It has been a long time coming that I wrap this blog up and it is in part due to the fact that I almost didn't want to draw a line under the whole thing that I have been so tardy in compleating it. I am now in London after leaving the journey behind some 10 or 11 days ago and have had ample time to reflect on what has been an amazing but challenging time for us.
The truth is that almost immediately after finishing the last blog post our journey was brought to an untimely end. As we left the internet cafe we realised that my already battered back wheel had finally had enough and had buckled somewhat. We sat down outside a supermarket to contemplate the consequences of our trip being effectively over. It had long since been Thomas' desire to get to the pacific ocean and this gave us the perfect opportunity to do just that straight away.
From Datong we took a train direct to the coast and a place called Beidaihe(not strictly the Pacific, but as close as we were likely to get). Here we whiled away 3 or 4 days discussing where it all went wrong and feeling a little bit sorry for ourselves if truth be told. The beaches were heavily patrolled by Chinese police and unfortunately camping was not permitted as we found when we camped there and were moved on by an impatient officer.
There was some good news however in that the next part of the trip had cinematic twist. By that I mean that we lived in an airport for a few days like Tom Hanks in "The Terminal". Desperate to change our flights and get on the next phases we had headed to Beijing with the hope that the flight companies would allow us to do so. There turned out to be no places to camp near the airport and so the air-conditioned safety of terminal 1 became our first hostel in Beijing, followed the next nights by T3. There isn't really a great deal to tell about these days and so I will say no more of it.
Finally, on Tuesday 4th August 2009 Thomas and I parted ways in a strong manly tearless way in Terminal 3 from Beijing International Airport.
And that was it...
Thomas' journey does however continue and he has a blog of his own which you should all read and become followers of. I don't think he has updated it yet but it is only a matter of time. He will be more inclined if you support him and send him messages of support. The address is as follows:
www.tomgoesitalone.blogspot.com
TELL YOUR FRIENDS.
THANK YOU
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Made in China
For those of you who think that pictures are delicious food for the eyes be warned that this entry will be nothing but a dry bready word-fest. We are without digital camera now which means that I must attempt to describe the last days to you using only the power of words. Illiterate readers are advised to look away now.
We spent 3 long long weeks in Ulaan Baatar and Thomas assures me that it was quite like the plot of "In Bruges" starring Colin Farrell. I have not seen the film myself but if it is anything like those three weeks then it is boring and would drive you to madness. The city itself is not really that big but we were waiting to receive some bike parts so we could continue on our journey, and we became very familiar with its layout. The highlights were our visit to "THE BLACK MARKET"(much less sinister and illegal than it suggests), and my being ejected from the holiest place in Mongolia for refusing to pay. The latter wasn't as barefaced as it sounds, they were only charging foreigners and they pestered me for a while before stopping and then a guy physically tried to get me out so I left. It was the Gandan Monastery which is the centre of Buddhism in Mongolia.
The former was very enjoyable as you are expected to barter the price of anything you buy. As it turns out Thomas and I are not very good at it but we tried our best. I was reminded of the scene in the Life of Brian, so poor were our efforts.
We spent some evenings sharpening our strokes at a table tennis hall which might give you an idea of how much we exhausted the city of its entertainment offerings.
After what seemed like months of waiting we finally got moving out of UB on the 14th of July 2009(now to become an annual celebration for me and Thomas), and with our visas for Mongolia expiring on the 18th we had very little time to get to and take on the Gobi Desert. To cut a long story extrememly short we realised that it was not possible in such a short time and took the train in order to arrive at the border in time. The sand was at times 5 or 6 inches deep and we agreed that at least a week would be required for such a feat.
That brings us now to China where we are currently. The town on the Chinese side of the border was huge despite it appearing tiny on our map, which gave us an indication of the scale. The greatest relief about arriving in China was that the roads were good again. Really good. After weeks of corrigated sand we were back on tarmac. The scenery didn't really change for 3 or 4 days as we were still technically in the desert but the sandy arid plains slowly gave way to grass and hills, and yesterday rocky mountains. We have found the Chinese to be very friendly and funny so far and they seem to love cyclists. The strangest thing would have to be the 字母表(alphabet). We rarely have a clue of what is going on but it is a nice change from the cyrillic alphabet which we have been reading for the last 2 months.
Yesterday we visited a cafe for breakfast and were presented with an entire chicken carved into several pieces. When I say entire I am not kidding. Talons, the head, indistinguishable organs, it was all there. Thomas tried to gnaw into the head to get the brain but was unsuccessful in his endeavour as the cranium was too hard. He initially thought that the comb of the head was a fin and that some of the meat was actually fish.
Something else to note about China is that this very blog is censored by the Great (fire)Wall of China and due to the immensely political nature of it I can see why. Thankfully I have used some ingenuity to avoid such barriers and update the manifesto.
We are sitting in an internet cafe in Datong surrounded by gaming youngsters. The city is also huge, but barely looks it on our map. Only London would be bigger in the UK. Directly after this we are heading to see some Grottoes on the Silk Road and our route will take us to Beijing via the coast at the Gulf of China.
I hope that without pictures it was not too dull and I will update again in the next 10 days or so.
Bye Bye
We spent 3 long long weeks in Ulaan Baatar and Thomas assures me that it was quite like the plot of "In Bruges" starring Colin Farrell. I have not seen the film myself but if it is anything like those three weeks then it is boring and would drive you to madness. The city itself is not really that big but we were waiting to receive some bike parts so we could continue on our journey, and we became very familiar with its layout. The highlights were our visit to "THE BLACK MARKET"(much less sinister and illegal than it suggests), and my being ejected from the holiest place in Mongolia for refusing to pay. The latter wasn't as barefaced as it sounds, they were only charging foreigners and they pestered me for a while before stopping and then a guy physically tried to get me out so I left. It was the Gandan Monastery which is the centre of Buddhism in Mongolia.
The former was very enjoyable as you are expected to barter the price of anything you buy. As it turns out Thomas and I are not very good at it but we tried our best. I was reminded of the scene in the Life of Brian, so poor were our efforts.
We spent some evenings sharpening our strokes at a table tennis hall which might give you an idea of how much we exhausted the city of its entertainment offerings.
After what seemed like months of waiting we finally got moving out of UB on the 14th of July 2009(now to become an annual celebration for me and Thomas), and with our visas for Mongolia expiring on the 18th we had very little time to get to and take on the Gobi Desert. To cut a long story extrememly short we realised that it was not possible in such a short time and took the train in order to arrive at the border in time. The sand was at times 5 or 6 inches deep and we agreed that at least a week would be required for such a feat.
That brings us now to China where we are currently. The town on the Chinese side of the border was huge despite it appearing tiny on our map, which gave us an indication of the scale. The greatest relief about arriving in China was that the roads were good again. Really good. After weeks of corrigated sand we were back on tarmac. The scenery didn't really change for 3 or 4 days as we were still technically in the desert but the sandy arid plains slowly gave way to grass and hills, and yesterday rocky mountains. We have found the Chinese to be very friendly and funny so far and they seem to love cyclists. The strangest thing would have to be the 字母表(alphabet). We rarely have a clue of what is going on but it is a nice change from the cyrillic alphabet which we have been reading for the last 2 months.
Yesterday we visited a cafe for breakfast and were presented with an entire chicken carved into several pieces. When I say entire I am not kidding. Talons, the head, indistinguishable organs, it was all there. Thomas tried to gnaw into the head to get the brain but was unsuccessful in his endeavour as the cranium was too hard. He initially thought that the comb of the head was a fin and that some of the meat was actually fish.
Something else to note about China is that this very blog is censored by the Great (fire)Wall of China and due to the immensely political nature of it I can see why. Thankfully I have used some ingenuity to avoid such barriers and update the manifesto.
We are sitting in an internet cafe in Datong surrounded by gaming youngsters. The city is also huge, but barely looks it on our map. Only London would be bigger in the UK. Directly after this we are heading to see some Grottoes on the Silk Road and our route will take us to Beijing via the coast at the Gulf of China.
I hope that without pictures it was not too dull and I will update again in the next 10 days or so.
Bye Bye
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
NOW-HERE
Mongols
Rock formation at Ikh Tamir.
The gift.
Thomas' second time on a horse.
Which one do we take?
This post comes to you direct from the capital of Mongolia: Ulaan Baatar. Since the last post we have discovered the remotest countryside of Mongolia and also faced some hardships.
We left Erdenet with optimism and excitement at going into the countryside. We were looking forward to experiencing rural Mongolia and we were not disappointed. From Erdenet we headed west to Bulgan and then via some very small towns to Tsetserleg followed by Kharkhorin and on to Ulaan Baatar.
Over these days we were invited into many Gers and ate a lot of Mongolian food. We mostly found ourselves in the Gers as a result of having to ask for directions. Navigation became difficult once we left the main roads and we hadn't realised just how difficult it might be. Once the main roads were a distant memory we found ourselves on dirt tracks, winding sandy lanes or grass. The difficulty was really that there are no road signs in the country and the tracks have a tendency to suddenly fork into two equal tracks heading in completely opposite directions. Sometimes there were 7 or 8 tracks all running virtually parallel, and woe is you if you are happily riding along before realising that the other 6 tracks are bearing left while yours slowly, but clearly, heads right. That wasn't such a problem for us though as we were able to flex our Mongolian muscle a lot in asking the way, obviously followed by our standard questions about animals fattening up (It works really well). We basically encountered one small village a day where we could stock up on water and food.
In one Ger which we particularly liked we were again challenged to some wrestling. After sizing up the opponents we decided that we could take it on and that none of them seemed to be national wrestling champions. The video footage can be found here, and hopefully it will give you some idea of how we pass our time in this country. After the wrestling they started talking excitedly and took us to the pen for baby goats. One of the guys took out a goat and handed it to us and we took some some photographs and laughed with them, but after a while it became clear that they were offering the goat to us as a gift. We wondered if we could strap a live goat to the back of one of the bikes but we had to decline their offer. Afterwards we dicussed what we would have done with it. We would have had to slaughter it and eat it but we agreed that the two of us slaughtering a goat would have been a bloodbath with our unskilled hands. Barbaric.
Then things turned against us...
After reasonably good luck for 5000km we got several punctures in the space of a few hours. It wasn't that the roads had gotten any worse just that we were very very very unlucky. The punctures forced us to use all of our spare inner tubes and they still kept on coming. We tried repairing them but our repair kits weren't up to the job. In the end we had to tie a knot in the inner tube in order to get us to the next town. The emergency repair held for 50km or so and then we had to do it again, but this one only lasted 15km. It seemed that every time we stopped to repair a storm came and we got thoroughly soaked. We started to worry that we wouldn't be able to get Ulaan Baatar because the inner tubes which we use are very difficult to find in this part of the world. As a last resort we stuffed the tyre full of grass, which in bicycle terms is the equivalent of morse code as a form of communication. Funny though it sounds we were at an all time low and collecting grass in a bag to stuff into a tyre was possibly one of the most surreal experiences I have had.
In addition to that we had our wallet stolen in Tsetserleg which put us in a tricky situation still 450km from the capital. Then as we lay bloody on the floor fate took a final kick to the face in that the camera stopped working.
That evening we were very low. We didn't sleep very well.
We are pleased to say that most things are okay now. We flagged down a bus from Kharkhorin and made it to Ulaan Baatar in one piece. We have been here now for two days and on the first night we went to a club where they tried to massively rip us off. The waiter was keen to seat us when we arrived and told us that only some drinks were available. The expensive ones. We decided to order a beer and he came back with a bill for the drinks with an extra charge of 5000Tugrigs each for, he said, "Tax". We told him that we wouldn't pay and he wouldn't leave us until we paid it. I kicked up enough of a fuss for him to give it up and he accepted cash for the beers. There is a lot to be said for being incredibly awkward in these situations.
The next night, last night, we went back to the same club because the atmosphere was pretty good. The staff there joked with us about tax which was in some ways funny but also a tacit confession of their attempt to con us. I was invited up to deejay by a guy we had met the previous night. I played for half an hour or so to a mostly empty club, but the waiters danced and revelled and then we left as it was getting late.
That takes us to the present day.
Oh and I forgot to mention that Thomas fell off a horse. Most amusing.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Addendum II
Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiild horses
The plains.
Between storms
Most of the roads looked like this.
In our first Ger with the man who joined us the drainage pipe.
Some more of our first week or so in Mongolia
Addendum
This is what the top of hills look like in Mongolia.
Me bathing in Lake Baikal. It was absolutely freezing. Thomas makes a good turn at stalker photography.
The big Lenin head.
First night in Mongolia. Just pull off the road and camp where you like
Darchan. Buddha
Here are some pictures, as promised, to accompany the previous post.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Into Mongolia
I am sat in an internet cafe in Erdnet, Mongolia and am not exactly sure again of the date. I think that it is the 17th of June but I cannot be sure.
The last few days have been very eventful but i will begin from where I left off.
We cycled from Irkutsk to Ulan-Ude and on to the border of Mongolia. From there we headed south to Darchan and then west to Erdnet and here we are.
After leaving the shores of Baikal we were getting a bit desperate to leave Russia and move onto the next leg of the journey. We took a brief stop in Ulan-Ude to look at the giant head of Lenin. It's really big actually and we believe that it is the biggest Lenin head in the known world. Bar none.
After Ulan-Ude the countryside became distinctly arid and flat which was very demoralising and boring. We were regularly gnawed by insects of all kinds.
We had to spend 4 hours at the border as they told us that we had to buy new visas for 110$ as there was a printing mistake on them or something like that. I was absolutely convinced that they were trying to scam us and Thomas will confirm that I was furious with them. In the end we made them call some main office and the fee was reduced to 5 dollars each and we grudgingly paid it and left angry. I know that makes us sound like misers but I genuinely felt ripped off.
Happy to be in Mongolia we didn't let it bother us and we set off only to find that the scenery was much the same as the last part of Russia. It has since then got better and I am no longer moaning.
On our second or third day here we stopped by a river to wash and relax and were approached by some Mongolian students from the capital, they were very friendly and offered us some food and tea which we accepted without any hesitation. Delicious it was and we were happy. They told us then that one of them was a national wrestler. Needless to say Thomas wanted to have a go at taking on a national wrestler and he fancied his chances too. Three bouts ended in three victories for the wrestler. Then i stepped up, also backing myself to take at least one round from him. Three more resounding victories for the wrestler. Tails between legs we said our goodbyes and sat on the banks of the river discussing what we could have done to beat him. Did i forget to mention that the guy was five foot three and 66kg?
Two days later, or yesterday, we were cycling along when we saw a storm brewing ahead. We stopped to put on our rain coats as a precaution both quietly believing there wouldn't be anything more than a short shower followed by more glorious sunshine(the weather has been an almost unbroken run of days in the late 20s, early 30s).
How wrong we were. After continuing for 5 minutes or so i began to think that the rain must be falling really heavily as the drops were causing some slight discomfort to my knuckles. It turned out to be hailstone and the drops got larger and larger until they were striking us on the head and back like rocks. I am not exaggerating when I say that the hailstones were almost as large as golf balls. We had to come off the road and scramble into a tube under the road usually used for draining fields. There we waited for 20minutes for the storm to pass. We were joined in the tube by a local herdsman who was also sheltering from the storm. He then invited us into his ger (check google images for mongolian ger) and gave us tea and something like yoghurt which was offered to us after we had inquired, in Mongolian, if their animals were fattening up nicely. Apparently a standard greeting phrase there which, according to our phrasebook, is normally answered with "Yes, fattening nicely."
We do have some photos of the inside of the ger and the friendly people but the internet connection here is very slow and I am unable to upload and pictures at all.
That was yesterday and pretty much brings us to now.
Hopefully i can add some photos in a cafe in Ulan Bataar but it still remains to be seen.
That is really all for now. We would like to thank everybody for their support and comments. It does mean a lot to be far from home and hearing from everyone.
The last few days have been very eventful but i will begin from where I left off.
We cycled from Irkutsk to Ulan-Ude and on to the border of Mongolia. From there we headed south to Darchan and then west to Erdnet and here we are.
After leaving the shores of Baikal we were getting a bit desperate to leave Russia and move onto the next leg of the journey. We took a brief stop in Ulan-Ude to look at the giant head of Lenin. It's really big actually and we believe that it is the biggest Lenin head in the known world. Bar none.
After Ulan-Ude the countryside became distinctly arid and flat which was very demoralising and boring. We were regularly gnawed by insects of all kinds.
We had to spend 4 hours at the border as they told us that we had to buy new visas for 110$ as there was a printing mistake on them or something like that. I was absolutely convinced that they were trying to scam us and Thomas will confirm that I was furious with them. In the end we made them call some main office and the fee was reduced to 5 dollars each and we grudgingly paid it and left angry. I know that makes us sound like misers but I genuinely felt ripped off.
Happy to be in Mongolia we didn't let it bother us and we set off only to find that the scenery was much the same as the last part of Russia. It has since then got better and I am no longer moaning.
On our second or third day here we stopped by a river to wash and relax and were approached by some Mongolian students from the capital, they were very friendly and offered us some food and tea which we accepted without any hesitation. Delicious it was and we were happy. They told us then that one of them was a national wrestler. Needless to say Thomas wanted to have a go at taking on a national wrestler and he fancied his chances too. Three bouts ended in three victories for the wrestler. Then i stepped up, also backing myself to take at least one round from him. Three more resounding victories for the wrestler. Tails between legs we said our goodbyes and sat on the banks of the river discussing what we could have done to beat him. Did i forget to mention that the guy was five foot three and 66kg?
Two days later, or yesterday, we were cycling along when we saw a storm brewing ahead. We stopped to put on our rain coats as a precaution both quietly believing there wouldn't be anything more than a short shower followed by more glorious sunshine(the weather has been an almost unbroken run of days in the late 20s, early 30s).
How wrong we were. After continuing for 5 minutes or so i began to think that the rain must be falling really heavily as the drops were causing some slight discomfort to my knuckles. It turned out to be hailstone and the drops got larger and larger until they were striking us on the head and back like rocks. I am not exaggerating when I say that the hailstones were almost as large as golf balls. We had to come off the road and scramble into a tube under the road usually used for draining fields. There we waited for 20minutes for the storm to pass. We were joined in the tube by a local herdsman who was also sheltering from the storm. He then invited us into his ger (check google images for mongolian ger) and gave us tea and something like yoghurt which was offered to us after we had inquired, in Mongolian, if their animals were fattening up nicely. Apparently a standard greeting phrase there which, according to our phrasebook, is normally answered with "Yes, fattening nicely."
We do have some photos of the inside of the ger and the friendly people but the internet connection here is very slow and I am unable to upload and pictures at all.
That was yesterday and pretty much brings us to now.
Hopefully i can add some photos in a cafe in Ulan Bataar but it still remains to be seen.
That is really all for now. We would like to thank everybody for their support and comments. It does mean a lot to be far from home and hearing from everyone.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
The Road to Olkhon Island
Ferry to Olkhon
First glimpse of Baikal(with bikes)
First glimpse of Baikal.
Train to Irkutsk
At Love's Long Last
Red Square Moscow. Where one beer costs 9 pounds. We kid you not.
Almost there...ish
The geographical centre of Europe. About 26km north of Vilnius. We were sceptical too.
Lithuanian money.
OK.
I am going to have to do away with the format of dates and so on because, to be honest, we are very quickly losing track of where we were and when it was exactly. In summary we went to Vilnius from Poland and stayed three days waiting for my passport which eventually arrived(thank the lord). From there we headed north to a town in Latvia called Daugavpils. Then into Russia and one long long long long long road from the border to Moscow. 613 kilometres long to be completely exact. We stayed in Moscow for three days where we booked the train to Novosibirsk and then took said train. 50 hours on the train followed and then a three day stay in Novosibirsk, from where we took another train to Irkutsk in order to maximise our visa in Russia. From Irkutsk we cycled north to an island on Lake Baikal named Olkhon. From there we returned to Irkutsk today. And here we are.
I am not really sure what to mention as highlights in this time that we have spent, but what is certain is that the train ride from Mosocow eastward is one that everyone should experience. Completely unlike anything we have ever done really.
Lake Baikal is so amazing that I have afforded it a post of its own.
Basically, to summarise, we are alive and all is well apart from the terrible roads which are becoming more and more of a feature in our lives. If I can think of anything else then it will be added at a later point. Internet is becoming harder and harder to come by so perhaps this is the last time before Beijing...
Monday, May 11, 2009
Taking Poland by force
Szczecin(pronounced shh-cheh-cheen apparently) harbour by night.
This sunset was our first night in Poland.Days 16-24 01.05.2009-09.05.2009
16-Moryn to Szczecin
17- Szczecin to Pobierowo
18- Pobierowo to Kolobrzeg
19- Kolobrzeg to Ustka
20- Ustka to Gdansk
21- Stayed in Gdansk
22- Gdansk to Elblag
23- Elblag to Ketrzyn
24- Ketrzyn to Stary Folwark
This post covers the entire time we spent in Poland. The first thing we noticed about Poland was just how much wilder the landscape was compared to Germany. It was exactly what we wanted though: a (slightly) different culture and a different language. We had spent long enough in Germany. We did encounter a problem, though, when we got to the first shop and realised that we did not actually speak said language. At all. Not one word. After pointing a lot and muttering various foreign words in various languages under our breath we finally managed to buy some food on the first day there. It did not become any less stressful as the days went on and we would draw cards to see who would go in to the shop and make a fool of themself each time. In the end we worked out a system of every second time.
We made our way to the Baltic coast on the first couple of days in Poland and eventually we could finally feel the chill of the sea and smell the salty air...the sea itself was nowhere to be seen, hidden behind a thicket of trees. That evening we ended up renting a Butlins style self-catering cabin for 40 zloty (about 9 pounds) after a misunderstanding about camping but we did not complain.
The following day we finally laid eyes on the Baltic sea, and as the pictures show we decided to hit the beach with our bikes and take a half-day. The motion was carried with a unanimous vote of 2.
To compensate for the slightly lazy (or maybe leisurely) day we made haste and cycled 300km in 2 days to Gdansk. On the approach we were slightly tired after 2 long days and looking forward to a shower but we were greeted at the campsite with a CLOSED sign. Not open until June or some nonsense. In the depression and hungry rage that ensued we ate 3 packets of m&ms from the emergency chocolate supply and moped in front of the gates for a while. Pulling ourselves together we went in search of a hostel stopping only to put the hunger to bed with a kebab.
Our final 2 days in Poland were similar in the sense that we had to sleep rough on both occasions. The first night in Ketrzyn was because there was just no campsite where the sign said and the night in Stary Folwark because the campsite appeared to be no longer in use.
We decided to use the facilities of the latter but it was quite a bad experience. They still had running water but it was all cold and you could feel the dirt underfoot as you showered with the insects. We were invited on this evening to a fire by the lake with some local youngsters. They said to us "come and drink with Polish peoples, it could end badly." We talked with them and drank Polish spirits which burnt the throat. Some absynthe followed but it didn't end badly I am pleased to say.
We got up late on our last day in Poland and whilst we were getting our things together an older Polish man offered us some coffee. We declined and he returned 2 minutes later with a bottle of Polish vodka and two shot glasses. After our morning drink we set off in search of the Lithuanian border...
Border Germany
Thomas at the border. It all goes a bit "footballer giving an interview after a game" towards the end.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
ONE BIG MONSTER POST
Days 7-15
22.04.2009 - 30.04.2009
7- Heringen to Weimar
8- Weimar to Leipzig
9+10 Stayed in Leipzig
11- Leipzig to Lutherstadt Wittenberg
12- L. Wittenberg to Berlin
13+14- Stayed in Berlin
15- Berlin to Mostyn-POLAND
The thing which is immediately obvious about the information above is that we had 4 days off and the reason is not laziness but rather enjoying the places we were in. Leipzig and Berlin were 4 great days where we went to the beach visited some amazing attractions and spent time with some of Thomas' friends.
During this period we had our first, and hopefully last, encounter with the police. As it turns out the German police don't really like it when you are in the middle of a central reservation of a road you are not supposed to be on. We were basically lifting our bikes across to get on the way to Witternberg but they caught us red-handed. We came to the conclusion that in and around Wittenberg the police have very little to do as one of them got out of the police car to stand on the empty road and hold his hand out as though he were stopping traffic. There were no cars coming.
Anyone visiting Weimar should look out for a very good hostel which cost us only 10euros a night each. They recommended that we shared a shower to save water, an offer we politely declined.
The big exciting news is that we are now in Poland! We crossed the border sated with German culture and language and ready for something we were not ready for.
I have been trying to upload a video of Thomas at the border but at the moment the computer isn't letting me so hopefuly the next opportunity will bring a successful outcome.
We hope you enjoy these few pictures of our time in Berlin
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Days 4-6. 19.042009-21.04.2009
4-Ingelheim to Idstein
5-Idstein to Schotten
6-Schotten to Heringen
I have had to compress these days into one bitesize post as we are falling behind with updates and very soon there will be little chance to update at regular intervals.
These days were very hilly but the weather was wonderful for northern Europe in April. On the first of these evenings we were invited to stay with a nice family after they overheard us looking for a campsite which didn't exist. They said we could camp on their lawn, but the offer quickly turned to a spot in the children's playroom which we accepted. We stayed up late talking and drinking and then ate breakfast with them in the morning. We were very grateful to them and we now know the true value of speaking loudly on busy streets when looking for a place to stay.
Nights 5 and 6 were our first nights camping together whcih we had been looking forward to for some time. They were two of the worst nights' sleep i have ever had. All of our heat was lost to the cold hard ground. The only time that we could really sleep was when it became sunny again in the morning at 8am or so.
4-Ingelheim to Idstein
5-Idstein to Schotten
6-Schotten to Heringen
I have had to compress these days into one bitesize post as we are falling behind with updates and very soon there will be little chance to update at regular intervals.
These days were very hilly but the weather was wonderful for northern Europe in April. On the first of these evenings we were invited to stay with a nice family after they overheard us looking for a campsite which didn't exist. They said we could camp on their lawn, but the offer quickly turned to a spot in the children's playroom which we accepted. We stayed up late talking and drinking and then ate breakfast with them in the morning. We were very grateful to them and we now know the true value of speaking loudly on busy streets when looking for a place to stay.
Nights 5 and 6 were our first nights camping together whcih we had been looking forward to for some time. They were two of the worst nights' sleep i have ever had. All of our heat was lost to the cold hard ground. The only time that we could really sleep was when it became sunny again in the morning at 8am or so.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
...Continued
Day 2 17.04.2009 Königswinter to Ingelheim
We rose early to a big breakfast and to get away early as we had another place to reach in the evening. The breakfast lasted 2 hours in the end and we ended up leaving at about 11:30. The consolation of the previous nights cycling was that the first 4 or 5km were very easy and all downhill. We were anxious to push on so we decided to make our first stop of the day in Koblenz, about 65km away. We made really good time, apart from a section of one of the main roads towards Koblenz. It was not a motorway so we were certain that we were allowed to ride on it. From the moment that we got onto it the drivers were beeping their horns and waving and shouting at us. We ignored them for a long time, just wanting to get a move on and get to Koblenz. We were on that road for about 10km and after a while it became very unsettling and made it difficult for us to concentrate on cycling. We left the road to pursue other routes but were very angry with German drivers.
On arriving in Koblenz we stopped at the first bakery we could find and went inside to sit down. What happened next is a bit of a blur, but what I can tell you is that we spent 14euros on food and left feeling very satisfied. 14 euros in a bakery is something we would frown upon normally, but we are growing boys.
This part of Germany, Thomas took pride in telling me, is the part that he knows well. Within 5mins of leaving Koblenz we were back on a large road being beeped at by German motorists.
Once Thomas had found his bearings we were back on track.
We followed the Rhine almost all the way to Ingelheim stopping only to refuel(bakery).
As we approached Ingelheim Thomas felt that it was a good time to confess that he had perhaps told our hosts the wrong date of arrival.
He was indeed correct, they had expected us a day earlier and were relieved to see us alive, having heard nothing from us. There was the minor detail of the dinner which they had prepared for us the evening before. Thomas was apologetic.
130km.
Day 3 18.04.2009 Day off
0km
We rose early to a big breakfast and to get away early as we had another place to reach in the evening. The breakfast lasted 2 hours in the end and we ended up leaving at about 11:30. The consolation of the previous nights cycling was that the first 4 or 5km were very easy and all downhill. We were anxious to push on so we decided to make our first stop of the day in Koblenz, about 65km away. We made really good time, apart from a section of one of the main roads towards Koblenz. It was not a motorway so we were certain that we were allowed to ride on it. From the moment that we got onto it the drivers were beeping their horns and waving and shouting at us. We ignored them for a long time, just wanting to get a move on and get to Koblenz. We were on that road for about 10km and after a while it became very unsettling and made it difficult for us to concentrate on cycling. We left the road to pursue other routes but were very angry with German drivers.
On arriving in Koblenz we stopped at the first bakery we could find and went inside to sit down. What happened next is a bit of a blur, but what I can tell you is that we spent 14euros on food and left feeling very satisfied. 14 euros in a bakery is something we would frown upon normally, but we are growing boys.
This part of Germany, Thomas took pride in telling me, is the part that he knows well. Within 5mins of leaving Koblenz we were back on a large road being beeped at by German motorists.
Once Thomas had found his bearings we were back on track.
We followed the Rhine almost all the way to Ingelheim stopping only to refuel(bakery).
As we approached Ingelheim Thomas felt that it was a good time to confess that he had perhaps told our hosts the wrong date of arrival.
He was indeed correct, they had expected us a day earlier and were relieved to see us alive, having heard nothing from us. There was the minor detail of the dinner which they had prepared for us the evening before. Thomas was apologetic.
130km.
Day 3 18.04.2009 Day off
0km
Belated first post
Sorry to everyone who has been waiting to hear if we are still alive or have been beaten by saddle soreness and the company of only one person for days on end, but we have not had the chance to use the internet for a peirod long enough to update the blog with everything that has happened. The longer we leave it, the longer we need to put everything down which is a bit of a dilemma. We have thankfully found time today to write about everything that we have done so far. This is officially the first post 'On the road'.
Day 1 . 16.04.2009 Essen to Königswinter.
A good friend of mine, Gerald, volunteered to let us stay at his mother's house in Königswinter on this evening, so we set off from my flat in Rüttenscheid knowing that we had a definite destination and a warm bed for the night. After a blitzed flat clean and a short photo shoot we were off...
...for breakfast at a bakery 200metres from my flat.
We finally got on the way at about 10:30am, and we were very quickly out of the Ruhrgebiet and heading in the right direction.
Somewhere around Wuppertal we had to ask for directions as it turns out that our map of Germany is slightly too small to be able to actually see minor roads at all. A man came to the road to help us and he told us several different ways we could go, always ending his sentence with the words 'you could go this way...but you really have to know it well.' After 15-20 minutes of him arguing with himself I walked away because i was getting restless, leaving Thomas to listen to his repeated directions over and over and over. Eventually he decided that it would be better if he showed us the way himself and he told us that he had plenty of time to kill(It wasn't immediately clear what he was doing when he came to help us. We think taking pictures of streets and gardens, but we couldn't be sure.) So he got into his unmarked orange van(filled with photographic equipment) and said 'meet me at the end of this road'. We obliged and met him one or 2km up the road. There he gave us directions for 3 or 4km more and said that he'd meet us at the top of a hill. This went on for about and hour. He would drive off, turn on the orange lights on his orange van and meet us at some point down the road. Every time we arrived at the meeting point he was taking photos of the streets and gardens. After he was satisfied that he had taken us far enough we parted ways and continued on.
We followed the river Wupper from Wuppertal to Leverkusen and there it joins the Rhine, which we followed for the rest of the day really. Between Leverkusen and Bonn via Cologne it was relatively uneventful, apart from receiving free baseball caps from a lady and acid rain near Bonn which burned our eyes so badly that we almost couldn't see.
Crossing the Rhine at Bonn by evening was wonderful, and we were a bit disappointed that we didn't have time to spend some time in the city. We wanted to be at the house in the light as Gerald's mum was preparing something for us to eat and we didn't want to keep anyone waiting.
We had reckoned that from Bonn it would only be 15km maximum and so we could easily do it before dark. How wrong we were.
We were indeed in Köningswinter at about 9pm but we arrived at the house at a quarter past eleven. We had taken a longer route from the centre of Königswinter which took us on a 5 or 6km climb up a steep hill through a forest in the pitch black dark. We could not see anything at all. I could barely see Thomas a metre in front of me. And the hill just kept on going, steep and horrible. To this point in the trip that is still the only time I have had to get off the bike. I had no energy left at all. We still had a little bit of food left and the half litre of rhubarb yoghurt gave me the extra push I needed to finish the hill.
When we arrived the evening was very nice and we were glad to be there and to have delicious cooked food.
130km for the day.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Post 1
This is the first post on the blog of Thomas Surgeon and Shane Kilgarriff.
Just a short description for those who do not know what it is that we are doing:
We intend to travel around the world by bicycle taking in the sights and sounds and smells and feels and tastes of Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Russia, Mongolia, China, Alaska and finally Canada. Hopefully we will be able to post a link to a map whereon you can see the route more exactly.
We thought that we would use this trip as an opportunity to raise some money for a good cause, namely WaterAid. You can find a link to our fund-raising page here:
http://www.justgiving.com/tomsurgeonandshanekilgarriff?from=UKSponsorExit
The trip itself actually begins on Thursday 16th April. We hope that with this blog you can track us all the way round, internet cafes permitting.
And so ends post 1
Just a short description for those who do not know what it is that we are doing:
We intend to travel around the world by bicycle taking in the sights and sounds and smells and feels and tastes of Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Russia, Mongolia, China, Alaska and finally Canada. Hopefully we will be able to post a link to a map whereon you can see the route more exactly.
We thought that we would use this trip as an opportunity to raise some money for a good cause, namely WaterAid. You can find a link to our fund-raising page here:
http://www.justgiving.com/tomsurgeonandshanekilgarriff?from=UKSponsorExit
The trip itself actually begins on Thursday 16th April. We hope that with this blog you can track us all the way round, internet cafes permitting.
And so ends post 1
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)