....

You just never know whats gona happen

Traveling creates a readily open minded attitude to embrace almost every situation.
As time passes you begin to become accustomed to events that would have
 otherwise thrown you back on ass in shock and awe.
 Mysterious moments full of strange and wonderful synergy bring you
 closer to believing that everything will always work out and the spontaneity
 of life never catches you off guard.

And then there are times when you just look around puzzled,
 quietly chuckling to yourself as you ask

 " What the f**k?"

20 - On to silk cities

This trip was never really intended to be about sightseeing,..
But, in Uzbekistan there is pretty much only one main road running through the whole country.
This same road has been used for thousands of years, and all along this road still
stand some of the most beautiful and best preserved silk cities anywhere on the ancient
 silk road running from China to Europe.

So of course we got our Aladdin pants on, and spent a good few days, jumping rooftops,
climbing mud walls,and just admiring the two and a half thousand year old
mud buildings that still stand to this day!

Im not alone out here!!!

Ahead of me were three nights camping at the less than appealing border between
Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, followed by a 400km stretch of long, straight,
road through the karakum desert with only two water stops along way.

and that was only to reach the first town of a such a size that it
 would be mentioned in Google-maps.

This would be my hardest and most famously desolate desert stretch to date...

And just my mind begins to come to terms with the
long lonesome ordeal ahead this happens!
             .            

Breaking my own records

Through most of this journey there has always 

been one aspect of the day working against me. 

Be it the howling headwind, the seemingly endless rolling hills, 

the sun beating heat, the bike breaking, the wild people 

or even just the trap of my own mind.

But for a two deliciously chompable days in Kazakhstan things were as close to

 perfect as a man cycling through the desert could ever ask for!
And on these days,...

YOU GO FOR IT!!!

Kazakhstan - The Beginning of a new continent

In Russia people told me over and over
"Kazakhstan is not so interesting, Its just like Russia"

Five minutes through the border and the houses were made of mud,
 the roads were made of almost nothing at all, the trees were pretty much none existent,
and the people...well there is not a compliment I cant give these people!!

Welcome to Asia!!
  

A whole lota water before a whole lota desert

The last push before the most important bench mark yet, HALF WAY!

Many people ask me on this journey " How did you train to prepare yourself for such a trip?"
Well, actually the first day I had been on a bicycle in the last 4 years, 

apart from to pick it up from Oxford, was to leave!

For me...This was my training! 5000kms through Europe.
The perfect way to prepare for an ever more difficult 5000kms through Asia!

Its gets tough in Russia

As The hills roll on and on into the distance, the wind picks up from the east and the heat climbs upwards of 45 degrees Celsius. My head beats in the mid-day sun and my legs fall numb with exhaustion and dehydration from salt loss. Each time I dismount the bike I nearly collapse, knees shaking from the prolonged push, hour after hour, ONWARDS!!!!

Welcome to The Steppe, Welcome to Russia!!

Going to war on a bicycle

" You know there is war?"
 A staunch, well armed Ukrainian military guard asked me with a face of confusion and a slight sarcasm in his voice as the "Phuumph" of shells and "dudududu" of Kalashnikov's rattled away in a field about
500 metres to our side .

I was about 2kms from the border with Russia, and the after smoothly crossing about
200kms of Eastern Ukraines current red zone, the whole situation was rather surreal to me. 

There was no panic! No fear! Just an aura of calm confusion...

Now I'll tell you a little more about the process I went through to end up here...

It had been playing on my mind for months which route to take through East Ukraine.
Even when I but all forgot where i was heading i was constantly reminded! The further East I went  the more obsessed with the route people became!

So as I entered Ukraine I began to message people from all over the Eastern region,
using couch-surfing, Facebook and friends of friends. I needed people who were actually
there to give me an idea of what was up ahead...

And so I started to draw a green line between all the red flags, and about a week before
setting out east my route was set. I would be heading up to Kharkov in the north and then down to the one person in Lugansk that replied to my message with a moderately positive response, something along the lines of "there are bombings, but if you want an adventurous experience you can stay with me" 

So I thought,..Sure, why not!! and off I went towards Kharkov...

By the time I arrived in Kharkov, Alex, my one positive contact in the city of Lugansk, had messaged me saying he was no longer there, the bombing's started to come almost continuously and he was now seeking refuge in Russia. At the bottom of the page he stated in capitals...

"DO NOT GO TO LUGANSK"

and i didn't! I choose without at least a place to stay going to currently the
most bombed city in world wasn't a good idea and opted better to stick to the small towns further north.

and this is what happened...

One last Ukrainian party

One last stint of Fun, partys, dancing and just
 enjoying before heading on to a war zone...

Sorry, but my camera died somewhere in the
 middle of this 500kms...

Chernobyl

I think even the least informed person will know at least
 one thing about Ukraine..
Chernobyl!!!

So after obtaining my ridiculously expensive permission to visit the site of the biggest nuclear disaster ever,

 I booked a guide and we headed two hours north from Kiev to clear the military check points, 

visit one of the last habitants of the area, enter crumbling schools, Secret soviet radars, gyms, hospitals,

 and fairgrounds and even get within a few hundred metres of the still very unstable, 

reactor 4, for what I can only describe as one
of the most unique tours of my life!

Heres to half my lifes dose of radiation...

Eastwards to Kiev

Things are starting to get eastwards...
The people, the potholed roads, the soviet architecture, and  the beetroot filled soups...But some things on this first 500 km through the biggest country in Europe were not to be expected!

Apologies in advance for how many times i say Ukraine...

Trying to get to Ukraine

Sending Poland off with a bang, my last day turned into four and
 every one of them was as incredible as the last!!!

If only my ticket to the world, my passport, would come and set me free again!!

What to do with a few spare days in Poland?

My Uzbekistan and Tajikistan visas have taken longer to process than expected so

 I have had quite a few days extra in Poland...
At first I was thinking, "what can I do while I wait?"
But, Poland has once again provided!

Incredible, happy, fun, generous, slightly crazy and most of all, up for it, people!!!

Thankyou all!!! Good times well spent!!!

Surfing my way through Poland

Surfing in Poland? Well, couchsurfing..

Couchsurfing is an online database of millions of people from all around the world who offer to share either their time, their guidance, their spare room or obviously, their couch for you to stay on...
These people are usually travelers them selves, or have dreams of traveling and want to offer some of the same hospitality they recieved or hope to recieve in their journeys...

For me its the perfect way to experience a place with its local culture, language,
and food through the local people...
and best of all...

ITS FREE!!!!

(Watch in HD)

Me, Myself and Cindy

People come and people go...
The passengers get on when they like and then get off when like,
 but Me, Myself and Cindy continue...

Through Poland, through the heat, the headwinds, the storms and the long silent periods with ourself!

An Argentinian Adventure

As Cindy's first passenger leaves us, the second appears!

How sad it was to see Ben go, he will be greatly missed by both me and cindy, but,..
the journey will go "onwards" and more passangers will continue to bring there pazazz ,
 building together a unique journey of a lifetime!

Introducing...passenger No.2 - Andrea!

Bienvenidos

Berlin - the worst and the best place to rest a torn tendon!

Oh Berlin!!

How i love you!

This was what turned out to be one week, to rest Bens knackered legs, and my torn knee tendon..
But with hours and hours of walking, acrobatics, climbing towers, partys, exploring, 3D printing, pornstars, boomerang, juggling, dancing, late nights, early mornings, and sooo much more walking..it was in some ways not the most relaxing rest we could have taken...

Thankyou again to everyone that made this such a beautiful time!

Onwards to Berlin

Ahhh Ben!!
The determination of one guys mission to get to Berlin!
Now this is really the advantage of having a tandem...


 

A few slight Hickups

Along the way I always knew there would be a few problems.
The odd bike issue, weather issue, maybe even a little me issue, but in these couple
of days it just seemed to come all at once!



Two Bens on a Bike

The joys of having a super elongated bike with a spare seat is that anyone
willing, can join me on this adventure...

Benjamin Froggett is the first to take up the offer, and he did so in about 5 minutes!
Just like me, he's not a cyclist, has no experience either cycle touring or tandem riding, hasn't trained, and basically, didn't even know me until he came out here and just jumped in face first.

We met through a mutual friend about a week before i left and after hearing my plans Ben almost immediately turned to me and said "give me a week, I'll quite my job and meet you in Holland".

Tandem on...

France to Boompas

So to make this whole trip easier for my mind to handle, I'll be breaking it up into sections, 

and those sections into stages, and those stages into days,

 and then into teeny tiny little bite sized bits

 I can chew on day to day!

The first real section of this trip ends in Holland, in a city in the 

south-west called Eindhoven. This is for two reasons...

One, i will pick up my first tandem passenger there! 

and two, we will all meet at a good, slightly crazy dutch friend of mines house, Boompa!

So here you go...
From landing in France to Boompas house in Holland...

Enjoy...(in HD of course)

Onwards To India

1 month to go,

 2 weeks to go,

 7 days, 5 days,

 3 days, 2 days, and 1 day to go,

 and then wakey wakey!

Its time to fill your water bottles, say bye and head out of the door for one final time...

But then, your sick, vomiting and cant eat...

This it how it all begins...

(watch in HD)