Cycle touring Switzerland

IT'S A BLOG

Through Bulgaria. I finally escaped the dogs of Romania!

Jun 30, 2016
9 min

Through Bulgaria. I finally escaped the dogs of Romania!

This seems like a lifetime ago but I may as well get it written up. I finished my last post by revealing that I had found the most perfect spot to camp – overlooking the Danube with the whole of Romania lay out in front of me like a giant chessboard. I had called it check mate. I had bloody won! Cycle touring through Bulgaria - I just wished my camera wasn't dead! I woke the next morning to a stunning sunrise on my right and I was just in super high spirits. With only one m

Romania and following the Danube

Jun 25, 2016
8 min

Romania and following the Danube

I cycled south west today, closing in on the Serbian border. It was a hard climb in the morning but I was afforded really nice views at the top, looking over to Serbia in the distance. In the first village I came too, I stopped beforehand to pick up a stick I could use for the dogs. As I approached tentatively, I couldn’t hear any barking and thankfully all was silent. This is the way I like it. I knew I had a huge climb ahead of me as the terrain looked really mountainous on

Continuing through the backroads of Romania

Jun 23, 2016
6 min

Continuing through the backroads of Romania

I’m still alive. Continuing through Romania. Can I do it? Yes you can Jamie! Cycle man! After I set off, it was a short ride through the forest where I was constantly harassed and attacked by midgets or sandfly’s or whatever you call them. I remember reading a book by Bill Bryson where he has an episode in Australia with them and I can tell you they are just as terrible as he makes out. Luckily, I was on a bike and so I was able to get rid of them pretty sharply. Whenever I s

Romania. I don't want to die today

Jun 22, 2016
8 min

Romania. I don't want to die today

My mood had changed massively now but this was not to last as, unbeknownst to me, Romania has some of the most reckless drivers I have ever had the misfortune to share a road with. Cycle touring through Romania - and I thought this would be the easy part After 10km’s I came to my first Romanian town. There were money changing shops everywhere and people sat around alongside the road doing, well, not very much it seemed. I put this down to the fact that it was a Friday afterno

Budapest to Romania

Jun 21, 2016
5 min

Budapest to Romania

I got kicked out of my friends place at 07:00 as he had the landlord coming over to sort out the electricity. I didn’t mind though as I had quite a mammoth task ahead of me having over 1500 km’s to cycle and had only 15 days now to do it in. If I could keep to my 100 km’s per day then I could definitely do it but If I could somehow cycle as much as possible through Hungary where it was flat, and then over the coming days, chip away at it by doing an extra 10 km’s here and 15

Some photos from Budapest

Jun 15, 2016
1 min

Some photos from Budapest

I need to Leave Budapest as I've been here six days. So to sum up: I've eaten lots of good Hungarian food. Spent a great time with my friend Laszlo from Amsterdam. Met some great people. Bought a map of Bulgaria. Ate Kumara fries. Seen a beautiful city Watched some football and some Hungarian rock. Probably drank far too much beer. But sorted my bike and head out. Spent two nights at my friends sitting around by candle light becasue the electricity has been cut off

Slovakia to Budapest. Tough times in the Tatras but a shot of Pálinka awaits!

Jun 13, 2016
9 min

Slovakia to Budapest. Tough times in the Tatras but a shot of Pálinka awaits!

With that massive country of Poland now behind me, new challenges and interesting places would be unleashed. My aim was to follow the roads south west and around the highest passes of the Tatras mountains to the east which would help me stay on course for arriving in Budapest on the 11th. Time is of the essence now as I have already booked my accommodation in Istanbul and thus it is imperative that I arrive on time. Cycling through Slovakia - what a lush, green and beautiful

Krakow to Slovakia

Jun 11, 2016
3 min

Krakow to Slovakia

With my bike packed up and a rear puncture fixed, I was on my way by 11:00 and found the road I needed to take easily enough. It felt good to be back on the bike after three days. I knew there were some difficult days ahead but I also knew difficult times breed great views and this is what I was looking forward too. A new country helps too. As it happens, I actually missed the turn off I wanted to take, realising only a while later. I carried on anyway east out of the city an

Nights out in Kraków but remembering to visit Auschwitz. Onto Slovakia!

Jun 5, 2016
3 min

Nights out in Kraków but remembering to visit Auschwitz. Onto Slovakia!

Well you can’t really argue with the fact that Kraków is probably one of the most beautiful cities in Europe. It's absolutely stunning . The very first time you enter its magnificent central square, you'll most certainly be blown away – even when including the thousands upon thousands of tourists that come with the view. Indeed, this is probably the least enjoyable aspect when visiting any famous city or town for the first time; the sheer abundance of tourist orientated crap

Next stop - Kraków. Thunderstorms and loosing things.

Jun 3, 2016
10 min

Next stop - Kraków. Thunderstorms and loosing things.

I had only planned to stay in Warsaw for one day. As it happened, I ended up staying for three as the city, despite being comprehensibly flattened during the Second World War has picked itself up, dusted itself off, restored the old town to its former glory and is now a buzzing metropolis with some very crazy and cool architecture, cafes and street life. I liked it very much. Back on the road - cycle touring Eastern Europe I was on my way again however after the third night a