Having dithered a while, I booked my flight to Auckland just two weeks before setting off. The flight was quite cheap, mainly because it was with Air China and had a New Year's Eve layover in Beijing. Tiananmen The layover was for 10 hours and Beijing has a snazzy little 72-hour visa that I beelined … Continue reading Lost in Beijing
I was pedalling along the Embankment in London the day before yesterday, I do this everyday, twice a day, on my commute from home to work and from work to home, but Tuesday was a bit different. I still felt the same usual exhilaration at the sight of the sky, the lapping flutter of the … Continue reading London to New Zealand and back
The reason for cycling in Central Asia was to see the ancient cities of the Silk Road. Baku was not particularly on my radar, I had read a lot about Turkey, Iran, the 'stans and China. Even about India. But I had somehow bypassed Georgian and Azeri history. It makes it all the more ironic … Continue reading Baku
The road to Baku, the final stretch before the Caspian. Having left the hills behind, we were now cycling on Ilham Aliyev's pet project (or so it seems to me) - a motorway joining Baku to Azerbaijan's other main roads. It headed resolutely on, with some slight bends, never-ending aside from a visible hazy end … Continue reading Pedal pushing and false starts
Alert: there is a picture towards the end of the post of a sheep being skinned. The roadside was becoming distinctly more touristic, there were more cars and little stalls by the roadside. It made for pretty pedalling. Cyril even got some free bread from one of the lady-manned stalls, she flat-out refused any payment … Continue reading Over the hills and far away
There is so much excitement in crossing a border. You feel like an explorer. Yet you’re surrounded by dozens of other people also crossing, also feeling the same (or perhaps it’s daily routine for the many Georgians who live at the border). The first border in a series of borders, each promising to be harder … Continue reading Free things
Rhys and I pedalled as slowly as possible towards Lagodekhi. We had a day to cover 30 km so turtle pace best did it... I attempted to absorb as much of the last few kilometres of Georgia as possible, trying to intimate some kind of lesson from the low houses, their ornate metallic rain gutter systems, … Continue reading Warmth
The final stretch through Georgia to the border town of Lagodekhi was again spent weaving in and out of little villages, this time in single-minded search for a bungee cord to attach the litres of water I was carrying to the back of my bike. Action Man Amund, in perfect harmony with his name, had … Continue reading And then, there were two
The first day of cycling through Georgia was spent meandering through the streets of Tbilisi, veering around surprised Ladas and front-bumper-less cars (remember that in Tbilisi you gotta simply step in front of those cars to cross the street, whether there is a crossing or not, c'mon - assert your pedestrian authority!). A convoy of four … Continue reading Cycling under the sun and sleeping under the stars
Getting to Tbilisi was a breeze, logistically speaking. I had a flight there via Istanbul on Turkish Airlines, arriving mid-afternoon ready to settle into a hostel and get cycling a couple of days later. It was tougher soul-side. Of course parents are worried, but that worry makes me anxious as it is in my power … Continue reading Uncycling days