This is it! This is where our life time Journey came to its final destination. It is hard to describe our feelings and experiences as we are still processing these. It has been amazing, hard, easy, boring, incredible. It has been the greatest lesson of life in all its aspects. With this post we want to share some statistics and of course our route map which we cannot stop staring at and think: “did we just cycle THAT!?!?”
We started out in Rotterdam on the 2nd of February 2014 from there we…
- Cycled around 34.000km
- Took us 2 years, 3 months, 15 days
- Took 4 ferries to cross some waterways
- Crossed 20 or more 4000m + passes
- Cycled (parts of) the Pamir Mountains, the Tibetan Plateau and Himalaya’s
- Topped out at 4723m somewhere in China
- Cycled through Karakorum Desert and the 4th largest desert of the world, the Gobi Desert
- Traveled with temperatures ranging from +46 to -35, incl. sleeping in the tent during the night
- Have been invited in many homes by people from many different religions
- Have been eating our main staple: oatmeal and pasta, interspersed with many local meals and variations
- Hitchhiked 300km in total
- 300km with a 4WD from Tawang to Bhalukpong
- Slept 255 nights in our little house”tent” HubbaHubba
- Was invited home to people more than 199 nights
- Worn out 10 chains and 12 tires
- Ate more than 100kg of pasta and rice and more bananas then we can count
- Lost a family member
- Gained friends forever
- Got sick and ill from Giardia in Tajikistan
- Learned to say Спасибо! 謝謝! Teşekkür! баярлалаа! متشکرم! 고맙습니다!
- Rode downhill at 80km/h and uphill at 3km/h
- Longest day at 160km and shortest at 16km (guess which was the longest in time)
- Climbed more than 170.000m (19 times Mount Everest)
- Enjoyed street food and street snacks
- And this list could go on and on!
And then we got to Kathmandu: a journey of a lifetime!
Departure from Rotterdam
Arrival in Kathmandu
As we are contemplating on our return to Europe you can expect some more updates on that the coming days.
Here below is an interactive map with our route and places we have stayed.
Congratulations to both of you, amazing achievement! Hope to meet you again some day!
Wow. This is total passion and enthusiasm. Any specific reason to consider Kathmandu as the destination? Lately I’ve been reading a book from Puskar Shah from Nepal who left home in 1998 cycling around the world for 10 years. I hope one day I get to read your book as well. All the best.
Jullie reis af toe wat gevolgd. Indrukwekkend. Wat een afstand. Wat een prachtige plaatjes.
Welkom terug in Nederland.
Congratulations, what a superb achievement! And I love the statistics =)
You made it! Congratulations! Now surely a new adventure begins…
And thanks for sharing so much interesting information.
Best of luck!
An inspiration. Thoroughly enjoyed reading your blog.
Ik volg jullie nu een poos via FB. Ik ken jullie niet, en jullie mij niet. Maar wat heb ik genoten van de foto’s en verhalen op FB. Wist niet hoelang jullie al onderweg waren, nog wat de bestemming zou worden. Laat staan dat ik wist uit welk gedeelte van Nederland jullie vertrokken waren.? Maar ieder moment dat ik weer iets van jullie las genoot ik van het mooie. Of de momenten dat er een soort van bezorgdheid op kwam als ik het idee kreeg dat er mogelijk iets aan de hand zou zijn omdat ik al weer even niets gehoord had. En dat terwijl we elkaar niet kennen. Dank voor het mogen meeleven met jullie reis. Nog veel plezier en een goede reis naar Nederland. En wie weet genieten al jullie volgers nog weer eens van een andere reis van jullie. Groeten Sjoukje.
Congratulations! It was fun to follow your journey through the blog. Good luck with the transition from living on a bike to living in a city. That was the hardest part for us and many other cyclists we know. Thank you for sharing your journey.
Well done .. That is a fantastic achievement .. Do you know what you daily budget was over the length of the journey ?
Nice one guys! Amazing. Good luck with whatever comes next
Again and again : congratulations!
And what about the weight you lost… when we look at the departure picture!
Well done, guys! What a beautiful journey! <3
Telling people before starting cycling more than 2 years, 34.000 km they will say that you are crazy.
But you did it! Passing many countries, desarts, mountains, many cultures and meeting and sleeping at local people is something amazing to do. I am a bit jealous, but with wife and kids this is a journey I can not make.
I admire your journey, many reports. I’m a little curious about where you go, what will be your new home.
However, we can still say they are crazy!