So, I arrived at Hohhot East train station at around 16:30. I was still operating on western China time and hadn't realized that the sun would already be so far down. I thought I had enough hours of daylight left, but instead I had to rush. I asked a porter to help me with my two huge [...]
I was nervous as I was preparing the first leg Bulgan to Altai into western Mongolia, a leg of 600km with very little supplies and people, mind I say the Gobi desert. The photos Bulgan to Altai The morning came and I was as ready as I could be with a small cold coming along. I cycled out of [...]
It was amazing! Arriving to Urumqi after cycling there all the way from the Netherlands. It was quite a huge milestone for us. But it was also a bit daunting because during the last days of the year we'd had some deep conversations about what next. The plan was clear but the feelings not so much. We [...]
Tarkshken the last town before Mongolia, I left Urumqi and Susanne on a cold morning, well all the mornings are cold at the moment. It was hard and a relief to be on the bike again. Enjoy the photos in the gallery Urumqi to Tarkshken I had enjoyed Urumqi with Susanne and we had celebrated new years there. [...]
Cycling is what we have been doing the last 11months, we are now used to the process and it has become a comfort zone of ours to cycle. We spent almost 4 months in the 'Stans' where change came in small bits. Now we have cycled to China and we have a hard time believing that we [...]
Almaty, the second city and previous capital of Kazakhstan, felt like Europe to us. Expensive Burger King, household appliances, large super markets, food courts and even proper dental care. It was nice to be in a place where we could enjoy some luxuries, although we were missing the off the beaten track feel of the places we [...]
Our legs are shaking, our fingers are numb and we are only 500 meters away from the hostel where we stayed in Bishkek. A really nice place by the way, nice and comfortable, where the communal heating was on all day. So making the step from 23 degrees inside to minus 10 outside after three weeks was [...]
Looking at the map we see a red line running from Osh to Bishkek. It is a highway and actually still the M41. We are reluctant to take this road because we prefer to avoid heavy traffic and take smaller roads where possible. At the same time we have heard that many of the smaller roads are [...]
Anticipation... Expectations... Personal opinions and the Ak-Baital Pass. Cycling the The Pamir Highway M41 is not only about having the legs but definitely the stamina, the motivation and the persistence. Altitude sickness, bad roads, good and bad stories of other cyclists and illness are all a part of it. It has been a mind blowing, interesting cultural and physical [...]
We were excited the day had come Martin was feeling better from the Giardia Lamblia infection and it was our 8 months anniversary for the journey. We had to go and get on the road out of Khorog and cycle onwards to the Wakhan valley. The Wakhan valley we had heard from many people should be a [...]