My welcome home
Cycling The World: Istanbul, Turkey | Travelsonabike2
Bicycle Touring The World: Istanbul, Turkey
My latest bicycle touring update, cycling around the world, in Istanbul, Turkey. I had a bit of a wander around this morning. I wanted to find somewhere that was showing the Belgium Grand Prix. And after quite a bit of searching, I managed to find a bar. That was me sorted for the afternoon. I sat in the bar watching the race, which was pretty exciting, with Jenson Button winning.
In the evening, I met with Trish, the American lady I’d met the other day, the one that had lived in Kazakhstan. Her friend Tracey had returned to America, but she’d been joined by another friend, Margaret. We met in my favourite restaurant, “The Testi Kebab” run by my friend Yohan.
Another American couple who overheard us talking about cycling in Kazakhstan joined us in the restaurant. It turned out that they had spent their honeymoon touring on a tandem, an interesting evening with good company. Unfortunately, they all leave Istanbul tomorrow. Or so they told me!?
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
Follow My Bicycle Touring Adventures
Subscribe to my blog and follow me as I continue to travel around on my bike. Plus, as a subscriber, you’ll be among the first to receive news and updates on future tours. If you’re enjoying the ride and want to fuel my next mile, you can always buy me a beer. And, of course, you can always follow me on social media: Facebook, Bluesky, Threads, X, Instagram, YouTube and Pinterest. I’m also on Flickr, where you’ll find pictures from all my tours, along with regular photo updates that I generally publish each month.
If you want to find out if I’m away touring at the moment and check my location, visit the Where’s Garry page. And for an insight into the gear and logistics that keep me on the road, see my Life at 10mph Guide.
Cycling The World: Kazakhstan, Aktau To Shetpe | Travelsonabike2
Bicycle Touring The World: Kazakhstan, Aktua to Shetpe
My latest bicycle touring around the world update, cycling across Kazakhstan. Aktua to Shetpe. 80 miles. It’s been a long, hard day, and one thing I’ve learnt on my first day of cycling in Kazakhstan is to stick to the main road! I’d already decided, after looking at the map of Kazakhstan for the past few days, that I was going to take a secondary road that I’d found, as it was a more direct route for me.
I left the hotel and managed to find this B road, which was pretty surprising, really. There weren’t any road signs, and what signs there were were in Russian. I was pleasantly surprised at the condition of the roads. Everything that I’d read said the roads in Kazakhstan were atrocious, but this road was okay. And just to confirm I was on the right road, I crossed a railway line, which I had on my map.
As I crossed the railway, there was a sign warning of a bumpy road for five kilometres. Bumpy? The road just disappeared and turned into a track. And not just a dirt track. It was more like trying to cycle on a sandy beach. In fact, I spent more time pushing my bike than riding. I even fell off at one point when my front wheel dug into the deep sand. I was really starting to regret taking this shortcut.
What A Relief
Eventually, I made it to the main road after five hours and thirty miles of pushing and cycling. Which wasn’t much better, but at least there was some asphalt, and there wasn’t any deep sand. I’ve seen plenty of horses and camels roaming the countryside, that’s when I’ve not had to watch out for potholes. Maybe all I’d read about the roads was true after all.
Staying in a guesthouse tonight, although I don’t think the landlady was too happy with me. She shouted at me and told me to dust off my panniers before bringing them in. It wasn’t like the place was the Ritz! I had supper in a café across the road from the guesthouse. Don’t ask me what I had, maybe horse meat. Apparently, that’s very popular here. However, I do know that beer was only 75 pence a pint! I thought I’d died and gone to heaven.
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
Follow My Bicycle Touring Adventures
Subscribe to my blog and follow me as I continue to travel around on my bike. Plus, as a subscriber, you’ll be among the first to receive news and updates on future tours. If you’re enjoying the ride and want to fuel my next mile, you can always buy me a beer. And, of course, you can always follow me on social media: Facebook, Bluesky, Threads, X, Instagram, YouTube and Pinterest. I’m also on Flickr, where you’ll find pictures from all my tours, along with regular photo updates that I generally publish each month.
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.”
Cycling The World: In Aktau, Kazakhstan | Travelsonabike2
Bicycle Touring The World: In Aktau, Kazakhstan
My latest bicycle touring update, cycling around the world in Aktau, Kazakhstan. I went back to the travel agents first thing this morning, only to find them shut! What a great start to the day. Luckily, I found another one just around the corner.
The girl in the new travel agent, who spoke rather good English, filled out the forms for me and booked my flight. I just had to pay for it now. For which I had to go and see another woman sitting at a different desk. And would you believe it, her credit card machine wasn’t working, just like the one yesterday. She tried a couple of times, but the card machine wasn’t having any of it. In the end, she just gave me back my card and paperwork.
I started pleading with her to try again and put on the saddest face I could. It seemed to work; she made a phone call, and a manager came out, who told me to sit down and wait. After about fifteen minutes, the lady called me back over to try again, and yay, it worked! I was so relieved I could now relax. The only trouble is that I’ve got to cycle 1000 kilometres to Atyrau!
After securing my flight, I spent the afternoon playing on my website and watching a game of football being played by some local children in the field near the hotel. And getting things ready so I can finally start my ride across Kazakhstan, all be it for only a week or so!
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
Follow My Bicycle Touring Adventures
Subscribe to my blog and follow me as I continue to travel around on my bike. Plus, as a subscriber, you’ll be among the first to receive news and updates on future tours. If you’re enjoying the ride and want to fuel my next mile, you can always buy me a beer. And, of course, you can always follow me on social media: Facebook, Bluesky, Threads, X, Instagram, YouTube and Pinterest. I’m also on Flickr, where you’ll find pictures from all my tours, along with regular photo updates that I generally publish each month.
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.”