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No.18 – 1 year on the road – the highlights of the trip

May 15, 2014 | Asia, Blog

 

 



Breakdowns:

exchanged the rear wheel
saddle chewed to pieces by a stupid dog
speedometer
only 5 punctures !!!!!
handle bar grip broke after a crash
3 chains
3 torn gear shift cables
2 mirrors replaced
3 tail lights (2 were stolen)
rear tyre replaced

Weather:

rainy days: 54
windy days: too many !!!
sunny days: all others
snowy days: 10
coldest temperature on the bike -6, in the night – 15
hottest temperature +45

Highest passes:

 

the prettiest camp spots…

 

the weirdest…..

accomodation:

tent: 120
private: 162
nights I paid for: 70
others: 13


Happy moments:


favourite countries so far:

Oman, Iran, Georgia, Albania, Ukraine


uncountable often:

invitations to food, for tea, for accomodation

Favourite questions people ask:

Are you alone?
Where are you from?
Where are you going?
Do you like my country?
Are you married?
Do you have kids?
How old are you?

Days when I found the trip fantastic:

A great many !!!

Days when I found this trip a disaster:

Several !!!

Negative experiences:

– 1 attack by 2 motorbike riders armed with a knife – asking for money (Turkey)
– Beeing chased with threat of violence from 4 motorbike riders (Turkey)
– kids throwing stones (Turkey)
– aggressive dogs (Turkey, Greece)
– a strong request for sex (Iran)
– quite a few blind invitations for sex (Czech Republic, Georgia, UAE, Turkey)
– a group of men observing me in the middle of the night through the open window,
as well as knocking on the door “open the door”….spooky…but at the end nothing
happend….it was just the police asking for my passport (Uzbekistan)



Things I managed to damage:

– 3 pants, T-Shirts
– holes in my Ortlieb panniers
– holes in my tent
– 3 scratched camera lenses (a well known problem of the Canon G15)
– MP3 Player
– already not waterproof rain gear

and a few other things….


Things which are really handy:

– my buisness cards with pictures, I give them away as a thank you
– a translated letter with a short introduction about myself when asking for shelter
– picture book – a language everyone can understand
– Schwalbe tyre

What I have learned:

– an extrem amount…..
– sometimes less is more
– most of the people are very friendly
– the most dangerous thing on this trip is the traffic



Being sick:

1x food poisoning (Turkey)
1x diarrhea (Oman)
1x cold (Georgia)


Main food:

Rice
Bread
Water
Tea

Best roads:

Germany, hahaha what a wonder 🙂

Worst roads:

Ukraine
Turkmenistan

The most traffic:

Iran


Boring countries:

Kosovo
United Arab Emirates

Best food:

Turkey
Georgia
Oman (the Indian food)
Uzbekistan


The best hospitality:

Iran


Visa’s required so far:

Iran 2x
Oman
Turkmenistan
Uzbekistan

The most exhausting countries:

Iran
Turkey

Highlights:

Culture:

Iran
– Emam Hosseins Memorial Day
– Yazd + surroundings (Nain, Meybod, Abarkuh)
– Qom (Fatimeh Memorial Day)

Poland

Wooden churches


Oman

– Oase Al Hamra
– stock market in Nizwa


Highlights landscape:

Cappadocia (Turkey)
Little Caucasus (Georgia)
The track around Theth (Albania)
Road Durmitor N.P. to Pivsko Canyon (Montenegro)
Wadi Al Khabbar (Oman)
Wadi Al Nakhur (Oman)
Road Yukarisivri to Tuerkgoezu (North-East Turkey)
Road border Armenia to Jolfa (Iran)
Road M41 border Uzbekistan to Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan)

What I wouldn’t do anymore:

– Cycling through Turkey, in my opinion it is not safe for a solo female cyclist
– Cycling through Iran – there is too much traffic

What I don’t like at all:

– Wind
– traffic
– visa hassle
– to answer the same questions over and over again

What I enjoy most:

– The freedom
– Wild camping
– Campfire
– Meeting friendly people
– Cycling off-road


Other cyclist met on the road:

Couples:

1 French Tandem couple (Montenegro)
1 Dutch couple (Czech Republic)
1 Kiwi cuple (Turkey)
1 French +1 Chinese (Turkey)
1 Portuguese couple (Iran)

Single Men:

2 Spaniards (Albania, Uzbekistan)
2 German (Oman, Montenegro)
1 Australian (Romania)
1 Kiwi (Montenegro)
1 Pole (Montenegro)
1 French (Kyrgyzstan)

Single female cyclist:

0

2 Men or more:

2 Swiss (Turkey)
2 Spanish (Iran)
3 Austrian (Poland)
3 Polish (Romania)
2 Polish (Ukraine)
2 Koreans (Romania)
2 Dutch (Bulgaria)

2 woman or more:

2 French (Kyrgyzstan)

Cyclist I met twice:

1 Spanish guy (Turkey, Iran)
1 Dutch couple (Iran, Uzbekistan)


The words I heard most:

– Salam (Hallo – from Turkey to Kyrgystan
– Chai (Tea)
– soguk (cold – Turkey)
– sarde (cold – Farsi)


The best moments:

– Candle light dinner in a yurt in Albania
– Memorial day Emam Hossein im Iran
– Camping in Wadi Nakhbar in Oman

and many many others….

The saddest moment:

Saying good bye at home

The most exciting moment:

When I crossed the border from Armenia to Iran. I don’t remember ever being more nervous.

 


The funniest moment:

When there was a naked, pissed English bloke standing next to my bed in a hostel, asking if I would like to have some fun.


The most annoying moment:

When the Iranian tourist police took me and my bike and drove me away from where I wanted to be.

Let’s see when I will reach Australia……….
But I am not sure if this will be the end of the trip…???
Inshallah…..

6 Comments

  1. Without a doubt one of the best cycling touring blogs I’ve come across, very inspiring. Can’t wait to read through the rest of the blog posts! It’s really interesting to see how many times you get invited into people’s houses. I’ve only cycled around Europe and Australasia so far, but as a 23 year old guy, the idea of getting invitied in so freely is really strange to me!

    I was wondering if you plan your route before entering the next country? I’ve only been on a few short tours before (~2000km) and planned my route in detail, but can imagine it’s a lot harder in more exotic countries with less access to maps!

    Also, did you have much internet access during the trip? I’d be a bit anxious about finding visa information etc without it.

    Reply
    • Hi Matt, thanks very much for your big compliment!
      Yes being a woman has advantages 🙂

      I no longer plan any routes in detail. I usually start thinking where I am going when I enter a new country or a new area of the country I am travelling at the moment. I usually stay away from cities and big roads…..

      Last big trip I didn’t have a phone with me, only a laptop, so I needed to wait for free WIFI which could have been easily a week or more – for my African trip a neighbour gave me her old smart phone so now I can but SIM Cards for each country I am travelling in.

      There is far more internet than you might think….

      Cheers Heike

      Reply
  2. where are you from ?

    oops.
    very nice post, informative, inspiring. I will run to african pages.
    You are a real free spirit.

    Reply
      • Hmm, this one hit the ground.
        Yes, I know, thanks for your patience. “to answer the same questions over and over again”.
        Happy quarantine 🙂

        Reply

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

 

6 Comments

  1. Without a doubt one of the best cycling touring blogs I’ve come across, very inspiring. Can’t wait to read through the rest of the blog posts! It’s really interesting to see how many times you get invited into people’s houses. I’ve only cycled around Europe and Australasia so far, but as a 23 year old guy, the idea of getting invitied in so freely is really strange to me!

    I was wondering if you plan your route before entering the next country? I’ve only been on a few short tours before (~2000km) and planned my route in detail, but can imagine it’s a lot harder in more exotic countries with less access to maps!

    Also, did you have much internet access during the trip? I’d be a bit anxious about finding visa information etc without it.

    Reply
    • Hi Matt, thanks very much for your big compliment!
      Yes being a woman has advantages 🙂

      I no longer plan any routes in detail. I usually start thinking where I am going when I enter a new country or a new area of the country I am travelling at the moment. I usually stay away from cities and big roads…..

      Last big trip I didn’t have a phone with me, only a laptop, so I needed to wait for free WIFI which could have been easily a week or more – for my African trip a neighbour gave me her old smart phone so now I can but SIM Cards for each country I am travelling in.

      There is far more internet than you might think….

      Cheers Heike

      Reply
  2. where are you from ?

    oops.
    very nice post, informative, inspiring. I will run to african pages.
    You are a real free spirit.

    Reply
      • Hmm, this one hit the ground.
        Yes, I know, thanks for your patience. “to answer the same questions over and over again”.
        Happy quarantine 🙂

        Reply

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Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

 

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