IT'S A BLOG

I enjoyed a couple of very relaxed days in Bukhara and it felt great to get off the bike. The hotel that I found as I wandered the streets in the evening of the day I’d like to forget turned out to be one of my better decisions. I was treated to, once again, exceptionally warm hospitality, a huge double room and a succulent breakfast every morning – and all for the bargain price of $15! That wouldn’t even get you a bed in some European cities but out here it seems I can reall

I left the hostel in Khiva at around 09:30 and no sooner had I left the inner city than the road once again tuned to absolute shit. It's quite unbelievable how bad it was at times. Luckily I was taking a quieter route back to the highway which meant fewer cars which in turn meant I could weave across the road in order to take the smoothest line. My bike was being battered though. Continuing my cycle trip across the vastness that is Uzbekistan I was passing through the green b

Silk Road cities in Central Asia Khiva is a super small town and so it didn’t take me long at all to find the old historic part of the city. I negotiated my through the mad traffic and the completely dilapidated roads to find myself surrounded by a sea of madrassas, minarets and sun baked stone buildings all enclosed by an impressively built city wall. It was a dream to be here – to be in the midst of a genuine city along the famed Silk Road. It was stunning. It was also a li

It would have been nice to cycle together with the three guys I had met but alas we all had different plans. Jess and Tim wanted to make it to Dushanbe, 1000 km’s away, before the 20th October when the climate in the mountains would be more favourable whereas both Dave and I wanted to cycle as much as possible. With this is mind, they were going to try to hitch it with trucks all the way to Dushanbe whereas myself and Dave would try to cycle hard and fast for the remainder of

No sooner had I stepped out the other side of the border than a horde of black market money changers raced over to me. Their eye’s must have lit up at the sight of a western tourist. “Money, money. You want exchange?” Everyone was thrusting mobile phones into my face with various numbers on them. One lady, holding aloft a huge wad of Uzbek Som gave me 300,000 Som for 100 Dollars but I had been ready for this. Being the cunning cat that I am, I was never going to exchange one

After having stayed in the lovely cosmopolitan city that is Beyneu for two nights and getting, quite literally, eaten alive by the friendly resident mosquitoes, I decided it was time to tackle part two of my desert challenge. Having stocked up on enough water to drown a small kitten and enough food to see me through until I finally reach civilisation again, I headed out on my trusty stead through the not so bustling streets. Before heading across the railway lines, I picked u

Okay, just one more day I said to myself. Holed up in my cosy hotel room and knowing precisely what lay ahead of me filled me with just a hint of trepidation and fear. 500 difficult, barren and dusty km’s lay before me and that was only to the Uzbek border. It would be another 500 km’s before I would reach anything resembling a large town and the creature comforts I was now enjoying. One night in Aktau thus turned into four. ​ The days and nights would get tougher from here o

Wednesday 1st September I made it to Kazakhstan. That’s something I was never quite sure I’d hear myself saying. What an awesome feeling. I can now finally say I have arrived in Asia proper and under my own steam - somewhat. Arriving in Kazakhstan after crossing the Caspian Sea My first morning in the country, yet still on the boat, was a strange one. I was woken up at about 5 am by someone prodding my shoulder. I looked up to find a soldier and the Captain staring down at me