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Eid celebration on the beach
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BP garage.. Free coffee and tea and a nice pavilion for breakfast and dinner..
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Hot...
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The Turkish special forces base
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The Turkish special forces base
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Camped alongside these barbecue huts on the public beach
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The day after the failed coup attempt
Konya | Jan, 2016
The day after the failed coup attempt
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The day after the failed coup attempt
Konya | Jan, 2016
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Cappadoccia | Jan, 2016
Cappadoccia | Jan, 2016
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Cappadoccia | Jan, 2016
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Cappadoccia | Jan, 2016
Caravanserrei near Goreme | Jan, 2016
Caravanserrei near Goreme | Jan, 2016
Caravanserrei near Goreme | Jan, 2016
Proper sparse cycling across the Anatolian plain for a good few days
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This dude had just come back from the Pamir Highway in Tajikistan
Road from Kayseri to Sivas | Jan, 2016
The highest I had been at the time. This was followed up by a descent down to 700m before back up to 2400m, but I didnt make it up to the next pass, after a technical..
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Arrival in Georgia
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Arrival in Georgia
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They wouldnt let me in the old 1970s cable car because they thought my bike was too heavy 🙁
The mountain road between Batumi and Tbilisi | Jan, 2016
On the mountain road from Batumi to Tbilisi. A bit of a classic for cycle tourers, poor quality gravelly roads and big passes in stunning scenery.
On the way up Goderdzi pass | Jan, 2016
On the mountain road from Batumi to Tbilisi. A bit of a classic for cycle tourers, poor quality gravelly roads and big passes in stunning scenery.
On the way up Goderdzi pass | Jan, 2016
Road condition not great
On the way up Goderdzi pass | Jan, 2016
Road condition not great
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Final break before reaching the top.
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Surreal at the top of the pass
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Surreal at the top of the pass
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After the descent form Goderdzi pass
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After the pass this stretch of 40km of roadworks lies in wait. Lots of things breaking made for a long day.
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This old cave city still houses a monastery; great campspot with 5-6 tents underneath.
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Joined up with a Polich couple to cycle to Tbilisi
On the way back from Vardzia | Jan, 2016
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Next to a stone / concrete plant.
Abandoned house | Jan, 2016
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On the way to Tbilisi | Jan, 2016
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After Goderdzi the terrain is still high but reasonably flat and full of very gradual climbing
On the way to Tbilisi | Jan, 2016
Last night wild camping before Tbilisi
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On the way to Tbilisi | Jan, 2016
On the way to Tbilisi | Jan, 2016
Academy of Sciences building
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Setting off for a round trip to Kazbegi, at the Russian border
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Ananuri, on Georgia's military highway | Jan, 2016
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Climbing up to Kazbegi | Jan, 2016
Climbing up to Kazbegi | Jan, 2016
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Climbing up to Kazbegi | Jan, 2016
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After this pass the road descends to Stepantsminda, the dropping off point for Kazbegi, a 5000m+ mountain on the Russian border
Jvari Pass | Jan, 2016
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Good view of the mountain from a camp spot just outside the town of Stepantsminda
Kazbegi | Jan, 2016
Good view of the mountain from a camp spot just outside the town of Stepantsminda
Kazbegi | Jan, 2016
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On the way back from Kazbegi | Jan, 2016
Nice lady let me sleep in the courtyard of this restaurant / hotel
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Last town in Georgia before the Azerbaijan border. After wine tasting.
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The flat bit before the Caucasus mountains ahead.
On teh way to teh Azerbaijan border | Jan, 2016
Azerbaijan border | Jan, 2016
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Stayed in this old caravanserri
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Camping each night in open air restaurants at the side of the road
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This restaurant had tree houses
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Personal treehouse
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This road, tracing the foothills of the Caucasus, was great, just 50-60km days through amazing scenery and forests.
On the way to Baku | Jan, 2016
Invited into this house as the storm descended; spent a day there, getting a tour and a feast and getting involved in an impromptu dance-off
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Jess had it covered
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Big fail on the drums.
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Plov, roast potatoes, vegetable stew, Azeri salad, soup, bread, and freshly squeezed apricot juice.
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Kid at front left...
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Rain descended and we managed to
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Most of Azerbaijan was mountains and forests but we spent about 70km in the desert and dunes before arriving in Baku.
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Another roadside restaurant, this time with a roof.
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Waiting for Uzbek visas and the ferry crossing to Kazakhstan
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Cool exhibition about this tower in the Old town. No one knows why it was built; three competing explanations.
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Waiting for the Caspian sea ferry
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Waiting for the Caspian sea ferry, which was allegedly not going until the next day.
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Our home for four days
The Shahdag | Jan, 2016
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The Shahdag, somewhere in the Caspian | Jan, 2016
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The Shahdag, somewhere in the Caspian | Jan, 2016
The Shahdag, somewhere in the Caspian | Jan, 2016
Attempted a 200k day to get to Khiva through the desert, and failed, about 140km in, asteh sun went down. Good day though!
Leaving Nukus | Jan, 2016
Attempted a 200k day to get to Khiva through the desert, and failed, about 140km in, as the sun went down. Good day though!
Approaching Khiva | Jan, 2016
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On the way to Samarkand | Jan, 2016
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After finishing the Silk Route Super Brevet
Art Hostel, Tashkent | Jan, 2016
Bike | Jan, 2016
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Invited me to their house when I stopped off for some cash. Plus vodka.
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On the way to Shymkent | Jan, 2016
Second dinner at second random homestay in two nights
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Saying goodbye to my hosts, an Uzbek family
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Many hundreds of km of empty steppe, and gloriously empty roads, on the way to the Kyrgyz border
Setting off for Bishkek | Jan, 2016
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Early snow in Kyrgyzstan
Kara Balta | Jan, 2016
On the way to Lake Issyk Kul | Jan, 2016
On the way to Lake Issyk Kul | Jan, 2016
On the way to Lake Issyk Kul | Jan, 2016
On the way to Lake Issyk Kul | Jan, 2016
On the way to Lake Issyk Kul | Jan, 2016
On the way to Lake Issyk Kul | Jan, 2016
On the way to Lake Issyk Kul | Jan, 2016
Lake Issyk Kul | Jan, 2016
Lake Issyk Kul | Jan, 2016
Lake Issyk Kul | Jan, 2016
Lake Issyk Kul | Jan, 2016
Lake Issyk Kul | Jan, 2016
Lake Issyk Kul | Jan, 2016
The turn off to Osh, Kara Balta | Jan, 2016
My hotel, Kara Balta | Jan, 2016
My hotel, Kara Balta | Jan, 2016
My hotel, Kara Balta | Jan, 2016
Kara Balta | Jan, 2016
The start of the mountainous road from Bishkek to Osh | Jan, 2016
The road from Bishkek to Osh | Jan, 2016
The road from Bishkek to Osh | Jan, 2016
A very solitary shop near the top of the first mountain pass on the way from Bishkek to Osh
Near Suusamyr | Jan, 2016
A very solitary shop near the top of the first mountain pass on the way from Bishkek to Osh
Kyrgyz kid | Jan, 2016
Budding photographer | Jan, 2016
Budding photographer | Jan, 2016
Portrait | Jan, 2016
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Climbing the first pass from Bishkek to Osh | Jan, 2016
That is a group of horses in the background. Bit surreal.
Climbing the first pass from Bishkek to Osh | Jan, 2016
Hairpins...
Climbing the first pass from Bishkek to Osh | Jan, 2016
Just emerged from this 3k tunnel. Not much fun..
The tunnel at the first pass from Bishkek to Osh | Jan, 2016
Happy and stupidly cold.
At the top of the pass | Jan, 2016
On the way down from the pass. Getting dark. Nothing there, and I hitched a lift after it turned pitch black and the snow worsened
The first pass from Bishkek to Osh | Jan, 2016
Near Lake Toktogul | Jan, 2016
Next to Lake Toktogul | Jan, 2016
Lake Toktogul | Jan, 2016
Lake Toktogul | Jan, 2016
Lake Toktogul | Jan, 2016
Lake Toktogul | Jan, 2016
Lake Toktogul | Jan, 2016
Leaving Lake Toktogul towards Osh | Jan, 2016
Leaving Lake Toktogul towards Osh | Jan, 2016
Big dam up ahead, made for some stunning cycling
The river valley on the way to Osh | Jan, 2016
Big dam up ahead, made for some stunning cycling
The river valley on the way to Osh | Jan, 2016
The river valley on the way to Osh | Jan, 2016
Invited into this person's house, best plov I had in Central Asia, with yak meat
One day away from Sary Tash | Jan, 2016
Invited into this person's house, bike in storage in the yard
One day away from Sary Tash | Jan, 2016
Climbing in the morning
One day from Sary Tash | Jan, 2016
On the way up to the Taldyk pass | Jan, 2016
Climbing the 3600m Taldyk pass | Jan, 2016
Climbing the 3600m Taldyk pass | Jan, 2016
Taldyk pass, 3615m | Jan, 2016
Taldyk pass, 3615m | Jan, 2016
Tajikistan in the background
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Guesthouse, Sary Tash | Jan, 2016
Guesthouse, Sary Tash | Jan, 2016
Heading left to the Irkeshtam border with China
Leaving Sary Tash | Jan, 2016
Sary valley | Jan, 2016
On the way to Irkeshtam | Jan, 2016
On the way to Irkeshtam | Jan, 2016
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Last action for my bike until Laos. YOu have to get a taxi through the first 150km of China as it is deemed a sensitive area.
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Kashgar, China | Jan, 2016
The kid knows what is going down..
Kashgar, China | Jan, 2016
Kashgar, China | Jan, 2016
Kashgar, China | Jan, 2016
Gate to Kashgar's Old Town | Jan, 2016
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Kashgar animal market | Jan, 2016
Kashgar animal market | Jan, 2016