Seda and Larung Gar had left a strong impression on us but visa time and wanting to get on the road we left Seda (Sertar). We had almost run out of oats and Martin had used a few hours searching and asking in all Chinese shops nowhere to be found. By chance as we where heading to [...]
We have gotten to know the city of Ulaanbaatar reasonably well because Susanne stayed here more than two months and Martin almost six weeks. It is a city of contrast. We both felt very comfortable in Ulaanbaatar. Maybe even too comfortable. For us it was the first city in a long time where everything was available although [...]
In Mongolia there are two major traditional holidays. One is in summer and is called Naadam, the other is in winter and is called Tsagaan Sar or white moon. Tsagaan Sar is the celebration of the Lunar New Year, following the same calendar as the Chinese New Year. The photos of this special celebration can be found [...]
Anticipation... Expectations... Personal opinions and the Ak-Baital Pass. Cycling the The Pamir Highway M41 is not only about having the legs but definitely the stamina, the motivation and the persistence. Altitude sickness, bad roads, good and bad stories of other cyclists and illness are all a part of it. It has been a mind blowing, interesting cultural and physical [...]
We are approaching the Roof of the World, the Pamir plateau. It makes us nervous and exciting and we are a little bit worried. At the same time other people have cycled here as well so it will be okay... Won't it? We only know that our preparation ride from Dushanbe to Khorog was tough, very tough. [...]
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 [...]
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, [...]
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, [...]
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 [...]
The diversity of Turkey is huge. We have left the modern city of Ankara, cycled through parts of Central Anatolia and exchanged the city for very rural and traditional areas such as Selime and small villages south of Cappadocia. We came through Mustafapasa where traditional and modern mixes with each other in a very pleasant way. All [...]