Twisting Spokes

About Twisting Spokes

Martin and Susanne are the crazy cyclists behind TwistingSpokes. We enjoy taking you along on our adventure while we are traveling by bicycle from the Netherlands to Nepal. What occupies us while cycling are the interactions with people on the road, culture, scenery and meaningful encounters. You can read more about us on our About page or on G+

North-east Iran: a jungle and desert route

By |2019-08-15T10:03:16+02:00 18th August, 2014|Categories: Heat and desert, Hospitality, Iran, North Eastern Iran|Tags: , , |

In Iran we are really heading east. The route out of Tehran goes straight in the direction we are heading. We decided to take the longer North-east Iran route to Mashhad so we could avoid cycling only in the desert and heading to the apparently more humid and green Caspian Sea area. See latest photos: Tehran to Golestan and Golestan [...]

Shiraz, Yazd and Isfahan; a journey south without Mojo and Isaba

By |2019-08-15T10:03:16+02:00 3rd August, 2014|Categories: Ancient civilizations, Central-Southern Iran, Heat and desert, Iran|Tags: , , , , |

The days sorting out our visa in Tehran were stressful and hot. Somehow it all worked out very well for us and in two days of searching for embassies we had the visa we needed. If you wonder how and what, please read our post “Iranian and Central Asian visa Information”. Latest photos :  Tehran, Desert day, Isfahan, Yazd, Shiraz and [...]

Iranian and Central Asian visa Information

By |2019-08-15T10:03:16+02:00 26th July, 2014|Categories: Visa|Tags: , , , , , , |

Below you will find information regarding the processes of applying for the Iranian and Central Asian visa on the road in Ankara and Tehran. We found the process of applying for visa fairly simple and we didn't encounter any problems during the applications. The only thing is to be well prepared regarding documents and they will always cost [...]

Cycling to Tehran in an hot air oven

By |2019-08-15T10:03:16+02:00 23rd July, 2014|Categories: Hospitality, Iran, Northern Iran, Off the beaten path|Tags: , , , |

The intensity of Iran has kept a high level regarding people, temperature, headwind and experiences. The last few days we have been cycling over small roads. One Iranian said: “that way only desert and small village”, and wanted us to take the main highway. We thought: “perfect”, and continued on the small road towards the desert and, [...]

Welcoming Iran an understatement

By |2019-08-15T10:03:16+02:00 13th July, 2014|Categories: High mountains, Hospitality, Iran, Western Iran|Tags: , , , , , |

While we cycled over the last Turkish mountain pass (2250m) before reaching the Turkish/Iranian border we were imagining how welcoming Iran would be and how much would change. See all photos West Azerbaijan Iran The border crossing was a bit hectic. As they are building a new border the traffic is redirected around the building site, [...]

Mardin to Hakkari, are we still in Turkey?

By |2019-08-15T10:03:16+02:00 6th July, 2014|Categories: Heat and desert, Hospitality, South East Turkey, Turkey|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |

How interesting is it that we make plans along the way of our journey and still they always change all the time. We had planned to stay in Mardin to relax, investigate our route in Iraq or Mardin to Hakkari, update website and explore the town. For the photos see, Mardin and The road to Hakkari The town Mardin is [...]

Towards the South-East of Turkey

By |2019-08-15T10:03:17+02:00 21st June, 2014|Categories: Ancient civilizations, Central Turkey, Off the beaten path, South East Turkey, Turkey|Tags: , , , |

Leaving Cappadocia towards the South-East of Turkey was tough after a few great days with friends and eating out a lot. At the same time we were looking forward to be back on the bike and in our bicycle rhythm. We had been looking forward to first Istanbul, then Ankara for our visa and Cappadocia because of [...]

Friendly dogs on the old Ankara road

By |2019-08-15T10:03:17+02:00 21st May, 2014|Categories: Central Turkey, Modern cities, Off the beaten path, Turkey|Tags: , , , , |

We were ready to take on the rest of Turkey, although saying goodbye was a little bit sad because the stay at Ali, Martin's ex-colleague, had been very nice. Also we had the experience of cycling into Istanbul vividly in our minds. Luckily the way out of Istanbul was a lot more pleasant while following the old [...]

Istanbul where we met Asia

By |2019-08-15T10:03:17+02:00 19th May, 2014|Categories: Ancient civilizations, Hospitality, Modern cities, Turkey, West Turkey|Tags: , , |

Istanbul is where we met Asia. We cycled in to Istanbul and straight to Sultanahmet, so we were sure that we were in Istanbul and get some great photos with the bikes. We were a bit tired after a bad camp spot in the outskirts of Istanbul and the heavy traffic, so next up was finding our [...]

Via Egnatia on the edge of Europe

By |2019-08-15T10:03:18+02:00 9th May, 2014|Categories: Ancient civilizations, Greece, Turkey, West Turkey|Tags: , , , , , |

The Via Egnatia is an old roman road we had been crossing and following since we entered Albania. Via Egnatia was the first road build by the romans outside Italy. We found it a nice thought that people had travelled this way for thousands of years and now we were here as well. As always we have a [...]

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