St Petersburg – The Urban Side – Photos
I’m now back in the UK. Again. It’s wonderful with the warm sun and green fields, leafy trees and chirping birds. What a contrast to Magadan in the Russian Far…
Biking to Lake Baikal and Olkhon Island
Just over a week has passed since leaving Irkutsk… and now I’m back. Briefly. Tomorrow I take a train to Neriyungri to begin the very cold cycle to Yakutsk. But…
Home and the things we love and miss
Each time I return home from an extended time abroad, I am engulfed with a mixture of emotions and impressions. And each time it is different. Last time, it was…
In Search of the Aral Sea – From Khiva to Moynaq, Uzbekistan
Rather than retrace the direct route to the main road via Urgench, cycled along the smaller roads for a short cut towards Nukus. Riding through small towns and farmland. Uninspiring.…
Photos of Khiva
I pushed on towards Khiva, rather than camp – it would have been the crap kind of camping. Where you have to hide and make no noise and try not…
Elliq Qala – A tour of the 50 Fortresses (well, 6 to be exact)
Because it had taken three hours for the taxi driver to find 3 other passengers, it was well after dark when I arrived in Tortkul. So rather than cycling out…
Photos of Bukhara
After Samarkand, came Bukhara. On the route I’m cycling west, at least. It was the same for those merchants from the East trading along the Silk Road so many centuries…
Photos of Samarkand
Samarkand was founded around 700BC by the Sogdians. It became one of the greatest cities in the world at the time due to it’s central location on the Silk Road,…
The Golden Road to Samarkand
Time is flying by. I have so much I could write about, but too little time to do it justice. That has been the trouble with this trip… not enough…
Get On With It – Getting to Dushanbe and Visa Woes
So this was the plan… cycle through the Pamirs and on to Dushanbe, pick up my Uzbek visa and be on my way to Uzbekistan to see the Silk Road…
Riding the Pamir Highway – The Wakhan Valley – from Langar to Khorog
It was a struggle leaving Langar. After a night in a bed (=mattress on floor), I was more tired than usual. Not much energy either (soup and bread for dinner…
Riding the Pamir Highway – Into Wakhan Valley – Murghab to Langar
I woke up in my dim unlit room in Murghab, went to the window and pulled back the curtains. White light blinded me. I blinked and rubbed my eyes and…
Riding the Pamir Highway – The Cold Way – Sary Tash to Murghab
My legs and busting lungs screamed for a day off in Sary Tash (that’s what you get when you sit on a horse for a month). But the clear skies…
Osh and Up to the Roof of the World in Photos
Having lingered long enough in Bishkek while arranging onward visas, I took a bus straight to Osh. From there, it would be back on the bike. In at the deep…
Horse-Riding Kyrgyzstan – Part 4 Photos Song Kul to Sale of Sarala
After a couple of days rest at Song Kul, it was time to get back in the saddle and leave this chilly, windy plateau. Return to the valley where the…
Horse-Riding Kyrgyzstan – Part 3 Photos from Family Stay at Song Kul
It had been a long day to reach Song Kul. As soon as I found some puddles of water in the dried-up riverbeds, we stopped to camp for the night.…
Horse-Riding Kyrgyzstan – Part 2 Photos of Naryn to Song Kul Lake
There is so much to tell from the last month horse-riding here. It has been a refreshing change to travel at a(n even) slower speed. It means more time spent…
Horse-Riding Kyrgyzstan – Part 1 Photo Preview
For those who didn’t know, I’ve temporarily left the bike in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan’s capital. And I have bought a horse. He’s called Sarala. He’s a very cool, chilled-out dude who…
Russian Altai part 2 – Photos of Chulyshman Gorge and Lake Teletskoe
I finally met someone who likes all the off-the-beaten-track beaten tracks and mud and dirt and gravel… and it was fortunate I met him where I did. A local family…
Russian Altai – Photos of The Chuysky Trakt
The next proper blog post will have to wait. I have the time to write, whiling away the hours until tonight’s train to Novosibirsk from here in Biysk. But unable…