Samarkand is essentially a city and at least for me did not quite have the charm and small town feel of Bukhara. The historic part is well preserved and is partly still in the process of being renovated. It was good to relax at Bahodir and take evening strolls in Read more…
Bukhara is a fairly compact town with a maze of back streets for getting lost in and an ample supply of UNESCO acclaimed restored buildings. At night the main pedestrian street comes alive with kids driving small electric cars, locals walking up and down and old ladies selling various trinkets. Read more…
Passing the border took just over an hour. There were many police, customs officers and other bored looking officials stood round waiting to pounce on an exotic tourist. Fortunately I crossed the border with some French guys so the officials had 2 other people who they could victimise by scrutinising Read more…
I left Mary soon after 5 and just before sunrise. The cycling was perfect with a quiet road and moderate temperatures. The UNESCO site of Merv was certainly worth visiting and as the buildings are somewhat spread out, it was ideal on a bike. At 7am there was also nobody Read more…
The trip to Turkmenistan was smooth, immigration fairly easily and the bike box turned up in perfect condition with only a few rips. The stories of being searched at the airport, asked for bribes and generally being given a hard time did not at least for me come true. As Read more…
As I have already cycled extensively in Eastern Europe and parts of Turkey and due to weather / time restraints, I decided to start the trip in Asia. Normally travelling on a UK passport is beneficial and gets you places that many other passports won’t – at least without a Read more…
Buying an air ticket to Ashgabat took longer than expected. The favoured route was via Frankfurt with Turkmenistan Airlines. This had the advantage of being the cheapest option, the best times and also direct. Unfortunately however it was impossible even after months of trying to get a price for my Read more…
For the Silk Road trip, the original aim was to carry under 20kg of luggage excluding the bike. This target proved slightly too ambitious and the final kit weighed in at 21.5kg. Each item was chosen on its functional merits and reliabilility. All items were tested and proven on previous Read more…
Given that I will be spending many hours on the bike, it was important for me to have something comfortable and of course reliable. Finding something to my taste and exact specification in a shop was simply not possible, so the bike project started with a bare frame…. The Kona Read more…