Bicycle Touring The World: Azerbaijan, Qazax to Ganca

My latest bicycle touring around the world update, cycling through Azerbaijan. Qazax to Ganca. 67 miles. Bit of a nightmare getting going again this morning. I woke up at my usual time of five o’clock, only to find it was still dark. So I rolled over and went back to sleep for another hour. It was still dark when I got up at six.

I went downstairs and loaded up my bike, but couldn’t find anybody on reception. It wouldn’t usually be a problem. I’d just leave, but once again, I couldn’t. It wasn’t because I was locked in. It was because they had my passport! Somebody eventually turned up at around seven-thirty.

Because it’s so hot, I like to be on the road as early as possible. Before the sun gets too high in the sky and gets too hot, it’s particularly annoying when the hotel doesn’t serve breakfast, so I couldn’t even go and have that to pass the time until somebody turned up!

It seems that there are only two types of cars in Azerbaijan. You either drive an old Mercedes or the good old Lada. There are thousands of them.

Despite this morning’s delay, I still managed to finish reasonably early. I’m staying in a posh resort hotel tonight with a lovely large pool, which was nice after a day of cycling in this heat! It’s so posh here. They had a string quartet playing in the restaurant! Needless to say, I didn’t hang around.

Tour Information

It’s been years since I took this ride, but the memories (and the data) are all archived:

• Photos: See my photos on Flickr
• The route: View my journey around the world
• Videos: Check out my YouTube videos
• Tour page: Ride overview

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If you want to find out if I’m away touring at the moment and check my location, visit the Where’s Garry page. For a look at the gear and logistics that keep me on the road, see my “Life at 10mph Guide.”