There’s always a fine line between keeping the momentum of the trip going to seek out the next chapter of the adventure and knowing when it’s time to stop and rest. Kirsty will tell you that I have no idea where this line is drawn, and she’s probably right. 15th August – 16th September 2015 …
Flying has some advantages as a form of transport over traveling by bike. It’s quicker for one, 100’s of km pass by in minutes and hours instead of days and weeks. It’s certainly less physically demanding with the stairs up to the plane being the hardest climb you’re likely to encounter. The seats are generally …
Kyrgyzstan feels different to the other Central Asian countries we’ve ridden through. It’s surprisingly better off, evident in the size of the houses, the types of cars and the quality of the (main) road surface. The clothes people wear and the music we hear are more western influenced; we’re much more likely to see girls …
Anyone remember The Adventure Fairy? Well in Kyrgyzstan she was back with a vengeance. After a half day and a full night sleeping in Sary Tash Kirsty feels much better and I’ve got a tiny bit more energy so we decide to continue. After so many days at high altitude and several nights camping above …
Before we left England a common question was “Which bit of the trip are you most looking forward to?”. It’ll be interesting if our answers are the same as “Which bit of the trip did you most enjoy?” when this is all over. Picking a single one is almost impossible but featuring high on the …
August the 16th 2014 seems a long time ago now, and we’ve covered nearly 18,000km since our starting point at Roll for the Soul in Bristol. The last 12 months have been quite the ride! It was a tricky task (too tricky to pick just one for some months) but here are a selection of …
5th to 16th June 2015 The blog has become very much neglected over the last few months but it’s not from lack of anything to write about (shesnottypingontheback)! The big Catch Up starts here with our exit from the capital of Tajikistan and heading towards the Pamir region, a stretch that seems a long time …
24th May to 5th June 2015 Kirsty was always very proud of her attendance record at her former place of work. In the 14 years she was there the number of days off that she took due to sickness could be counted on one hand. One of those was partly my fault after taking her …
It’s compulsory for any blog about a journey to Samarkand to include this poem, so here it is: We travel not for trafficking alone;By hotter winds our fiery hearts are fanned:For lust of knowing what should not be knownWe take the Golden Road to Samarkand. By James Elroy Flecker. Full version here. From Nukus we …
To our left the view is 90% sky with the ground so flat you could set a spirit level on it. There’s nothing but sand and small shrubs stretching out to the horizon. Looking to the right it’s a mirror image. Up ahead the tarmac is arrow straight but there’s supposed to be a slight …