Bulgaria (all)

Il ciclismo è sofferenza. Il premio è la cima di una montagna o una città a 2000km da casa. Se questo premio vi sembra adeguato allora la domanda ``ma chi te lo fa fare'' ha già una risposta. Se non vi sembra abbastanza, semplicemente non potete capire chi pedala.

Cycling is suffering. The prize is the top of a mountain or a city 2000km far from home. If this prize seems you enough, then the question ``why do you do that'' already has an answer. If you don't find it enough, you just simply cannot understand cyclists.

In the summer of 2007 we cycled a whole month in Bulgaria. We ate al lot of shopska and purenzi kartofi, met a lot of women with beards, heard a lot of sheep and cowbells, saw beautiful woods and impressive canyons. On my webspace you'll find the route and some pictures to tell the story. Enjoy!

Read about my adventures by bicycle around the world,taking in Europe, the Near East, India, South East Asia, Australasia, and the USA on Route 66.

For something a little less ambitious, I have prepared details of a three-week tour of the beautiful landscapes of central Portugal.

Or if you prefer a central base and some day rides, read about my routes on the Spanish island of Mallorca - a cyclist's paradise, with warm weather, flat hinterland, stunning mountain climbs, and huge ice-creams!

THE PLAN: My bags are packed, i've got a new bike (long story, best told over beer...) and i'm heading to the airport tonight. My plan for the trip is as follows:

Istanbul --> Bucharest --> Odesa --> Kiev

Each leg of the trip is about 600 km long and will take me about a week (at a stately pace). I'll try to send an email from each city. I'm hoping to take a train back to Istanbul and spend my last week checking out the sights there.

THE REALITY: Spent the bulk of the trip in Turkey, due to its inhabitants' incredible generosity and friendliness, as well as the dismal roads and driving in the Balkans.

In March of 2006 we set out to cycle from the UK to Tibet. We didn't quite make it but had a great adventure cycling across Europe in one of the wettest winters on record and then through the wilds of Central Asia. The site includes lots of images from Tajikistan one of the really countries for cycling.

I can't really remember how we came up with the idea. It wasn't like, 'Hey, let's cycle from Europe to Asia.' It was an accumulation of small and different snippets of information via the Internet, certain other events and I suppose fate, that all slowly came together to give us our planned destination 'ISTANBUL'.

One thing was definite, the good old faithful Blue Danube River played it's usual important role in the idea, which was to safely guide us, not all of the way, but at least a part of it.

Ich kann mich nicht genau erinnern wie wir auf diese Idee gekommen sind. Wir haben nicht einfach gesagt ``warum radeln wir nicht von Europa nach Asien?''. Es war eher eine Ansammlung kleiner und unterschiedlicher Informationen aus dem Internet, verbunden mit anderen Ereignissen und wahrscheinlich auch Schicksal, was uns letztendlich unser Ziel Istanbul gegeben hat.

Eines war sicher, unsere altvertraute Blaue Donau spielte wie immer eine wichtige Rolle. Sie zeigte uns den Weg, und begleitete uns treu fast bis ans Ziel.

Dall'Adriatico al Mar Nero attraverso Albania, Macedonia, Grecia, Turchia,Bulgaria

This website accompanies the book ``Why Don't You Fly?'' (ISBN 1-905203-25-X published by Pen Press).

How does it feel to trade comfort and security for life as a nomad and to pare one's life down to the bare necessities? What is it like to push at the frontiers of one's physical and mental endurance?

``Why Don't You Fly?'' is the account of an epic adventure in search of an elusive sense of identity in which triumph, disappointment, discomfort, exhaustion and exhilaration all trade positions against a backdrop of prodigious physical endeavour. During a gruelling 16,500-mile examination of physical and mental stamina the author ate and drank in roadside cafés in the company of inquisitive lorry drivers and shared dormitories in remote Chinese villages with fascinated farm hands and gleeful mosquitoes. Sceptical western existentialism met religious fatalism in the restaurants and teahouses of the Middle East and India in the course of a physical and spiritual journey that constantly raised questions about the attitudes and values that prevail in the West.

The Website includes a chapter-by-chapter synopsis of the book, a sample chapter and 93 photographs.

[On June 20 2003] I did a tour along the Moldavian painted monasteries [in Romania], starting with a not too difficult pass. Sucevita monastery was even more beautiful. From there I continued east to a bigger town, Radauti, to find a bank machine for a few millions of cash. Via Solca I reached Gura Humorului. Met a group of German cycle tourists. Near the Sucevita monastery I found a nice place to camp at a B&B farm. I insisted to pay for this and for the use of the sanitary facilities and the host accepted my offer of 5 euros, which is a crazy amount for a simple camping spot. For this amount he invited me to sleep in a bedroom inside, but I refused politely and opted for my tent with nice views on the village road. My host spoke good English, teaching American sailors in Brasov and staying at his parents farm during the holiday season. [The next day I took] a small detour to visit the Voronet monastery.

I did a tour along the Moldavian painted monasteries [in Romania], starting with a not too difficult pass. Sucevita monastery was even more beautiful. From there I continued east to a bigger town, Radauti, to find a bank machine for a few millions of cash. Via Solca I reached Gura Humorului. Met a group of German cycle tourists. Near the Sucevita monastery I found a nice place to camp at a B&B farm. I insisted to pay for this and for the use of the sanitary facilities and the host accepted my offer of 5 euros, which is a crazy amount for a simple camping spot. For this amount he invited me to sleep in a bedroom inside, but I refused politely and opted for my tent with nice views on the village road. My host spoke good English, teaching American sailors in Brasov and staying at his parents farm during the holiday season. [The next day I took] a small detour to visit the Voronet monastery.

In the fall of 1998 I set off on a long journey by bike. It covered more than 15000 kilometers and 14 countries. During this trip I was hit by rocks and cars, I was baked, soaked, and deep frozen by the weather gods. Mostly, however, I had a superb opportunity to see some of the most beautiful scenery in the world, meet wonderful people and enjoy the culture of widely differing lands. This site is about my bike trip from Sweden to South-East Asia via Eastern Europe, The Middle East, Pakistan, China, and Tibet. It also contains general information and links on bicycle touring and travelling in general.

Tussen juli 1995 en december 1996 hebben wij een fietsreis gemaakt van Rotterdam naar Kaapstad. Op deze reis hebben we door twintig landen gefietst in Europa, het Midden Oosten en Afrika. In anderhalf jaar tijd hebben we een afstand van ruim 20.000 kilometer afgelegd. Op deze internet-site kun je enkele verhalen over deze reis lezen en de mooiste van onze honderden foto's bekijken.

This is the story of Marcus Endicott's solo bicycle journey from Yugoslavia to the Soviet Union in 1990. The adventure really began the year before, in 1989, but really hasn't ended yet today; though, there have been perhaps more than a few bumps in the road along the way...

This is a travel journal, and was originally intended to become a book. But, two great historical events occurred virtually one after another and changed the course of not only my personal history but that of the world as well; the first was what became known as the ``Gulf War'' and the second was the ``August Coup'', essentially the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Tabular data and altitude profiles of mountain passes all over Europe.

A trip from the Netherlands to the USA - over Asia and Australia. The European part goes through Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Turkey.

Leaving home for a trip like this is not something one does from one day to the other. Along the way I joked often, saying: ``Yeah, one night I went out, got pissed and I am still trying to find my way home.'' In truth I had no foreign experience; well, none on my own. I had never been to an embassy before, I knew nothing about what's out there. Still I wanted to go, and with some hard work I managed to get my trip sponsored too! Getting ready to leave is always something special. Packing for a holiday, going out for a long weekend... Packing for a trip is even more emotional. Because I wasn't only packing my bags, I was packing all my belongings. Most of them went to storage, some of them into my bags. And with what I packed in my bags that 31st of may 1998, I lived for almost 3 years. What an adventure I was heading forward to... What a story you are about to read!