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 East. And the girl in me is rather enjoying having a choice of clothes to put on in the morning, conditioner as well as shampoo [...]

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Kolyma Highway Photos – Winter Biking – 2000km Yakutsk to Magadan

Well, there are many stories to tell from the last couple of months. The 2000km from Yakutsk to Magadan was a fantastic ride, made all the more memorable by the incredibly kind, generous, hospitable people I met along the way. My journal is full! But this blog post is not for telling those stories with [...]

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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 back to the last week. It seems a lot has happened. Firstly I cycled to Lake Baikal – it took five days. A bit longer [...]

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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. But I was quite happy just pootling along. No particular rush. I thought again how this countryside reminded me...
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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 to be seen. There were simply too many houses and people from the main road to Khiva. Nothing like the desert the day before. Besides, [...]

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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 of town and camping, I found a place to stay. From here I was going to start a mini tour of the crumbling ruins of [...]

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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, connecting China with the East. Later it became a centre of learning for Islam. In 1220, Chinggis Khan swept through and...
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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 pressed my face to the window and watched my breath steam up the glass. Beyond, snow was falling gently and the world outside was all [...]

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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 were too good to spend indoors. You never know when the winds will change and blow a dastardly-blizzardy-storm your way. When I finally decided I [...]

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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 end – unfit after a 6-week break while horse-riding, I knew the legs would suffer with the endless uphill towards the Pamir Mountains,...
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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 sun shines and summer still smiles. The ride over and down the Chil-Bel Pass was steep. We had company. Many families were moving back to [...]

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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. It took some further searching to find fresh enough water that Sarala would actually drink. Who’d have thought a horse could be so fussy. I [...]

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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 camping in the hills besides rivers and a chance to see all the little details that you simply fly by on a bike. It’s good [...]

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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 doesn’t make any demands except for grass. But he does that often, and noisily....
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