tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-79304173127522061402024-02-07T05:42:52.831-08:00England to IndiaJude Kriwaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10149790059840460857noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7930417312752206140.post-49316632120476651572013-12-16T12:34:00.001-08:002013-12-16T12:34:38.430-08:00The Tibet Diaries, Part 2 - Crossing the High Tibetan Plateau While Hiding from the Police<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<i>Before I continue writing up the end of my journey to India, here's a quick real time update.</i><br />
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<i>I arrived back in England on July 24th having flown from Mumbai via Kuwait. I intended to cycle the last leg of my journey from Heathrow Airport to my house in Bath but I soon realised something was up. The next day I was in hospital.</i><br />
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<i>For the first 3 days it seemed that I may have contracted malaria as I'd had it two years earlier and the symptoms were similar. Eventually it was confirmed that I did in fact have typhoid fever. After five days locked up in a quarantine room of the hospital I was allowed home yesterday and am slowly recovering. Two months later I also found out that I had Giardia.</i><br />
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Now, back to the blog. Here's a map of every place that I slept from England to India.<br />
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<iframe frameborder="0" height="400" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=214121301499656413876.0004d63f8570596c418a8&ie=UTF8&t=p&source=embed&ll=41.376809,43.59375&spn=52.197399,140.449219&z=3&output=embed" width="800"></iframe><br />
<small>View <a href="https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=214121301499656413876.0004d63f8570596c418a8&ie=UTF8&t=p&source=embed&ll=41.376809,43.59375&spn=52.197399,140.449219&z=3" style="color: blue; text-align: left;">England to India</a> in a larger map</small><br />
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Excuse all this text, the photos start soon! I recommend pressing F11 on your keyboard to go full screen.<br />
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Unlike the last blog entry, which wasn't actually in Tibet, the next two entries cover 30 days of cycling in nothing but Tibet. To clarify, there are three different meanings of "Tibet". 1) Historical Tibet: the country which spanned more land than any other meaning of the word. 2) The Tibetan Plateau: the geologically defined elevated plateau running for thousands of miles in every direction. 3) Tibet Autonomous Region (T.A.R): as defined by the Chinese government, this is the name of the province given to Tibet as a part of China.<br />
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To make clear some of the shenanigans I was up to in Tibet I must tell you that to enter Tibet Autonomous Region a foreigner must obtain a permit. To do so one must apply along with 4 others of the same nationality, they must all book an organised tour for every day of their permit and they must not stray from their guide who must stay with them at all times. They must also stay in 'foreigner hotels' which are £25 per night (minimum) and they are only permitted to travel to certain tourist hotspots. Independent travel is illegal. I did not have a permit and therefore I was there illegally and had to avoid all police and army.<br />
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Where my last blog left off I was in a city just 32km north of the first checkpoint. After that I would have to be careful for the next month or I would be deported like so many others have. The following is copied directly from my journal.<br />
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<b>Day 292 - 08/04/2013</b><br />
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Prepared to leave Golmud. Withdrew another 1000 RMB (£107) and<b> </b>got Chinese visa extended. Woman in hotel came with me. Cost 360 RMB (£37). Bought new sim card as old Chinese sim doesn't work in Qinghai state and probably not Tibet. Bought a new battery for my speedometer. Bought 10 instant noodles, 6 sausages (ate on the day), 1 kg of raisins, fruit, Adidas red peak cap to maybe look more Chinese.<br />
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Skyped parents. Felt bad about withdrawing so much money on their card (mine is blocked). Planned route with high and low points on map. Skyped Lauren late at night. Showered with bike. Took apart and cleaned dérailleur as I had a strange resistance feeling when pedalling. Oiled everything.<br />
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Planned to leave at 2am to pass checkpoint but too tired; finished packing at 01:30. Had shower then got in clean bed which I'd looked forward to all night. Had to solve problems with Feel Jah FM IP address change.<br />
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<b>Day 293 - 09/04/2013</b><br />
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Enjoyed sleeping in. Typical morning dreams about sleeping in too long. Got dressed in mountain clothes and boots. Checked out by 14:00. Hotel charged me extra for dirty towels from cleaning dérailleur. I said that 2 of the 3 could be cleaned. Maid tried one and it came out. I was charged 20 RMB for one hand towel.<br />
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Lost cycle computer. Found in wash-bag later. Found really cheap good sweet bakery. Ate in concrete park in front of big building. Wrote previous days' entries in luxury bakery after having ice cream there. Withdrew another 1000 RMB, hopefully more than enough for Tibet and Nepal (not including Indian visa).<br />
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Topped up petrol for stove on way out of Golmud. Saw Tibetan Mastiff dogs and puppies. First sign for Lhasa and 'Tibet Road'. Very shallow climb; 200 m over 27 km. Slight tailwind. Hot in mountain clothes + cap + Buff for disguise.<br />
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Saw dear-like animals run across road and up steep mountain. Very excited for Tibet. Wanted night to come early so I could do checkpoint.<br />
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Stopped 30 minutes before sunset, quite cold, 8 Celsius. Using only tarpaulin and sleeping bag to allow quick get away early tomorrow morning for checkpoint. Fruit and Chinese chili snacks (crisps) for dinner. Not much water left but should find river tomorrow. Mountains very beautiful in golden light. Listened to Stadium Arcadium.<br />
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Tied opposing eyelets of tarpaulin together to make cylindrical windbreak for sleeping bag<br />
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<i>Starting altitude (also lowest) 2844m. Sleeping altitude (also highest) 3053m.</i><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia0nlLsGliMz26hyphenhyphen39lMBGC_4sFSBjZyO7RjIX_uR9fRGwFbQ1XDjSE39po4pnndzknRybJ8vJeQbSySyPckjN4fjdNMcqPwr103dpjXeDwy2DquuxDPLQA4AP3WT-gWiD_VR0qLp7j7K7/s850/tibet002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia0nlLsGliMz26hyphenhyphen39lMBGC_4sFSBjZyO7RjIX_uR9fRGwFbQ1XDjSE39po4pnndzknRybJ8vJeQbSySyPckjN4fjdNMcqPwr103dpjXeDwy2DquuxDPLQA4AP3WT-gWiD_VR0qLp7j7K7/s850/tibet002.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This wall of sand was all I had to hide myself from the road</td></tr>
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<i><br /></i><i><br /></i><b>Day 294 - 10/04/2013</b><br />
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-5<span class="st">°</span>c at night, a bit cold without tent. Woke several times and had several dreams about checkpoint<i>. </i>Woke at 4am. -3c.<br />
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On road by 04:30. No moon. Didn't use lights. Thought checkpoint was much closer than it was, got off road about 5km before. Pushed bike through desert sand; mostly not too difficult. Some big pits to avoid, I went in one. Could have cycled more but couldn't see anything.<br />
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Huge 5 metre tall 45 degree wall of dirt running perpendicular from checkpoint to foot of mountains 250m away. I stayed close to mountains. Eventually found a place to drag bike up barrier, very difficult, took 15 minutes. Checkpoint looked very serious, most vehicles stopped for several minutes.<br />
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Only cycled 4km before stopping to sleep. Used eye mask as sun was rising. Checkpoint took 120 minutes (90 moving). Birds started singing. Worried that I was still too close to checkpoint; many dreams about this. Woke at 11:30. Bought food and water in garage, very expensive.<br />
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SW tail wind all day combined with very gradual gradient made riding and climbing a joy. Often over 25km/h. Took off sunglasses, reversed peak cap and wore buff in the afternoon. Listened same as yesterday. Texted Felix and Giom (Guillaume) about checkpoint details. Strange stomach in evening. Struggled to go to toilet. Camped on bank 50m from road.<br />
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Felt positive about completing mountain pass (Kunlun Shankou) tomorrow; 43km (distance) and 1,000m (vertical ascent).<br />
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<i>Starting altitude (also lowest) 3047m. Sleeping Altitude (also highest (3931m))</i><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHvmweI3M5SYrIrCKzcZv0lRXSBdbNUxLSJELEfwWZ9w_xVBML18phMFWpr-UH3ucJShq0o_bnRQ8xZztlGJme2Ki67j2100qympzrZxVP6vP912nHUZd7rtAC5pzP9FrAkv9B8SVB6bZI/s850/tibet003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHvmweI3M5SYrIrCKzcZv0lRXSBdbNUxLSJELEfwWZ9w_xVBML18phMFWpr-UH3ucJShq0o_bnRQ8xZztlGJme2Ki67j2100qympzrZxVP6vP912nHUZd7rtAC5pzP9FrAkv9B8SVB6bZI/s850/tibet003.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My "camp" from 06:00 to 11:00 after completing the checkpoint</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrS1LnbXEIwwNu9uEhsh9jQ4c_p-rO38EoB7U_OCNB8j5t5Vl5GGqyzPCzBT_T-LZyY8HWRaMAsKfu0n7htzxaU_XDMcnV8DH2BoW0KUSJmEc5EuWKkppgJTt9No_vevcJeBqmoaiaHFiC/s850/tibet004.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrS1LnbXEIwwNu9uEhsh9jQ4c_p-rO38EoB7U_OCNB8j5t5Vl5GGqyzPCzBT_T-LZyY8HWRaMAsKfu0n7htzxaU_XDMcnV8DH2BoW0KUSJmEc5EuWKkppgJTt9No_vevcJeBqmoaiaHFiC/s850/tibet004.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tibetan Antelope</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-08rE0aRePl3e7r_C5QOg31L4wCQ8gK2CDnSqq4PE_W0zlwiPbatTrMMvCyoi6F2Tv2fzJaoZItjYkKIluotFLUKypndyeQXE7H3GnbjarknNaZxU6dD_e8fyvG7Zik1L9Cs4gxBxaFYq/s850/tibet005.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-08rE0aRePl3e7r_C5QOg31L4wCQ8gK2CDnSqq4PE_W0zlwiPbatTrMMvCyoi6F2Tv2fzJaoZItjYkKIluotFLUKypndyeQXE7H3GnbjarknNaZxU6dD_e8fyvG7Zik1L9Cs4gxBxaFYq/s850/tibet005.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My humble abode for the last 10 months</td></tr>
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<b>Day 295 - 11/04/2013</b><br />
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2.6<span class="st">°</span>c in tent; still cold. Ice in tent. Slept in until gone. Apple and cakes for breakfast. Slept with 1 water bottle in sleeping bag; other froze. Collected 5 litres water from river. Strong wind to south all day. 13/14km/h as approaching pass.<br />
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Saw dozens of hamster like creatures running around and into burrows. Golden Eagles too. Got hot water from garage, put it in thermal flask to save using stove for noodles. Why didn't I think of this before? Chinese man gave me plum juice.<br />
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Great view of Yushu Mountain. Didn't stop for last 8km/200m up pass, even when my hat blew off. Wind helped greatly. Great section of Rock playlist. Steep at end of pass. 1,000s of Tibetan prayer flags, stupas and monuments. 4785m (15,700ft). Highest altitude ever. No breathlessness at all, maybe due to warm teperature. -1°c at top. Had noodles in the bag for lunch. Brilliant descent. Mostly above 30km/h even when almost flat.<br />
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Saw wild donkeys. Full force of wind felt when cycling west. Chinese tourists drove past; stopped ahead and took photos as I passed. I stopped. Lots of photos together; cute girls from Chengdu. Gave me food.<br />
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Bought breakfast in day's only village. Saw Tibetan antelope. Reverse view of Kunlun Mountains and Yushu Mountain was superb. Amazed by beauty of plateau. Sometimes very up and down (10-15km).<br />
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Was going to cycle 6 hours but saw a parked touring bike. Qing (<i>written in Chinese in journal)</i> is from Inner Mongolia (<i>a province in China)</i>. Decided to stay in cheap nice hotel with him (on him). Will try cycling together tomorrow. Best day ever?<br />
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<i>Waking altitude (also highest) 3931m. Sleeping altitude 4474m. Highest altitude 4785m.</i><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt56qGRIuSp8Rd_d8utYNRyQbOiwOfMSAPMZZV9YO8Juh4Ikxntl7abrcf47jeGrHEmiyJsIXPamIAHt8-aNVRLjiaPERtoEfNEKD4seLql97TGwC1Y8AXyoCrC8lIICozbZkDT6pxWs__/s850/tibet006.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt56qGRIuSp8Rd_d8utYNRyQbOiwOfMSAPMZZV9YO8Juh4Ikxntl7abrcf47jeGrHEmiyJsIXPamIAHt8-aNVRLjiaPERtoEfNEKD4seLql97TGwC1Y8AXyoCrC8lIICozbZkDT6pxWs__/s850/tibet006.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking back on Yushu Mountain</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm5Ylg3RvZYofFxa2mpamPIF5gF1jdq5zTwMqoWLZ9B5yV1VxYpKecD0irM_rHQ8e8eP4UemRH5K2kUW3jhPgV5_tK2DlKGF3vbgMezvvnowi2xXlEx-PLl6lPyCmiiEyNkSxsRev661WM/s850/tibet007.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm5Ylg3RvZYofFxa2mpamPIF5gF1jdq5zTwMqoWLZ9B5yV1VxYpKecD0irM_rHQ8e8eP4UemRH5K2kUW3jhPgV5_tK2DlKGF3vbgMezvvnowi2xXlEx-PLl6lPyCmiiEyNkSxsRev661WM/s850/tibet007.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At the top op Kunlun Shankou</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgafeTEui7DqKEZ9-AGZ5QTDmt94DrTJMQStzdFcnIGSATuBalnJSZIfSbGUzsGzcMNssRCRLc4Kbz_v4QkWLfAHyJKroGx-plROaD2BYqcWEgNGFYmddrgA4MeFrJJ6pNVQB9Oh-xk9BOV/s850/tibet008.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgafeTEui7DqKEZ9-AGZ5QTDmt94DrTJMQStzdFcnIGSATuBalnJSZIfSbGUzsGzcMNssRCRLc4Kbz_v4QkWLfAHyJKroGx-plROaD2BYqcWEgNGFYmddrgA4MeFrJJ6pNVQB9Oh-xk9BOV/s850/tibet008.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Heavy Traffic (for Tibet) on the way down</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4Q20th8Qcu2UpWNK18-r2SDi_ZtGeC8kBQv80okE1FBvKNeEcaVWMTF7eVBVdygO3PNiHP2CvvcOkaz10TBab4B4iuR6B3iTFJ4ANre5LexHXxLubIe326Chgq_2usQykwoe0fmF4dzCY/s850/tibet009.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4Q20th8Qcu2UpWNK18-r2SDi_ZtGeC8kBQv80okE1FBvKNeEcaVWMTF7eVBVdygO3PNiHP2CvvcOkaz10TBab4B4iuR6B3iTFJ4ANre5LexHXxLubIe326Chgq_2usQykwoe0fmF4dzCY/s850/tibet009.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wild Donkeys. It's very rare to see donkeys not being used for labour in developing countries so this scene made me happy</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7shCv4yM3LP5Fbeia2uwsJV1oxUgGPRD_R3akop7uyOvFMWRb3F14Hmo3s6u_tPQKmUjejwMTXVwZRWTT_7Hs3AUnCwx_Sszovc7MquL74ks40vLJoqjZidcMGbPubfseFUnyR4_XJE_g/s850/tibet010.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7shCv4yM3LP5Fbeia2uwsJV1oxUgGPRD_R3akop7uyOvFMWRb3F14Hmo3s6u_tPQKmUjejwMTXVwZRWTT_7Hs3AUnCwx_Sszovc7MquL74ks40vLJoqjZidcMGbPubfseFUnyR4_XJE_g/s850/tibet010.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nothing to do but ride!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinOyOnwDtcSP-n6B2KYLSozIilZBLlJafcXeJeuF_p91OP5Cdm_Zz0suIDVWqoL-eVqRj2QnrIYLQaBgUvCE1CzWB17tUI4rdEu6o8Ixo3OoMIqHuquls6n-rRdE4d1WQE6wN0fYwOoOtS/s850/tibet011.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinOyOnwDtcSP-n6B2KYLSozIilZBLlJafcXeJeuF_p91OP5Cdm_Zz0suIDVWqoL-eVqRj2QnrIYLQaBgUvCE1CzWB17tUI4rdEu6o8Ixo3OoMIqHuquls6n-rRdE4d1WQE6wN0fYwOoOtS/s850/tibet011.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More Tibetan Antelopes. They were eventually scared off by a Chinese tourist who got out of his car and threw stones at them for no apparent reason.</td></tr>
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<b>Day 296 12/04/2013</b><br />
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Slept well. -15°c outside. Noodles for breakfast. Charged everything. Cycled at 08:30. No wind in morning, more in afternoon - rule of thumb. Had to go slow for Qing. Stopped less though. Took good photos.<br />
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Tried to get water from Kunlun River but it was too salty. Chinese tourists gave us some water. Lunch after 58km in restaurant, Qing's gift again. Qing stayed behind, I continued. Side wind at times. Finally went to toilet properly after 3-4 days. Up and down small hills most of day. Listened to XFM, Rock playlist, Dance playlist (for pass later on) and Badly Drawn Boy (bad for cycling). Stopped when I saw rain passing ahead for 5 minutes.<br />
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Saw yaks, wild donkeys, eagles and Tibetan Antelopes. Passed 5 Tibetans waling with a cart to Lhasa; very excitable, dozens of photos taken. Passed roadblock of broke truck. Wind blowing to SE, the pass was the only road all day going SE so I decided to go for it. Switched speedometer to actual time (<i>as opposed to ride time</i>), helped me to stop less. Didn't look again until finish (this was at 18:00). Didn't stop for last 17km/300m (up) of pass, 19km/h to start. 6/7km/h by finish; legs hurting so much but also felt strong, I'd change up a gear at every opportunity. 4955m (16256ft) at top. Didn't even notice temperature (-5°c), perfect combination of body heat and sweat.<br />
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Very fast descent. Lost light quickly. First town on map didn't exist. Second had police station. Third didn't exist. Cycled with lights. Trusted in road condition. Finally decided to camp when I started climbing again at 23:00/4600m. Set up tent quickly. Surprisingly couldn't finish noodles.<br />
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Very pleased to see final distance of 180km (112 miles) and 9 hours 50 minutes ride time.<br />
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<i>Waking altitude (also lowest) 4474m. Sleeping altitude 4634m. Highest altitude 4955m.</i><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXX9R9sLNkMrCkVGUI5IEBxwV3aJgBeAHaIc30AjhOfNbmNfoAZWxOtowndh80EuqAtXPQMiW6xyGQGv9Tz_lkjmwE7unTI5K6gmlN8g08ol1LAsmleeSm1vbE3wjVhtZT8iEJBQV7R1qo/s850/tibet012.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXX9R9sLNkMrCkVGUI5IEBxwV3aJgBeAHaIc30AjhOfNbmNfoAZWxOtowndh80EuqAtXPQMiW6xyGQGv9Tz_lkjmwE7unTI5K6gmlN8g08ol1LAsmleeSm1vbE3wjVhtZT8iEJBQV7R1qo/s850/tibet012.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ice beard. Cycling with someone else created the rare opportunity to have a photo taken of me.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj0dbOBuOB904HsUxLNHx7iamn5Y9W8fqaibdS7RNYQYqEbf1XpX8yXO2SoMc5Z5TAqZbc5aoPddF0gq7JaliVfrGDjQmy_ghV_NCZt8AGzyQLxIObE23j5xdZtIxZHso9zplRxfjQyQhF/s850/tibet013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj0dbOBuOB904HsUxLNHx7iamn5Y9W8fqaibdS7RNYQYqEbf1XpX8yXO2SoMc5Z5TAqZbc5aoPddF0gq7JaliVfrGDjQmy_ghV_NCZt8AGzyQLxIObE23j5xdZtIxZHso9zplRxfjQyQhF/s850/tibet013.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Trying to get water from the salty frozen river</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQb9_qoR9s0Kplv7brs5fEEjDm2pSWuEMogGBcnbciVEgyZUol3tVvcujKiAbOuyE2KAt-Um2q85gJPebzYJ6Pl7-5rww4_nrja24AAtYlYrpLqJHYlBuqc7uSHfSuHc1wPKVDzlHHza_q/s850/tibet014.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQb9_qoR9s0Kplv7brs5fEEjDm2pSWuEMogGBcnbciVEgyZUol3tVvcujKiAbOuyE2KAt-Um2q85gJPebzYJ6Pl7-5rww4_nrja24AAtYlYrpLqJHYlBuqc7uSHfSuHc1wPKVDzlHHza_q/s850/tibet014.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Qing's envy of my bike led to this photo. How proud I am!</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWU-TrWOAQnNHQqh_Tp3TDcTaYHkQENb-bIXam0Mx_hK2GmYAKJIVFV6bGUQ-ywQYdbuOMAr5KvzjAqMAXaDxXJ9x-yBlterv92x-s2lDuz3090Ome9TA0_1my61Lh502_6goxiXsQ4zwV/s850/tibet015.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWU-TrWOAQnNHQqh_Tp3TDcTaYHkQENb-bIXam0Mx_hK2GmYAKJIVFV6bGUQ-ywQYdbuOMAr5KvzjAqMAXaDxXJ9x-yBlterv92x-s2lDuz3090Ome9TA0_1my61Lh502_6goxiXsQ4zwV/s850/tibet015.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pure joy on the open plains of Tibet!</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3mD3LYjCnKzAf5YQrqHVbs-FTmKvXPX031xHzy4BNT-920qD_2-wRxc1CKTuDdVrZfKREtggITVdZA4QxA5R1TMhud6BUSVA4ZKbpUldOII_qZLdlAsMdhI6EHVtEMCBq-TpC-DYHtew2/s850/tibet016.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3mD3LYjCnKzAf5YQrqHVbs-FTmKvXPX031xHzy4BNT-920qD_2-wRxc1CKTuDdVrZfKREtggITVdZA4QxA5R1TMhud6BUSVA4ZKbpUldOII_qZLdlAsMdhI6EHVtEMCBq-TpC-DYHtew2/s850/tibet016.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beware the yaks!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivwZRDbg5v0xxZttPuccBVe_ORxPFj4CvqChCV70-6wBNsb3uqAj2prZirrFG8n0AcfB4bU1mfrJaJK9QUGw_cDfWf1R1W2yso2LTRulSOia79g8wGOu2F8fL9NQeTdK4TCXgFYgP2GeRM/s850/tibet017.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivwZRDbg5v0xxZttPuccBVe_ORxPFj4CvqChCV70-6wBNsb3uqAj2prZirrFG8n0AcfB4bU1mfrJaJK9QUGw_cDfWf1R1W2yso2LTRulSOia79g8wGOu2F8fL9NQeTdK4TCXgFYgP2GeRM/s850/tibet017.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kilometer marker 3000. They have long roads in these parts!</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR2OqRRQCplSLozReJ7at69yepMFi0sQcrwx6EARhFUCvSEwnY3i-1NvelALH0OuxadUXZxMbblq8lyRTCDLMNEr1LNDWqn-JDnZioS6Mvk_4p8bNO4GUx60wib5K3yd042MGaLgV4FbHu/s850/tibet018.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR2OqRRQCplSLozReJ7at69yepMFi0sQcrwx6EARhFUCvSEwnY3i-1NvelALH0OuxadUXZxMbblq8lyRTCDLMNEr1LNDWqn-JDnZioS6Mvk_4p8bNO4GUx60wib5K3yd042MGaLgV4FbHu/s850/tibet018.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I asked Qing to write down (in Chinese) the names of the dishes that he ordered for us so that I could order them when I was alone.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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The below video has terrible sound due to the strong wind.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/KjqJU2Gm5Mw?rel=0" width="853"></iframe>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFAMG1ghM7Wf-NC9ZHnfH4QGnJTG0skfAnmRU44gWG2htdv6i3LRgXCMOwuHPUU_L47dS68AbhJVqsWES7l0R7HjiuZkQ5CfhDMzg97Yw1tE52csTiUafS_LNWQ-IaxTcCuBPEJL8zHgA0/s850/tibet019.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFAMG1ghM7Wf-NC9ZHnfH4QGnJTG0skfAnmRU44gWG2htdv6i3LRgXCMOwuHPUU_L47dS68AbhJVqsWES7l0R7HjiuZkQ5CfhDMzg97Yw1tE52csTiUafS_LNWQ-IaxTcCuBPEJL8zHgA0/s850/tibet019.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pilgrims walking thousands of miles to Lhasa.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDtjReUce7czOfdmmtWr67Omwh0svg10DPbkHhN7suphYkAmYIGZDN5ys1ilMmAR0Vt757g1iaNytAgMUGxjCLuAbzU5WR0t4UVJmWSwq9aSYBNFuPMpZOfUkUE5ruQMKnsnY7WL2gswoK/s850/tibet020.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDtjReUce7czOfdmmtWr67Omwh0svg10DPbkHhN7suphYkAmYIGZDN5ys1ilMmAR0Vt757g1iaNytAgMUGxjCLuAbzU5WR0t4UVJmWSwq9aSYBNFuPMpZOfUkUE5ruQMKnsnY7WL2gswoK/s850/tibet020.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3mr3_xrWT1eQ0LZknIasuBlRpaQfiS9vjUxWBJqGnDLNAK3cY-mQ4IUB_CcLkD_Z6L86o4CGvTLa_lPc4NRwsGmRSyTL-aIQwzm2rOEDlfoo91L27SzctC5dw_wAmVhA_OCvrOxmlU5Gd/s850/tibet021.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3mr3_xrWT1eQ0LZknIasuBlRpaQfiS9vjUxWBJqGnDLNAK3cY-mQ4IUB_CcLkD_Z6L86o4CGvTLa_lPc4NRwsGmRSyTL-aIQwzm2rOEDlfoo91L27SzctC5dw_wAmVhA_OCvrOxmlU5Gd/s850/tibet021.jpg" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1SQMeB_lKbBeJcvY4BLN_Pa4e98MQwhBfikk6Jp7Dk_DbxNu8K_pMmouNhmJOSXToJvnoKuJ4r5x7ZBQoZnkDZQ7qdjYQyb-IvD25Be49AiGj-RS3MhtaSWgz4-IJ7I7IQVkIF5RfKCR4/s850/tibet022.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1SQMeB_lKbBeJcvY4BLN_Pa4e98MQwhBfikk6Jp7Dk_DbxNu8K_pMmouNhmJOSXToJvnoKuJ4r5x7ZBQoZnkDZQ7qdjYQyb-IvD25Be49AiGj-RS3MhtaSWgz4-IJ7I7IQVkIF5RfKCR4/s850/tibet022.jpg" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC3vsASHL7pAkMf3rWx64QXP7sbs3DJIHc_6oqIkjvOEkvaFhMr0y9TAWZcgXFITw1AGnj8kU7G89yPNESRUytMeayejuSpQ4pTx3z-gFDq_yf7jxRtbowAm9iWauqKtidIeoMaFiihr9Y/s850/tibet023.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC3vsASHL7pAkMf3rWx64QXP7sbs3DJIHc_6oqIkjvOEkvaFhMr0y9TAWZcgXFITw1AGnj8kU7G89yPNESRUytMeayejuSpQ4pTx3z-gFDq_yf7jxRtbowAm9iWauqKtidIeoMaFiihr9Y/s850/tibet023.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A gift from a Chinese tourist who past by in a car</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx1z0cltJs6brkC2Lw9_RN0xB65Gkniwy-JmaDa9LOrb9c2ATaKWmMmBbEhGbXfOmcpnl3jXO-Lo-JXES6HdKHEI0hH5QQ6pr-O3gj8EVkddaeyEtYYLj_oMBpCd79qskuh5si7TSn_Jgo/s850/tibet024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx1z0cltJs6brkC2Lw9_RN0xB65Gkniwy-JmaDa9LOrb9c2ATaKWmMmBbEhGbXfOmcpnl3jXO-Lo-JXES6HdKHEI0hH5QQ6pr-O3gj8EVkddaeyEtYYLj_oMBpCd79qskuh5si7TSn_Jgo/s850/tibet024.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I reached the top of the pass at dusk</td></tr>
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<b>Day 297 - 13/04/2013</b><br />
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-10°c in tent. Half of body felt warm, half cold. Woke before 09:00 but didn't leave until 12:30; rested. Beautiful view of where I cycled from last night. Got water from stream. Possibly a bit salty. Climbed 4790m pass, much steeper at bottom, became so flat I missed the top.<br />
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Saw more Tibetans walking to Lhasa with cart full of belongings. Had 4 cameras on me at one point. Headwind at times. Light headache all day. Applied sun cream in the morning as I was already red. Legs felt a bit empty. Planned to pass Yenshiping, where there are lots of PSB (police) after dinner but it was 120km away. After 70km I kept changing my mind. Was going to go for it but then hail/snow and feeling ill decided otherwise.<br />
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Stopped in road construction camp (RCC). Asked if there was somewhere to sleep. Was led to police station round the back. All very kind, gave me lots of food. The boss, 22, spoke a little English. I told him I was going to Golmud, no problem. Slept in dorm by myself. Overall, very surprised to have not been arrested.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More Pilgrims on their way to Lhasa.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh94Kv35Hc5zG4_KelYlYkff1MWTjx0YbjOj2KpA23mf_M1d7W5spxtMT47xnLLLo9w0OmiZTVfrh3l6ybAe0G9TIM0pR9AzGrFJA7k-27Yx91TuTAaFyxKGv1slecjdadXS16mliwWeO3D/s850/tibet030.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh94Kv35Hc5zG4_KelYlYkff1MWTjx0YbjOj2KpA23mf_M1d7W5spxtMT47xnLLLo9w0OmiZTVfrh3l6ybAe0G9TIM0pR9AzGrFJA7k-27Yx91TuTAaFyxKGv1slecjdadXS16mliwWeO3D/s850/tibet030.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nowhere is the dramatic weather more beautiful or visible than the Tibetan Plateau.</td></tr>
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<b>Day 298 - 14/04/13</b><br />
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Woken at 09:00. Told boss I was making a loop when he saw me cycle towards Tibet and not Germu (Golmud). Head/side wind. Legs still felt poor. Hail and snow a few times. Little motivation. Stopped at 14:00 as Yenshiping is only 18km away and I've seen way to many police/army already. Strong wind while in tent. Will cycle after 10pm.<br />
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<b>Day 299 - 15/04/2013</b><br />
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Slept with water in sleeping bag to stop it freezing. -7c in tent. Woke many times as I was 10 metres from railway. Earplugs effective but painful after a while. Woke at 3am to pass town with lots of PSB. Huge mental struggle to get up. No choice ultimately. If I want to cycle in Tibet I have to do it properly. Got up after 10 minutes.<br />
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On road by 04:15. Came across unexpected checkpoint after only 2km. Assumed they were sleeping. I was going to go straight through (despite flood lights) but then a truck came. I observed from 150m. Not possible to pass on road. I jumped off road when the truck passed so its lights wouldn't show me. Sound set off 4 or 5 dogs. Unsure what to do as there was a river to the left of the road and dogs to the right. Went to the right.<br />
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One dog followed me, barking constantly. I threw stones at it to deter it. If I'd hit it the yelp would have given me away. Certain I was caught when a bright light shone on me from checkpoint. Turned out to be a stationary flood light that I'd moved into path of. Rejoined road only 75 metres beyond the checkpoint but hoped that the lights of the trucks at the checkpoint would stop police seeing me.<br />
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Lots of dogs in town straight after, was chased by 7 or 8 at one time; put my bike in top gear and hit 35km/h. Not fun when it's dark and I'm not using my lights. Saw 5 or 6 blue and red flashing police lights over next hour; not sure what they are; always stationary. Convinced, again, that I was caught when police motorbike went past me, stopped, turned around and shone its light on me. I just kept going. Was wearing balaclava but me eyes gave me away. Was always relieved when an oncoming vehicle turned out to be a truck and not PSB. I'd turn my headlight on so oncoming vehicles could see me and maybe make it harder to see my eyes.<br />
<br />
Temperature was -15°c until sunrise around 08:00. Extremely painful to swallow as combination of high altitude (little oxygen) and balaclava meant I had to keep my mouth wide open to breath causing not only a dry mouth but dry throat. -15°c didn't help either. I'd been rationing water since night before. Finally found a river at 07:30. Had previously tried snow covered river but my foot fell through ice and water tasted horrible. I wore goggles once light to cover my eyes.<br />
<br />
Passed Toma, marked as large town on map, a little after sunrise. There was a police station but no activity. Soon after climbed up and around hill onto new plateau and decided I was safe at 08:30. Had breakfast (raisins, dried apricots, 'mini french bread' and (frozen) sausages) facing sun which was warm. Extremely tired but felt great to have beaten the system. Very gentle climb until lunch. Didn't wear disguise.<br />
<br />
Came across 100-200 backed up trucks. Put on balaclava and glasses in case of temporary checkpoint. Passed all and saw an overturned truck. This meant the road was all mine for nearly 1 hour. Got more water. Couldn't stop peeing as I'd drank so much in morning to keep throat moist. Similar lunch as breakfast. Small but decent tailwind. Steeper after 4900m. Was doing over 20km/h as I approached 5,000m; punched the air and cried out when I got there; first time ever.<br />
<br />
Saw a couple of police bikes who hooted but no problem; probably off duty. Road to pass went up and down several times before reaching the top, making it much harder and longer than expected. Met Chinese couple hitching to Lhasa and Nepal. 5252m (17231ft) at top. Now in official province of Tibet (Tibet Autonomous Region - T.A.R). Really exhausted and unsure how much further I should go. Enjoyed downhill but struggled to pedal even on flat bits. I'd reached top at 16:00, 13 hours after I got up. Knees ached when walking. Strong jarring pain in lower-right of back. Probably from the way I start, stop and cruise when on bike.<br />
<br />
Found beautiful plateau to set up camp early on. Just needed water first. Found a spring, very happy. Erected tent in pit for wind shelter. Damaged pegs due to rock beneath sand. Greatly enjoyed just sitting in sun with no wind and letting clothes get warm. Eyes stung a great deal. Peak cap broken. Tore sleeping bag liner badly. Slept at 19:00. Got warm clothes ready as I knew it would be cold later. Heart beating very fast; explains difficulty getting to sleep previously.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2np4Gf02-vVN4SfhTotViry9-YrFakMRimtUcjW77JbPOoJdIs4B8G_7rE0A9HeySrdhJLaBv3pUJDz0rFnAya-9tLBZYECQlnh1_5eKS6c6_Sv6UEefvoaE40OOxazlhX_X2q9EquFrH/s850/tibet031.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2np4Gf02-vVN4SfhTotViry9-YrFakMRimtUcjW77JbPOoJdIs4B8G_7rE0A9HeySrdhJLaBv3pUJDz0rFnAya-9tLBZYECQlnh1_5eKS6c6_Sv6UEefvoaE40OOxazlhX_X2q9EquFrH/s850/tibet031.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'd been riding for 2 hours and 27 minutes and the temperature had still only risen to -13°c</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIpMZP2RzzsKjjafoJ16qp-DZmxGNnu-y9PGeuQN_LHgsjH9rRpnKwiuuYm47VRaLHR6e3stGqtFwUaVw6hAY8Wu_VhZ1UiyvwjOfZxezmzhvp90AB_7LAcBJtbbKdW2cyn68v3D15aCn6/s850/tibet032.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIpMZP2RzzsKjjafoJ16qp-DZmxGNnu-y9PGeuQN_LHgsjH9rRpnKwiuuYm47VRaLHR6e3stGqtFwUaVw6hAY8Wu_VhZ1UiyvwjOfZxezmzhvp90AB_7LAcBJtbbKdW2cyn68v3D15aCn6/s850/tibet032.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yaks</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimuHm2EHOz0E05E6FEFOElk8unvxxiXwPt8ecEN8ujEY2fKbDsbs6fwSEbx6MP5EUgMkTo4xbVrfscie3psGKhIUngev0CRzsQmnxjMbSgg1N0BoHQoRnr3aVT-mF6avnWpMhpbCTs4WyO/s850/tibet033.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimuHm2EHOz0E05E6FEFOElk8unvxxiXwPt8ecEN8ujEY2fKbDsbs6fwSEbx6MP5EUgMkTo4xbVrfscie3psGKhIUngev0CRzsQmnxjMbSgg1N0BoHQoRnr3aVT-mF6avnWpMhpbCTs4WyO/s850/tibet033.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Little Boy enjoying the ride as always. That's my solar panel on top of my handlebar bag - used to recharge my camera, iPod and AA batteries.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjao61gSH6nAANHQkcGWv2cd2NSeZrLAXkZ8D4lF5O6RrYZmP-nI0SVS01CHhNldtVspCmindO4hHoO4X8cozCz3NW3A1wDArVYztAUGNxaR-_TO6QgnOAQBM_MPxECRtVERnSptdIUrCa8/s850/tibet034.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjao61gSH6nAANHQkcGWv2cd2NSeZrLAXkZ8D4lF5O6RrYZmP-nI0SVS01CHhNldtVspCmindO4hHoO4X8cozCz3NW3A1wDArVYztAUGNxaR-_TO6QgnOAQBM_MPxECRtVERnSptdIUrCa8/s850/tibet034.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A rather lonesome donkey</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL6Mmw4C2nBPCqnJJGHqRvCwPcJ04nKL-Xdq2mPs-TELDcJ7cBYHG_v6valYbNNGWN3igFUjGNP9gtp7zvyV5U3nxtSUyNq4d2T-Asv_RboFv9if-sOpmNRdor6X02yWtzvRgK5kiIZEn7/s850/tibet035.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL6Mmw4C2nBPCqnJJGHqRvCwPcJ04nKL-Xdq2mPs-TELDcJ7cBYHG_v6valYbNNGWN3igFUjGNP9gtp7zvyV5U3nxtSUyNq4d2T-Asv_RboFv9if-sOpmNRdor6X02yWtzvRgK5kiIZEn7/s850/tibet035.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This must be a frozen spring</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcsjTEQe7qZpmwT3vr74HAUBxx-WQru37PsUTRHve87zZ9tI8PRTy-LKMX39jBqiqjx0du_KNUMAyXMtI8sqlCoNon_FQ4OtdibXLoixK9xpKHvcw9zuwKTcf_nyhG3id19FoNMaLLQ91p/s850/tibet036.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcsjTEQe7qZpmwT3vr74HAUBxx-WQru37PsUTRHve87zZ9tI8PRTy-LKMX39jBqiqjx0du_KNUMAyXMtI8sqlCoNon_FQ4OtdibXLoixK9xpKHvcw9zuwKTcf_nyhG3id19FoNMaLLQ91p/s850/tibet036.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'd never seen a landscape like this before. I was on a plateau at 5,000m above sea level and yet was surrounded by these medium sized hills/mountains</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlfdwtYKVObfOiDZBaU6SVZsrvQn6jxK7RDlo44IH-ZtAhadLniRE_Zl2P2bYDM3pzOOeZA7UbSEWUgAq72EHkOvIkXtcaUU6rdoBAYAIU165PdG42hynO3S9Roq9wfSbeQF5WE0cVz9nR/s850/tibet037.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlfdwtYKVObfOiDZBaU6SVZsrvQn6jxK7RDlo44IH-ZtAhadLniRE_Zl2P2bYDM3pzOOeZA7UbSEWUgAq72EHkOvIkXtcaUU6rdoBAYAIU165PdG42hynO3S9Roq9wfSbeQF5WE0cVz9nR/s850/tibet037.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">At the top of Dang La / Tangula pass <span style="text-align: left;">5252m (17231ft) above sea level. The "cafe" on the left seemed to have closed years ago.</span></span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZlCPM_QIV29UcUWjs2J6-zWN6QJodWCpyCDx3IM09nYRFq3vKKsEnvvuEvR8KRr5nyZu6nQ7l3gf5nXFRJazPd5wFm-_q_sjvXNDMX_z2J82B3KY_GK30ZJOSOs9hkuiC8SzBo7_9UOP8/s850/tibet038.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZlCPM_QIV29UcUWjs2J6-zWN6QJodWCpyCDx3IM09nYRFq3vKKsEnvvuEvR8KRr5nyZu6nQ7l3gf5nXFRJazPd5wFm-_q_sjvXNDMX_z2J82B3KY_GK30ZJOSOs9hkuiC8SzBo7_9UOP8/s850/tibet038.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On the other side of the pass, looking for flat land to share with the yaks</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjknBvczakYtDjvKLUtTdEIDIFz9nENOPFDoWUiNKK5n1igGprDXjxcAb6taMgB4Us91In8E_Z8A7YUrsmheXmR27sfD89AJ2h89P0YVK3x2akTc0ep8co0RbTMjUGk21z-_OS2X84agKy3/s850/tibet039.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjknBvczakYtDjvKLUtTdEIDIFz9nENOPFDoWUiNKK5n1igGprDXjxcAb6taMgB4Us91In8E_Z8A7YUrsmheXmR27sfD89AJ2h89P0YVK3x2akTc0ep8co0RbTMjUGk21z-_OS2X84agKy3/s850/tibet039.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The spring from which I filled up my water bottles - I was so relieved to find this!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBH7EfIEeAgkgJoSNZWr_ta5ADcEA1RXWK0vVumqeFEGUoIKi_HP_NvLCNEg8lzvUkw8gx9p8FVh3ZhAXLClC79y_MW_zFXED44VPnNN0hWLuhRT7k2Ikgu60LhwoF-HFvzowjPD9cLKYu/s850/tibet040.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBH7EfIEeAgkgJoSNZWr_ta5ADcEA1RXWK0vVumqeFEGUoIKi_HP_NvLCNEg8lzvUkw8gx9p8FVh3ZhAXLClC79y_MW_zFXED44VPnNN0hWLuhRT7k2Ikgu60LhwoF-HFvzowjPD9cLKYu/s850/tibet040.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The pit helped me stay out of the wind and the sight of any police/army. The other option was to sleep under the road (in the black rectangle you can see).</td></tr>
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<br />
<br />
<b>Day 300 - 16/04/2013</b><br />
<br />
300th day and 10 months into trip - 14°c in tent. Inside covered with ice. Not too cold. Easy morning. Not too much food for whole day; raisins and 2 sausages for breakfast. Same for lunch. Sewed adjuster in place on peak cap and sewed elastic in down jacket. Repaired hole in sleeping bag<b> </b>liner with duct tape. Sun very strong; applied cream again. Took photos of mice nearby.<br />
<br />
Cycled at 14:00. Very hard to get bike back on road. Stomach ached after an hour, was worried that it could be Giardia; I have medicine for this - bought in Iran. Not much wind but occasional gusts to the East. Met Tibetan at top of 5177m pass with flat tyre on his motorbike. Broke handle of my pump when trying to help. Great downhill, 45km/h, taking racing line on empty bends.<br />
<br />
Tried water from river; too bitty. Found better 1 hour later although strange colour. Didn't feel great, only pedalled when necessary. Also washed pan in river for first time in a long time. Listened to XFM, Office playlist and Royskopp. Eyes stinging again. Goggles better than sunglasses. Wind and light feel like main causes.<br />
<br />
Wore balaclava as I approached Amdo. Just as well. Policeman saluted me, I nodded back. Felt smug that he thought I was Chinese. Crossed bridge off main road into Amdo for vital food but immediately turned around when I saw 3 parked police cars. Earlier, a police car passed me when I had no cover on and honked to which I waved back. I hope they only care at the checkpoints. Was worried by checkpoint in Amdo but it was only for weighing trucks, operated by traffic police, not PSB, and not functional at the time.<br />
<br />
Found a tiny shop on main road leaving Amdo. Kept balaclava and goggles on whole time; must have seemed strange. Answered "Hong Kong" when asked where I was from. 2 police stations passed in Amdo. Saw fastest/fittest dog that's ever chased me. Immediately dismounted and shouted at it and threw stones at it.<br />
<br />
1km later 3 really vicious and rabid dogs chased me. Slightly alarmed when one got right up to my bike. I dismounted to the other side and struggled to find stones to throw. Noticed the blood seeping from its mouth and wounds while bent over finding stones that were all smaller than satisfactory. First time I ever hit a dog! Didn't deter him. I was saved by a truck. When I heard its horn behind me I started cycling slowly (like many animals, I'm much more vulnerable when moving) knowing that the truck would fill the road between me and the dog. The trucker held down the horn and the dog moved to the far side of the road. I cycled side-by-side with the truck for 100m and gave him a thumbs up.<br />
<br />
Not less than 1 minute later I saw the truck stop at a police checkpoint on top of a hill. This was unexpected. I went down the side of the hill to the ground near a river to go round the back of the hill and checkpoint. Very happy with first shallow river crossing as boots and snow trousers kept me dry in 10cm of water. The second river I had to cross was 20cm deep and I got soaked. Decided water would warm up in my boots and to keep going and deal with it after checkpoint.<br />
<br />
The third crossing was downstream of where the first 2 had merged. 20m across. Shallow to start with. Very hard to find way across. Stepped up onto ice sheets in middle. As I was about to step into river again the ice broke. 30cm deep. Pulled front wheel back onto ice. Tried another way. Ice broke again all around me and I was now 45cm deep and all my panniers were in the water. Desperately hoped that my duct tape repair job on front right pannier would hold out. Real physical struggle to get myself and bike back onto the ice without the edge breaking more.<br />
<br />
Found a better crossing only 20cm deep. Rejoined road in full sight of checkpoint. Cycled 1km before finding a good camping spot. Set up tent quickly and got changed. Checked inside panniers; all dry, buckles frozen though. Trousers froze within 5 minutes of taking them off. Toes cold only when changing socks. Felt so good/satisfying that I could go through such an ordeal and be prepared/experienced enough to be warm again "in bed" an hour later. I no longer regret carrying too many clothes.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIIbbvQNa6_RYTo3fULF5tiVoGR7UZzrCPGyTSxJ1WX4lrmw2dNrD0SZ_KRZRP3hTr9u1c3jMhufk6yr6c4t1k_vE0OLOHW1Pz4GMc6OAToSJYYBvqvMe8CEIHAmpY5tIxcodiV3-YTPtA/s850/tibet041.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIIbbvQNa6_RYTo3fULF5tiVoGR7UZzrCPGyTSxJ1WX4lrmw2dNrD0SZ_KRZRP3hTr9u1c3jMhufk6yr6c4t1k_vE0OLOHW1Pz4GMc6OAToSJYYBvqvMe8CEIHAmpY5tIxcodiV3-YTPtA/s1100/tibet041.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The view that I woke up to</td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXME8xF51BI52-2irCLcX_W5tse3YRI5fhYPzmRZHUXPsHPIXZA1Clyg7sX795zTsx2pU55PLnI54eC2UI897BCLzC5GBa1VjhhD8DNogYK7m_9X8O60tKI4xv8O2y3fPBfKmDRIk2BDuB/s850/tibet042.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXME8xF51BI52-2irCLcX_W5tse3YRI5fhYPzmRZHUXPsHPIXZA1Clyg7sX795zTsx2pU55PLnI54eC2UI897BCLzC5GBa1VjhhD8DNogYK7m_9X8O60tKI4xv8O2y3fPBfKmDRIk2BDuB/s850/tibet042.jpg" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6dpPGIEWHG7zK3-IgybxU_rc0P9d__yCBtWnbxx-R1lGeZ1sbg8s6_huMHqtJ4sT688UJMm9rtTt4jiZdqsV3G1y0JzGIrILneR6V_abBfO8qcstvTSPIMad5MMxo_ujpW0dR1mSzCVNi/s850/tibet043.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6dpPGIEWHG7zK3-IgybxU_rc0P9d__yCBtWnbxx-R1lGeZ1sbg8s6_huMHqtJ4sT688UJMm9rtTt4jiZdqsV3G1y0JzGIrILneR6V_abBfO8qcstvTSPIMad5MMxo_ujpW0dR1mSzCVNi/s850/tibet043.jpg" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Gr_Z0pwJ9O1IXQRpx14ziSkLGBMJk6K-TtgbgtRJkMudgNG93KCie0yC1pd8FGv8Y8KSqU_a9VBwH9KwC3VZOaE2pO93XKoiDAtIakw-w3RmpezP1PgIBeZQ9EyKC4OaQmabREem3VQd/s850/tibet044.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Gr_Z0pwJ9O1IXQRpx14ziSkLGBMJk6K-TtgbgtRJkMudgNG93KCie0yC1pd8FGv8Y8KSqU_a9VBwH9KwC3VZOaE2pO93XKoiDAtIakw-w3RmpezP1PgIBeZQ9EyKC4OaQmabREem3VQd/s850/tibet044.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There's no nicer feeling than getting on your bike and seeing road and scenery like this ahead of you</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjbKjOCQoriisgoAuj9sRZFL5eqbBz1VafH4tzVNt7T_hil4M0ItSYunQJ81S-3bb7eH6i5yjv6TvvnDDkkg2xl5Mb_kzLrw4tOgkerIvAR12MoXt7UpA4tSVrT1Dh_2M_sVeOoMegqjq7/s850/tibet045.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjbKjOCQoriisgoAuj9sRZFL5eqbBz1VafH4tzVNt7T_hil4M0ItSYunQJ81S-3bb7eH6i5yjv6TvvnDDkkg2xl5Mb_kzLrw4tOgkerIvAR12MoXt7UpA4tSVrT1Dh_2M_sVeOoMegqjq7/s850/tibet045.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The river water was murky but all I had.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsyyMEsq5fImQPPTM9l7hnvoWI5_xYQDHUJm_lKzmfcINOSh_VHnkYLG7KdgkV0_5OLED7aClWSPyX01K4cvxL6hzyUuUuG2uVvp13xHcii-Y5I3mRQam7xzmI1ebps8tdZ5Xt5fgN-sHx/s850/tibet046.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsyyMEsq5fImQPPTM9l7hnvoWI5_xYQDHUJm_lKzmfcINOSh_VHnkYLG7KdgkV0_5OLED7aClWSPyX01K4cvxL6hzyUuUuG2uVvp13xHcii-Y5I3mRQam7xzmI1ebps8tdZ5Xt5fgN-sHx/s850/tibet046.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My clothes pannier showing how far my bike and I fell into the icy river</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNR1VtruhFMejLY6xkzogxs5jP7w9g2RN7BUpM5rppvZ-oemPDhzOnArPL2qGhl2xFt1q_JYsM_JxLlrVJMWoqdJBcmu3UKfmOHXBySzcWHWAku1FOwWfeYakDdr8sKUHUjpJo4LEsQqsN/s850/tibet047.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNR1VtruhFMejLY6xkzogxs5jP7w9g2RN7BUpM5rppvZ-oemPDhzOnArPL2qGhl2xFt1q_JYsM_JxLlrVJMWoqdJBcmu3UKfmOHXBySzcWHWAku1FOwWfeYakDdr8sKUHUjpJo4LEsQqsN/s850/tibet047.jpg" /></a></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk66RVIetmtqGq-f7I6y3wPiGefGtYSss9BVOd6YJl-kxnUStpaYD9Vy85NEQ-v5516SIDznBvZSozMhdU-9qM4ZQ_3Cilbw-wC-g4gF6xl8TSJRqmu4kStletncYrx400N6e0Aa-q0RQt/s850/tibet048.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk66RVIetmtqGq-f7I6y3wPiGefGtYSss9BVOd6YJl-kxnUStpaYD9Vy85NEQ-v5516SIDznBvZSozMhdU-9qM4ZQ_3Cilbw-wC-g4gF6xl8TSJRqmu4kStletncYrx400N6e0Aa-q0RQt/s850/tibet048.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Frozen solid within 5 minutes of taking them off</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br />
<b>Day 301 - 17/04/2013</b><br />
<b><br /></b>Woke at 08:30. -15°c outside tent. Ventilated tent to get rid of ice. Lots of sorting after manic night. Too hot in night with hoodie wrapped around feet and down jacket in sleeping bag. Later too cold once above was removed. Wafer biscuits and 'yolk' centred cakes for breakfast.<br />
<br />
On road by 11:00. 300m climb to 48xx pass. First steep pass (like a normal pass) in Tibet. Wind gradually turning against me. Kept getting confused by my compass, map and direction all pointing different directions when trying to think about new wind direction. Blowing East in AM and North West in PM. Map distances proven to be incorrect by a long way.<br />
<br />
Very hilly all day; most of the day felt like a struggle. Headache at times, 1g Paracetamol worked. Realised I take far fewer breaks and for less time than I used to. I really want to finish this Tibet leg as soon as possible as I'm nervous about being caught and not making it to Nepal and India. Saw police cars, no problem. Wore goggles all day, eyes better.<br />
<br />
Spilled 500g of raisins on gravel, spent 15 minutes picking 90% of them up. Found really good food shop, bought a lot of supplies. Very friendly Tibetans. Saw two animals in a chase. Disappointed when I saw it was a fox and not a wolf. Still haven't seen any. Cycled through blizzard and side wind. Trousers just about dry from river crossing. Was going to camp in field but too windy + hail. Camped in pit near yaks.<br />
<br />
Thinking a lot about home.<br />
<br />
When facing a mental struggle, a low cadence equals low morale, and vice versa.<br />
<br />
"Add salt to the pasta water". <i>This is a thought I kept having throughout my time in Tibet. The thought occurred as I was spending so much effort daily on things which I had to do to survive that giving time and value to doing something as unimportant as adding salt to the simmering water while cooking filled pasta in a comfy house back in England seemed unimaginable yet also so desirable. What a relaxed and protected</i><i> environment one must be in to have to be concerned with a task which has such little effect on one's survival situation as adding salt to the simmering water.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmthhuHD_93pbHyrdI1Kfe4cU_Gjz1AmooBPkglv3QoJRK2MmYrMWiqDhfKEvHFq-2hpPEZmOFzZ3FoBHn0558y27i3axesl46nSYJ4C-UiBF5QAlOCmtdoInTTHhR6noFT9hP80U0R_hO/s850/tibet049.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmthhuHD_93pbHyrdI1Kfe4cU_Gjz1AmooBPkglv3QoJRK2MmYrMWiqDhfKEvHFq-2hpPEZmOFzZ3FoBHn0558y27i3axesl46nSYJ4C-UiBF5QAlOCmtdoInTTHhR6noFT9hP80U0R_hO/s850/tibet049.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The friendly Tibetan shopkeeper</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUUoOxPGC-GEPdOhbQzYnKUz4hXitC6VVCfgSPevDUwnld2zW2J4vYjeBKMXea1YgzHKhOFIMoEAGvsi1rU7vgLIYep5yavt1grBkB9sRETNIpZPcAM-dkBzTfXXzd5AWsYIclHM7gj4GI/s850/tibet050.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUUoOxPGC-GEPdOhbQzYnKUz4hXitC6VVCfgSPevDUwnld2zW2J4vYjeBKMXea1YgzHKhOFIMoEAGvsi1rU7vgLIYep5yavt1grBkB9sRETNIpZPcAM-dkBzTfXXzd5AWsYIclHM7gj4GI/s850/tibet050.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is what happens when you cycle in a blizzard and a side-wind at the same time</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b><br /></b><b>Day 302 - 18/04/2013</b><br />
<b><br /></b>2°c in tent, very warm. Probably due to wind shelter from sleeping in pit. Woke at 07:30 to cycle before wind picked up but had to wait for ice in tent to go. Windy by 8AM anyway.<br />
<br />
Convoy of 84 Chinese army trucks stopped on road next to me, I had to postpone packing and stay still. Filmed a close-up of eagle. I briefly cycled in same direction as new wind but turned straight into it after lunch. In very frustrated mood for much of day due to wind and then small things. i.e. my bike not standing up on kickstand. Ate all 3 remaining chocolate bars at height of the foul mood.<br />
<br />
Passed through Nagchu, big town. Three check points but just traffic police, wore balaclava and goggles and went straight through. Many police cars and stations in town. Went quickly into a shop to buy food, felt very nervous about showing my eyes.<br />
<br />
Found shelter to eat lunch behind just outside town, wind very strong. Teenage puppy joined me. Fed it 2 sausages when it cried. It then followed me as I cycled at about 9km/h into the headwind. He ran behind me for 2 or 3 hours until it found other pups at police checkpoint. I was thinking of making a bag for it to put on my bike for the downhills.<br />
<br />
All passes on map are shown as about 100m lower than reality - annoying. Mentally so weak especially once iPod died. Probably stopped 20 times in last hour of cycling. Met Chinese cyclist coming other way, his face completely covered. This is good as it means police at checkpoints may find it normal when I do the same. Camped on plain near yaks and small lakes. Beautiful view of mountains.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieJJCO2tumFjYRPe4RZxqScx5CuFYNlq_MQPqx4pEYTeqzuvA1e90t1ZNX876KckTLSYV9HgB1PNBeJIcxeWndRI1Z4QhbIsEfYs9D0m0Lm7PIavMIQ7wgobTwWO-6qn9d1a-YGCnxZNhI/s850/tibet051.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieJJCO2tumFjYRPe4RZxqScx5CuFYNlq_MQPqx4pEYTeqzuvA1e90t1ZNX876KckTLSYV9HgB1PNBeJIcxeWndRI1Z4QhbIsEfYs9D0m0Lm7PIavMIQ7wgobTwWO-6qn9d1a-YGCnxZNhI/s850/tibet051.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I probably shouldn't publish this photo</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Below is a video shot of Golden Eagle flying as I passed it. Sightings like this happened on most days!<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/qA15xtUimDs?rel=0" width="853"></iframe>
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<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHoIDmWVbvWCx7TjvY8EcuwxjUfiUEpfSVWJF2OP1Zp2AlWBjnF9ADSaT9iP4KN1lT3B5dJMZlV8wUsnLpF5xNH_igTURH62rGH4tELFr1CFV7PHhkENag-82q57zZ_gMzycfLdcq9Vq6G/s850/tibet052.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHoIDmWVbvWCx7TjvY8EcuwxjUfiUEpfSVWJF2OP1Zp2AlWBjnF9ADSaT9iP4KN1lT3B5dJMZlV8wUsnLpF5xNH_igTURH62rGH4tELFr1CFV7PHhkENag-82q57zZ_gMzycfLdcq9Vq6G/s850/tibet052.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The pup who followed me for a few hours</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKFeQfis9F0DA_N3RQ4HgbW6P4aa_9IO8j-yVVBVkt68LT5kMtvFIedlG_UzIcylijMkYqNLPg9rsBEoOxUZ00DlsQs5dlzayA6LaD4qfN9PdnxL4GV7YgNoR34yMfJcz3WwVifN-l6CZ3/s850/tibet053.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKFeQfis9F0DA_N3RQ4HgbW6P4aa_9IO8j-yVVBVkt68LT5kMtvFIedlG_UzIcylijMkYqNLPg9rsBEoOxUZ00DlsQs5dlzayA6LaD4qfN9PdnxL4GV7YgNoR34yMfJcz3WwVifN-l6CZ3/s850/tibet053.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's useful to be able to see the weather systems so far ahead</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii7QPEDv0Ju0g_DjqW2QwZQzgxB3XgfcpM8ClMrzImupW_yaIn52d25mYpb_8aZkmBSaHy9SbzpRp5p66MGgY7vHaPelu5LN3mviOwPsOZwaeDXufUr_tVtRxlfFyHLqVhPPF8eYAhr5CN/s850/tibet054.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii7QPEDv0Ju0g_DjqW2QwZQzgxB3XgfcpM8ClMrzImupW_yaIn52d25mYpb_8aZkmBSaHy9SbzpRp5p66MGgY7vHaPelu5LN3mviOwPsOZwaeDXufUr_tVtRxlfFyHLqVhPPF8eYAhr5CN/s850/tibet054.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A torn Chinese flag. The Tibetans benefit from certain "rewards" for having this flag (it's on almost every building)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQWej2q5GG0HiE1i378aBAkXen2kkqtzozjC4uGqsh7OF60KfDVbLA7LZ_R2XwvPD0i1fHkw10tC16oaq0y12_84JjDG4uYfWlyA7IG5UYjX58L8CQXp-ExpFRRpQVuAj_ffugw9f49fSN/s850/tibet055.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQWej2q5GG0HiE1i378aBAkXen2kkqtzozjC4uGqsh7OF60KfDVbLA7LZ_R2XwvPD0i1fHkw10tC16oaq0y12_84JjDG4uYfWlyA7IG5UYjX58L8CQXp-ExpFRRpQVuAj_ffugw9f49fSN/s850/tibet055.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Non-nomadic farmers</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br />
<br />
<b>Day 302 - 19/04/2013</b><br />
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
(Night before, charged camera, iPod and AA batteries from laptop until laptop battery died).<br />
<br />
-6.6°c in tent; ok. Very windy night; not too much ice inside tent. Tibetan boy stood outside my tent for 1 hour while I ate and packed. Banana swiss rolls, sausages and peanuts for breakfast. Didn't put water bottle in sleeping bag yet it didn't freeze.<br />
<br />
On road by 10:00. Tailwind for about 15 minutes. A real surprise, put me in a good mood. Very strong headwind soon returned. Very hilly morning. Heights of passes on map still too low. Listened to XFM but later found that music helped me focus more. Burt Bacharach, Juno soundtrack and Adele. Bought food in small town, locals very interested. Ate behind house for wind shelter.<br />
<br />
Cycled in 30 minutes sessions; very effective except for last period before lunch when wind was very strong and my shorts were rubbing, causing me to consider hitching (never seriously). Much better mood after lunch. Sang along to parts of Burt Bacharach; difficult when climbing a 4700m pass in a headwind. Flew through half hour sessions.<br />
<br />
Unexpected checkpoint in middle of small town. I cycled on the pavement and tried to appear as a normal civilian. Saw 2 loaded bikes outside restaurant. Went in and ate with 2 Chinese cyclists going to Lhasa. Cycled together although they are quite slow. Confusion about sleeping plans. I stopped 30 minutes before sunset to set up camp, they will stay in motel 23km ahead. Will catch them up tomorrow.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAm1zJvXef5OZc0PCLi6bbido7ab5EVWpatH2QlHJwVlG7wEi-oJT_zR_hvWh3WwQZu3TZKvDZBD9bkeNJg7V54IjRpOuQfCX-RotLYGBaKJuQP0vB3Saq6G_SPYNIaSoWMqsO2UjcmLjU/s850/tibet056.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAm1zJvXef5OZc0PCLi6bbido7ab5EVWpatH2QlHJwVlG7wEi-oJT_zR_hvWh3WwQZu3TZKvDZBD9bkeNJg7V54IjRpOuQfCX-RotLYGBaKJuQP0vB3Saq6G_SPYNIaSoWMqsO2UjcmLjU/s850/tibet056.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This boy was standing next to my tent from before I woke up until after I had left - he never stopped smiling!</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8JG4Nha-SZBIZvE2cPwca6QoVHWMdDqpPYH_xP68p0dZD32B7QNQVlaSSP1WiP5c6u7hGyEDVYDhv863rGUv_sGrSZ_EXss1-6hrWdwkW7dvLEwc9NeuOhyonjtg0qw81yJhwhbE_LnBx/s850/tibet057.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8JG4Nha-SZBIZvE2cPwca6QoVHWMdDqpPYH_xP68p0dZD32B7QNQVlaSSP1WiP5c6u7hGyEDVYDhv863rGUv_sGrSZ_EXss1-6hrWdwkW7dvLEwc9NeuOhyonjtg0qw81yJhwhbE_LnBx/s850/tibet057.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of my most peculiar photos - four ducks chase a chicken, a Chinese man struggles to get onto his bike with two suitcases on the back and a dog barks at a yak in a skip.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGaZRoLTz18fkkH3zWEkdaK6jI-gYGmovqDm8dWuya0aRsQYoksPYLzzxotkdQAs5hErGlzUSFK-WQaJsRho2C6Vjwt9FeGZUuhahwAjpnjvQnS1NdKCjvgwEz_bmuUNpyJ3xHkA8Bfrb8/s850/tibet058.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGaZRoLTz18fkkH3zWEkdaK6jI-gYGmovqDm8dWuya0aRsQYoksPYLzzxotkdQAs5hErGlzUSFK-WQaJsRho2C6Vjwt9FeGZUuhahwAjpnjvQnS1NdKCjvgwEz_bmuUNpyJ3xHkA8Bfrb8/s850/tibet058.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Chinese chaps I met in a restaurant who I cycled with for a couple of hours</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilP9Ckjg03cXPofmgtTOJtcF35KqrP15BL7B7RHW-F9uPfxiI-3-OTdKL09XX1e5XIuImCZIqipQuC5h7l2bx07GOSvpg6AYWfpjR8aZ571WSSBybvdaDBlTKzuX8j_TYAEulXtvYvt3ZB/s850/tibet059.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilP9Ckjg03cXPofmgtTOJtcF35KqrP15BL7B7RHW-F9uPfxiI-3-OTdKL09XX1e5XIuImCZIqipQuC5h7l2bx07GOSvpg6AYWfpjR8aZ571WSSBybvdaDBlTKzuX8j_TYAEulXtvYvt3ZB/s850/tibet059.jpg" /></a></div>
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<br />
<b>Days 303 & 304 - 20 & 21/04/2013</b><br />
<br />
<b>I didn't find time to write my diary for the next two days due to what happened next. I'll explain briefly here as my plans changed in ways that I could only have dreamed of.</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
I never saw the two Chinese cyclists that I intended to catch up. I remembered struggling into a head-wind for most of the day.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZj8E2htnnA1Glb0QZmnvghqeLcsFtP1-srNjhdV5XwbdMcjMzo56ehQDpX4soiHMJyEIG_3plljS8uaw-842Za4SbGUBjoGIlLfLPn0ItJ11CO-6mDDVu_uCDPlWOn0JEOA01YkGySgnw/s850/tibet060.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZj8E2htnnA1Glb0QZmnvghqeLcsFtP1-srNjhdV5XwbdMcjMzo56ehQDpX4soiHMJyEIG_3plljS8uaw-842Za4SbGUBjoGIlLfLPn0ItJ11CO-6mDDVu_uCDPlWOn0JEOA01YkGySgnw/s850/tibet060.jpg" /></a></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBiBwoV2HFfJVzmFcU7DDl1w2HktngPOTkbe3Q14GpxT45SAEMwk6t6lmTbpfjaDQL-abTdgBiIM9Jyn94gSw1z-OIPCsAjqJ255L5b7cYC1YY8de8_hF643z-mbITqUL8DefaTxgtFtJ7/s850/tibet061.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBiBwoV2HFfJVzmFcU7DDl1w2HktngPOTkbe3Q14GpxT45SAEMwk6t6lmTbpfjaDQL-abTdgBiIM9Jyn94gSw1z-OIPCsAjqJ255L5b7cYC1YY8de8_hF643z-mbITqUL8DefaTxgtFtJ7/s850/tibet061.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I think this is a Tibetan Dwarf Hamster.</td></tr>
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At one point I reached the top of a small pass (300m climb) and saw a road running straight and downhill for the next several kilometres. What I didn't know was that there was an army checkpoint in the road. You could call it arrogant, selfish, lucky, brave, impatient or any combination of the above, but what I did next was one of the most exhilarating moments of my life.<br />
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I saw the checkpoint from about one kilometre away. I recall that I was listening to an angry Eminem song while doing about 40km/h downhill. A combination of those two factors meant that I didn't feel like slowing down for the army/police. And so, as I approached the queue of 3 or 4 cars on my side of the road that were waiting to pass through the checkpoint, I swung my bike out into the opposite side of the road, shot past the queue, squeezed through the barrier and was at least 50 metres beyond the checkpoint before I heard the first soldier shout. Of course, to try and not raise suspicions any further (and to feel like a bad-ass) I didn't look back.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY0O286ubvZx4DMbB-jxnAGCy09Y7hyphenhyphen9EVS89MGtvCi9gI_wVkHW2C3IIT5p0OVamo_2oITmG-B6VxkqMTbV4Ypu2CCuKRCyR5YzKE4kcPFwBfTe77KBb-OebFojKgHg62812__sfxwFFj/s850/tibet062.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY0O286ubvZx4DMbB-jxnAGCy09Y7hyphenhyphen9EVS89MGtvCi9gI_wVkHW2C3IIT5p0OVamo_2oITmG-B6VxkqMTbV4Ypu2CCuKRCyR5YzKE4kcPFwBfTe77KBb-OebFojKgHg62812__sfxwFFj/s850/tibet062.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I felt right at home.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRqhYvkNUykdupAvknQUQpkyp0hS5BLs2b7i29YDVSOJVCYWAJ0ja65CfBqnor9VQGfi1Ai8Tt9QtJv31JEJIIXI9PeAXngE8OZQ4NlkRscF9LdkCXvK3XG50Uuu8KqTi4LGp2u9n9ppqD/s850/tibet063.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRqhYvkNUykdupAvknQUQpkyp0hS5BLs2b7i29YDVSOJVCYWAJ0ja65CfBqnor9VQGfi1Ai8Tt9QtJv31JEJIIXI9PeAXngE8OZQ4NlkRscF9LdkCXvK3XG50Uuu8KqTi4LGp2u9n9ppqD/s850/tibet063.jpg" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu90MG6kNhQ2j3GyYKxPr_4riwdOnRumddRVUyUD3_pmpYpraq3bS2GBkKc_KrdK4o0gmJ6GrqxuCGOHppvx0duhT8XSmG50lJMsLYipWgkM5ZtV7lthGTeInZxX9JTwOA3CxhxEW6fyhc/s850/tibet064.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu90MG6kNhQ2j3GyYKxPr_4riwdOnRumddRVUyUD3_pmpYpraq3bS2GBkKc_KrdK4o0gmJ6GrqxuCGOHppvx0duhT8XSmG50lJMsLYipWgkM5ZtV7lthGTeInZxX9JTwOA3CxhxEW6fyhc/s850/tibet064.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's hard to describe the feeling I felt upon seeing this rock. I had joined this road at kilometre 2751.</td></tr>
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Late in the afternoon I returned to my bicycle, having been below a bridge collecting water, when I saw two other cyclists coming towards me. They were also Chinese, but they had no luggage. One of them, Zhu, had spent 40 days walking to Lhasa from his home in China and was now renting a flat in Lhasa. He had bought a bike in Lhasa a few days before, hitched a few hundred kilometres out and was now cycling back. The other cyclist was another young man that he had met in Lhasa.<br />
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Zhu spoke a little bit of English and told me that he was going to Lhasa. I told him I couldn't as there were too many police and army checkpoints on the way and it would dramatically increase my chances of never making it to Nepal and thus India. The turning for Lhasa was about 50km ahead, I was going to go straight ahead and they were going to turn off.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBdciLS_ofnxtDLvqT6RnT5bDd_9lTnRHGevaSIzqkpVzYMZhbJhYIgvdqHk8nvv5mKchNS28-Z4Or5JcPom2cnecOF49gsePXZsEPDnZBzTSWy5IXqla_iD8s4N5EYpffnAZbuSVHcDFW/s850/tibet065.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBdciLS_ofnxtDLvqT6RnT5bDd_9lTnRHGevaSIzqkpVzYMZhbJhYIgvdqHk8nvv5mKchNS28-Z4Or5JcPom2cnecOF49gsePXZsEPDnZBzTSWy5IXqla_iD8s4N5EYpffnAZbuSVHcDFW/s850/tibet065.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">They were both very keen to try my bike but ultimately complained that it was too heavy and thus too slow!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoPlMsScxW1ii8XArdOZdjb-QSVRFt26kzZzUhHE24mtwwD9r1KfEiVkj4fYMkp5ihxIacqxRsCi2R5HKWRnI-2KmdwmNfhdxgnezGbAXp6SJDVeVroDOnVv9MV489FS_TA0HIlxOBNqae/s850/tibet066.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoPlMsScxW1ii8XArdOZdjb-QSVRFt26kzZzUhHE24mtwwD9r1KfEiVkj4fYMkp5ihxIacqxRsCi2R5HKWRnI-2KmdwmNfhdxgnezGbAXp6SJDVeVroDOnVv9MV489FS_TA0HIlxOBNqae/s850/tibet066.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Practicing my disguise.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Although I couldn't believe I was going to risk it at the time, Zhu eventually won his battle to convince me to come with him to Lhasa (or was that the devil inside me. After all, are there any cities more mystical than Lhasa)? I knew what this challenge entailed. I had already passed a dozen or so checkpoints, most of them run by the police and some by the military, but there was a reason that no vagabond cyclist had been to Lhasa in the last 3 years; it's "impossible"! These were the most feared checkpoints in China and here I was about to attempt to pass them illegally without any prior research.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4mqmivFKKgduC7usFT_Ulp6RfGQ_jiQ1QXV7jfC-3gJDxqdUN0RWCXtW-AyJPfn9B4-B4zJlwoiwhSBLnk2GrXVKwiBzcdGlYGIqyDfoslxJa0Qj8oWjkjGM1FBjDLQe1n-00KdjWTZ2T/s850/tibet068.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4mqmivFKKgduC7usFT_Ulp6RfGQ_jiQ1QXV7jfC-3gJDxqdUN0RWCXtW-AyJPfn9B4-B4zJlwoiwhSBLnk2GrXVKwiBzcdGlYGIqyDfoslxJa0Qj8oWjkjGM1FBjDLQe1n-00KdjWTZ2T/s850/tibet068.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">As the night drew in the rain made our descent a lot more challenging that it could have been.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLfRvvJcTMvqMakFWhhFqm3z24tfvR8cjEaZ2SWrM9oC2rVDSFoQ6nibuTByo74nSRMc4VHuM-8D73fibX0Cri9sg3h76PP7b0Jxab55NnF2CMI9kIyWvpAi2acp9WcSgYfjdxgtP2terL/s850/tibet067.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLfRvvJcTMvqMakFWhhFqm3z24tfvR8cjEaZ2SWrM9oC2rVDSFoQ6nibuTByo74nSRMc4VHuM-8D73fibX0Cri9sg3h76PP7b0Jxab55NnF2CMI9kIyWvpAi2acp9WcSgYfjdxgtP2terL/s850/tibet067.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An hour before reaching Yangpachen, where the most formidable checkpoint exists, Zhu stopped us to re-energise.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuMHlppGgSBqrF8RFcIdoXqWZ2X2OeWmuTKATg_5sM_LJVTK0zmQDnpU-virCXTqJOtUcNxciLGZzxVuYE4cAVxHf3y8sQ1BI250j-6WiNPKXsGoeGYs9SGxDQ-NLw-ze18w1JGNODjhvt/s850/tibet069.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuMHlppGgSBqrF8RFcIdoXqWZ2X2OeWmuTKATg_5sM_LJVTK0zmQDnpU-virCXTqJOtUcNxciLGZzxVuYE4cAVxHf3y8sQ1BI250j-6WiNPKXsGoeGYs9SGxDQ-NLw-ze18w1JGNODjhvt/s850/tibet069.jpg" /></a></div>
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For the last 50km before the checkpoint I wore my balaclava, goggles, buff and helmet to try and hide my wide eyes as much as possible. When we got to the checkpoint I had a look to see what the best around it would be but it quickly became clear to me that, in the true excited and spontaneous spirit of this stupid plan, I was going to cycle straight through the middle of it.<br />
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Zhu's friend went ahead and stopped at the checkpoint while Zhu and I waited about 100 metres up the road. The policeman came and checked his I.D. card and allowed him through. We waited half a minute for the policeman to go back into his booth before approaching the barrier quickly but not too fast to worry the guard. When we got to the barrier the guard was still in his booth. We ducked under the barrier. At that moment I saw the guard stand up. I pedaled away as quickly as I could while still looking cool and calm. The guard, it seemed, assumed that we must also be legal Chinese travellers and sat back down without stopping us. It's almost embarrassing to admit it, but that was my plan, and it worked!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH_nXCRBxe70dZTNrKjcue0QlM70weeRovMLj89r-v6FPanavty8TPSyE0S5vDeL2IlM91QvsCGHhreFB52OrZMGoVm2uNb9P0ooW_RyTzuLkrJgkGJ8iNsCcTsAfFHXvulAp8GLS2F9lW/s850/tibet070.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH_nXCRBxe70dZTNrKjcue0QlM70weeRovMLj89r-v6FPanavty8TPSyE0S5vDeL2IlM91QvsCGHhreFB52OrZMGoVm2uNb9P0ooW_RyTzuLkrJgkGJ8iNsCcTsAfFHXvulAp8GLS2F9lW/s850/tibet070.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Zhu asked quietly around the village if anyone was happy to host a foreign who didn't have legal papers. Eventually we found a place. We had to sleep in the attic, talk very quietly and I was never allowed to leave my room. Zhu went out and bought some dinner for us. I was absolutely buzzing at what had just happened!</td></tr>
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Below is a video showing other cyclists how to potentially get around this checkpoint. It gives you a good idea of just how lucky I was!<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/PY1JOEnx0Pg?rel=0" width="853"></iframe>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCApk88tsMrbzCU_UUV7rQfWby_ytKa1o-otEg87EhYqMPB1b0Ifggqywt0z-6UOMUP-jOl0lwAlQowKByHU32Auc8zlbuly18E28tKjNeURNdLsv2hHqbAPAKrQDldfvS8RJHEcioFNAk/s850/tibet071.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCApk88tsMrbzCU_UUV7rQfWby_ytKa1o-otEg87EhYqMPB1b0Ifggqywt0z-6UOMUP-jOl0lwAlQowKByHU32Auc8zlbuly18E28tKjNeURNdLsv2hHqbAPAKrQDldfvS8RJHEcioFNAk/s850/tibet071.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The view of the checkpoint that we passed through the night before from the attic we slept in.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguxVR5lZPH5LO9s3Fpw9GYI12e3L4yHCln5IrOVk_ESY3Gh8mXIaowsgDkBt-7MXwRAUA4EL_9ctHMhA2TLLbAExLHNU4Akqf8hMJ2UUXKB80UvNAZc1_vgX90UrqLze4hfhRPUCpr-0Da/s850/tibet072.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguxVR5lZPH5LO9s3Fpw9GYI12e3L4yHCln5IrOVk_ESY3Gh8mXIaowsgDkBt-7MXwRAUA4EL_9ctHMhA2TLLbAExLHNU4Akqf8hMJ2UUXKB80UvNAZc1_vgX90UrqLze4hfhRPUCpr-0Da/s850/tibet072.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chinese breakfast!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhunB1qjXxZM5msgw7ld8S3I84R5gTOv5N7OJJasWZfzjal4dvARP7kS8ww0czGczqMSrTSv093uJkzWbGvmy3LVa-yYVARin3nrQ12eb9gz3hYNa74UZePqdfncWQ9wEZiM12lMDJxCyQQ/s850/tibet073.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhunB1qjXxZM5msgw7ld8S3I84R5gTOv5N7OJJasWZfzjal4dvARP7kS8ww0czGczqMSrTSv093uJkzWbGvmy3LVa-yYVARin3nrQ12eb9gz3hYNa74UZePqdfncWQ9wEZiM12lMDJxCyQQ/s850/tibet073.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Feeling smug on the right side of the police checkpoint!</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVfiahPq4KY_2w3j4ILinjSNz_LF2zUodSJJv8D86ywzDVRjG5cEA6WLh7L4-8a6aMhoA7kDnOLQ_ZH319EdmbHYRxFpyLSuoRh8f78GM2gcyEvwHU0zhSwL2M5RnNVytaayRa2AjqI7c4/s850/tibet074.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVfiahPq4KY_2w3j4ILinjSNz_LF2zUodSJJv8D86ywzDVRjG5cEA6WLh7L4-8a6aMhoA7kDnOLQ_ZH319EdmbHYRxFpyLSuoRh8f78GM2gcyEvwHU0zhSwL2M5RnNVytaayRa2AjqI7c4/s850/tibet074.jpg" /></a></div>
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The ride to Lhasa was downhill and enjoyable, if a little nerve-racking. The final two checkpoints where on the outskirts of Lhasa. For the first of them, we tried the same plan. Zhu's friend cycled ahead to see how the police were dealing with people and then called back to tell us. It was bad news. He told us that the police man spent five minutes talking to him, checking his documents and asking him about why he was visiting Lhasa. I would never get through a check like that!<br />
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Not to be disheartened, Zhu and I cycled up to the checkpoint, me in front, face fully covered. The policeman gestured to stop when I was about 10 metres away. Zhu put on the brakes, I didn't. The policeman shouted when I was about 2 metres from him. I swerved around him as he stuck his arm out to try to grab me. I pushed my pedals down harder than I can recall doing in the last 12,000km and didn't look back. After about 3 minutes of steaming up my goggles I dived down a little alleyway and waited. Zhu texted me 15 minutes later to meet up. Apparently Zhu told the policeman that he had only me that day and he didn't know why I had not stopped (there was no mention of me being foreign).<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGj_CJ2gfoS5pP-gDXPFqa6cbqYvCiHQ9dGamZFZ7Lua1BLAWpLsdwiJo89gymlyO139dvMHQtwV43xRK43zuhmTo7brgnNvLMt17HXusV9lkTGfQhxvdHwKRLBn3ZPztUD0E2uIMpjcWt/s850/tibet075.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGj_CJ2gfoS5pP-gDXPFqa6cbqYvCiHQ9dGamZFZ7Lua1BLAWpLsdwiJo89gymlyO139dvMHQtwV43xRK43zuhmTo7brgnNvLMt17HXusV9lkTGfQhxvdHwKRLBn3ZPztUD0E2uIMpjcWt/s850/tibet075.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I enjoyed the design of this solar kettle while hiding from the police</td></tr>
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The second checkpoint was considerably easier as there was a lay-by on the other side of the road which bypassed all of it. I cycled slowly down it to try to blend in as "local traffic". After those checkpoints I was in, and effectively free. There are no checkpoints within central Lhasa and there are many white tourists there so I could happily walk about without worrying about being stopped. Getting out would be a different matter though...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7sAGB7f1M-BKyg1ZgMldwQzujIVTk0FPeQ3sFjFqiLQAi_QqdAbPUGxKdHIP31LQaqynVbpb5QGdeV72agAvudw5DifEbuF7Qt5pBba3G3b1suYEygX7noH_s0h9mmLxmeN-SFnAbm47m/s850/tibet076.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7sAGB7f1M-BKyg1ZgMldwQzujIVTk0FPeQ3sFjFqiLQAi_QqdAbPUGxKdHIP31LQaqynVbpb5QGdeV72agAvudw5DifEbuF7Qt5pBba3G3b1suYEygX7noH_s0h9mmLxmeN-SFnAbm47m/s850/tibet076.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fish soup in Zhu's flat in Lhasa</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
On my first night in Lhasa, I found out that two of my friends who had also been cycling in Tibet illegally had been caught and were being deported. They were always about seven days behind me and so I had been messaging them the GPS coordinates of every checkpoint I came across as well as details about how to get around them. It seems that they didn't receive one of my messages as they tried to go straight through the checkpoint in broad daylight and were caught. Strangely enough, this was the exact same checkpoint that I had gone straight through a few days earlier. I wonder if what I did had increased the police's eagerness to stop cyclists passing through without stopping.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYJJC1dDtMS0soC5mz2lddVRYvNYH6Qd0oSizuTtsyOY9AVsf2GIVeZ4e1lKexp6wu5TeAnFsUvwLRTX65h2hrxp5fVfHnzrTgJxH5wAjlZpH4ugBsu8cGnDlBshdje-spWU1g0DhS3lpV/s850/tibet077.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYJJC1dDtMS0soC5mz2lddVRYvNYH6Qd0oSizuTtsyOY9AVsf2GIVeZ4e1lKexp6wu5TeAnFsUvwLRTX65h2hrxp5fVfHnzrTgJxH5wAjlZpH4ugBsu8cGnDlBshdje-spWU1g0DhS3lpV/s850/tibet077.jpg" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrUPeBaTlhvjblIb0Mdh2Qlli2VB_DijgyythRaIoTzT3cr5ejX_XE5cazl8WtXEVrhQu2A-TmpfqhkDTep-3F6ukxsdFmybJsKMZsmbUahWkPAZPekuhC7f1nsWaRWRWFf2-WYsCU5ymC/s850/tibet078.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrUPeBaTlhvjblIb0Mdh2Qlli2VB_DijgyythRaIoTzT3cr5ejX_XE5cazl8WtXEVrhQu2A-TmpfqhkDTep-3F6ukxsdFmybJsKMZsmbUahWkPAZPekuhC7f1nsWaRWRWFf2-WYsCU5ymC/s850/tibet078.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Prayer flags at the top of small pass 30km from central Lhasa. I didn't have to pass any checkpoints for this one day excursion with Zhu.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1cRfwxmnUdZRNtcXtIPCNdfJZzIOlqqCOBzCBFSqfR7ryTRFEaoPI2Cw8-Zqpn1sNlYKltrd23pHE9xRM-ICC3FcRagaJeiMe_B0mKHu7bb5CFMTHK3jp46R4_nwLizhgRAJHW16FI3Sw/s850/tibet079.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1cRfwxmnUdZRNtcXtIPCNdfJZzIOlqqCOBzCBFSqfR7ryTRFEaoPI2Cw8-Zqpn1sNlYKltrd23pHE9xRM-ICC3FcRagaJeiMe_B0mKHu7bb5CFMTHK3jp46R4_nwLizhgRAJHW16FI3Sw/s850/tibet079.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It always feels strange cycling without luggage, which I'd left in Zhu's flat for the week that I stayed with him.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKREMonUTgnpctKiu1EUqbH1h6p2bZod7-KnMFTp2PLa2vPmXM7KQoa5qMvbWRrUE5Kpu2z5SP2VBsmP6KQqd-6kqrbIMVBIyhJDAyKwXEn6QhZWnXd1vfTzd6HBVvVgadkYoBnnzzcLm3/s850/tibet080.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKREMonUTgnpctKiu1EUqbH1h6p2bZod7-KnMFTp2PLa2vPmXM7KQoa5qMvbWRrUE5Kpu2z5SP2VBsmP6KQqd-6kqrbIMVBIyhJDAyKwXEn6QhZWnXd1vfTzd6HBVvVgadkYoBnnzzcLm3/s850/tibet080.jpg" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8BR1pMKUAP6Du-Hs49hxtY8KmUfsjrpRGXExArrjn2JdJ85jPdeVSzPrqbBCRwp_Z_knfwudtB_p1adfk0FaaWwOXi554JmEiDXZKuQWx8weHYR6TQA5hyaR5rMXcLOHArOdvhhMGMcaa/s850/tibet081.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8BR1pMKUAP6Du-Hs49hxtY8KmUfsjrpRGXExArrjn2JdJ85jPdeVSzPrqbBCRwp_Z_knfwudtB_p1adfk0FaaWwOXi554JmEiDXZKuQWx8weHYR6TQA5hyaR5rMXcLOHArOdvhhMGMcaa/s850/tibet081.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Potala Palace - This was what I thought was an unachievable dream come true!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMX-9YeBzRhz9Ofwkexfuq452tZk7DvrHrKQnxBHN9jvCvG8XM-MIBWf7X33VStxAyLNGV8Zg5ktRkHF3s5CXu3vpWONvVNoGvJcr0KF9Gdy9LxoaqTss-E8CgqBcIF1i00T__70uMqelW/s850/tibet083.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMX-9YeBzRhz9Ofwkexfuq452tZk7DvrHrKQnxBHN9jvCvG8XM-MIBWf7X33VStxAyLNGV8Zg5ktRkHF3s5CXu3vpWONvVNoGvJcr0KF9Gdy9LxoaqTss-E8CgqBcIF1i00T__70uMqelW/s850/tibet083.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Finally, on my last day in Lhasa, at the start of my last week on the run in Tibet before Nepal and freedom!</td></tr>
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<span id="goog_666270634"></span><span id="goog_666270635"></span></div>
Judehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05996912167887879684noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7930417312752206140.post-70597528312548096052013-06-15T00:50:00.001-07:002013-06-20T13:02:36.377-07:00The Tibet Diaries, Part 1 - The Tian Shan Mountans & The Desert of No Return<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>For those who haven't seen my previous blog post, I completed my journey from England to India by bicycle on June 7th 2013. Check out that entry </b><a href="http://englandtoindia.blogspot.in/2013/06/i-cycled-from-england-to-india.html" style="font-weight: bold;">here.</a><br />
<br />
This entry continues to bring you up to date on what went on between England and India. Next up is Tibet.<br />
<br />
In Tibet, for the first time ever, I kept a physical journal. For that reason this blog is a bit different from my others. It still has lots of photos but instead of writing now about what happened a few months ago, I have written up word for word my journal as it was written on the day.<br />
<br />
This first part of the journal isn't actually in Tibet, but I'm getting close and the idea to right the journal came from my knowing that Tibet, and the lands before it, would throw up some cracking stories. My time in Tibet was not only physically and mentally tougher than any environment I'd passed through before, but it was also illegal due to a ban on independent foreign travel by the Chinese government.<br />
<br />
The following takes place in the north of China, crossing the Tian Shan mountain range and the Taklamakan (place of no return) desert.<br />
<br />
<iframe frameborder="0" height="400" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=214121301499656413876.0004d63f8570596c418a8&ie=UTF8&t=p&source=embed&ll=41.376809,43.59375&spn=52.197399,140.449219&z=3&output=embed" width="800"></iframe><br />
<small>View <a href="https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=214121301499656413876.0004d63f8570596c418a8&ie=UTF8&t=p&source=embed&ll=41.376809,43.59375&spn=52.197399,140.449219&z=3" style="color: blue; text-align: left;">England to India</a> in a larger map</small>
<br />
<br />
<br />
The photos for each day are included at the end of every day's entry.<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Day 276 - 23/03/2013</b></div>
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Left Urumqi at 3pm. Win (Couchsurfing host) gave me hashbrownies and an envelope
which he said was Chinese tradition. He told me to open it once I was a long
way away.</div>
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Began climbing immediately. Urumqi is at 700m altitude, the
pass I was aiming for was 4280m. Highway had a very gradual gradient. Stopped
cycling after 40km when I realised I had lost my Polar fleece in Uqumri. Called
Win to check the flat. Negative.<br />
<br />
Set up camp in woods near road after 20km more (1600m altitude). Decided
against using tent, even though it was cloudy, as I wanted to get away quickly
in the morning. Remebered that my stove fuel bottle had been emptied by train
staff. No noodles then, bread only. Was left speechless when I opened letter
from Win and found 600RMB. Recounted it; 700RMB (£73/$114). Called him to say
thanks. Didn’t fall asleep easily due to wearing tight cycling top and padded
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<b>Day 277 – 24/03/2013</b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Woke in night due to very light rain. Wasn’t sure. Tried to
sleep more. Checked time; 07:30. 40 minutes before sunrise. Got up. Rain
increased so I hurried up. Tarpaulin got soaked.</div>
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Looked for shelter to eat. Found a shop, bought supplies for
the big climb. 3 sausages, 2 apples and 3 chocolate bars. I already had bread,
raisins and noodles. Ate in a petrol station. Saw 3 all day, none had fuel.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Road became steeper after 25km as it entered valley. Needed
to find water, had got some in petrol station but it was not clean. My Steripen
(water purifier) stopped working. Tried twice more, unsuccessfully, to get
water from ice covered river. Eventually found a river with no ice on 3<sup>rd</sup>
attempt. 3L water. Listened to heavy rock &<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>XFM (The Ricky Gervais Show).</div>
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By 4pm had read doubts about making the top in 1 day. Plenty
of food but by 6pm (2 hours before sunset) my legs were done. I had cycled 5 hours
and 67km all uphill so I was not sad. Wanted to break my record for biggest
climb in 1 day.</div>
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Camped at 3080m on mountain side. Soaked noodles in cold
water for 30 minutes. Ok but will leave out the spicy stock next time. Low on
water. 18km to top tomorrow. Hope to find food and water. Slight tailwind.</div>
<br />
<br /></div>
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<b>Day 278 – 25/03/2013</b></div>
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Woken multiple times by whistling. Assumed/hoped it was just
animals. Had related dreams. Slept in 1 hour after sunrise. -4c in tent at
night; ok. Frozen leftover noodles for breakfast. Taste ok, strange sludge
formed in mouth upon thawing.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Used much lower gear, felt easy. No music all day, preferred
this. Found water after climbing down 20m canyon upon hearing a trickle. Saw
sign for ‘No. 1 Glacier’, couldn’t tell if it was 4 or 14km away due to Chinese
character preceding ‘4km’. Later saw it was 4.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Slight tailwind. Makes little difference when gravity, not
air resistance is my greatest foe. Wouldn’t say the same for headwind tho.
Counted 9 switchbacks to the top. Saw glacier from 3<sup>rd</sup> up. Stunning
view also of 1000+m vertical ice field.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Let some air out of rear tyre to compensate for low outside
air pressure. Tried to stop only at the end of every switchback, which got
longer and longer. Had to move solar panel from front to back to front of bike
every switchback.<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Had lunch (bread and raisins) at start of 9<sup>th</sup>
switch back and put on warm clothes (snow trousers, wind jacket, Buff, glasses
and gloves) as I knew the top would be cold and windy. Tibetan prayer flags at
top; nowhere near Tibet. Achieved target time of 2 hours and 30 minutes to top
minus 1 minute.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
No asphalt whole way down, bike and equipment was strong;
very shaky ride. Found another river. Great grassy plains with wild horses.
Bought snacks in shop. Found perfect single room building for sleeping. Justified stopping early to make fire; still no fuel. Successful noodles. ‘Chimney’
didn't work, lots of smoke.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Enjoyed greatly the view of opposing hill in golden light
and took my best photo of the moon. “This is why I do this”, I thought. It had
been a while.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Postscript</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Saw truck smashed to pieces half way down near-vertical
cliff.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Cycled off side of 0.5m raised road, no damage.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Chased seriously by 2 large dogs for 300m, almost fell off
while trying to throw stones behind me while cycling.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Covered in dust from trucks</div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpfQFJspDp0amJ-562qr0mlG5PAhDtENkI6SSpnEqyFjM3SyCOOqz8YCYZBW2-2aKCC2TJUkKRUkZTAuCiYmEFKVTF1Zrx1TaYWz5ZFLYdnAquoPLjP3pJYDEFD2FJbEs_4ae5KuC9OwNM/s900/tibet004.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpfQFJspDp0amJ-562qr0mlG5PAhDtENkI6SSpnEqyFjM3SyCOOqz8YCYZBW2-2aKCC2TJUkKRUkZTAuCiYmEFKVTF1Zrx1TaYWz5ZFLYdnAquoPLjP3pJYDEFD2FJbEs_4ae5KuC9OwNM/s900/tibet004.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First sighting of the climb to the pass</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnIwPxGjzQblhhRXS2_-FxkcaNSsNkSQb5TzH_XPHJDIAYlLUIi_pBJxFMtC-Urfwx9BdcRz8cKJtbewG88Zil8_hY16VWiKcxmcrq33VnHuCL9rNQm09RSNO68PTX-7murAcgaPBLT4_I/s900/SAM_2324.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnIwPxGjzQblhhRXS2_-FxkcaNSsNkSQb5TzH_XPHJDIAYlLUIi_pBJxFMtC-Urfwx9BdcRz8cKJtbewG88Zil8_hY16VWiKcxmcrq33VnHuCL9rNQm09RSNO68PTX-7murAcgaPBLT4_I/s900/SAM_2324.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Although incredibly daunting and overwhelming, I liked this climb as I could very clearly see the whole route and, most importantly, exactly where the top was. On most passes I have to cycle for a few hours before I get an idea or sighting of what is definitely the top.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3D_IX2CTtmr-1OjL63t0C6-0-larnLI334y-kH0nDWYX8DTCVlo4KJS5WmNQHcGCKwj0xd-dz0hf5qx9KKhqLrpSV4wSmcEcTFcsK0uIJ-ThqkskZ4MkjsOg8JgTGzWRdYTQB4qABOg-b/s900/tibet007.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3D_IX2CTtmr-1OjL63t0C6-0-larnLI334y-kH0nDWYX8DTCVlo4KJS5WmNQHcGCKwj0xd-dz0hf5qx9KKhqLrpSV4wSmcEcTFcsK0uIJ-ThqkskZ4MkjsOg8JgTGzWRdYTQB4qABOg-b/s900/tibet007.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The sign which caused all the confusion.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Vertical ice field</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Given to me by the truck driver seen earlier.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU8DghHtNgLbUkLtGyPoiEKCTLxUTSNFHQgrLY8cmp5PlUpZ1ForyBrNnr6uKHieFrt9p2IUbuTyGgf8IbBaL9okbKuyBHePdjwwwuJ2epVohsZms6D8jHNHdIwJb5cLF5slqUPHNHfeJr/s900/tibet026.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU8DghHtNgLbUkLtGyPoiEKCTLxUTSNFHQgrLY8cmp5PlUpZ1ForyBrNnr6uKHieFrt9p2IUbuTyGgf8IbBaL9okbKuyBHePdjwwwuJ2epVohsZms6D8jHNHdIwJb5cLF5slqUPHNHfeJr/s900/tibet026.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is the reason I'd rather go in the wild than any "public toilet" like this. The only reason a ditch isn't considered a toilet as much as this place is that it lacks the 6ft high stinking pile of turd which one has to squat over. I'd go for the ditch any day.</td></tr>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Day 279 – 26/03/2013</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Slept poorly as was near railway crossing (which is closed
by default), trains have to sound horn for some reason. Woke with painful right
arm, must have slept on it. Slept in 1 hour after sunrise. 3 day old bread and
sausages for breakfast. Washed pans and filled bottles in river. Green speckles
in water but few settlements upstream so I drank it.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
No asphalt for first 30km until town. Back wheel developed
bad wobble. Bought food and fuel after 30km. Enjoyed asphalt but headwind made
for hard work. Mountains stopped and turned to desert. Filled up water bottles
from river although I’d passed numerous factories. 20km of proper desert before
rivers began.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Listened to ‘A Horse With No Name’. Cruising above 30KMH due
to slight hill and slight wind. Would later become side and then head wind.
Bought biscuits for breakfast and bottled water. After 120km, with 2 hours
until sunset, I decided to go for 100 miles (160km). Was doing 35KMH at the
time.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Road direction and this wind soon changed. Tried to pump
rear tyre more, valve wouldn’t open. Broke valve, replaced tube. Joined
motorway. Did 11KMH up unexpected pass. Tempted by hotel as I saw how big Korla
was. Camped near river/quarry. Stove worked well.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
First day above 100km since 27/11/2012!</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Woke in night for long time; bright full moon. Used eye
mask. Very warm, 9c minimum. Used moonlight instead of torch. </div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
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<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFsIm6WmJZh-yifmyh9xRcDOv6EAqD1mmOxeT6-ZtahBGw_z-MZZrEy285xI9FIDYe5yuYmz82wu8XbATcTp3MJrPLKWrotXypoM71K0Q8LH3pnW5oiZCo6Afw5uLe87G4j1rM5bJhGPmo/s900/tibet036.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFsIm6WmJZh-yifmyh9xRcDOv6EAqD1mmOxeT6-ZtahBGw_z-MZZrEy285xI9FIDYe5yuYmz82wu8XbATcTp3MJrPLKWrotXypoM71K0Q8LH3pnW5oiZCo6Afw5uLe87G4j1rM5bJhGPmo/s900/tibet036.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A long day! The Speedometer reads 168.1km (104.5 miles)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVv_e0DpA4sRg7ryCMb2cpxSw8ps3RW6hmsvBnd1X0bRRJ0nZ28oLWadaGX8m0kMhWXajwDP7d5c30lVWy6Y8FrX3sEfxg8CAARspMEYL6cPzG_Ta8pCXrYCKTgPwboETgkAAWu13pw5Oa/s900/tibet037.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVv_e0DpA4sRg7ryCMb2cpxSw8ps3RW6hmsvBnd1X0bRRJ0nZ28oLWadaGX8m0kMhWXajwDP7d5c30lVWy6Y8FrX3sEfxg8CAARspMEYL6cPzG_Ta8pCXrYCKTgPwboETgkAAWu13pw5Oa/s900/tibet037.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My hard-earned reward - 3 packs of instant noodles.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Day 280 – 27/03/2013</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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Painful arm again. Slept in 1 hour. Poor sleep doesn’t seem
to affect me during day. Fixed wobble in back wheel, spokes very loose.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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Bought food in Korla. Almost embarrassing how dirty I was;
black, brown and grey marks on skin including face. Replaced broken bottle cage
for 5RMB (50p). Used internet in shop to check population density of route
through desert.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Changed into summer gear once outside Korla. Used Afghan
head-scarf Arab style and poured water on it. Very effective. 25c in shade.
Very slight tailwind. More encounters with nice locals than normal. Tailed a tractor
for 15km; wind break enabled me to go 5KMH faster with same work rate. Would
have loved a dog to chase me today.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Felt great cycling in shorts. Real desert started after
60km. Bigger sand dunes after 80km. Not as remote as I’d hoped, maybe later.
Listened to ‘101 Running Songs’. Aimed for lake to finish. Found Euro-style 4m
wide asphalt track running alongside lake. Camped next to track; no traffic.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Had to use tent due to hundreds of huge mosquitos. Prepared
to eat dinner in tent but then mosquitoes left me alone. I was covered head to
toe with clothes.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Watched dusty moonrise reflect in lake. Fathomed that the
moon was an actual thing thousands of miles away. Looked at it differently,
gauging distance and size. Baffled further by the fact that it’s moving around
us. I wonder how far I’ve cycled in terms of going around the moon. Warm in
tent.</div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Day 281 – 28/03/2013</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Arm better, slept ok. Woke for obscure sunrise. Washed in
lake. Took one step in and both feet sank 30cm into mud. People working on lake
gave me water, cakes and other snacks. Set up camera pole on front of bike.
Fish-eye camera is useless.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Rejoined main road after 7km. Pulled a red 6 or 8 legged bug
off my neck after I felt a bite. Petrol stations were useful, all have water
machines, shade and chairs. Staff gave me an apple. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Speedometer jumped to 50.2KMH. Replaced batteries; didn’t
work. Resorted to original battery. Lost real maximum speed statistic as a
result of this. I knew it was 30-something KMH. Pushed hard to reach 42KMH to
be sure. Toyed with the idea of breaking 50.2KMH.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Many dead trees and plants due to diverted rivers. Broke
many milestones; 100km in the day, 5 hours ride time, 11800km trip total, 900km
road marker (joined at 551km at noon 2 days before), 124km in day to break
400km in 3 days.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
River, plant and population stopped after 120km. Had option
to sleep in ghost town but opted for desert experience. Much of the sand has a
crispy layer on top making it easy to push bicycle. Camped without tent.</div>
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<br /></div>
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25c 1 hour before sunset, 7c 2 hours after. 1.8c minimum, a
bit cold due to wind and compressed down in sleeping bag. Spent ages working
out circumference of 26x1.75 inch wheel; couldn’t. Foul mood. Watched moonrise.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Postscript</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Another day of high morale</div>
<br />
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</b><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Day 282 – 29/03/2013</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A bit cold at night. Woke with sun to strong headwind. Spent
until noon measuring circumference of front tyre. This put me in a bad mood.
Ate bread and sausage for breakfast.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
18KMH in headwind. Next town should have been 22km away; was
abonded. Climbed watch tower to view desert. Saw water 200m back with some truckers
next to it. Looked at water (dirty, stagnant) with bottles in hand. Trucker saw
this and gave me 3 500ml bottles. The real ‘plan A’ worked.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Next name on road sign was 55km away. Desert became entirely
empty. Definitely saw a fly with no buzz. Used sun cream for first time in
months; the smell made me miss family. Cycled in half hour sessions; very
effective, helped bum be less sore.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Listened to Wailers, Lighthouse Family, Mattafix and
Kalkbrenner (later). No GPS due to batteries and solar panel being useless.
Rationed water. Ate last sausage, a different brand, smelt and tasted like cat
food. Arrived in next town after 4 hours, so hungry. Abandoned.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Saw chickens, thought about it. Tried to break into only
surviving building. Found water; stagnant. Realised I could cook noodles.
Finally made Steripen work. Tasted of mud.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Started cycling again at 19:00. Decided not to stop until I
found more food. Was going to cycle all night, 200+km to what I hoped was a big
town. Tailwind; 27KMH. Didn’t stop for one hour. Downgraded idea to ‘stop when
tired, not when dark’.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Enjoyed cooler temperature. Pushed hard. Found some type of
industrial camp. Was given food and water. Slept nearby. More stars, later
moon.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEAOpMMY-9ijMxSAerA3B9vUkWULIZVqZnClAmppdiWmLvqrACE4GOIUehA3KMOUgGlqWnk3UVSfbgDnmMGWJ6jmUgnkaqtdIjP1O64AQxVD5jGC2rEJ-MPq2vjpqcpjClVyGtsXytFXj6/s900/tibet058.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEAOpMMY-9ijMxSAerA3B9vUkWULIZVqZnClAmppdiWmLvqrACE4GOIUehA3KMOUgGlqWnk3UVSfbgDnmMGWJ6jmUgnkaqtdIjP1O64AQxVD5jGC2rEJ-MPq2vjpqcpjClVyGtsXytFXj6/s900/tibet058.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My emergency food - sesame cream from Iran. Stored at the bottom of my pannier since October 2012. High in calories, fat and protein and perfect for when I've ran out of all other food</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_GN8LHtyjS5J38hQTZl-XRz6vgeierYS6znu_asMJLhloN6zCfwSsjMqNUBWCMwU7Lh9SXpRcz4ocZkTCOzEmwLORlZR1EFGHuV4MH8V2JFzIGyDDhVh2hJxllu0OBZyxNEaG2yRknCdz/s900/tibet059.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_GN8LHtyjS5J38hQTZl-XRz6vgeierYS6znu_asMJLhloN6zCfwSsjMqNUBWCMwU7Lh9SXpRcz4ocZkTCOzEmwLORlZR1EFGHuV4MH8V2JFzIGyDDhVh2hJxllu0OBZyxNEaG2yRknCdz/s900/tibet059.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The stagnant water I drank in the abandoned town.</td></tr>
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<br />
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<b>Day 283 – 30/03/2013</b></div>
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<br /></div>
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Woke with sun. Oil workers summoned me to eat. Boiled rice
(in lots of water), ‘dinner food’, ‘raw’ bread and hardboiled egg, egg nearly
made me vomit; thought of foetus.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Desert very flat. 5-10km of gravel road. Road became
surrounded by water with fish for rest of day. Straightest, longest roads yet.
Did some filming, Good tailwind. Earlier, oil workers gave me 7 uncooked buns,
6 spicy vegetable snacks and 5 sausages for the road when I asked for 1 bun.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Had to choose between following shorter route across
desolate looking road (tempting) or longer route which went via a town of
unknown size. Desperately hoped town would at least have internet café to
research route, if not a hotel.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Saw first green plants in days. Outskirts of town did not
look promising. Stopped at intersection and spotted a grand hotel; 138RMB (£14/$22)
/ night. 3/4 start UK standard. Initially accidentally asked for a ‘1 hour’
room as I saw it cheapest on price list.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Was shown to room. When staff closed the door and left I
spun in circles with my arms out. Felt so happy, a real high from completing
the desert stretch. Used internet to reconnect with world. Started watching ‘Rome’.</div>
<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbjwXf-qW9eAFLHvhwmy9vIxTNQbdXB9rFCVdpPQ2xEOoa0zvK4OOrh03KC97qLpeJiabOhzmZoQ4D5TOnls2x5GDo5DVJQcJA7XK3jVk3iQ2fRxJrSkIeY5rDv5yA7T6zY1LMNvB8k0Ht/s900/tibet063.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbjwXf-qW9eAFLHvhwmy9vIxTNQbdXB9rFCVdpPQ2xEOoa0zvK4OOrh03KC97qLpeJiabOhzmZoQ4D5TOnls2x5GDo5DVJQcJA7XK3jVk3iQ2fRxJrSkIeY5rDv5yA7T6zY1LMNvB8k0Ht/s900/tibet063.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My left arm started burning quite badly so I used my Buff, held up by a strap, normally used to stop trousers falling into my front gears, to give my arm some shade.</td></tr>
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<b>Day 284 – 31/03/2013</b></div>
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<br /></div>
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Lazy day in hotel. Skyped friends and family. Learnt from
Janne that people have been arrested in the past for cycling where I did. Very
close to where Chinese did their nuclear bomb tests. Would explain the
abandoned villages and the barrier at start of shortcut I considered. Read that
people in the area have 30-40% higher rates of cancer. I shouldn’t have drank
stagnant water! Researched route.</div>
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<br /></div>
<b>
</b><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Day 285 – 01/04/2013</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Woke occasionally in morning, really didn’t want to go. Won’t
explain here; see email to family below. Checked out at 2pm. Saw near gale-force
headwind outside as I bought supplies. Decided to stay another day for this to
pass and the aforementioned feeling. Got new, clean room.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Skyped family briefly. Watched football. Tuned in an hour
late to due to clocks going forward in UK but not in China. Slept at 04:30.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Excerpt from email to family:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Well, I
have to admit that I have a slightly sad feeling to be leaving such a lovely
hotel. It's actually one of the hardest things I have to deal with on my trip;
going from living on the bike and being disconnected from the world, to be
connected again and having lots of contact with everyone, and then going back
again.</span></i><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Of course, once I'm on the bike I always feel great. But in the same way
that it's a huge high to get back in touch with everyone, I also feel a very
peculiar feeling about becoming disconnected again.</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">It's also got something to do with being very relaxed, and able to be
disorganised in my hotel room to having to think about every decision again. As
I said, once I'm out there, I never think about this, so I'll be fine!</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">I think if, next time I stop somewhere, I do
anything that needs to be organised to continue first, such as washing clothes
and buying food, and then relax, then I won't feel such a big difference. I do
feel good about the fact that I've finished my packing 2 hours before checkout
(2pm my time)!</span>”</i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Day 286 02/04/2013</b></div>
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<br /></div>
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Woke at 10. Same negative feeling. Kept pretending I had things to do
online to delay departure. Checked out at 1pm. Withdrew 1,000RMB.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Slight headwind soon dropped. Really nice Ughyur bread. Highway was
most monotonous of all trip. Everything grey (sky too from the dust) except
for yellow line in middle of road and litter running continuously down side of
road.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Missed turn off. Tried to cycle off-road on gravel desert to rejoin
correct road. Gravel too fine; wheels sank in. Saw a jeep track in right
direction a few kilometres later. 7km on it. Wasn’t sure if ‘correct’ road
existed as I was surprised I didn’t see the turning.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Finally got to the road! Still gravel. It was, in fact, the old 318,
the new one of which I was on previously. Cycled 15-20km until it joined road
to mountains. Really bad gravel and some washboard.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Dripping with sweat; surprised as sun was obscured by dust. Tarmac on
road I joined stopped exactly where I joined it. Got muddy water from river.
Cycled uphill on track as per GPS route. Not a single car in sight; strange.
Continued up to 1,400m.</div>
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Huge canyon; river 100% dry. May not have enough water to make it.
Purposely camped near road to learn of any traffic. Enjoyed the smell of sweat
for the 1<sup>st</sup> time this year.</div>
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Saw 2 men on motorbikes. Asked if there was water up the road; no. Told
them I was going to Germu (Goldmud). They pointed that the new road to Germu
was in fact the highway I was on before. Confirmed on GPS. First time Google
Maps has let me down.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Took all bags off bicycle and, like undressing a woman, realised how
beautiful my Surly is.</div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiQQI_a6aa6jQfDesVJiRdL7MJcezwQgciKKdhRYHSq-27kuH_fjhFLIFRFOkNH8DhBYmF1nx4T6jqkKejvpKz412MCh0k3_2gj96QpB6j_zHsjTNj3X0gFHIYcpewlFPYr8Kw-_l1szbc/s900/tibet063(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiQQI_a6aa6jQfDesVJiRdL7MJcezwQgciKKdhRYHSq-27kuH_fjhFLIFRFOkNH8DhBYmF1nx4T6jqkKejvpKz412MCh0k3_2gj96QpB6j_zHsjTNj3X0gFHIYcpewlFPYr8Kw-_l1szbc/s900/tibet063(1).jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Trying to find the right road.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
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<b>Day 287 – 03/04/2013</b></div>
<b>
</b><br />
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<br /></div>
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Slept well. Turned bike over to apply oil. Saw eyelet on fork where
rack attaches has snapped from frame. Explains noise heard on gravel on 30/03/2013.
Ok to ride. Fixed in place with string.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Went back down hill climbed yesterday. Filled bottles from same river,
the only river all day. Water very brown from mud; tasted fine. 28KMH downhill
on asphalt to rejoin new road. 70+km wasted on wrong road.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Hot water (for noodles later) and snack in petrol station. Very strong
headwind as I turned east. Could only make 12KMH. By end of day 9KMH. Didn’t
expect road to be so empty. No shops, building, anything. Many dry rivers.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Speedometer stopped working for 10km. Pushed bike a bit. Pain in upper
front of right leg. Shorts rubbed on inside thigh. Listened to XFM, Selfish
Gene. Kept going hoping to find cellular tower with wall surrounding it – only
possible shelter from wind.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Found small building at base of one around 18:30. Planned to wake in
night and cycle in less wind. Wind only getting stronger though. Tried camping
without tent. Wind shelter worked ok but sand everywhere. Used tent and Mum’s
wind breaker.</div>
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Not enough time to get to Golmud (before visa expires), will hitch over
pass tomorrow. Sand in teeth. Watched ‘Rome’ in tent. Mood better in tent than
in day. Thought about 21<sup>st</sup> birthday.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3moKtZ3lkp7mp85kw5ublH8BixklY6AWIKQ40zEGtFXy8gVsyLvvkkfYe2WgFPvTzwf_6qQWajEM41uef_wBdLKEcxDOKwmRsptoFEgyMaVgu366N7fOqjlpWWxy6BsGasFYENd5dtgm0/s900/tibet070.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3moKtZ3lkp7mp85kw5ublH8BixklY6AWIKQ40zEGtFXy8gVsyLvvkkfYe2WgFPvTzwf_6qQWajEM41uef_wBdLKEcxDOKwmRsptoFEgyMaVgu366N7fOqjlpWWxy6BsGasFYENd5dtgm0/s900/tibet070.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">sandstorm</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCPua3s_YBPdO44Qv5G0X0PFneJ6ZFzWQa_qGtar54oDHaVyT8PGnbPGBi-BdQ_LEiadybUtVo1pm35y9cWfa3vVNHiEy25nWgcsRblMxFpKs6JJZbjGtsPSqsR9zw2tH0TbBtwawh3iRR/s900/tibet071.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCPua3s_YBPdO44Qv5G0X0PFneJ6ZFzWQa_qGtar54oDHaVyT8PGnbPGBi-BdQ_LEiadybUtVo1pm35y9cWfa3vVNHiEy25nWgcsRblMxFpKs6JJZbjGtsPSqsR9zw2tH0TbBtwawh3iRR/s900/tibet071.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqcV484LiJihkceQqsa15vEC804SxcWvdYbSZTjz4XrKgpw1pGNyxm8WKacgUdd19cAJOkVKhsuPX5ZvgDVBAcjbN4nl-6lrFRNQYjZpw07hyphenhyphenZwIYtcZRUkHd_539wsdNys1MdCt_O5Hzt/s900/tibet072.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqcV484LiJihkceQqsa15vEC804SxcWvdYbSZTjz4XrKgpw1pGNyxm8WKacgUdd19cAJOkVKhsuPX5ZvgDVBAcjbN4nl-6lrFRNQYjZpw07hyphenhyphenZwIYtcZRUkHd_539wsdNys1MdCt_O5Hzt/s900/tibet072.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My original plan to sleep without a tent and use anything I could find to stop the sand coming my way.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ0pZjd-YuW_nKoZsOFxTmgZCfj0FLUWS9mKRsvlWDMkMpB3F1Fyz6t0uacqRvbG6SStYoPpwC_m43O4sTyIjOVocLPKYn7ewvHbV2hTRd4Ex-o3fA3y98XkkucyYhP3ftQfRulcrfwhbB/s900/tibet073.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ0pZjd-YuW_nKoZsOFxTmgZCfj0FLUWS9mKRsvlWDMkMpB3F1Fyz6t0uacqRvbG6SStYoPpwC_m43O4sTyIjOVocLPKYn7ewvHbV2hTRd4Ex-o3fA3y98XkkucyYhP3ftQfRulcrfwhbB/s900/tibet073.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After 2 minutes my sleeping bag was covered with sand</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<b>Day 288 – 04/04/2013</b></div>
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Slept fine despite strong wind. Sand came through inner netting at ends
of tent. Outside completely covered; grey.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Cycled 1km to find spot to hitch. Before I’d even applied kickstand I
saw a 4x4. Picked me up. Confused as to how far he was going. Overtaken by
coach. We re-overtook it and stopped it. My driver spoke to coach driver and
got me on the coach for free. Gave me a bottle of water too.</div>
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<br /></div>
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I asked “Germu”? He gestured ‘2’ with his fingers. Unsure if this meant
2 days to Germu or I’d need to take a 2<sup>nd</sup> ride. Saw 1 river on way
up pass, all others dry for 600 kilometres after. Saw amazing salt lakes and
wind-eroded rocks.</div>
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Sat at back for space to myself. Survived on raisins and 500ml water
for most of day until coach stopped and I had instant noodles and Pepsi around
19:00.</div>
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Mid-evening the driver saw a sign for Germu, told me to go. People very
kind and helpful, gave me 6 500ml waters. Coach left, road to Germu didn’t
exist. I thought the turn off should be 100km later. Saw another coach coming.
Flagged it down as I ran back to road. Entirely empty. Took me to correct Germu
turning.</div>
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Cycled down onto highway. Dark now and less than -5c, 3,200m altitude. Two
dozen vehicles passed without stopping. I shone light on myself so drivers
would see me. Open-back truck carrying cement stopped. Driver said I had to
lift bike onto top of truck (on top of cement). Took all bags off and climbed up,
he passed me my bike.</div>
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Truck very slow most of time, around 20-30KMH. Door wouldn’t seal;
quite cold. 80km from Golmud we stopped in truck-stop near train station. I
wanted to sleep in truck. He told me I’d have to pay 50RMG to sleep in truck-stop.
Lost driver. Found a place for 20RMB with electric blanket.</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga1X2Nq61uJWktAuukM2QU8IMwavdTu9gSKTwWCw935NDwnXV70Nsvqsq_bgzMYmtVd739icEtJ2UZzr9UgiPpBQTdMIyw47JARG_w4vv1DIpwdCTmhRwtkqcHLBeTRPt9e58VkgJFubBO/s900/tibet073.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcW_fit0gD3fUPq533ZKTJ_EFYIOufOLQ0xanLorOPRiNOskEGBahducW5PeDcvrmp8mTqRzCtGHoyZ53i0fOCvBhFeidbzCTH2RHxxmz_nExtLftgP01d1WlMxI0j74MLFbqw2AdKzG83/s900/tibet074.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcW_fit0gD3fUPq533ZKTJ_EFYIOufOLQ0xanLorOPRiNOskEGBahducW5PeDcvrmp8mTqRzCtGHoyZ53i0fOCvBhFeidbzCTH2RHxxmz_nExtLftgP01d1WlMxI0j74MLFbqw2AdKzG83/s900/tibet074.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Considering that my tent is normally quite a bright green, I think it was a good idea to use it.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<b>Day 289 – 05/04/2013</b> </div>
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Considered cycling to Germu; couldn’t be bothered. Picked up by nice
guys in mini pick-up truck. Land around road flooded/salt lakes. Saw 10,000s of
electricity pylons; didn’t regret not cycling.</div>
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Went to hostel in Germu. Foreigners not allowed. Went to bad hotel for
80RMB. I was asked to leave after 90 minutes for same reason. Back to hostel. 2
Chinese tourists who spoke a little English and could translate on their phones
helped me. Said hostel boss would be here tomorrow and then I could stay.</div>
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Had to stay in 258RMB (£27/$42) hotel than night. Went for lunch with
one of them; 68RMB, too expensive! Skyped family. Decided to stay in hotel for
convenience of internet.</div>
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<b>Day 290 – 06/04/2013</b></div>
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Went out to fix eyelet on front fork. Went to Merida bike shop. Passer-by
asked if I needed help. He asked shop owner for location of welders. Took me
there, only 200m away. Welding done in a flash. Bike on fire for almost 10
seconds. Welding obstructed screw entering eyelet. He got out an angle-grinder.
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Eyelet now at a slight angle from where it was before but rack attaches
perfectly although it’s very difficult to get screw in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Charlie (the passer-by) insisted on paying.
10RMB. Took me for lunch. Gave me half his food as he’d already eaten. I couldn’t
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Skyped Fred in Cairo. Finished ‘Rome’. Watched ‘Empire Records’; great.
Downloaded loads of audiobooks. Slept through breakfast every day in hotel.
Gave clothes for washing.</div>
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I hope you've enjoyed reading this first instalment! Some bloggers take the time to write in order to gain money from advertising or simply to make their voices heard. Personally, I took the time to write this in hope that you may be inspired to donate to the cause which inspires and motivates me, <a href="http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserProfilePage.action?userUrl=englandtoindia">St. Margaret's Hospice</a>.<br />
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I don't have a media team or any sponsorship helping me along so this is my only way of turning hard-fought miles into kind donations. I started fundraising for them over a year ago and so far you guys have donated a whopping £5,390 ($8,340) My target is, and always has been, £25,000 and I am always so happy when I see another donation come through so please <a href="http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserProfilePage.action?userUrl=englandtoindia">give generously.</a><br />
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<a href="http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserProfilePage.action?userUrl=englandtoindia">Donation Page</a><br />
Main Website - <a href="http://www.englandtoindia.com/">www.EnglandToIndia.com</a><br />
On Twitter - <a href="https://twitter.com/England2India">@England2India</a><br />
<a href="http://www.somerset-hospice.org.uk/">St. Margaret's Hospice Website</a></div>
Judehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05996912167887879684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7930417312752206140.post-81116403107380705162013-06-12T03:20:00.002-07:002013-06-13T23:26:56.068-07:00I Cycled from England to India!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
At 05:55 on the 7th of June 2013, 352 days after I started pedalling from England, I finally reached my destination; the Golden Temple in Amritsar, India.<br />
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Of course, I wasn't allowed to take my bicycle into the temple area or anywhere in sight of the temple even. This was a huge downer for me as the image of me holding my bike above my head in front of the Golden Temple had been my ultimate inspiration for months on end. Not wanting to let the temple rules ruin my big day, I whipped out a t-shirt I had made in Kathmandu and got the best photo I could (it's compulsory to cover one's head).<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4oNcnMwb9N9QjdXPAj0L1_BRkiipSFw2DvFkVekKd61aOxylDEsPlNqcy694AEj6PIzob8vVAZlZCI7n17X5EFt7mgBROCSw7ttY049tSpBht6H9G05TTHnvB4QfcvRXKPKRMl_QAu91q/s850/GT.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4oNcnMwb9N9QjdXPAj0L1_BRkiipSFw2DvFkVekKd61aOxylDEsPlNqcy694AEj6PIzob8vVAZlZCI7n17X5EFt7mgBROCSw7ttY049tSpBht6H9G05TTHnvB4QfcvRXKPKRMl_QAu91q/s850/GT.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">A hand-made shirt showing every country I cycled through with my bicycle. England, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, Italy, Albania, Greece, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Tibet, Nepal and India.</span></td></tr>
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Below is the final map of my entire journey. In the end I made quite a loop in Asia. I was only 200km from Pakistan's western border when I was in Kabul and then 5 months and 5 countries later I was standing at its eastern border, only 30km from Amritsar. Each bicycle represents where I started and finished one day of cycling.<br />
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<iframe frameborder="0" height="400" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=214121301499656413876.0004d63f8570596c418a8&ie=UTF8&t=p&source=embed&ll=41.376809,43.59375&spn=52.197399,140.449219&z=3&output=embed" width="800"></iframe><br />
<small>View <a href="https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=214121301499656413876.0004d63f8570596c418a8&ie=UTF8&t=p&source=embed&ll=41.376809,43.59375&spn=52.197399,140.449219&z=3" style="color: blue; text-align: left;">England to India</a> in a larger map</small>
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In Amritsar I couchsurfed with an awesome guy from New Zealand, Gareth. I'd cycled over 1,000km in the last 9 days without taking a day off and every day in India was over 40 Celsius for at least 7 hours. Not only did Gareth give me a great place to unwind and with great company (beer and sport on TV included) but he, along with a surge of donations from my friends back home, smashed the £5,000 fundraising milestone.<br />
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It's changing every day, so have a look at the total raised now <a href="http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/englandtoindia">http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/englandtoindia</a><br />
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My last blog post was <a href="http://englandtoindia.blogspot.in/2013/04/tajikistan-in-depth.html" target="_blank">this beastly read about Tajikistan</a> - Do sit down and enjoy it if you haven't already.<br />
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After Tajikistan I spent almost a month in Kyrgyzstan doing things mostly off the bike. I had to fix a broken wheel, apply for a Chinese visa and I somehow ended up teaching English for 2 weeks. For that reason there wasn't much adventure going and I've kept the post below brief. The main reason for this is that the next post is going to be about Tibet.<br />
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The exciting news is that in Tibet I actually kept a journal for the first time and I will be copying that journal onto this blog. I'm really passionate to get this out there as, without blowing my own trumpet too much, it was a really tough month to survive due to being there illegally, the altitude, the cold, the winds and most of all, the isolation. Here is an example of one of the entries. Excuse the lack of pronouns, I just got fed up of writing "I" every other word. When I post all the entries within the coming week, I will of course include photos.<br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Memo #24 - 15/04/2013</b></span><i> </i><br />
<i>Slept with water bladder in sleeping bag to stop it freezing. -7c in tent. Woke many times as I was 10m from railway. Earplugs effective but painful after a while. Woke at 3am to pass town with lots of PSB (police). Huge mental struggle to get up. No choice ultimately. If I want to cycle in Tibet I have to do it properly. Got up after 10 minutes. Packed as much as possible while in tent. -12c outside; some wind.</i><br />
<i>On road by 04:15. Came across unexpected police checkpoint after only 2km. Assumed they were sleeping, was going to pass straight through (despite flood lights) but then a truck came. I observed from 150m. Not possible to pass on road. I jumped off the road when the truck passed so its lights wouldn't show me. Sound set off 4 or 5 dogs. Unsure what to do as there was a river to the left of the road and dogs to the right. Went to the right.</i><br />
<i>One dog followed me, barking constantly. I threw stones at it to deter it. If I'd hit it the yelp would have given me away. Certain I was caught when bright light shone on me from CP (checkpoint). Turned out to be stationary floodlight that I moved into the path of. Walked around buildings to the right/back of CP. Rejoined road only 75m beyond but hoped that the lights of trucks at CP would stop police seeing me.</i><br />
<i>Lots of dogs in town straight after. Was chased by 7 or 8 at one time; put my bike in top gear and hit 35KMH. Not fun when its dark and I'm not using lights. Saw 5 or 6 blue and red flashing police lights over next hour; not sure what they are; always stationary.<br />Convinced again that I was caught when police motorbike went pass me, stopped, turned around and shone its lights on me. I just kept going. Was wearing balaclava but my eyes gave me away. Was always relieved when oncoming vehicle turned out to be a truck and not police. I would turn head light on so oncoming vehicles could see me and maybe make it harder to see my eyes.</i><br />
<i>Temperature was -15c until sunrise around 08:00. Extremely painful to swallow as combination of high altitude (scarce oxgen) and balaclava meant I had to keep my mouth wide open to breath causing not just a dry mouth but dry throat. -15c didn't help either. I'd been rationing water since night before. Finally found a river t 07:30. Had previously tried snow covered river but my foot fell through ice and water tasted horrible.</i><br />
<i>Passed Toma, marked as large town on map, a little after sunrise. </i><i>I wore goggles once it got brighter. There was a police station but no activity. Soon after, I climbed up and around hill onto new plateau and decided I was safe at 08:30. Had breakfast (raisins, dried apricots, 'mini french bread' and plastic sausages, which were frozen). Faced sun which was warm. Extremely tired but felt so great to have beaten the system.</i><br />
<i>Very gentle climb until lunch. Didn't wear disguise. Came across 100-200 backed-up trucks, Put on balaclava in case of temporary CP. Passed all and saw overturned truck. This meant the road was all mine for nearly an hour. Got more water. Couldn't stop peeing as I drank so much in AM to keep throat moist. Similar lunch as breakfast.</i><br />
<i>Small but decent tailwind. Steeper after 4,900m (16,000ft) above sea level. Was doing over 20KMH as I approached 5000m. Punched the air and cried out when I got there; first time ever. Saw a couple of police bikes who hooted but no problem. Probably off duty. Road to pass went up and down several times before reaching the top making it much harder and longer than expected. Met Chinese couple hitching to Lhasa and Nepal.</i><br />
<i>5252m (17,230ft) at top. Now in official province of Tibet (T.A.R). Really exhausted. Unsure how much further to go. Enjoyed downhill but struggled to pedal even on flat bits. I'd reached the top at 16:00, 13 hours after I got up. Knees ached when walking. Strong jarring pain in lower-right of back. Probably from the way I start, stop and cruise when on bicycle.<br />Found beautiful plateau to set up camp early on. Just needed water first. Found a spring, very happy. Erected tent in pit for wind shelter. Damaged pegs due to rock beneath sand. Greatly enjoyed sitting in sun with no wind and letting clothes get warm. Eyes stung a great deal. Peak cap broken. Tore sleeping bag liner badly. Slept at 19:00. Got warm clothes ready as I knew it would be cold later. Heart beating very fast when resting; explains difficulty getting to sleep previously.</i><br />
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Now, to continue chonologically from where my last blog left off... (feel free to hit the F11 key to go full screen)!<br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Kyrgyzstan and the start of China</b></span><br />
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My first task in Kyrgyzstan was to hitch with my broken bicycle from the border to the Kyrgyzstan's 2nd city, Osh. This video should give you a small flavour of the Kyrgyz people.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Once I arrived in Osh I couchsurfed with Umar, whose wife cooked amazing Korean food which is apparently increasingly popular in Kyrgyztsan.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeV0wKYuaRLitNuXp-0lPd6QV45949Wf4OPllQQOLKp0WYTXFCSEubmEi4TbVV09uuoHY0inwafEuEzo3Brji-1df7jiGDSpGheoHHPtwYHLw6cqYA3PvbsI1h7qTsprxxNvD3OjG_7R0M/s900/SAM_2076.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeV0wKYuaRLitNuXp-0lPd6QV45949Wf4OPllQQOLKp0WYTXFCSEubmEi4TbVV09uuoHY0inwafEuEzo3Brji-1df7jiGDSpGheoHHPtwYHLw6cqYA3PvbsI1h7qTsprxxNvD3OjG_7R0M/s900/SAM_2076.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">There's a UNESCO World Heritage rock in the centre of Osh</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5WaHkuSPQGsTjrcb-33S7IOqKee5N2fG8du6TAdRXB8WEbXF0fpo6fUUP5rkllLVfyOuxc96M2Ykrgy2AenEFMdOsbLmCA7-YIJyFVa-Nps1czTEqVM5_xpsNftf0UsZyh-ZYs9uXi5VV/s900/SAM_2097.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5WaHkuSPQGsTjrcb-33S7IOqKee5N2fG8du6TAdRXB8WEbXF0fpo6fUUP5rkllLVfyOuxc96M2Ykrgy2AenEFMdOsbLmCA7-YIJyFVa-Nps1czTEqVM5_xpsNftf0UsZyh-ZYs9uXi5VV/s900/SAM_2097.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Flag of Kyrgyzstan</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAPRxIkWRkq-Vj7Uxsw1vOFxj9zIKVj019UTuHS4Vy5N5-6mSsXSpXBuudlMH3N5yDUypvAl9eY94kgwNva_LygjAyArftaRzbxaiGgSo3Wt8SRKJuDLO4ZRi-Bh5EInPfacFa7MPuKdnn/s1600/SAM_2102.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAPRxIkWRkq-Vj7Uxsw1vOFxj9zIKVj019UTuHS4Vy5N5-6mSsXSpXBuudlMH3N5yDUypvAl9eY94kgwNva_LygjAyArftaRzbxaiGgSo3Wt8SRKJuDLO4ZRi-Bh5EInPfacFa7MPuKdnn/s640/SAM_2102.JPG" width="640" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I then hitch-hiked over 600km in one day to get to Bishkek, the capital, to try and fix my wheel. I made the journey in 4 separate cars over 12 hours.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">My 2nd lift</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrpMaeJFm7oGGY-zf5UxBbMH1gCYww1OuOvMkzfpdvyxfhnpxrqBJ6GZIQEX92A4A6BKAiLBx1EalxlpoppwPDv_oQXoIvfS6UM2HIGMtj1QrDBrmJ_lHmvFuudNdaqZ9fUpsL6OLkzBYq/s900/SAM_2106.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrpMaeJFm7oGGY-zf5UxBbMH1gCYww1OuOvMkzfpdvyxfhnpxrqBJ6GZIQEX92A4A6BKAiLBx1EalxlpoppwPDv_oQXoIvfS6UM2HIGMtj1QrDBrmJ_lHmvFuudNdaqZ9fUpsL6OLkzBYq/s900/SAM_2106.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Having not had access to good bicycle parts for so long, this shop was overwhelming.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Mia (the kitten) and Riff (the sausage dog). In Bishkek I couchsurfed with a couple whose families moved there from Russia in Soviet times. While there I took a week to get my Chinese visa and taught English for 2 week to cover for another Couchsurfing host that I met.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3y9xarhqM-DkvX2NANdKlBNa8BpId0rqvDNtsPMPnZM92VSZEcLckOUHWpc2Aero0ux2pgLhp-WbkDZuIJa3EHRkplBUKSwNFpdiczFTqsBKZs-TGZB4-Q02VJZqbSJhV6_iGZDqLTVCQ/s900/SAM_2118.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3y9xarhqM-DkvX2NANdKlBNa8BpId0rqvDNtsPMPnZM92VSZEcLckOUHWpc2Aero0ux2pgLhp-WbkDZuIJa3EHRkplBUKSwNFpdiczFTqsBKZs-TGZB4-Q02VJZqbSJhV6_iGZDqLTVCQ/s900/SAM_2118.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">An hour's drive from Bishkek there is a single ski slope.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Here's a video of me going down the slope (including a wipe out)</span>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">A lion going skiing</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/66231000/jpg/_66231792_z9340587-male_african_lion-spl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/66231000/jpg/_66231792_z9340587-male_african_lion-spl.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Me, having a rest in the park</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">While in Bishkek I also had the opportunity to hike/climb up to a glacier with a group of other cyclists who were staying in Bishkek at the same time.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I couldn't decide if this was a frozen river or small glacier.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">As the group neared the top we had to speed up to avoid being swallowed up by the approaching weather.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The glacier.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Finally the weather caught us.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Me, Andrey (my host) and Pablo, who has been cycling around the world with his girlfriend for a few years.</span></td></tr>
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Andrey, who runs an outdoor adventure company, asked me to do an interview for their website about why I love Kyrgyzstan, why I chose to cycle around the world and a few other things.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">These guys gave me a lift to get back to Osh and treated me to some local cuisine.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">That night I didn't make it to Osh but instead stayed in the apartment of one of the guys in the car. Central Asian hospitality is always overwhelming; I hadn't know him more than one hour, he didn't speak English and yet he invited me into his home, let me shower, gave me clean clothes and fed me.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">With my wheel fixed I left Osh and headed for the Chinese border a few hundred kilometres to the east. I wrote approximate altitudes and distances on my hand so I knew what lay ahead.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The road was extremely quiet but in good condition.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Field after field of white before the mountains started.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">It was certainly an unforgiving landscape.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">As I gained altitude the road condition worsened with a lot of snow and ice.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcris-cinMEKXcGopteJx_uGj_tT0iYzras8frIHDrs32eVR27ffVovIJk5iga1ubG525ky8hOJX2KQBP6Tb-sIzmtj1br-sLQutL8UHNsk56oSql5d4fJAY2ZsEh4SuGhFsAGLzvoMz7W/s900/SAM_2230.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcris-cinMEKXcGopteJx_uGj_tT0iYzras8frIHDrs32eVR27ffVovIJk5iga1ubG525ky8hOJX2KQBP6Tb-sIzmtj1br-sLQutL8UHNsk56oSql5d4fJAY2ZsEh4SuGhFsAGLzvoMz7W/s900/SAM_2230.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">At 3,500m (11,500ft) I saw the first "building" I'd seen all day. I initially asked if I could sleep in the bus on the right but in the end he offered for me to sleep in his heated 'tank without wheels'.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZi3EgY2pzeq9gVxlr6cSqZaRagou2aNjpS7jXgrtTqZsZiYeAbWmxKPM-VVYRO147i_dQWQpScp9lv3IYaJohFB0bzvd1vrLGkU3fp9mLC1fbMqKnG5p-jYu8UlmIZXj0JTpC_REDdbQI/s900/SAM_2231.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZi3EgY2pzeq9gVxlr6cSqZaRagou2aNjpS7jXgrtTqZsZiYeAbWmxKPM-VVYRO147i_dQWQpScp9lv3IYaJohFB0bzvd1vrLGkU3fp9mLC1fbMqKnG5p-jYu8UlmIZXj0JTpC_REDdbQI/s900/SAM_2231.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">About 500m from the road I would occasionally spot a caravan and couldn't help but wonder what it was doing there.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3eoe1SXmnsSi5-7kWPPvjzL2hQW5Du6cuNsfa2uU2M_XEA-MnDY6tqsrvEHQSIbaX0p8n0CoPOorq7CzlNXDZSSRQdqawsEvMKACDLGOAfBzDQRzdlg-yxnY6-Mk1h87Og10CfSytV_Xo/s900/SAM_2232.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3eoe1SXmnsSi5-7kWPPvjzL2hQW5Du6cuNsfa2uU2M_XEA-MnDY6tqsrvEHQSIbaX0p8n0CoPOorq7CzlNXDZSSRQdqawsEvMKACDLGOAfBzDQRzdlg-yxnY6-Mk1h87Og10CfSytV_Xo/s900/SAM_2232.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The last day before China.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyj3oz85ZsSCZpzrsX-pml02XI3nwcloVpBp7FrI0wcruRC-xlXpZeXxIvGANron3h9s-b3_hDgdxR6GgCw7_ehTX8r0xNUUIAo_FPabJmZ4cExL5dCMJB9O7RKLfgI5TuU2iKKLpQm18B/s1050/SAM_2235.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyj3oz85ZsSCZpzrsX-pml02XI3nwcloVpBp7FrI0wcruRC-xlXpZeXxIvGANron3h9s-b3_hDgdxR6GgCw7_ehTX8r0xNUUIAo_FPabJmZ4cExL5dCMJB9O7RKLfgI5TuU2iKKLpQm18B/s1050/SAM_2235.jpg" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDaZMZd4t1ZFBCqrCRDl9CvoxnM1dMgq2besypgcP-xnMeXIDY-eq-eR5IDuTyi7HlOrJ-wovHGkIsDZKqXv8sLQBcL4ceaowJlaYwbMO5wPvlEdqjZApZvM46vBDY3MF2aqPag5AHobtQ/s900/SAM_2238.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDaZMZd4t1ZFBCqrCRDl9CvoxnM1dMgq2besypgcP-xnMeXIDY-eq-eR5IDuTyi7HlOrJ-wovHGkIsDZKqXv8sLQBcL4ceaowJlaYwbMO5wPvlEdqjZApZvM46vBDY3MF2aqPag5AHobtQ/s900/SAM_2238.jpg" /></a></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgowaueQnFnqcKtPLF_BuTgQ9NT0hLEJ-QjfC4g22QIG6PrVj6L6n08J4jtAIoYAhB3Fyz4Y2iPKyEUjq_gnxlaS-Q-3YAc_lJS7JGxeV2z0X9bvlMC34FEqF3hYFCWuGc27D801WlLbbn2/s900/SAM_2241.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgowaueQnFnqcKtPLF_BuTgQ9NT0hLEJ-QjfC4g22QIG6PrVj6L6n08J4jtAIoYAhB3Fyz4Y2iPKyEUjq_gnxlaS-Q-3YAc_lJS7JGxeV2z0X9bvlMC34FEqF3hYFCWuGc27D801WlLbbn2/s900/SAM_2241.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The first truck I saw at the Chinese border.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSEQEwAV5tmSVhZrco_STpSqow3QbW4utKPj5EFozNSIXA4JXq_y2EHBAMKsipGRPcxmlJV86kgYMCLYLdv_gXsrcsPzQlnDWZWCz1POsQhAIgfjFsQTdSUEiMfK0OM7JImHpC1sMyc68C/s900/SAM_2244.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSEQEwAV5tmSVhZrco_STpSqow3QbW4utKPj5EFozNSIXA4JXq_y2EHBAMKsipGRPcxmlJV86kgYMCLYLdv_gXsrcsPzQlnDWZWCz1POsQhAIgfjFsQTdSUEiMfK0OM7JImHpC1sMyc68C/s900/SAM_2244.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">In America they have the famous 18-wheelers. In China they have the humongous 22-wheelers. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzOez3QoJItnssY3RFjkBcxVHeToVqbRGE3o0eu-EMOykO81nEPSyWWInTi19f_Nmgi-8-RcZRzXCLHlN1nUklKrXw-E7BPWuFYa79nCNVdfRCy3krojHQ2EiKXpxq-IvJ3p7_5Y36QBLY/s900/SAM_2247.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzOez3QoJItnssY3RFjkBcxVHeToVqbRGE3o0eu-EMOykO81nEPSyWWInTi19f_Nmgi-8-RcZRzXCLHlN1nUklKrXw-E7BPWuFYa79nCNVdfRCy3krojHQ2EiKXpxq-IvJ3p7_5Y36QBLY/s900/SAM_2247.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">My first sighting of a Chinese city, Kashgar. It was very strange coming from 3-4 months in Central Asia, with few buildings taller than a few storeys, to this sort of highly developed city.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw-5PowYlKyN3_Sm9RAiZe8rp1LPjwit1u34A2czfOmUtTOtuzPzMwmIYu9m25rAbFKtwrpyDcZ2QR_sEkYPVWOt-M_LCvRqhgWdGAQFOpqT1QUQnjrGXhYCkJGEiNetZvarGzR7IukrYC/s900/SAM_2249.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw-5PowYlKyN3_Sm9RAiZe8rp1LPjwit1u34A2czfOmUtTOtuzPzMwmIYu9m25rAbFKtwrpyDcZ2QR_sEkYPVWOt-M_LCvRqhgWdGAQFOpqT1QUQnjrGXhYCkJGEiNetZvarGzR7IukrYC/s900/SAM_2249.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">They like their scooters in China</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT9OOlFoJAZ-HPkeM9vz8wnTFgab-0KKwp5wlUXNf6t7Ou_LqkGYZZD8ejxGMHvT2dvx6CW5MqQIFCiO7XC46S7okfnmmk9Ia6qM51cCdfAcSfIIgkpRBKfi_jEP5NCAi8J8K8SodSTC-x/s900/SAM_2253.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT9OOlFoJAZ-HPkeM9vz8wnTFgab-0KKwp5wlUXNf6t7Ou_LqkGYZZD8ejxGMHvT2dvx6CW5MqQIFCiO7XC46S7okfnmmk9Ia6qM51cCdfAcSfIIgkpRBKfi_jEP5NCAi8J8K8SodSTC-x/s900/SAM_2253.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Here begins the strange things I saw in the bazaars and shops.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNfov8c0xn9djT3BqNfbz0oSs9OsQ-ronC93Q9vkaVAIySj8Z1GLckfLe-BYNM2gMgwEyShVKI_m7RjNZeo5uHt68BwrVce-oQiEbe1dlUFA6hbrRLhv0-_5sFIZJB_VEhg1v40a1gZ0YW/s900/SAM_2259.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNfov8c0xn9djT3BqNfbz0oSs9OsQ-ronC93Q9vkaVAIySj8Z1GLckfLe-BYNM2gMgwEyShVKI_m7RjNZeo5uHt68BwrVce-oQiEbe1dlUFA6hbrRLhv0-_5sFIZJB_VEhg1v40a1gZ0YW/s900/SAM_2259.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I couldn't help but wonder what they'd done to to this meat to make it require no refrigeration.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl2PYRtojdgGeZZpVDnWWiel_GHQl9PtJ2Pxgd1uoRHkikw5qZ26Tct9fp2PnxFPIN47hJ16RfBykS5D90muh3n6vlBh-aVj6eFKEvDABhMhbjtyi-9uggKLLDG15jkr6JvR2JokPr7lMS/s900/SAM_2260.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl2PYRtojdgGeZZpVDnWWiel_GHQl9PtJ2Pxgd1uoRHkikw5qZ26Tct9fp2PnxFPIN47hJ16RfBykS5D90muh3n6vlBh-aVj6eFKEvDABhMhbjtyi-9uggKLLDG15jkr6JvR2JokPr7lMS/s900/SAM_2260.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">An easy bit of brand recognition.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDHx1aARelRBdyFi57z5_QhhvdtTcSSHABKIMn0uGlRgu6YmbAI5RDKuK3r5wtolXcaMFtsTDg4Ox592vBUiRwEZ9ojPaYB7q95bhJ_g5iQ5XH2cDxbwvBDB_XaybAF3pCtNC074bkADWH/s900/SAM_2262.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDHx1aARelRBdyFi57z5_QhhvdtTcSSHABKIMn0uGlRgu6YmbAI5RDKuK3r5wtolXcaMFtsTDg4Ox592vBUiRwEZ9ojPaYB7q95bhJ_g5iQ5XH2cDxbwvBDB_XaybAF3pCtNC074bkADWH/s900/SAM_2262.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Creepy for some, normal for others.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKFcu7eRv1n_LIfJ4Py2vuRJqzhOXp6UkNmZe1iIZs9agWdDs7fIVm0Y85qklCiUbTJ2axZPoix_QEPSPsED3y2QwGQgsvV8h4cAvesdFu5D50Nm6RnuMeWHa6LMssWznMlxthSKeJhnHf/s900/SAM_2263.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKFcu7eRv1n_LIfJ4Py2vuRJqzhOXp6UkNmZe1iIZs9agWdDs7fIVm0Y85qklCiUbTJ2axZPoix_QEPSPsED3y2QwGQgsvV8h4cAvesdFu5D50Nm6RnuMeWHa6LMssWznMlxthSKeJhnHf/s900/SAM_2263.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">30 packets of instant noodles to see me across Tibet.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUPcafKdhm2YRxyrOB6gbYfQnwzIJ_giue0hrKAotqw2xTlm4AWylH98YLIGJMqIaUHXP5acqPPx4MqnTRCVjGpkei2xnR8ObtK7q9mFQDMwcUCy0nbU1cLHGKXfJuwoKFYHEMmn15znb4/s900/SAM_2240.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUPcafKdhm2YRxyrOB6gbYfQnwzIJ_giue0hrKAotqw2xTlm4AWylH98YLIGJMqIaUHXP5acqPPx4MqnTRCVjGpkei2xnR8ObtK7q9mFQDMwcUCy0nbU1cLHGKXfJuwoKFYHEMmn15znb4/s900/SAM_2240.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">An elevation profile of the route to Kathmandu that I found online.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXLoLgIoYWDptJ8MZIIhrt9swKOnwuFHUZYYppxpsyJgIFsQlsQDV1-zcXf0D9hz8lCeTBTB1AlAUF_V0G9ybdoBAZI9ze-en78s_KepOlM9aXQM2quvrmFZlAJyvm-C_Lq9IELIIvc2Wz/s900/SAM_2265.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXLoLgIoYWDptJ8MZIIhrt9swKOnwuFHUZYYppxpsyJgIFsQlsQDV1-zcXf0D9hz8lCeTBTB1AlAUF_V0G9ybdoBAZI9ze-en78s_KepOlM9aXQM2quvrmFZlAJyvm-C_Lq9IELIIvc2Wz/s900/SAM_2265.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">When I entered China from the border with Kyrgyzstan I knew they would search all of my bags. Maps of Tibet are strictly forbidden. Here's how I smuggled my contraband into China. This is my dry bag which holds all my camping gear and sits on my rear rack.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxYZEPXvhXsgeQQLwV_Y-C-DB1pj-2sV6skD3v7MfYnmmDmGLOuA22NOb5caRhfN1Ukgummynl5-U37NLeiZiajqw0MIXoEv2SE3DZuj_q4Ewf3mqZlApTTPBidv9Hq_3-aI9H3Dumhwf8/s900/SAM_2266.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxYZEPXvhXsgeQQLwV_Y-C-DB1pj-2sV6skD3v7MfYnmmDmGLOuA22NOb5caRhfN1Ukgummynl5-U37NLeiZiajqw0MIXoEv2SE3DZuj_q4Ewf3mqZlApTTPBidv9Hq_3-aI9H3Dumhwf8/s900/SAM_2266.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">In Afghanistan I found this rice sack which I used as an extra layer to protect the dry bag.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgYceulJUn_jmj4OPm36ylFqhhizd5JNWqGtCwjbl46XOxKPx05FRjek4-8kV4t10qbkBfYmDRP6ViUY7tLrLt8ufN8SXAUJ3b_GQkwSUb97n4Z2fq4_FBO1m-jOk2Dnjo_m-syrIGt0FE/s900/SAM_2268.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgYceulJUn_jmj4OPm36ylFqhhizd5JNWqGtCwjbl46XOxKPx05FRjek4-8kV4t10qbkBfYmDRP6ViUY7tLrLt8ufN8SXAUJ3b_GQkwSUb97n4Z2fq4_FBO1m-jOk2Dnjo_m-syrIGt0FE/s900/SAM_2268.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Having taken the dry bag out, I put the map at the bottom of the rice sack. I also had 15 high resolution satellite image of the route through Tibet that I planned to take so that I could find ways around the military bases and police checkpoints. I did NOT want to be caught with these. I stuck them to the inside of the rice sack with duct tape before putting the dry bag back in.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfZ2xn0h5lzIbQT6dg4CelsLnOWFsh004mQn-YtcU1lhwS0rQwP23tnKqPFPfGuCEau5eIi39rX8o6enuu98O2hQwGSNdODqSUua_tf9SJ6RTX6i45dQoF3WJy0d_6AesSo77HWFpYTpvw/s900/SAM_2269.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfZ2xn0h5lzIbQT6dg4CelsLnOWFsh004mQn-YtcU1lhwS0rQwP23tnKqPFPfGuCEau5eIi39rX8o6enuu98O2hQwGSNdODqSUua_tf9SJ6RTX6i45dQoF3WJy0d_6AesSo77HWFpYTpvw/s900/SAM_2269.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Kashgar at night.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXNHghXgcxFWD_YNUCtdj28cUfLsElXRaLFIvoK9SirYlLz6mtDqgRJDskIKY0qB2vs4cBEQoaf31mn2ZTL2ybDq-u-6dz0-OyYXdLtsjeaEpe9_NwBDr4lYRZqELQ8Cjaky4xoh3HLbqh/s900/SAM_2272.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXNHghXgcxFWD_YNUCtdj28cUfLsElXRaLFIvoK9SirYlLz6mtDqgRJDskIKY0qB2vs4cBEQoaf31mn2ZTL2ybDq-u-6dz0-OyYXdLtsjeaEpe9_NwBDr4lYRZqELQ8Cjaky4xoh3HLbqh/s900/SAM_2272.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">A classic Chinese restaurant worker with the drooping cigarette. He didn't seem to care about or even notice the smoke going straight in his eyes.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0ck-BLrSOAwxjmzHAZGX6WNDCg4ZMCzcmYJI0k-SspxSu0qb0f-Ll8m_sJz8dugkll2mQlEboK7wpiBmrRgQh4_5eEDZ_pjDFbwDxWO8g8rPqz7B0T0uAr4lCgU0NVUarYtUEq5ofj6KM/s900/SAM_2273.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0ck-BLrSOAwxjmzHAZGX6WNDCg4ZMCzcmYJI0k-SspxSu0qb0f-Ll8m_sJz8dugkll2mQlEboK7wpiBmrRgQh4_5eEDZ_pjDFbwDxWO8g8rPqz7B0T0uAr4lCgU0NVUarYtUEq5ofj6KM/s900/SAM_2273.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Kazu, an awesome Japanese traveller who I met in the free hostel.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj664P0FpgZMT6szvYGeY4m2NLpABWrXDvhoOjrEG9d3S1i26CRxnT5XEdKQLkZtZsfWcKWhh0P8x3GmHAj8UpCZF84074rb0GlFNVO_TOFkUdJ8q0l-TFJPOF6LTqecW4qsNQqfhLt-oGb/s900/SAM_2274.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj664P0FpgZMT6szvYGeY4m2NLpABWrXDvhoOjrEG9d3S1i26CRxnT5XEdKQLkZtZsfWcKWhh0P8x3GmHAj8UpCZF84074rb0GlFNVO_TOFkUdJ8q0l-TFJPOF6LTqecW4qsNQqfhLt-oGb/s900/SAM_2274.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Ready for a 30 day expedition across Tibet. The white bag on the front of my bike contained food for 15 days.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioTZvKIMHVxGQb0TbKpCnDEUOh0IdHSkqZZaVR2dJW4EqIXFGKCIgk_BqeAJvs-KANBFBOOWFZdQvWdWljlQbXMSjeII52SSpiYpaxRXZ87ekoY6FLxdRzkf44q5oAEg-xy_hL86lVxGK0/s900/SAM_2275.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioTZvKIMHVxGQb0TbKpCnDEUOh0IdHSkqZZaVR2dJW4EqIXFGKCIgk_BqeAJvs-KANBFBOOWFZdQvWdWljlQbXMSjeII52SSpiYpaxRXZ87ekoY6FLxdRzkf44q5oAEg-xy_hL86lVxGK0/s900/SAM_2275.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">After 15km my front tyre had had enough. Thankfully, when I was leaving Kashgar only 45 minutes earlier, I stopped to buy an extra tyre as I knew I'd be completely alone in every sense once I was on the Tibetan plateau.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDQuMWhh-OUx-8FEUniC5DXFX9k-OW_pMaU5h7OGlg5RGdGU0omN-Rsx1bSeXWfjjvHaKsKb1M79xqzObyAnUQDt9VueorJyDjCF5X0uqhbWEv9vEmKmu6e7tYWzsory6pGu7I8Rl6fUOg/s900/SAM_2277.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDQuMWhh-OUx-8FEUniC5DXFX9k-OW_pMaU5h7OGlg5RGdGU0omN-Rsx1bSeXWfjjvHaKsKb1M79xqzObyAnUQDt9VueorJyDjCF5X0uqhbWEv9vEmKmu6e7tYWzsory6pGu7I8Rl6fUOg/s900/SAM_2277.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">With the tyre changed, 20 minutes later I heard a clicking noise coming from the back wheel. To my disbelief, my back rim had now split in the exact same way that my front had less than a month earlier. This probably occurred now as my two wheels were now carrying 20kg of bicycle, 70kg of me and 50kg of luggage. Due to the fact that my visa was going to expire in 28 days and the fact that I'd have been pushed to make the Nepal border in time, I reluctantly admitted that this Tibet crossing just wasn't going to be possible this time. I'd have to rethink my plans..</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGId-mhyphenhyphenJ2_XSxaueIeu0lBJYB-HFBIZLtLQQ2I8xRhIXyvCGdwRBLiAD91ayA9whm2R66UUBmYjtMn0QTO0c9m9srz6vvg7hgOEApbJoWvwHmKyRbx5dVy2wOIVQ8260XJGtTTgmby1X7/s900/SAM_2279.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGId-mhyphenhyphenJ2_XSxaueIeu0lBJYB-HFBIZLtLQQ2I8xRhIXyvCGdwRBLiAD91ayA9whm2R66UUBmYjtMn0QTO0c9m9srz6vvg7hgOEApbJoWvwHmKyRbx5dVy2wOIVQ8260XJGtTTgmby1X7/s900/SAM_2279.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The Uyghur part of Kashgar. Uyghur people are an ethnic group living in their native land which is now part of North-West China. They are Muslims and, similar to the Tibetans, feel they are unfairly treated, persecuted and limited in their freedoms by the Chinese government. There have been many cases of violent clashes between Uyghurs and Chinese police.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3vjrd7LH_ggXY_15Gq2JHZxfidGotsIFRZzELuFuhEzwktYItrLLNZVGMxjAUv0BLW3oSpfxeawJonNpk_Q4iCc24ibu5RGOePzTfFMXTh7qU3Sp0VEuR8UugugAjUKJyDxRSvhqYd99K/s900/SAM_2283.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3vjrd7LH_ggXY_15Gq2JHZxfidGotsIFRZzELuFuhEzwktYItrLLNZVGMxjAUv0BLW3oSpfxeawJonNpk_Q4iCc24ibu5RGOePzTfFMXTh7qU3Sp0VEuR8UugugAjUKJyDxRSvhqYd99K/s900/SAM_2283.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">More Chinese delicacies; starfish </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh6T0ZnQRzVjey-hZqZoVB1NsMqFHzprnTVbf9mvHP0UZsK_iDII2IKljhOHChvBWnL5WfDLvPKsNftkvxduLYtAb-YzeNR5_WyDkmw6eOUE8N-McutvGz3MyUXa7Pw74_Jw2KZVU1F7pu/s900/SAM_2284.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh6T0ZnQRzVjey-hZqZoVB1NsMqFHzprnTVbf9mvHP0UZsK_iDII2IKljhOHChvBWnL5WfDLvPKsNftkvxduLYtAb-YzeNR5_WyDkmw6eOUE8N-McutvGz3MyUXa7Pw74_Jw2KZVU1F7pu/s900/SAM_2284.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Dried snakes.</span></td></tr>
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Judehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05996912167887879684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7930417312752206140.post-47062166908150824412013-04-26T13:38:00.002-07:002013-04-27T13:42:01.103-07:00Tajikistan - In Depth<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="text-align: left;">Blog posts can be a struggle. Sometimes I cheat by putting a load of photos into a slideshow with some emotive music and feel pretty happy with myself but most of the time I have a strong desire to really enable you, the reader, to get a sense of what it's like living alone on a bicycle in these parts of the world.</span></div>
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Photos and music are effective when all there is to show are golden sunsets and free-wheeling descents down mountains but in this post I'm going to try and enable you to get a sense of what it's really like cycling in such a strange country as Tajikistan in the middle of winter.<br />
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Before we begin, I have updated the map of my progress so far. Every icon represents a place where I slept and how I got there (usually by bicycle, of course). I am now in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet. This current part of the journey will be written about once I arrive in Kathmandu, Nepal; the last stop before India!<br />
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Before Tajikistan I cycled and travelled in Afghanistan. You can view that entry <a href="http://englandtoindia.blogspot.com/2013/03/afghanistan.html" target="_blank">here</a> for a bit of context<br />
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I've made these pictures pretty big so, again, I recommend you hit the F11 key on your keyboard and go full-screen.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Waking up on my fist morning in Tajikistan. It's not a special photo but it means a lot to me as I was finally in the country which gave me the idea for this trip. The map of the Pamir mountains, which I cycled in the east of Tajikistan, was the first thing I bought in preparation for this journey when I was still in London.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A local shepherd kid. I gave him these glasses which I found in a house in Afghanistan.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">He and his older sister managed the flock. In the background is Afghanistan.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The first shop I came across - I didn't have any Tajik Somoni but they allowed me to pay in US Dollars at a fair rate and gave me some crucial Tajik change.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I quickly realised that I had a new challenge ahead; learning Cyrillic, the Russian alphabet used in most former USSR countries.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On my second night I tried to sleep in an empty building in the middle of a field but the farmer found me and insisted I slept in his barn.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvrw4i6qEWbCueV8dOtOnCrJ4Gh0bfKlSgelhEMhtCTTyvNR6OFeKXW36zhs7hZuI0ZazN8lsH24lg8uPwl2CnVOWMBMparbVbg3nS6R81fDhUy2w4fGqeu50WqR2thYGg51lOcSmh15lu/s900/tajik009.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvrw4i6qEWbCueV8dOtOnCrJ4Gh0bfKlSgelhEMhtCTTyvNR6OFeKXW36zhs7hZuI0ZazN8lsH24lg8uPwl2CnVOWMBMparbVbg3nS6R81fDhUy2w4fGqeu50WqR2thYGg51lOcSmh15lu/s900/tajik009.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I've learnt over the course of this trip that the number of billboards showing a country's leaders is inversely proportional to the freedom of the people. There are many photos of the President around Tajikistan. Tajikistan is a very strange country, not dissimilar to the surrounding "Stans" and having visited there I can say that I understand from where Sacha Baron Cohen got his inspiration. An example of the way these corrupt leaders, seemingly disconnected from any global norms, operate is as follows. Tajikistan doesn't have too many energy resources, apart from some hydro-power utilising its many mountains and rivers. It's neighbour to the west, Uzbekistan, has a lot of oil and gas and as such provides Tajikistan with 100% of its gas supply. It makes sense. But what if the two presidents have an argument? Well the logical thing to do if you're the Uzbek president is turn off all the gas to Tajikistan. Thanks to this, the whole time I was there, even in the capital, nobody's stoves were working. </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A feast laid on for me by my hosts in Dushanbe. Also, struggling to sit cross-legged.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5cPKLcosUL3-iIaVDYqSO7w977IAsZx0Xf1phj7QXuNp30l7oLilFxyLLh-rD20lE0Lyv5N3Y4p8djHb1DekXuY3PESXfoQk9sDo8Ba3P7io2ycN-pGmFHuTLRAlxPbm4wnOrj2hLaXBL/s900/tajik011.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5cPKLcosUL3-iIaVDYqSO7w977IAsZx0Xf1phj7QXuNp30l7oLilFxyLLh-rD20lE0Lyv5N3Y4p8djHb1DekXuY3PESXfoQk9sDo8Ba3P7io2ycN-pGmFHuTLRAlxPbm4wnOrj2hLaXBL/s900/tajik011.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"John" is in the Tajik army. He spoke very frustrated English, often starting his sentences with "Jude, listen to me...". He spotted me on the road to Dushanbe and told me to call him when I arrived. They did have a 2nd, younger daughter but she was too scared of my beard to stay in the same room as me.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy5yZYErYJbdxA_SCZplOWoaO-oS_KulU8Z1uQddLvgCtnBc_sCoWf5rPQpwlE4YcCwDDHXDJkglZgbxkWGnNrnq8pXnVCm-FTVl4kjZtwinIyP-IE_6sSkUH0UlMbPSiN_2MFyWiI9C91/s900/tajik012.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy5yZYErYJbdxA_SCZplOWoaO-oS_KulU8Z1uQddLvgCtnBc_sCoWf5rPQpwlE4YcCwDDHXDJkglZgbxkWGnNrnq8pXnVCm-FTVl4kjZtwinIyP-IE_6sSkUH0UlMbPSiN_2MFyWiI9C91/s900/tajik012.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's hard to express just how happy I was to slip into this custom-made bed having spent many nights in my tent and the often filthy beds of Afghanistan.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOX1ahE81rl0oA6tvQT1J68fe8OLJmXPWxSy0xFi-gFxi9lrcdXIULMvrPs81tC4VEDxiiOvBtnBThyphenhyphenj2LAKt7J7Bd0FXMpSgu_lRoazi7pV5jfs9tM9jIRma31VrvXuJw7qMnMRXzX1YN/s900/tajik013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOX1ahE81rl0oA6tvQT1J68fe8OLJmXPWxSy0xFi-gFxi9lrcdXIULMvrPs81tC4VEDxiiOvBtnBThyphenhyphenj2LAKt7J7Bd0FXMpSgu_lRoazi7pV5jfs9tM9jIRma31VrvXuJw7qMnMRXzX1YN/s900/tajik013.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I had some time to kill in Dushanbe while I waited for a parcel to arrive. The ticket for this game cost around 60p. I was hoping that, seeing how this was a former USSR country, there would be some Russian style thuggery but I was severely let down. The "support" consisted of people booing when the ball went down their end and squealing when it went high in the air, all the while young teenage boys filmed the crowd on their phones to show off to their friends what an experience they had. I left at half time. </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Simply the nicest cheese in the world, made in the mountains. </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My "I come in peace" message written in Dari which I still had on top of my bag from Afghanistan</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK7BmJpx18Wc38MjSD4ZRD3pzjFAQCtj9hlorlVu8ImOrUvHU6ZxOd5PuRWT525PZPvOxHpi50dBLR9I_NnWONH_iFO2d2IqTjdxEu0_8d5fjzNKoxrArkkjGPFTozEjXs7le3OOcyiCsJ/s900/tajik016.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK7BmJpx18Wc38MjSD4ZRD3pzjFAQCtj9hlorlVu8ImOrUvHU6ZxOd5PuRWT525PZPvOxHpi50dBLR9I_NnWONH_iFO2d2IqTjdxEu0_8d5fjzNKoxrArkkjGPFTozEjXs7le3OOcyiCsJ/s900/tajik016.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">King Solomon statue. There is a policeman who stands by this everyday asking anyone who takes a photo for $10.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJC_QEVcJRBtQ2VNym4Zisaz8XySc-el6KIHqDoNseDfUDfqSE55aGXw2SeLdjQnzWvbdBatsRFS8AiV6q_Yl3jwRQW_2XzbjZ_y3OH2RKHkBn3RChdFxu_DGldBkaIw3hsi77yVmV-nL1/s900/tajik017.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJC_QEVcJRBtQ2VNym4Zisaz8XySc-el6KIHqDoNseDfUDfqSE55aGXw2SeLdjQnzWvbdBatsRFS8AiV6q_Yl3jwRQW_2XzbjZ_y3OH2RKHkBn3RChdFxu_DGldBkaIw3hsi77yVmV-nL1/s900/tajik017.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It was a real shock coming from Afghanistan, where I really felt that I'd gone a long way east, and then seeing streets like this in Dushanbe. Rudaki Avenue is pretty much the only street like this, the rest of Tajikistan is very poor. Consider it a façade.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiapADHdg9T3odhyphenhyphenErMemPgb2x7757azWUYa0PMRS_O5NCp8Bo8DM0JXypLBIqYqGfaVnOMlBt8iw3pLVx3E2rlB70F00NuCmZOZ_EQEiA2lQldJwcZspMffxcpw14Px-hTYnqXqZqwaOLr/s900/tajik018.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiapADHdg9T3odhyphenhyphenErMemPgb2x7757azWUYa0PMRS_O5NCp8Bo8DM0JXypLBIqYqGfaVnOMlBt8iw3pLVx3E2rlB70F00NuCmZOZ_EQEiA2lQldJwcZspMffxcpw14Px-hTYnqXqZqwaOLr/s900/tajik018.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">While waiting for my parcel I went for a 1-week round trip north into the mountains. This was the night I learnt that sleeping on snow will cause you to have a cold bum all night.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3KQkXQOeCJ_-4P81BQK3caqROTkRyT3ETbnykBFMbFsDJjrSyTgZtObAgqk5n_B-BYoJ3SPcll-wNRRs0fcK-bvedOooUo80wTMsQXiAgMM0EUkzkRyQO0zq0fZ45vhrD2yfZyUz2E5TA/s900/tajik019.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3KQkXQOeCJ_-4P81BQK3caqROTkRyT3ETbnykBFMbFsDJjrSyTgZtObAgqk5n_B-BYoJ3SPcll-wNRRs0fcK-bvedOooUo80wTMsQXiAgMM0EUkzkRyQO0zq0fZ45vhrD2yfZyUz2E5TA/s900/tajik019.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I tried to get over Anzob pass, now disused as a tunnel has been built underneath it. This is the result of no tarmac, lots of rain and bitty earth.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0MxTpWU9KwJhn6e_5tFN-szaY7iIYgPmd_JO8tiQiq6d7FLatlk-Nfzl0JYoy3twjj2tFaxaXlhPQoCXo-nkuKNcwGhAeEMH37Rh0xay_ig-DG3uHYt1sQ8Xr_pA8fQqIizQ-YQz1nyl2/s900/tajik020.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0MxTpWU9KwJhn6e_5tFN-szaY7iIYgPmd_JO8tiQiq6d7FLatlk-Nfzl0JYoy3twjj2tFaxaXlhPQoCXo-nkuKNcwGhAeEMH37Rh0xay_ig-DG3uHYt1sQ8Xr_pA8fQqIizQ-YQz1nyl2/s900/tajik020.jpg" /></a></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrHVNmRJzBXIcmv3difO20Aw-YX_kofmc4dRoy8kde-lmNEl8224oz_nsC8XBxFCnSCXMqUvGQZqtYgwPpyPFAxIYiiWK37Rs2frnuxK2Fsmi4eWG9iHxTHy4qU7QBD8MoN8mXHJwWSl3d/s900/tajik021.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrHVNmRJzBXIcmv3difO20Aw-YX_kofmc4dRoy8kde-lmNEl8224oz_nsC8XBxFCnSCXMqUvGQZqtYgwPpyPFAxIYiiWK37Rs2frnuxK2Fsmi4eWG9iHxTHy4qU7QBD8MoN8mXHJwWSl3d/s900/tajik021.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Taken at the point where I decided that enough was enough. Every local I'd seen in the final village a few hours before had gestured to me that the pass was closed but I had to find out for myself.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijld1iNZtlwrAcNIcAcQB8glrakFbPuSqujM4v-hYw3vRo2IY7lBBgEJ0iWOGyWPjPOEKRA4iaHlP6LLoPqo5qzgz5jWFy_oSYhwDj1tHGrUflHHlfd3BqW6o3PvJN_L6D1eBaPpoCYUZK/s900/tajik022.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijld1iNZtlwrAcNIcAcQB8glrakFbPuSqujM4v-hYw3vRo2IY7lBBgEJ0iWOGyWPjPOEKRA4iaHlP6LLoPqo5qzgz5jWFy_oSYhwDj1tHGrUflHHlfd3BqW6o3PvJN_L6D1eBaPpoCYUZK/s900/tajik022.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This man found me while I was looking in empty buildings on the side of the road for somewhere to sleep. This method of making sure that people can see you while you scout and assess a not very nice option A is very likely to prompt any observers to offer you a nice option B. It works for accommodation, hanging around dirty rivers with empty drinking bottles and so on.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyM6HPAVyQ7tHCFQnRQOudVsxc1-CKx06ovq8PwjTyzdS0NXbrTWINhG4n_wcA3zO4_L5uWwrR7ALJl3BOgQV7z8tyhGPg5sZf_zomdGsMdXeb7zbyryyovqh16K8zwqabRb8Ngqyelh46/s900/tajik023.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyM6HPAVyQ7tHCFQnRQOudVsxc1-CKx06ovq8PwjTyzdS0NXbrTWINhG4n_wcA3zO4_L5uWwrR7ALJl3BOgQV7z8tyhGPg5sZf_zomdGsMdXeb7zbyryyovqh16K8zwqabRb8Ngqyelh46/s900/tajik023.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Don't ask because I don't know</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUqaNEByPZMQ0RK8AJl5KSm9m1D6GcnkvW__Cbnuj_2wF5T03xNs-W6oBgGg5GdOcc3sk9a6cPqRuYZKc3-LFbgPqacJsbh2FtALoVvllq97hMnpawfd-D1GgPWiDuwfI7ZvfYn1xE-RXT/s900/tajik024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUqaNEByPZMQ0RK8AJl5KSm9m1D6GcnkvW__Cbnuj_2wF5T03xNs-W6oBgGg5GdOcc3sk9a6cPqRuYZKc3-LFbgPqacJsbh2FtALoVvllq97hMnpawfd-D1GgPWiDuwfI7ZvfYn1xE-RXT/s900/tajik024.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A bit of DIY with an empty noodle packet to keep my head lamp up.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif1o50SSmdCaFKaOTBBmvcUTgSLcJwvi8fTbvSRoM0Nn3_T39mk4YE6T4kFFrEkwo84i5JyLcYBHIQ_enTPRwFkZYP73L2Hni2TawaaU4R2pAo2C1pyMgq55bijd601MmLiPRXPt9WVwv8/s900/tajik025.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif1o50SSmdCaFKaOTBBmvcUTgSLcJwvi8fTbvSRoM0Nn3_T39mk4YE6T4kFFrEkwo84i5JyLcYBHIQ_enTPRwFkZYP73L2Hni2TawaaU4R2pAo2C1pyMgq55bijd601MmLiPRXPt9WVwv8/s900/tajik025.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In winter I obviously wear more layers but as the sun comes out and in and the snow stops and starts I often find myself with a lot of clothes needing to be stored somewhere where they can be easily accessed. Unrelated, a few minutes earlier a rock flew off the mountain above me and missed my head by less than a metre</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicP84PeyGNFY2rjSZs3pKmTPri8ZbGI6hF15dDbR7it1VLPMXTIzKx9rcmuZ2Wgvfqqln2AxqG6chYWSawTF33MCJqwUE9czaAYNOE7iUVDz4BNbLvfSBJclrZUqEzWEVIjCZxHSr5Akav/s900/tajik026.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicP84PeyGNFY2rjSZs3pKmTPri8ZbGI6hF15dDbR7it1VLPMXTIzKx9rcmuZ2Wgvfqqln2AxqG6chYWSawTF33MCJqwUE9czaAYNOE7iUVDz4BNbLvfSBJclrZUqEzWEVIjCZxHSr5Akav/s900/tajik026.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The 5 KM long Anzob tunnel. Unpaved, full of pot holes and puddles, water dripping from the ceiling, rocks falling from the ceiling, unlit and unventilated.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMgG8HHngiIWOhRqxg3kmpZXoQoHdZydZMnyDtVfUl1ta9qxMhIzqtnqkHZq_lVHMk5RUKl1XpoMwHXi8GwWS2u9je9aagyzbEzb7uVwQmnVeeO0-8qNVXyz6CT_6A1WpZk5H3vK8AZY61/s900/tajik027.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMgG8HHngiIWOhRqxg3kmpZXoQoHdZydZMnyDtVfUl1ta9qxMhIzqtnqkHZq_lVHMk5RUKl1XpoMwHXi8GwWS2u9je9aagyzbEzb7uVwQmnVeeO0-8qNVXyz6CT_6A1WpZk5H3vK8AZY61/s900/tajik027.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Taken with the flash on. That's not rain or snow, it's dust.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXHgJyCZTzmPoeDexISHQ-jGz34YfLAjAhglLwQxZheOAR_W7YpLly5nf4NC1LlQ9u25QtMrG3r30wCLmZxz5RrjIl1P2TsucbM17on0XG49-Tc58PZWVsMhoj5jbuaO8_NKd2gDwHRxoM/s900/tajik028.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXHgJyCZTzmPoeDexISHQ-jGz34YfLAjAhglLwQxZheOAR_W7YpLly5nf4NC1LlQ9u25QtMrG3r30wCLmZxz5RrjIl1P2TsucbM17on0XG49-Tc58PZWVsMhoj5jbuaO8_NKd2gDwHRxoM/s900/tajik028.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After the tunnel.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj568DA6a7k-m6v9o2sjp8iDPkSeSrHfJH-oX7Zt6H2aDWczwF3MBSjRKF5HIU39vR5c1IiDpz5wcuJgylgugiaUwFXMlhFYSjCFV5d-NXYOta3SmIo9_z-1QFTP6GS4N8PW-TBzooP7MDM/s900/tajik029.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj568DA6a7k-m6v9o2sjp8iDPkSeSrHfJH-oX7Zt6H2aDWczwF3MBSjRKF5HIU39vR5c1IiDpz5wcuJgylgugiaUwFXMlhFYSjCFV5d-NXYOta3SmIo9_z-1QFTP6GS4N8PW-TBzooP7MDM/s900/tajik029.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDt6QvakSu7GN0qr9WN3tACS1XlA57MhSmRZfBE50tvM-tHE5773JTymJCdeF5NYd0GbFfM56RdmnSVnwhDfdr5nwd4H1Knv0rfRwj7aHSOv68IEi9Y1xwaX42DqxoEqJm-tHXpUdtzPOJ/s900/tajik030.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDt6QvakSu7GN0qr9WN3tACS1XlA57MhSmRZfBE50tvM-tHE5773JTymJCdeF5NYd0GbFfM56RdmnSVnwhDfdr5nwd4H1Knv0rfRwj7aHSOv68IEi9Y1xwaX42DqxoEqJm-tHXpUdtzPOJ/s900/tajik030.jpg" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilfjVa24TYVNTgUH2UnUfgx8ZLwbBLrtBsRoAXbdkEcT3XKKc0nkY4m4jbNoIAILDXyu6dAMs8MGhaLrRMohFuIXHz8ZMcY_kDH1HcvrhcLGxpRBkri5_KzhEDmvYZmLKZMGMLUORmOxJU/s900/tajik031.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilfjVa24TYVNTgUH2UnUfgx8ZLwbBLrtBsRoAXbdkEcT3XKKc0nkY4m4jbNoIAILDXyu6dAMs8MGhaLrRMohFuIXHz8ZMcY_kDH1HcvrhcLGxpRBkri5_KzhEDmvYZmLKZMGMLUORmOxJU/s900/tajik031.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I was pleased with myself at this moment as my map, written in English, showed that I had to cross the river when I reached Narvad, as this sign indicates in Cyrillic.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy9dpmFgw_C5LT07a0Ac14EiPJD0BTouhv07Lte4M6HaiCNhtSvjCqLNv0sCDr7RPdHZZ4hMz99bVP4hXEeRd0MAlkZIDFAKkfuOPBE1pNo7g9B-skfvrEsZ_8l57dW6AO3Zs4dTove38Y/s900/tajik032.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy9dpmFgw_C5LT07a0Ac14EiPJD0BTouhv07Lte4M6HaiCNhtSvjCqLNv0sCDr7RPdHZZ4hMz99bVP4hXEeRd0MAlkZIDFAKkfuOPBE1pNo7g9B-skfvrEsZ_8l57dW6AO3Zs4dTove38Y/s900/tajik032.jpg" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgblGEEL7mzTJtM5ETcU5cluKEDzFEw3msaAq1tHyFve9OD-vPCJPp7_8xd8JFdW1yD1VLNNkBhJUuSp5AMCm-wA8SYtLpFP3F4Mp6Qyu1MSheCgDw2DNmq0VvxHqwasw4Hurzvx2lbjjBr/s900/tajik033.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgblGEEL7mzTJtM5ETcU5cluKEDzFEw3msaAq1tHyFve9OD-vPCJPp7_8xd8JFdW1yD1VLNNkBhJUuSp5AMCm-wA8SYtLpFP3F4Mp6Qyu1MSheCgDw2DNmq0VvxHqwasw4Hurzvx2lbjjBr/s900/tajik033.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A ghostly shepherd figure who watched over me from high up the mountain</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwvhjIv8vfTMj8ee_5wkh7e5W9ofWzoj1BFXqo5nVTYEG7dBo5nk1gUoMEYA9gdlkLjk7hfo4X9jm_iNGQ56ca1fEwYulQlSL-xg7LIDaWancpvwElAau-Gxh2Owm-o_cHGEpdfESD5n4R/s900/tajik034.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwvhjIv8vfTMj8ee_5wkh7e5W9ofWzoj1BFXqo5nVTYEG7dBo5nk1gUoMEYA9gdlkLjk7hfo4X9jm_iNGQ56ca1fEwYulQlSL-xg7LIDaWancpvwElAau-Gxh2Owm-o_cHGEpdfESD5n4R/s900/tajik034.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This wall was meant to protect the road from landslides. Instead the road itself had fallen down the valley and I now had to cycle on the unprotected side.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVQ32YHCjh4qylb4mhFAklOLRoYMDiSJadErRJGDimo5F3JGMIZ_gVE-ind-4QTpvVTbQxcQxUBfUWvGygFcQZzkJni7SHxkD5odZsYeCTJ3Tp-gHmY6RqvwGRneRdPiaDnoJvXpk-ICEe/s900/tajik035.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVQ32YHCjh4qylb4mhFAklOLRoYMDiSJadErRJGDimo5F3JGMIZ_gVE-ind-4QTpvVTbQxcQxUBfUWvGygFcQZzkJni7SHxkD5odZsYeCTJ3Tp-gHmY6RqvwGRneRdPiaDnoJvXpk-ICEe/s900/tajik035.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">As I climbed this path I really got a great sense of going somewhere very far away from anyone else. It was incredibly steep and there were no more settlements.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVP3Cmh6wwEMsy24lg2Dq0s1PpEKV3Za4Mg1kX7kV3Xv0dJsyCJjcfztWMXDij2sR2I_K-gOiuFz5S4w2cHkrA3PqAReGGArhACh4vMoVUoNPawWDwQRQcxCP_q6Dd01h4DGHRBUIVW3w-/s900/tajik036.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVP3Cmh6wwEMsy24lg2Dq0s1PpEKV3Za4Mg1kX7kV3Xv0dJsyCJjcfztWMXDij2sR2I_K-gOiuFz5S4w2cHkrA3PqAReGGArhACh4vMoVUoNPawWDwQRQcxCP_q6Dd01h4DGHRBUIVW3w-/s900/tajik036.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Near the top I met some men who were out hunting. They gave me bread (appreciated), some meat they'd shot and slightly cooked (it's the thought that counts) and 3 full cups of vodka (this resulted in my most dangerous night camping to date)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrHzVnA97A-A5xzdAuv41AXDaXfvZG_By4H7FDBKTuWfKzlbf-7f_zr0Aebv_Y2OlAg5ZkjnZ7a7aT-YESKtVmzJZB09wZnVZJBocsQ437vzjpOmpGWK-ef4RkttdPYwU18nKlF6Og33yp/s900/tajik038.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrHzVnA97A-A5xzdAuv41AXDaXfvZG_By4H7FDBKTuWfKzlbf-7f_zr0Aebv_Y2OlAg5ZkjnZ7a7aT-YESKtVmzJZB09wZnVZJBocsQ437vzjpOmpGWK-ef4RkttdPYwU18nKlF6Og33yp/s900/tajik038.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After they insisted on topping up my vodka twice they left me to cycle downhill to Lake Iskanderkul, now in the dark. I didn't want to bother putting my tent up as I was quite intoxicated. As I'd been in Iran and Afghanistan for almost 3 months I was pretty intolerant of the vodka. It snowed on me in the night so I tried to wrap my tarpaulin around me which didn't really work. Note the empty can of baked beans, my emergency food which I've always carried with me, which I'd woken for in the middle of the night.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlcN5wEFkHVG1poz9lFkthA9AaB2foWfC-XAEmidRXY0QikLrSwO24qPdp3jr8Cmb8k5v7554qfjncTHbPHY9bvgRTisA-ZZwYCmL-wKg3Zc9og_ZwgzWIjLUInxDP9uJB0DLqVJ60UMe8/s900/tajik039.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlcN5wEFkHVG1poz9lFkthA9AaB2foWfC-XAEmidRXY0QikLrSwO24qPdp3jr8Cmb8k5v7554qfjncTHbPHY9bvgRTisA-ZZwYCmL-wKg3Zc9og_ZwgzWIjLUInxDP9uJB0DLqVJ60UMe8/s900/tajik039.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not too cold, unless your sleeping bag is soaked.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOdajElvCIiKK8mrist8SroIFylcRfLDnw-5V5IB2YVvD7WTmh2q28FBlOyNF72dv0QUECNnWE1zvzazfY1NMwX6NuGk85Pl12gjcIrY2OArUidLu-vq39ARDFKXKfIE8ihTu-5OhqiiBU/s900/tajik040.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOdajElvCIiKK8mrist8SroIFylcRfLDnw-5V5IB2YVvD7WTmh2q28FBlOyNF72dv0QUECNnWE1zvzazfY1NMwX6NuGk85Pl12gjcIrY2OArUidLu-vq39ARDFKXKfIE8ihTu-5OhqiiBU/s900/tajik040.jpg" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje1uqo7BXFWr5fgkXT1cEKMxuM9tgNDPIKcda3sTV57BwRiZISEgFqq3H7ySVii-UOVKtokmg2bFbZ_gcNd0sz6vOtnNA_znr_Iufsmlyd7rJRPNOQ1VAn-u9QxZQrKqFYyAaVIDt-xF_I/s900/tajik041.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje1uqo7BXFWr5fgkXT1cEKMxuM9tgNDPIKcda3sTV57BwRiZISEgFqq3H7ySVii-UOVKtokmg2bFbZ_gcNd0sz6vOtnNA_znr_Iufsmlyd7rJRPNOQ1VAn-u9QxZQrKqFYyAaVIDt-xF_I/s900/tajik041.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These two kind men invited me into their house. I felt stupid as in my drunken paranoia the night before I went to great efforts to avoid their torches when they heard me. They pointed out that there was a spare bed in their room that I could have had. The bread that we ate was so stale we had to dunk it in the green tea for 30 seconds to make it chewable.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEcjMMbuEzASbUl0n7nZQL8lbC18fvk5K4eC1vOjK_MwH77rAGpnEe-Wvu3dQWP1bsK9OFFzYFHcig-t1QHyZ8cl7CRYUu-T_wE5FbueSTChehkq1Sao8PszpHjmNMDZz5WbGSw-HK6KwV/s900/tajik042.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEcjMMbuEzASbUl0n7nZQL8lbC18fvk5K4eC1vOjK_MwH77rAGpnEe-Wvu3dQWP1bsK9OFFzYFHcig-t1QHyZ8cl7CRYUu-T_wE5FbueSTChehkq1Sao8PszpHjmNMDZz5WbGSw-HK6KwV/s900/tajik042.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The stove on which I burnt holes in my gloves - still not with it.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBrosz-oDuwIag1zlXjlszgivIHtplHwIj8d-G9Y1TwL8AvqQN7Sxr13VZLW-IONXML-ale3HdNWnrMV2PJmTvKIe9i1ndQMO8uZIiM-hHrS3pGyJrz59JGfmTVhg5J4FRMODNyzHbiTfA/s900/tajik043.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBrosz-oDuwIag1zlXjlszgivIHtplHwIj8d-G9Y1TwL8AvqQN7Sxr13VZLW-IONXML-ale3HdNWnrMV2PJmTvKIe9i1ndQMO8uZIiM-hHrS3pGyJrz59JGfmTVhg5J4FRMODNyzHbiTfA/s900/tajik043.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lake Iskanderkul - the perfect hangover cure. Relax, listen to the gentle swell, drink from it, swim in it...</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIFYqbuiaUWutau18dVD5KG-3BENaxqt5EKthBJgeq6nnZsyB-laOkl_eTVa71vHjD5yjMPCbYceAYec6C5Yk_vKClsAiwpbUZtPTEtR664T2dcvSbfCWJlhB8FWIqQRKBdC1nCFJq2gL3/s900/tajik044.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIFYqbuiaUWutau18dVD5KG-3BENaxqt5EKthBJgeq6nnZsyB-laOkl_eTVa71vHjD5yjMPCbYceAYec6C5Yk_vKClsAiwpbUZtPTEtR664T2dcvSbfCWJlhB8FWIqQRKBdC1nCFJq2gL3/s900/tajik044.jpg" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2sFmUpplEyDf4vw6sLYaFBTN3l8NP8aEEPYzqForR_PX62U9EUvouu-Tx2Tp3JGlquyKGPP-bQ9aPdzHHoEHzzwwqBAWNcpz3rOupk7_7slka9MlZsWV2Zp5PkYBiOA68g8_FNx3ZNuRV/s900/tajik045.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2sFmUpplEyDf4vw6sLYaFBTN3l8NP8aEEPYzqForR_PX62U9EUvouu-Tx2Tp3JGlquyKGPP-bQ9aPdzHHoEHzzwwqBAWNcpz3rOupk7_7slka9MlZsWV2Zp5PkYBiOA68g8_FNx3ZNuRV/s900/tajik045.jpg" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW8_ZfR8CPYbYLsqcmGz0StF2GA9LvAyf2QOS-TzW77FDoESF6pHPwZRZ6CWTdvtTQUA_0b2PU81U27Hk-glhgvpSi38aYIYq0lYmr3Kk3QXAZpmUrGQ_3GAqluWRgZlwXvYvTB8_vvF-S/s900/tajik046.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW8_ZfR8CPYbYLsqcmGz0StF2GA9LvAyf2QOS-TzW77FDoESF6pHPwZRZ6CWTdvtTQUA_0b2PU81U27Hk-glhgvpSi38aYIYq0lYmr3Kk3QXAZpmUrGQ_3GAqluWRgZlwXvYvTB8_vvF-S/s900/tajik046.jpg" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJhrRfdpjWn97bkf1RDyvlTvMShEVr5xELE7dtmBvkhfZRx8vZSjbLXVu6nQWbbc43g8x9pIgFvaN3RZ5muzW04l4Ewcekb1NDc3Ejv9KYIBwJ7-1ifdyJyg0X_0DzSxPAf074l2RlEV6v/s900/tajik047.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJhrRfdpjWn97bkf1RDyvlTvMShEVr5xELE7dtmBvkhfZRx8vZSjbLXVu6nQWbbc43g8x9pIgFvaN3RZ5muzW04l4Ewcekb1NDc3Ejv9KYIBwJ7-1ifdyJyg0X_0DzSxPAf074l2RlEV6v/s900/tajik047.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After a few hours of taking it easy, and two 2-egg omelettes later my thoughts turned to home. My grandmother, Nanny, as I know her, was very ill and being looked after in St. Margaret's Hospice, as she had been for a long time. I don't know what happened in my now sober mind but the next half hour was spent teary-eyed rushing around the sides of the lake trying to pack my stuff together. I decided I wanted to see Nanny one last time even if it meant breaking my trip. <a href="http://englandtoindia.blogspot.com/2013/01/judes-desert-dash-home.html" target="_blank">I wrote in more detail about this crazy change of plans in this post </a>so I won't go on about it here.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXNchu4qmX50FaPQLEsqzVdBAuTaCBZTE_6fJyonAeT99QcqMwVL4TWsYOFzocu7RKEHbeaghIH38y9oE-WYsaPpe4JovmEE2MYou_fV9pggDZWMX9PwXXG8XZrB0pCP2144u-JdVAto-c/s900/tajik049.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXNchu4qmX50FaPQLEsqzVdBAuTaCBZTE_6fJyonAeT99QcqMwVL4TWsYOFzocu7RKEHbeaghIH38y9oE-WYsaPpe4JovmEE2MYou_fV9pggDZWMX9PwXXG8XZrB0pCP2144u-JdVAto-c/s900/tajik049.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I got back to Dushanbe so late that I couldn't find any locals to stay with. I slept in what I reckon is the equivalent of Trafalgar Square. </td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIpjoIYzuiLiTWyyMHj3xnEcpp3YkU2PSFidy_PXMS7ngGwYL0kNK9Pe4Ys9gSagsabnG16mXg-JJkhWdM5jboKD65wA_I3gmc58SLTdoxZdyZXfHLz3i7IJUkas8HK2yXiO7zOZPAIOpJ/s1100/tajik050.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIpjoIYzuiLiTWyyMHj3xnEcpp3YkU2PSFidy_PXMS7ngGwYL0kNK9Pe4Ys9gSagsabnG16mXg-JJkhWdM5jboKD65wA_I3gmc58SLTdoxZdyZXfHLz3i7IJUkas8HK2yXiO7zOZPAIOpJ/s1100/tajik050.jpg" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDs2XvcM9URh5m02cxMpD27PzoZF7xrUN9-khVZBUbxbulEEX2fcdecjRSOWh2eOPE_dm3-Njx7rwv-c68JlBOHAaxju_KajezxOfX41GLB8p72579CjXYUITNLWMMG6ZXVnv6sLYNiwQw/s900/tajik051.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDs2XvcM9URh5m02cxMpD27PzoZF7xrUN9-khVZBUbxbulEEX2fcdecjRSOWh2eOPE_dm3-Njx7rwv-c68JlBOHAaxju_KajezxOfX41GLB8p72579CjXYUITNLWMMG6ZXVnv6sLYNiwQw/s900/tajik051.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another perfect example of Central Asian politicians thinking, ahem, "differently", is this, the largest flag in the world. So large it takes a gale to get it in the air</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioeHFeqpMuuhwA9JDMRfEKC_cumVC4hY_nL_Hczaazyj0DaCKd_hyphenhyphenr4WIZLXBPZTxcBLt3o9OJrrYq4OvtCRzD2WoXzKl-MYR8-fWgFt7QMoKJ4dgb2fqLZkElOE5opOxd8gTkaLQf0Wff/s900/tajik052.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioeHFeqpMuuhwA9JDMRfEKC_cumVC4hY_nL_Hczaazyj0DaCKd_hyphenhyphenr4WIZLXBPZTxcBLt3o9OJrrYq4OvtCRzD2WoXzKl-MYR8-fWgFt7QMoKJ4dgb2fqLZkElOE5opOxd8gTkaLQf0Wff/s900/tajik052.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Flying from Dushanbe to Istanbul</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0qmoGQpES9j-kbyyyTmFDYKyMFNj0O92x70H1h1YyJMyNgdx39TvpwCxuBx4Zy79Y2eV_sc5XzTKh3l4ueSFqsdgSFP30NykkHD6-4U_r_R-fd-NTEkzBcXeI5Y2QTJa1VpyK5hNtZu5E/s900/IMG_0075.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0qmoGQpES9j-kbyyyTmFDYKyMFNj0O92x70H1h1YyJMyNgdx39TvpwCxuBx4Zy79Y2eV_sc5XzTKh3l4ueSFqsdgSFP30NykkHD6-4U_r_R-fd-NTEkzBcXeI5Y2QTJa1VpyK5hNtZu5E/s640/IMG_0075.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Back with Nanny in St. Margaret's Hospice.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhFTY9YdrMBPzD4Qe9anfoilSNJZI20dpaoVKkqj0_aPKBuqaojYaRO9IPKncG87Nyypf4MZzMuE0AbbCjAdvyP7iGBW6SR7ArmY1asrZdRnkuuv73EN8-bS_X5HCehVx_Tcxj5lmLWvXq/s900/tajik053.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhFTY9YdrMBPzD4Qe9anfoilSNJZI20dpaoVKkqj0_aPKBuqaojYaRO9IPKncG87Nyypf4MZzMuE0AbbCjAdvyP7iGBW6SR7ArmY1asrZdRnkuuv73EN8-bS_X5HCehVx_Tcxj5lmLWvXq/s900/tajik053.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And back again - Dushanbe by night</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrJH2AqPgZrfdjSVn40D5PqAWaAn9FVldFDVNkRPRQsVbF4twPSdYejaY4VyaLeQFCGnsl5bxbaxPUPCgbSoT5ZLUMk1FTM_8E3xep_Qz07-rsxm7neiUpTDZupRaPCR4YdInqUZzVI0Kx/s900/tajik054.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrJH2AqPgZrfdjSVn40D5PqAWaAn9FVldFDVNkRPRQsVbF4twPSdYejaY4VyaLeQFCGnsl5bxbaxPUPCgbSoT5ZLUMk1FTM_8E3xep_Qz07-rsxm7neiUpTDZupRaPCR4YdInqUZzVI0Kx/s900/tajik054.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's hard to describe the strange feeling of going from 6 months on the road to having Christmas at home with your family and then back to the way of the locals. Plov, the local staple food.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzftUASAcsnMs0yuQ-flr81En9ktibopwAozvaoqWVG9mx2CSqPQ5TBFDoC0bDvM-2WOfEGYc2BcZG57YQ8m3nzSYIIcN9fm3RJCPIX3xO1K_Vkzm3jWZUamjki8oFd4gUSyIziKCqy69K/s900/tajik055.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzftUASAcsnMs0yuQ-flr81En9ktibopwAozvaoqWVG9mx2CSqPQ5TBFDoC0bDvM-2WOfEGYc2BcZG57YQ8m3nzSYIIcN9fm3RJCPIX3xO1K_Vkzm3jWZUamjki8oFd4gUSyIziKCqy69K/s900/tajik055.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is my <a href="http://lunatecgear.com/products/travel-gear/scrubr/" target="_blank">Scrubr</a>, my dishcloth I had been using for 6 months. As you see, it's done its job very well and hasn't worn out at all. Going home gave me the opportunity to pick up another and I was shocked by this "before and after" since the change had always been gradual to me.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmcvoIbTMOopr_eSmwGMzQHL7jmQLBCteRDwUqHRY4P7z50EUmzTLp7ZYzNuQDOjCapr7X7L51hSOslBkerOls7sbqlKbE4bwVfyY5bykSblsgTJMSXHicc43ZlMjYwBqhZ0I_OXkD_u3S/s900/tajik056.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmcvoIbTMOopr_eSmwGMzQHL7jmQLBCteRDwUqHRY4P7z50EUmzTLp7ZYzNuQDOjCapr7X7L51hSOslBkerOls7sbqlKbE4bwVfyY5bykSblsgTJMSXHicc43ZlMjYwBqhZ0I_OXkD_u3S/s900/tajik056.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The odometer showing my 10,000th kilometre from England. Below is a video of me anticipating and then celebrating this event in a not very safe manner.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/QZ2nncYhVxU?rel=0" width="853"></iframe></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidPSOFHsqczAkgS1HWSQNYLIeZsLhDpTYKmGzvB2M3mSHWv5yf4MZ2W1CxYB-7-Wvbjfdwr8hvqMfN-9yPvgV2Jew70l9MVBUsMp9Aqodl5GxsZmYQyGfbfL7Tkmd2vKEvLE2oV6ZtxAg8/s900/tajik057.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidPSOFHsqczAkgS1HWSQNYLIeZsLhDpTYKmGzvB2M3mSHWv5yf4MZ2W1CxYB-7-Wvbjfdwr8hvqMfN-9yPvgV2Jew70l9MVBUsMp9Aqodl5GxsZmYQyGfbfL7Tkmd2vKEvLE2oV6ZtxAg8/s900/tajik057.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On my first night out of Dushanbe it snowed about 50 cm. I was sleeping in a barn with no door and had to keep moving my air mat back to stay dry.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZGYD3ENLV2HkPI18up5D0LGmModM_6FsuQXnSsFWpWj5cFqEB2QKJori0HyjVV3HhNjvcO_qzRUWBMawe7sAWeTqi1Pzu0LBRKrK3KJMGoH7O3xH2nLv6TRdwcWor-r5pGaZ9-ChZHj9I/s900/tajik058.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZGYD3ENLV2HkPI18up5D0LGmModM_6FsuQXnSsFWpWj5cFqEB2QKJori0HyjVV3HhNjvcO_qzRUWBMawe7sAWeTqi1Pzu0LBRKrK3KJMGoH7O3xH2nLv6TRdwcWor-r5pGaZ9-ChZHj9I/s900/tajik058.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A truck struggling to get back on the road after spending the night on the side.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP3GStHSDPpiW9Bn1bxy8vbOQKVYCzYPy60NfQ0O-9rPXowaSG4rjuCJqwiQthdp2v_r1eErm_XmsWJZGgGqBdAYT3PeEMqFyaOBPln_-8oNkAKPsJfcx5EBaZk0u-U4numDZq-6iJgRAh/s900/tajik059.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP3GStHSDPpiW9Bn1bxy8vbOQKVYCzYPy60NfQ0O-9rPXowaSG4rjuCJqwiQthdp2v_r1eErm_XmsWJZGgGqBdAYT3PeEMqFyaOBPln_-8oNkAKPsJfcx5EBaZk0u-U4numDZq-6iJgRAh/s900/tajik059.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I was overwhelmed by the beauty of this suddenly transformed landscape but it was extremely hard to cycle; I made about 30 KM that day, much of it walking and pushing the bike through the soft snow.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3ljUZ8FB3GUDy6v-cBKOAmJYzoAO9mI8yYwW9Uw0QJYsuUC3HPgRCjKIKkf6jGlGwbookt1KVDl-Ff9xXWML0Tj9OSmBTtEzdpbzrBAbzyzHXRR9Xh7jy3vWn0tNSf5f7jrNCW6biJ9-D/s900/tajik060.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3ljUZ8FB3GUDy6v-cBKOAmJYzoAO9mI8yYwW9Uw0QJYsuUC3HPgRCjKIKkf6jGlGwbookt1KVDl-Ff9xXWML0Tj9OSmBTtEzdpbzrBAbzyzHXRR9Xh7jy3vWn0tNSf5f7jrNCW6biJ9-D/s900/tajik060.jpg" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT_iBYRJusQWHFIBK46JgVSV8jjG1dCkXGWWu6uk0vAQHkXXEILSIdkv43VCJh-KotjBFdm0Jref4GTzkLzZ__HGR8C4QpePD7LMxVzVfK_KhcfU1CPUni8cATUvE2QhG6XTCv3SFulMYS/s900/tajik061.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT_iBYRJusQWHFIBK46JgVSV8jjG1dCkXGWWu6uk0vAQHkXXEILSIdkv43VCJh-KotjBFdm0Jref4GTzkLzZ__HGR8C4QpePD7LMxVzVfK_KhcfU1CPUni8cATUvE2QhG6XTCv3SFulMYS/s900/tajik061.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After what was a long day I stopped in a small village. There were a few empty buildings which I would have been happy to sleep in but at the same time I initiated the method mentioned above and asked a local if I could sleep in the empty building. He told me that the building could not be slept in and pointed me down a long path being dug by locals in the snow to the mosque where I was treated very well and fed.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4Eadr1b6UOk0ak6R_byA5trFfzoCFPS_dGTwU876HTOx9CHTsEzmhVvCrnoJNNC3zAa4iCRIn7mS59Sg-5NljqUMHhgkeIMHJztgW1G736GBRIuGOtMZFWFEAfLovnjfUCt0bofT3EyhU/s900/tajik062.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4Eadr1b6UOk0ak6R_byA5trFfzoCFPS_dGTwU876HTOx9CHTsEzmhVvCrnoJNNC3zAa4iCRIn7mS59Sg-5NljqUMHhgkeIMHJztgW1G736GBRIuGOtMZFWFEAfLovnjfUCt0bofT3EyhU/s900/tajik062.jpg" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKsvpcO3DpcNBWzkOnLR93CntWt_EPfY_jTpGQ-OpMliw-3UERs7uIQPP9Dgts7NmQ_FYBH4_uMfZm0y6pKs4RoOn4mqA5WtpsEv1Yx4qlEvg5B8SJUX-RRK-TXDPcidmxYji1CSLKQBy4/s900/tajik063.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKsvpcO3DpcNBWzkOnLR93CntWt_EPfY_jTpGQ-OpMliw-3UERs7uIQPP9Dgts7NmQ_FYBH4_uMfZm0y6pKs4RoOn4mqA5WtpsEv1Yx4qlEvg5B8SJUX-RRK-TXDPcidmxYji1CSLKQBy4/s900/tajik063.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I had the mosque to myself for sleeping. The wood burner would soon extinguish leaving me rather chilly under the blankets.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ17IjqerMBxlqK-GClLwi7sQ9vhfosSp7jE5VvOwTi_PPvMivdmSVE3U9M3BfSOgefj92n-quAE8UqaXY9nAj0Wehg0PfOglwnX6kJ4HVtDLp0_CiI7y9Ir8A9UCLkEYSFQ-CO30rDPB8/s900/tajik064.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ17IjqerMBxlqK-GClLwi7sQ9vhfosSp7jE5VvOwTi_PPvMivdmSVE3U9M3BfSOgefj92n-quAE8UqaXY9nAj0Wehg0PfOglwnX6kJ4HVtDLp0_CiI7y9Ir8A9UCLkEYSFQ-CO30rDPB8/s900/tajik064.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It was also a very good opportunity to let all the snow and ice melt off my bike.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6BeoEfPav6gu4s0ahiygP2h7SiZzq1v9btqnt-1zhduvP6SAZC-cd9ftVaYrF8pWY0je8LXJ3VGK_I2FxPYSZhZ3VdeV6YbAOJZ2FXdLdD0gCyKcwNQwlentpw0mqFm5Jf4Nx6YRbfif5/s900/tajik065.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6BeoEfPav6gu4s0ahiygP2h7SiZzq1v9btqnt-1zhduvP6SAZC-cd9ftVaYrF8pWY0je8LXJ3VGK_I2FxPYSZhZ3VdeV6YbAOJZ2FXdLdD0gCyKcwNQwlentpw0mqFm5Jf4Nx6YRbfif5/s900/tajik065.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">No later than 5 am this man came into the mosque, flicked the lights on and voiced a loud prayer out the window to wake the village and summon the elders to the mosque</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRHgqg3PaFyOoF3cT2ZwSwz_-6FYloBMmjfvGqDzQ3xKsE4m7Ac3OcIK2b1p4e_F-5nqIfV2Sgf8cP_BSFyRdBDBLCMfEoHBKdS0Hr1Qjb9O0Mz55gusEslKIvPHU22fKtKhyksaovWHzy/s900/tajik066.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRHgqg3PaFyOoF3cT2ZwSwz_-6FYloBMmjfvGqDzQ3xKsE4m7Ac3OcIK2b1p4e_F-5nqIfV2Sgf8cP_BSFyRdBDBLCMfEoHBKdS0Hr1Qjb9O0Mz55gusEslKIvPHU22fKtKhyksaovWHzy/s900/tajik066.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">As is often the case in poor countries, breakfast was left-overs from dinner.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD82io94nkfaNjWHSEKTNggEWtS1D9orUztPa0k1yBoNIKAfuXGTaFki4ui85R_2fsX2aqQwBtXjXgC1o6KJXGyzBwxeN_wjzz5gK49-D5hHVLDXZ2jpmdBl7eLifczS_cH4rslHYXrk3d/s900/tajik067.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD82io94nkfaNjWHSEKTNggEWtS1D9orUztPa0k1yBoNIKAfuXGTaFki4ui85R_2fsX2aqQwBtXjXgC1o6KJXGyzBwxeN_wjzz5gK49-D5hHVLDXZ2jpmdBl7eLifczS_cH4rslHYXrk3d/s900/tajik067.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This was a bitterly cold morning, around -12 Celsius. I remember spilling a few drops of water on my trousers only for them to freeze in place instantly.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8qFwm2zGGhSxQotsafsZiONlYKbm4CJ7sTdhgOh0diSI2Lg1SnzZO_LHFaZHzH2YhbBFHovk1IUBOLVtQysN0oWIcGFvKUeIj_g9yWWboeUQmy3k5AufaGku0NNYt9TDNK7l66iQ2SKgb/s900/tajik068.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8qFwm2zGGhSxQotsafsZiONlYKbm4CJ7sTdhgOh0diSI2Lg1SnzZO_LHFaZHzH2YhbBFHovk1IUBOLVtQysN0oWIcGFvKUeIj_g9yWWboeUQmy3k5AufaGku0NNYt9TDNK7l66iQ2SKgb/s900/tajik068.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The road was truly enjoyable as it climbed up the steep mountainside. The snow was also much easier to ride on as it had been compacted by many vehicles.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrU5X5SC_fKHs9MhtgCJj1lyCfaNLZP22SaraMKuVmF9Igv8jP7nIi_BwaVFdSdw5z5nZFfij9M_zViy6RlCWl3kW7_fDS5-hgxyBH3hiV-SbnKBjQefanpuvmczvrzRRYa5JVAuuCOB-m/s900/tajik069.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrU5X5SC_fKHs9MhtgCJj1lyCfaNLZP22SaraMKuVmF9Igv8jP7nIi_BwaVFdSdw5z5nZFfij9M_zViy6RlCWl3kW7_fDS5-hgxyBH3hiV-SbnKBjQefanpuvmczvrzRRYa5JVAuuCOB-m/s900/tajik069.jpg" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOPbu0Vv8Kjdbn7MIevhJJ4689biDN7NvFj6DjkRV3KyiMO78qCrh6y78hYIjRMBUDXqeQts51HJR3rraVlQVphSJay4Kt_WQhLQJiuER5SuWhw-eqhquvNP5P84f5YWQdQ6AQ9SbUXu9J/s900/tajik070.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOPbu0Vv8Kjdbn7MIevhJJ4689biDN7NvFj6DjkRV3KyiMO78qCrh6y78hYIjRMBUDXqeQts51HJR3rraVlQVphSJay4Kt_WQhLQJiuER5SuWhw-eqhquvNP5P84f5YWQdQ6AQ9SbUXu9J/s900/tajik070.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">By this point I had cycled over 10,000 KM and yet I'd only fallen off my bicycle once. That was in Luxembourg on a small and wet roundabout when I was going too fast and leaning too much. I wrote about that day in my poem-thing <a href="http://englandtoindia.blogspot.com/2012/06/how-to-slay-hill.html" target="_blank">How To Slay A Hill</a>. Today, all that was going to change as I fell off 3 times. On this occasion, I felt my front tyre hit a patch of ice and I knew I was coming off. I laughed as I landed as, while falling, I managed to make a small leap from above the hard road and into the soft snow on the side (in this photo my bike has been moved from where it landed). You can see where I landed.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvjkY7MlAY04WYgMPLVssuIM0ALvcLTkay_Zs2Qvgmb0Sz0g4dO0tBvgHKINj9wxIvT-vfM1bVdIBZFw3QSwjvd6tuU79Wax4SKXfd99nVRhezpuId2aywf2L5RcXrrS_nbIExXb3mJmcB/s900/tajik071.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvjkY7MlAY04WYgMPLVssuIM0ALvcLTkay_Zs2Qvgmb0Sz0g4dO0tBvgHKINj9wxIvT-vfM1bVdIBZFw3QSwjvd6tuU79Wax4SKXfd99nVRhezpuId2aywf2L5RcXrrS_nbIExXb3mJmcB/s900/tajik071.jpg" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTxhcXJf7Ygv2eOX0KiB-ny7JKFwHcuB1W-MGOa042ErgC4QRRATW5eX1btsJ71DP0ssQf1tRX7de0Q1i7WeM5s4UJHM9GdCMfmMDnLsJSXE5oFZy5LlHDY0UTTxVQTnsUM16rG1Vog5V5/s900/tajik072.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTxhcXJf7Ygv2eOX0KiB-ny7JKFwHcuB1W-MGOa042ErgC4QRRATW5eX1btsJ71DP0ssQf1tRX7de0Q1i7WeM5s4UJHM9GdCMfmMDnLsJSXE5oFZy5LlHDY0UTTxVQTnsUM16rG1Vog5V5/s900/tajik072.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This part was nothing but ice. After I stopped for this photo I had a lot of trouble starting again</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyr5WcrbA1CHyJuJEhYRXIxnE2SglsqckuFklElL5Vfn3adO69wg-AtZ5D_cMF3tKpWJ41fwqrfx0fLsPzymdFS-2Vz0yW65CtqZBrFoIVs71T5e29_vOvrDtS3gFVdyF1XHzMK_0Lct5Q/s900/tajik077.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyr5WcrbA1CHyJuJEhYRXIxnE2SglsqckuFklElL5Vfn3adO69wg-AtZ5D_cMF3tKpWJ41fwqrfx0fLsPzymdFS-2Vz0yW65CtqZBrFoIVs71T5e29_vOvrDtS3gFVdyF1XHzMK_0Lct5Q/s900/tajik077.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My clothes hanging up in my 2nd mosque in a row. They are the only possible shelter in such small villages.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPSr5KBjCOmX3nZenfDUy1dkJ9Q_7tXgKitWuxqP1WnD4aMwjTQ1kTOrxBmn_eF5Kwr4xvoYGidpMSUV-98AGBtXyRJxAt5ocMZEeGa2zx6ibDjM3eNwcL8c_P7qACuHUThv6-aGJbeU4N/s900/tajik078.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPSr5KBjCOmX3nZenfDUy1dkJ9Q_7tXgKitWuxqP1WnD4aMwjTQ1kTOrxBmn_eF5Kwr4xvoYGidpMSUV-98AGBtXyRJxAt5ocMZEeGa2zx6ibDjM3eNwcL8c_P7qACuHUThv6-aGJbeU4N/s900/tajik078.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The communal food is made by tearing up huge pieces of bread and then adding what is best described as a soup of potato and mutton, presumably prepared by the women of the village.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7f1Qoad62m6QTucTGH4934g_mMm7tIdafsbJAHzrThLX104BI5a6Omv9MaEdZX9ZXniuJ2MdDhAUSOjX9EYC72_PzGcr8kZSVtywncpsxYPN9HuKY2yJ71IGOSwFyx0COzZaGbBOJvxlV/s900/tajik079.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7f1Qoad62m6QTucTGH4934g_mMm7tIdafsbJAHzrThLX104BI5a6Omv9MaEdZX9ZXniuJ2MdDhAUSOjX9EYC72_PzGcr8kZSVtywncpsxYPN9HuKY2yJ71IGOSwFyx0COzZaGbBOJvxlV/s900/tajik079.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There was actually quite an art to the way they scooped the meat and potato with the bread that I wasn't very good at.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1z5o36XATMrYRhdeERGjgiP21OBzRdU69Vt_ETF7Na_kfTDjUq3_8HOzNnyKtT_riqdX9QLuvn5BWvQJeyPNlNusVo50VMxcHVThryT7qvNU5ZbjRYcOehnH4JcRpKlu8nmfPw6PqKwYX/s900/tajik084.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1z5o36XATMrYRhdeERGjgiP21OBzRdU69Vt_ETF7Na_kfTDjUq3_8HOzNnyKtT_riqdX9QLuvn5BWvQJeyPNlNusVo50VMxcHVThryT7qvNU5ZbjRYcOehnH4JcRpKlu8nmfPw6PqKwYX/s900/tajik084.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">By now I was getting better at cycling on snow and could tell if a certain patch was cyclable or not by its appearance. There must have been over a dozen different types! Below is a video taken on the same morning in this beautiful steep valley.<br />
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The video ends abruptly as I needed both hands to brake.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp3L8LLu3E5PLR_aWfInSYrlaf_Y_0hWE_hFjem4uqgWWJO8OSQOLxb4b8oiofresNXUmmb09XKYq9O0-l1yaLzyt6ylkZBtY4yVUv__zEs7VlK0X5Y5DgzAM1VsQsIwtf7k5ck5BEqOPl/s900/tajik089.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp3L8LLu3E5PLR_aWfInSYrlaf_Y_0hWE_hFjem4uqgWWJO8OSQOLxb4b8oiofresNXUmmb09XKYq9O0-l1yaLzyt6ylkZBtY4yVUv__zEs7VlK0X5Y5DgzAM1VsQsIwtf7k5ck5BEqOPl/s900/tajik089.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Icy spokes are fine but when you get ice on the inside of your brake pads you have a problem!</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiprg1Appf5vBmd64gOI36iPMBpfMMkOEJcjTtHQTUmx8Jf4RDPfQX4m2uSO6xC30_y8-swgW3pRm9XqgMU7_TsggBA_bn8Z-7H3a5w6wfXXwCFBRUUvDAk2c4NLIe1AfHogTpgreQrv9LH/s900/tajik085.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiprg1Appf5vBmd64gOI36iPMBpfMMkOEJcjTtHQTUmx8Jf4RDPfQX4m2uSO6xC30_y8-swgW3pRm9XqgMU7_TsggBA_bn8Z-7H3a5w6wfXXwCFBRUUvDAk2c4NLIe1AfHogTpgreQrv9LH/s900/tajik085.jpg" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0nLwn4l9aXWpNo-qAcsmgY4YhyphenhypheniBsSGL-3QpOVatH07UqMDa0wkEfPaBUiXwhA3Vgv2H-A0EOFNQY136-u2K4e_sVMrsXxYNaFre8dLawSIY4_yAn2sREol5vg9bNUUR97wDiEk86exoI/s900/tajik086.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0nLwn4l9aXWpNo-qAcsmgY4YhyphenhypheniBsSGL-3QpOVatH07UqMDa0wkEfPaBUiXwhA3Vgv2H-A0EOFNQY136-u2K4e_sVMrsXxYNaFre8dLawSIY4_yAn2sREol5vg9bNUUR97wDiEk86exoI/s900/tajik086.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Every now and then the mountain road would take a hard left then a U-turn as it turned towards a stream running down the mountain side</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9rdzwmmBj7oF3kUFTeO3wwzjDOjVSZL6FW9KsetC5MfRFdJYshfft9-KPyenASiOVnemT16RrI18hKWkWKMCOYTWwO-YloFX__isQGzT6n5gV5OVB8pgy8djgv8hJIkxcSdHmE-rrZh8z/s900/tajik087.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9rdzwmmBj7oF3kUFTeO3wwzjDOjVSZL6FW9KsetC5MfRFdJYshfft9-KPyenASiOVnemT16RrI18hKWkWKMCOYTWwO-YloFX__isQGzT6n5gV5OVB8pgy8djgv8hJIkxcSdHmE-rrZh8z/s900/tajik087.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It wasn't too deep but it was quite daunting as I knew that the ice I was walking on could break at any moment.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My 3rd night in a mosque in a row</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_6hqBTCDQ9LolUyTSrapfGKfYWD-0yDN0hNyMaK2HBrxd-vwFbMZbXZJUtYtdeo6lml_nuRhEHlgl7ufvnBjWD5q8MLRaMHf4VwD2yvd3bnpEGMSKnRn4djfSVcaJY_-mGZgjsNadWM4A/s900/tajik093.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_6hqBTCDQ9LolUyTSrapfGKfYWD-0yDN0hNyMaK2HBrxd-vwFbMZbXZJUtYtdeo6lml_nuRhEHlgl7ufvnBjWD5q8MLRaMHf4VwD2yvd3bnpEGMSKnRn4djfSVcaJY_-mGZgjsNadWM4A/s900/tajik093.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On these snowy days I was probably sliding off my bike between 10 and 20 times a day. Not crashing, but just feeling the back wheel slide out and having to quickly put one foot down and lay the bike on its side. Unfortunately this happened one too many times and the clips on my pannier broke off. I felt pretty smug though as not 20 minutes earlier I passed a shop and bought some rope as I thought it could be a useful item to have. And besides, I can't consider myself a true adventurer if I don't carry rope. Mind you, the kitchen knife doesn't do much for my adventurer status. </td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7ch7knglVfxpJxY-vEM06SkHoxDwjSq4mAeFIEfoivjTKiXMN8cL9m2fNl0DrMqoCVsOHc1uvliXtuEk_NL3g4tacwC-wIxa991Ow_5j9F21-GqzgM1kPLS3WXdQfqjAfhyWzAuAorBTH/s900/tajik094.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7ch7knglVfxpJxY-vEM06SkHoxDwjSq4mAeFIEfoivjTKiXMN8cL9m2fNl0DrMqoCVsOHc1uvliXtuEk_NL3g4tacwC-wIxa991Ow_5j9F21-GqzgM1kPLS3WXdQfqjAfhyWzAuAorBTH/s900/tajik094.jpg" /></a></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhroL5jIzbt6o1bN2VS809fwXoqRJayN97HyfQfIlbKgVXTn3i8enkYtqYDC9W4aWdRExUTqSvBIKN4T1dM0dlW79CyZJfTN1gVF55J-CZFzAZ61JlD_TtGM5w8Wlue1-xfI3xEz3MmfPmv/s900/tajik095.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhroL5jIzbt6o1bN2VS809fwXoqRJayN97HyfQfIlbKgVXTn3i8enkYtqYDC9W4aWdRExUTqSvBIKN4T1dM0dlW79CyZJfTN1gVF55J-CZFzAZ61JlD_TtGM5w8Wlue1-xfI3xEz3MmfPmv/s900/tajik095.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">That word in the top right of the banner is pronounced and transliterated as UNICEF.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS17Lgps7KM4JWIuzhiu0f340tzbzlQTd8u12hCmItlyMaCxew9PHtATdA0_XSa9epYABZfeKAD8sEUzB8D0vvlQJe7df8L6HVFt58KlNGykKViNswobPDdSASoj2FYY6SwpEnllmzbTUB/s900/tajik096.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS17Lgps7KM4JWIuzhiu0f340tzbzlQTd8u12hCmItlyMaCxew9PHtATdA0_XSa9epYABZfeKAD8sEUzB8D0vvlQJe7df8L6HVFt58KlNGykKViNswobPDdSASoj2FYY6SwpEnllmzbTUB/s900/tajik096.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'd now come high enough into the mountains that the river had frozen.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE4_mLc6MDGRdN3P8_1hvas8WT-NkYlAJJqZ84CZgJQYZXcwOOLvWZ-X1wtZnKFNxkIZsNNfrtb6XyxxjijXraYMGg15XKg86RkRSZYM1-yCGVXySWJVO-JUMs7FFi3Vqx_7D9slygt8jr/s900/tajik097.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE4_mLc6MDGRdN3P8_1hvas8WT-NkYlAJJqZ84CZgJQYZXcwOOLvWZ-X1wtZnKFNxkIZsNNfrtb6XyxxjijXraYMGg15XKg86RkRSZYM1-yCGVXySWJVO-JUMs7FFi3Vqx_7D9slygt8jr/s900/tajik097.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After a long day and about an hour spent clearing the snow for my tent I had my reward; food.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnb0HIyWeqfI0CFkDJ6PlmOBu7LZ9f7vA6Dav1sJdHhMG3Af1yLcT3P6tcg9n9YJWUpJc0UDJIJPScOoiKcelzxmxIMk72tq8AMDXKgNeS02wSo8U-ryZE0dVZ51fmodGMS6GP9DI8F0a9/s900/tajik098.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnb0HIyWeqfI0CFkDJ6PlmOBu7LZ9f7vA6Dav1sJdHhMG3Af1yLcT3P6tcg9n9YJWUpJc0UDJIJPScOoiKcelzxmxIMk72tq8AMDXKgNeS02wSo8U-ryZE0dVZ51fmodGMS6GP9DI8F0a9/s900/tajik098.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My tent is a 3-season tent. I don't know much about tents but I read somewhere that one of the main differences between 3 and 4 season tents is that tents not designed for winter will often let much more wind in. To combat this, when I went home in December, my mum masterfully crafted this silver wind-break to cover up the huge mosquito netting panel.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo0PbOBwdtadAjCdSmnmFaxPVZOTUd6raiKHU5vYEyNnbu3iW5ozNgQvG4uNhVWNv0Yhcpq1a155CrYUsDM_IsufVsZdcHNX-zlGO2WGm2mtkEIGbfkNfwB4vOTlwPVcstFuH2anTnTfTI/s900/tajik099.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo0PbOBwdtadAjCdSmnmFaxPVZOTUd6raiKHU5vYEyNnbu3iW5ozNgQvG4uNhVWNv0Yhcpq1a155CrYUsDM_IsufVsZdcHNX-zlGO2WGm2mtkEIGbfkNfwB4vOTlwPVcstFuH2anTnTfTI/s900/tajik099.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This photo doesn't really do justice as to just how much snow I had to shovel with my feet and hands in order to pitch my tent.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpFO5yGeynvLDWFgiPnjAC-deSwwHrFkwJMQojtM0mjt6_XrSJ79UOmulCQO3goO0whvAn2_oPozISg3eXQKKftFvWBNjPI22s7tuKqd-VbRTSBY_7G090GZm0Ex1P6Roy5qVWzKK3ndUW/s900/tajik100.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpFO5yGeynvLDWFgiPnjAC-deSwwHrFkwJMQojtM0mjt6_XrSJ79UOmulCQO3goO0whvAn2_oPozISg3eXQKKftFvWBNjPI22s7tuKqd-VbRTSBY_7G090GZm0Ex1P6Roy5qVWzKK3ndUW/s900/tajik100.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A more suitable form of transport on the same road that I was attempting to cycle.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgunCA9MC9_z54DTe1-ZEOlWCPxO2kxCQybo4ppFRsH283xixEofagb-OBJJEDilBscjXDysKDQZIAJaCUxJcASGyJYPFJprOlK268wFpTjE5-jbCb1fQcxz_fc5Qbr9t3d1VatGoLEu5yF/s900/tajik101.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgunCA9MC9_z54DTe1-ZEOlWCPxO2kxCQybo4ppFRsH283xixEofagb-OBJJEDilBscjXDysKDQZIAJaCUxJcASGyJYPFJprOlK268wFpTjE5-jbCb1fQcxz_fc5Qbr9t3d1VatGoLEu5yF/s900/tajik101.jpg" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDH0NsJfdVOWjVtF6ouMgwlErZ-89kKAFa6igjz8kDgMZkiq1UEZJxEST-dgMxsIl9i9-8MrGnzw1cmILqiHsH520Z4bzzgt1OAye_ZmlAHO2TH6mSs8mAPXFRs2jzKHCYWPrTCCLpzB5Z/s900/tajik102.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDH0NsJfdVOWjVtF6ouMgwlErZ-89kKAFa6igjz8kDgMZkiq1UEZJxEST-dgMxsIl9i9-8MrGnzw1cmILqiHsH520Z4bzzgt1OAye_ZmlAHO2TH6mSs8mAPXFRs2jzKHCYWPrTCCLpzB5Z/s900/tajik102.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The first sign I saw for Khorog (to the right). For days and days now locals had been telling me that the road ahead was closed. I assumed that they didn't really know what I was capable of (not like that, I mean only that it is possible to cycle on a bit of snow). Some people even told me that the Pamirs, the mountain range I was aiming for, was under 20 metres of snow. Thankfully I know the Pamirs to be a desert region. I have found that unlike in Europe, local advice is often the worst advice.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1C52A5anItyBwB4qdz6P4XZgzlgvHjexrWQDBxVPae5ArfmYO7guznzGAINaLc5p4wXry89sEvNunrYA5Uy6S86tLSpCUkgRwtwxumKB7kPi6dD7bnxNnJrGhsND97J375UycFE3LrXsJ/s900/tajik103.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1C52A5anItyBwB4qdz6P4XZgzlgvHjexrWQDBxVPae5ArfmYO7guznzGAINaLc5p4wXry89sEvNunrYA5Uy6S86tLSpCUkgRwtwxumKB7kPi6dD7bnxNnJrGhsND97J375UycFE3LrXsJ/s900/tajik103.jpg" /></a></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpy9UArXrPDA5Zr608Q95hZYgqMxxythXkqqqZ8RCCUjwnD0XeSNMhGu-8CQKgmCjH9IPCUAKqZWCQKJvx-MFvsv17bhSQSYG5499AW1ChQqiAX5LO7E8r6u3590evkKEc7dRtJ6wyqWaz/s900/tajik104.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpy9UArXrPDA5Zr608Q95hZYgqMxxythXkqqqZ8RCCUjwnD0XeSNMhGu-8CQKgmCjH9IPCUAKqZWCQKJvx-MFvsv17bhSQSYG5499AW1ChQqiAX5LO7E8r6u3590evkKEc7dRtJ6wyqWaz/s900/tajik104.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">By the time I'd crossed the river and headed up towards Sagirdasht Pass the snow had become so thick that I could barely push my bicycle. When I arrived in this village the first reaction of the villagers was to gesture for me to turn around and go away. In the end I met yet another extremely generous local who provided the above and below for me. No one has ever asked me for money in these situations. It's a great experience getting to know someone without speaking the same language. This man was an athlete. I think he said he'd been to Africa to compete in some races, although it's hard to believe considering just how remote his home village is.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg07qmsrSoH-GzkU9QQCKe7JNzFrFFNm7gnEeEmO922iVnVL4KiPMl6ICMSgJui-dKDNyoES8BZSp9nXw2RyPHIOKjts54wsLd5ByrnvvRRW6NRdhhBaJ7dFA0HQTd05Jjq_JBDuy0F2Mln/s900/tajik105.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg07qmsrSoH-GzkU9QQCKe7JNzFrFFNm7gnEeEmO922iVnVL4KiPMl6ICMSgJui-dKDNyoES8BZSp9nXw2RyPHIOKjts54wsLd5ByrnvvRRW6NRdhhBaJ7dFA0HQTd05Jjq_JBDuy0F2Mln/s900/tajik105.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Drying out my sleeping bag from the night before.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQIyrwaJaV2qjI5kqJuVf16W5XKI2ytCDRCJ7QqoZGce5jL9uhoG2KJcVS6F5LRo71PhAceWe6N-DPPPZz3fXgqZewOELKDQ1xT7tm_ODeLxSLnG0a-v_zu2nhEL2jOZkdXLn5kp2Cl-4P/s900/tajik106.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQIyrwaJaV2qjI5kqJuVf16W5XKI2ytCDRCJ7QqoZGce5jL9uhoG2KJcVS6F5LRo71PhAceWe6N-DPPPZz3fXgqZewOELKDQ1xT7tm_ODeLxSLnG0a-v_zu2nhEL2jOZkdXLn5kp2Cl-4P/s900/tajik106.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Again, absolute heaven when someone makes a bed for you like this. Beds, made of frames with mattresses, don't exist in Tajikistan and many surrounding countries.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEu80ixIRqzu5_aMeCYXENlPVXKhuPOjJkfPdnn2hlQvlTy1aQcnyOwexwzUWRKUI9gFEDQDvUpyVLgfArTKrqJPhyphenhyphenS9IIWrkgdKArbLXgtp27ErqL6O7MXGkVU7Z9u_FimOYzUKrcxYoK/s900/tajik107.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEu80ixIRqzu5_aMeCYXENlPVXKhuPOjJkfPdnn2hlQvlTy1aQcnyOwexwzUWRKUI9gFEDQDvUpyVLgfArTKrqJPhyphenhyphenS9IIWrkgdKArbLXgtp27ErqL6O7MXGkVU7Z9u_FimOYzUKrcxYoK/s900/tajik107.jpg" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3c4sydRisMAcGDKRYZfLpPmlbD0RzaWHUni58QkJPCw31mAlhtswrEw2G_So8_uBokM51a_YZCYIf2uuHg9b0V6SKlryA-ZoGDO4wRiXDvpLIEkso-UaOyvL017HRFhS5GTgliRm1Niqn/s900/tajik108.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3c4sydRisMAcGDKRYZfLpPmlbD0RzaWHUni58QkJPCw31mAlhtswrEw2G_So8_uBokM51a_YZCYIf2uuHg9b0V6SKlryA-ZoGDO4wRiXDvpLIEkso-UaOyvL017HRFhS5GTgliRm1Niqn/s900/tajik108.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alas, I finally had to admit to myself that the road over the pass wasn't going to be possible. Dismissing the stories of bears and wolves that will eat me alive (which I've heard in every country since Albania), the snow was clearly too high. I joined a shared Jeep back to Dushanbe and broke my golden rule of always having at least one wheel on the ground. In the car I studied the back of my map and read that this pass is always closed until summer. I should have done more thorough research.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5D-L7RNAKddfdDwjnK-zi5MdWnbLJA7TpBKrIHbjztVL4SHRff9JBSp1nl6IA9ofxHe-UsQlYC7DlAy0O1KjEwJGQZ5it4DPruSsqyF51CZqFobSSDJWSYTkcZOPPjXLKvC253-6-XrVb/s900/tajik109.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5D-L7RNAKddfdDwjnK-zi5MdWnbLJA7TpBKrIHbjztVL4SHRff9JBSp1nl6IA9ofxHe-UsQlYC7DlAy0O1KjEwJGQZ5it4DPruSsqyF51CZqFobSSDJWSYTkcZOPPjXLKvC253-6-XrVb/s900/tajik109.jpg" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTaEk-03EFqk5h3ZLbNr3gA8rA2wHrQgZPfCWWCN4dz-E7YapG7h8aArbKqz78ofdI5GL2boCnh4lb8GCrXL0EDUYl0_MADhe9zRbDx1GdzoncQBwL3jEo_ml1-D5mIkONnzERRp71bYb7/s900/tajik110.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTaEk-03EFqk5h3ZLbNr3gA8rA2wHrQgZPfCWWCN4dz-E7YapG7h8aArbKqz78ofdI5GL2boCnh4lb8GCrXL0EDUYl0_MADhe9zRbDx1GdzoncQBwL3jEo_ml1-D5mIkONnzERRp71bYb7/s900/tajik110.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An old-school USSR map back in Dushanbe. Notice how Stalin seemingly drew the borders to these countries with his eyes shut; there are many parts of one country entirely within another. This was now my 4th time in the miserable city and I wanted it to be my last.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4061IFG0IzYIXF49AQp2rE2xsv-6xf4ksibjRJbPztioMuhQiNtDuwOxH1GA5MZhjH1Wrmsmm5UmgLu8lpSQSRWhIq4Jwk_LEx4LaSYk696aSqs4yn5Sn5MsMUX2EJg20lYJgmy3XaUcW/s900/tajik111.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4061IFG0IzYIXF49AQp2rE2xsv-6xf4ksibjRJbPztioMuhQiNtDuwOxH1GA5MZhjH1Wrmsmm5UmgLu8lpSQSRWhIq4Jwk_LEx4LaSYk696aSqs4yn5Sn5MsMUX2EJg20lYJgmy3XaUcW/s900/tajik111.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On the 2nd day out of Dushanbe. This would have been the greatest sign I'd ever seen had it not been for the road condition.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNA-8JgnKrs_p6Uc4L97FeMLklm0FIRyJ6JDz80Y3th9dIqmGou9P5L7kUEpmQuoXNZVMidHRUD2_NAyX2gGmDZCt_6uz8wiiAy8vKJn2OkOv1XjMP7aHvJks5-8ebEYqRyVNVRzq2p8Nn/s900/tajik112.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNA-8JgnKrs_p6Uc4L97FeMLklm0FIRyJ6JDz80Y3th9dIqmGou9P5L7kUEpmQuoXNZVMidHRUD2_NAyX2gGmDZCt_6uz8wiiAy8vKJn2OkOv1XjMP7aHvJks5-8ebEYqRyVNVRzq2p8Nn/s900/tajik112.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I learnt that there was one other route to the Pamirs that is open all year round, via the city of Khulob.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFgC19mVQUMbkG6mzZkF2HmP4aiwieNc9CUmWrocx_kLV2wUcRRsQEZKmD1WiWCWaYiiUzz5gzl8U3j4qvMXB68S4ycsx1Sd5wuDAmAWddCL-2diqhMU4zq2cnAOUXZd4QlWS3NaHWXHR_/s900/tajik113.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFgC19mVQUMbkG6mzZkF2HmP4aiwieNc9CUmWrocx_kLV2wUcRRsQEZKmD1WiWCWaYiiUzz5gzl8U3j4qvMXB68S4ycsx1Sd5wuDAmAWddCL-2diqhMU4zq2cnAOUXZd4QlWS3NaHWXHR_/s900/tajik113.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Morning fog.</td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglB6K_RvmJmxRT-lsDH1R3m7845QlUTKxy_Ol-6-a7Ww89F20_VFrdIvhFdofLP-XEwbc8yVSZMw3119pMp90RLtAnhEPhYygKlBZ7ADtrPP2kU9yAxLz60CNZVSM1trwbjacY6s1eaGAL/s900/tajik114.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglB6K_RvmJmxRT-lsDH1R3m7845QlUTKxy_Ol-6-a7Ww89F20_VFrdIvhFdofLP-XEwbc8yVSZMw3119pMp90RLtAnhEPhYygKlBZ7ADtrPP2kU9yAxLz60CNZVSM1trwbjacY6s1eaGAL/s900/tajik114.jpg" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm-t-cAfTtr4cJtxQFLtDj0OdiPIO6U7yCm3D3sTqBKghfeMWuLyZu7LBpVloZD4oDKJpm6HEJMNdP3nFB_xKIFdg3X1H8ZnN6r6AhtsGZJ3IaYH0QyVYmuMl5xRLNZipfL8SQ55ZvzbNN/s900/tajik115.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm-t-cAfTtr4cJtxQFLtDj0OdiPIO6U7yCm3D3sTqBKghfeMWuLyZu7LBpVloZD4oDKJpm6HEJMNdP3nFB_xKIFdg3X1H8ZnN6r6AhtsGZJ3IaYH0QyVYmuMl5xRLNZipfL8SQ55ZvzbNN/s900/tajik115.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is what happens when you cycle in the snow in the mountains for weeks on end; constant braking on every hill quickly gets through the rubber. I seemed to have left my spares in Dushanbe and so I cycled without front brakes for 2 days.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXiWmbA2XAvj0U80eB1JNx5yfRfpxA6QMt_WXGcy_aqj_Z8YauVYYgA4Lv5FyKFnSf_DiHZl7ym2Mrw1HQ1N_Lp_0X9YDM2jcsKLf0DIQ4JpJp2_9N7s_sIM97Rya7a1vdfUnO0ZIjOdoB/s900/tajik116.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXiWmbA2XAvj0U80eB1JNx5yfRfpxA6QMt_WXGcy_aqj_Z8YauVYYgA4Lv5FyKFnSf_DiHZl7ym2Mrw1HQ1N_Lp_0X9YDM2jcsKLf0DIQ4JpJp2_9N7s_sIM97Rya7a1vdfUnO0ZIjOdoB/s900/tajik116.jpg" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyNItXxF-VPMC_Da8QHLxO5dlTNTXf9pLe9QdKNKA_-UjaDXPkn6Qj6faYPdpRx-zMpBJUIF1mJT3fGwvks9ODvO726PvIwTVLfWFwegOnzc2OhWpAOzHadSgg6Zg-1OEb8jrj9Hy1-Oyn/s900/tajik117.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyNItXxF-VPMC_Da8QHLxO5dlTNTXf9pLe9QdKNKA_-UjaDXPkn6Qj6faYPdpRx-zMpBJUIF1mJT3fGwvks9ODvO726PvIwTVLfWFwegOnzc2OhWpAOzHadSgg6Zg-1OEb8jrj9Hy1-Oyn/s900/tajik117.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Russia still has many military bases in former USSR countries. These two guys, clearly Russian just by being a foot taller than everyone else, stopped their truck to take a photo of me and give me a radio.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFDtxXjO3agtjxt4zOf56g9AORZ-6s5lKLEik94An4O4i10g_LbVyuDIitMjsgispaN_wLPmXwyKpsxYyqzYpZOfOaGqUhclco_rfNP8CC8Q-pkB5b0DYdVhMq9t7S8b77TQwRSk5fSSQx/s900/tajik118.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFDtxXjO3agtjxt4zOf56g9AORZ-6s5lKLEik94An4O4i10g_LbVyuDIitMjsgispaN_wLPmXwyKpsxYyqzYpZOfOaGqUhclco_rfNP8CC8Q-pkB5b0DYdVhMq9t7S8b77TQwRSk5fSSQx/s900/tajik118.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Every night for the next week I carefully adjusted the dial until I could pick up the BBC World Service. What a joy being able to listen to good-old British propaganda way up in the mountains. I later gave it away to a police officer who bizarrely asked for an entire pannier of mine "as a gift".</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNUZiR4LCb9GAo6KWePG9ukdvU4avGwGw4c8EjY9hfOK316xjsUCDwTTD2uGHusJuY-6CY16vp1aHzmT-xlo6RzR6GRt9J3JHNghghRQkmKDj9sb2uCzfis9Aua_jExpAePT4zbp1cubtO/s900/tajik119.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNUZiR4LCb9GAo6KWePG9ukdvU4avGwGw4c8EjY9hfOK316xjsUCDwTTD2uGHusJuY-6CY16vp1aHzmT-xlo6RzR6GRt9J3JHNghghRQkmKDj9sb2uCzfis9Aua_jExpAePT4zbp1cubtO/s900/tajik119.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In case you are wondering; nope, it is not possible to cycle here. This day was one of my hardest ever as I worked my way up to the top of a high pass in gale force winds so strong that I couldn't control my front wheel as it, along with the panniers on it, would catch in the wind and try to steer me off the mountain. It's not fun walking with a fully loaded bike in the snow.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYijIYEfKNsdZQcw05gHbdFn3j5DknFB-9UD1qwKoUCyhRYQ85w2qnGOpauWnnjKvnmG6RTDpIGLRBRjaiPPAdM0RnkUJyTsymQBiNkORGPOBOr9kNimKoj3H51tKqBe2Q7dPLbjhhYyaT/s900/tajik120.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYijIYEfKNsdZQcw05gHbdFn3j5DknFB-9UD1qwKoUCyhRYQ85w2qnGOpauWnnjKvnmG6RTDpIGLRBRjaiPPAdM0RnkUJyTsymQBiNkORGPOBOr9kNimKoj3H51tKqBe2Q7dPLbjhhYyaT/s900/tajik120.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Landslides galore</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg21t5kGC-TN1eWRJJ_WlEdevulpGIh6hlLpewb_o6JgkJrpb8uJIOG8bEJCoVWespjHj-XhoHJL7IO88mFmw4jHZePxOwMFx1ks-pFwtdN7nGk8xbaKl84w4lZX2_-GtdfA0X-I6WDpnx8/s900/tajik121.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg21t5kGC-TN1eWRJJ_WlEdevulpGIh6hlLpewb_o6JgkJrpb8uJIOG8bEJCoVWespjHj-XhoHJL7IO88mFmw4jHZePxOwMFx1ks-pFwtdN7nGk8xbaKl84w4lZX2_-GtdfA0X-I6WDpnx8/s900/tajik121.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'd finally made it to the Panj Valley! The Panj (meaning "five" in Tajik, Dari (Afghan) and Farsi) is the river which for over 1,000 KM forms the border of Tajikistan and Afghanistan. From every photo from here on, the land on my side of the river is Tajikistan and the other side is Afghanistan. Here you can see a watchtower on the Tajik side. As I've said before, Afghanistan produces 90% of the world's heroin and opium, the majority of which is taken to Europe via Tajikistan. It's not hard to see why smugglers choose this route as it's very remote and poorly guarded (the watchtower was empty).</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnOAEgR4djut0OC0lZjglF3EZMyxRqYUUVu2KR-qxg_CUhkg-oTYQ71DvIrjubIkeleJS-MRFzt1RDs1hEqYOWPGU3b6XamBWuAmJYwRF6YPJTZmcR33i6rPopk_z47Dnz6cXc1DowttDF/s900/tajik122.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnOAEgR4djut0OC0lZjglF3EZMyxRqYUUVu2KR-qxg_CUhkg-oTYQ71DvIrjubIkeleJS-MRFzt1RDs1hEqYOWPGU3b6XamBWuAmJYwRF6YPJTZmcR33i6rPopk_z47Dnz6cXc1DowttDF/s900/tajik122.jpg" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxJkF9iwmLrc8k1AktNdaYPGDkzk8CLENA5dJ6oNxvab4SUQLYDKmsYjiDuB1Q9kuf2gdP3mUdO92jrW8aqEwpUhQCsri19v0Lj5ibncHeghjtQrPOEDF50VoETTM451HWLzmvSYWvZRJl/s900/tajik123.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxJkF9iwmLrc8k1AktNdaYPGDkzk8CLENA5dJ6oNxvab4SUQLYDKmsYjiDuB1Q9kuf2gdP3mUdO92jrW8aqEwpUhQCsri19v0Lj5ibncHeghjtQrPOEDF50VoETTM451HWLzmvSYWvZRJl/s900/tajik123.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A "friendship bridge", as every bridge built between two struggling countries seems to be called.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7NPAhK4AnmRGc1q9dvcVOA5YGuedkEie-ODqr_4DFw5QCnEkPvCjZPMyNNZ7E0XVCVjvRGbe6TX1so3Gp6OJuMiW3txY-HzmNGghJOaoq5SDk9mOAl0u1wrvpqNWpZYPwb_5aHTxmK5jh/s900/tajik124.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7NPAhK4AnmRGc1q9dvcVOA5YGuedkEie-ODqr_4DFw5QCnEkPvCjZPMyNNZ7E0XVCVjvRGbe6TX1so3Gp6OJuMiW3txY-HzmNGghJOaoq5SDk9mOAl0u1wrvpqNWpZYPwb_5aHTxmK5jh/s900/tajik124.jpg" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRaNGUEpKKIb_4JcSxYXy2d4frDSloB9QzEyVP5WHhnqb3C-UQXQNqr4SB2nka7QxM1XuiMq1m95K-BgYzVFYoX_pY5Tdfy9bZXCIwjzyJSQJgSugtAVEoJizLCxruqm-K9Fj69TA7r0LN/s900/tajik125.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRaNGUEpKKIb_4JcSxYXy2d4frDSloB9QzEyVP5WHhnqb3C-UQXQNqr4SB2nka7QxM1XuiMq1m95K-BgYzVFYoX_pY5Tdfy9bZXCIwjzyJSQJgSugtAVEoJizLCxruqm-K9Fj69TA7r0LN/s900/tajik125.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thank you Iran!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdzDe-P6G_s7Ejwm-5wU5G8pakU7KIka2OANxSsfiueYTlX-lGrcTaLKrBSQu7FTM9W5UcD9hAeyDa9D6cjr1CTwe3JriZNVVRy2yT2QZBGDy1qWoCaLcgLg7Wbo4bk5aM03EbyPQhHGtW/s900/tajik126.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdzDe-P6G_s7Ejwm-5wU5G8pakU7KIka2OANxSsfiueYTlX-lGrcTaLKrBSQu7FTM9W5UcD9hAeyDa9D6cjr1CTwe3JriZNVVRy2yT2QZBGDy1qWoCaLcgLg7Wbo4bk5aM03EbyPQhHGtW/s900/tajik126.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Felt both clever and stupid that it had taken me 8 months to learn how to keep the "door" of my tent open. Warranted a photo.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAREL6vP18-_Zll_fHJi1zMonLSvNEnd2n1LyZ1BgZc1VlJZmR9QsUkXmAG5yECRnWGClth80e-GsEvnVBhRtfmzY0xU4LW14dwY_TZgSM1ac3qYh94VSQIto2_g8n06anqQkqCwCa5Wf1/s900/tajik127.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAREL6vP18-_Zll_fHJi1zMonLSvNEnd2n1LyZ1BgZc1VlJZmR9QsUkXmAG5yECRnWGClth80e-GsEvnVBhRtfmzY0xU4LW14dwY_TZgSM1ac3qYh94VSQIto2_g8n06anqQkqCwCa5Wf1/s900/tajik127.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I was camping under a bridge of the only road in the very narrow valley so I wasn't too surprised when I was found by the local border patrol. If you think they look young it's because at the age of 18 many men in Tajikistan are kidnapped and taken to the army where they are often underfed and live in very poor shelter. This was semi-confirmed to me when I offered them 2 packets of instant noodles, simply out of politeness, and they accepted. No one has ever accepted a gift from me, the travelling guest, since I arrived in Muslim countries.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-10owOcS-o231SyEa_DSYWMNrjFldd3LkmQmcIJ2BnWij5-5D2p9YH6IV4Wb8HAgWjBM74LUTyv8Y7ehRiOytVQ2IIYPBZrqoysFa4QSxGeoS8ClfwCj63U9_HGREarCreJscLiCzU6BZ/s900/tajik128.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-10owOcS-o231SyEa_DSYWMNrjFldd3LkmQmcIJ2BnWij5-5D2p9YH6IV4Wb8HAgWjBM74LUTyv8Y7ehRiOytVQ2IIYPBZrqoysFa4QSxGeoS8ClfwCj63U9_HGREarCreJscLiCzU6BZ/s900/tajik128.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another sneaky photo as they walked away. I would be visited and asked to move on every night for the next 4 nights. It would normally go something like (using body language and pronouns only) "You do realise that's Afghanistan, just over there, right? There are snipers in the mountains". Of course, there aren't snipers in the mountains and I knew from my time and research done in Afghanistan that, in terms of Taliban, it was a relatively peaceful area. I would always tell the soldiers that I would leave at 6am which of course I never did. My hair is slightly red at this stage as the henna I used to dye it black in Afghanistan is slowly disappearing.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWK2M19RA90TAAJ8qhYw_0V8Pv6vTXP7PlKQGCJwDISMgyLC8Ap1fY4bMvqeb2v-xCwcvOrkPj9BBWLtyIUkdkLj-tRkN66vM6pHAB6dP_YxwtO2mPuT8Kkqq95kQpAOZznzcOwBy7OHKg/s900/tajik129.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWK2M19RA90TAAJ8qhYw_0V8Pv6vTXP7PlKQGCJwDISMgyLC8Ap1fY4bMvqeb2v-xCwcvOrkPj9BBWLtyIUkdkLj-tRkN66vM6pHAB6dP_YxwtO2mPuT8Kkqq95kQpAOZznzcOwBy7OHKg/s900/tajik129.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Every day was an incredible insight into just how differently the two sides live, Tajikistan being as poor as it is. To put it simply, anyone on the Afghan side living in villages to the right of this picture has to walk along cliffs like this if they want any contact with the outside world. There simply is no other way. I truly believe, from what I saw, that many of fthe villages function in a very similar way to how they must have done hundreds of years ago. That includes no electricity.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEqLZn_48i9Po4hGAcnQkoAkmhGH4SxhOWQ1HXjuxx7i6Yufq9pgxMLSeo23WoS6S099d4GC-bcMopHrlP2BypFinSCsnJwxOBvapHH4rRC-m2k-HEoBSPaa4rIvob6v08tJ0a-CO7TmtK/s900/tajik130.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEqLZn_48i9Po4hGAcnQkoAkmhGH4SxhOWQ1HXjuxx7i6Yufq9pgxMLSeo23WoS6S099d4GC-bcMopHrlP2BypFinSCsnJwxOBvapHH4rRC-m2k-HEoBSPaa4rIvob6v08tJ0a-CO7TmtK/s900/tajik130.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Meanwhile on the Tajik side, the Iranians had literally bombed their way through the mountain.</td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPDs_7edxs8BAZUmT5Hth1hb862xQl27SCwyT5NKw0jg7a4fzhfFyH6tTfeIrbOMWg7TrZEvls5ISQjeATwoTCjRuScPxeZNgmkv-UWkWjfacdOO2GU11XViYplCV9vPNr2qiV9yA78WdT/s900/tajik131.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPDs_7edxs8BAZUmT5Hth1hb862xQl27SCwyT5NKw0jg7a4fzhfFyH6tTfeIrbOMWg7TrZEvls5ISQjeATwoTCjRuScPxeZNgmkv-UWkWjfacdOO2GU11XViYplCV9vPNr2qiV9yA78WdT/s900/tajik131.jpg" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj943YzmuHv5ZtNvrmpr6ZorgVd7QsN-iK6GIclAd6w4rIKikZbpqqaaQCAQi-Pe_p2VlfOr6HxFA6yKMEhfUqXE_giR0O8SBh9yoMwoh_m-PoeE6EqwnqjV2tGyfeL3hrIVo9a8gcNJW2f/s900/tajik132.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj943YzmuHv5ZtNvrmpr6ZorgVd7QsN-iK6GIclAd6w4rIKikZbpqqaaQCAQi-Pe_p2VlfOr6HxFA6yKMEhfUqXE_giR0O8SBh9yoMwoh_m-PoeE6EqwnqjV2tGyfeL3hrIVo9a8gcNJW2f/s900/tajik132.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This truck was really struggling to not fall off the edge. The road in this photo doesn't receive any sunlight all winter and as such is pretty icy. As I was about to pass the truck a few minutes later the driver blew the horn at me and I stopped. It then backed up 2 or 3 metres so I did too. Less than three seconds later a few dozen rocks the size of fists came hurtling off the mountain above and smashed onto the road. One even hit the roof of the cabin of the truck. Little did I know before, that struggling truck certainly saved me.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkIpqfciFEaBptElLRzuGn-NanY5WMJ082pSLwe3QD3J6coAKGxtvt4A6yEc_OEmKAyznJcz-Okm-vqbBqROzr8Z4Ad2UfXU-mT_B-J2nqX9e_x0NzaHoigBsbC-W6qIRw-kggIUdg1fPo/s900/tajik133.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkIpqfciFEaBptElLRzuGn-NanY5WMJ082pSLwe3QD3J6coAKGxtvt4A6yEc_OEmKAyznJcz-Okm-vqbBqROzr8Z4Ad2UfXU-mT_B-J2nqX9e_x0NzaHoigBsbC-W6qIRw-kggIUdg1fPo/s900/tajik133.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My chain oil which I'd carried with me all the way from Bournemouth was finally finished. It served me well.<br />
It's funny how when cycling alone for a long time I grow very unusual connections with inanimate objects such as this. It's probably because I would see it most days and so it is a constant. Similarly, I will be far more upset (extremely upset) if I lose something such as a glove or Allen key which I've always carried with me than if something "terrible" happens to me like I fall and smack my head or get extremely wet and cold at night. These items seem simple but I know that they are of a high quality, serve a very distinct purpose (otherwise I wouldn't carry them) and are impossible to replace in almost all of Asia.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhENbXUPbJLsjrBqKtCeZSk4oJjQblAo5iicwCUi2kozoVHWy_V_zduSnaGdL7_E1dXE2_AM13asI3xqiXjr9rshze1WLsWz6btpMZ98qM_mCgOe0xBrf359Q9kJtLCh9E7r663Ec6-MC6x/s900/tajik134.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhENbXUPbJLsjrBqKtCeZSk4oJjQblAo5iicwCUi2kozoVHWy_V_zduSnaGdL7_E1dXE2_AM13asI3xqiXjr9rshze1WLsWz6btpMZ98qM_mCgOe0xBrf359Q9kJtLCh9E7r663Ec6-MC6x/s900/tajik134.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">That said, I wasn't too said when my water bottle from Iran fell down a drain as I'd decided just that morning that it was inefficient as I could carry a bottle of twice its capacity in the same bottle cage (I didn't put it down the drain on purpose though).</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7HeJgyWzfZxxsR_O32-pWamvZKcuJRoJPTomHNgWNce0eQN4HhPK6EA5fC2lcwhK84JmFuhFkc0CQRmGAr-vfG2DPivJ7FKhrsoz3wrSRNPm1PMpCz2pX2uwUlXdnHx5m66zpqjUZ9dPz/s900/tajik135.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7HeJgyWzfZxxsR_O32-pWamvZKcuJRoJPTomHNgWNce0eQN4HhPK6EA5fC2lcwhK84JmFuhFkc0CQRmGAr-vfG2DPivJ7FKhrsoz3wrSRNPm1PMpCz2pX2uwUlXdnHx5m66zpqjUZ9dPz/s900/tajik135.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I was aiming for Khorog first, then Murghab.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPrw0jmGoGJA8Tflc15BOKGtSYLF37WfWolzr4wGHNGj0blVBFseOa4FO0vKGK3mkfmdsJYwz3DNkNhgZMaqRhhbq8hnDGyEYWHZpzyEp96O-zCCtSY-jXkxSmHbkUIH-v-t34KfaBaIHw/s900/tajik136.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPrw0jmGoGJA8Tflc15BOKGtSYLF37WfWolzr4wGHNGj0blVBFseOa4FO0vKGK3mkfmdsJYwz3DNkNhgZMaqRhhbq8hnDGyEYWHZpzyEp96O-zCCtSY-jXkxSmHbkUIH-v-t34KfaBaIHw/s900/tajik136.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After my brake pads wore down a few days earlier I'd been lucky enough to stumble across a bicycle bazaar in Khulob. Costing £0.12 each I bought 8. I should have equated that a cheap price means poor quality. And as Tajikistan borders China I shouldn't have been so surprised by either. Again, it was the icy and muddy long descents down mountain passes that did this as I would have to keep both brakes on constantly. I actually wore through to the metal of the brake pad which in turn dug a groove in the rim of my wheel. As I initially bought 8 pads, it wasn't a disaster to start with but within a few days I was rotating pads and cycled down more than one pass brake-less dragging my feet on the floor and cycling into the mountain side to stop myself.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMQQbhBEzDUF2PerD0hbDlvFn-iZF07iJtFT1jXfbt7Wfm_lVtE7mNUdDzfTH4t17tuLR0C2TGF8QmSaMu3LCytoht4mvYxJzCftFszGaJRTGmjIkprbPGkj3zFzY6TeVdd2pl4qziaCOb/s900/tajik137.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMQQbhBEzDUF2PerD0hbDlvFn-iZF07iJtFT1jXfbt7Wfm_lVtE7mNUdDzfTH4t17tuLR0C2TGF8QmSaMu3LCytoht4mvYxJzCftFszGaJRTGmjIkprbPGkj3zFzY6TeVdd2pl4qziaCOb/s900/tajik137.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Green chewing tobacco - very popular in rural Tajikistan.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_OzA0e8gUw8thvW86vrE8wNlaucheXhgA1Qqf-xCSheAIPIHu-36D881BWPClTtDPMzp7s0Iequlx6emMqVmDl0k0whSgCVLp7Qreb7TsY7k3jsTo-hzFHB02FFonJDsKTop-do_y1rC4/s900/tajik138.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_OzA0e8gUw8thvW86vrE8wNlaucheXhgA1Qqf-xCSheAIPIHu-36D881BWPClTtDPMzp7s0Iequlx6emMqVmDl0k0whSgCVLp7Qreb7TsY7k3jsTo-hzFHB02FFonJDsKTop-do_y1rC4/s900/tajik138.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Small shops are often easy to find in small villages in Asia, but they will never sell bread. Having made friends with a few men in one village I asked where I could buy bread. I had a feeling they would be kind and give me some bread for free but I never thought it would be this large (these two are folded in half).</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtHe2yMJnrZgwIO1ZBBT_mIFsgZTllW4JzFAz5kdqkzrdaYmQRWAJtJ259oEZXeiq0YMom3nm8tKpiN3faTRAVJnb-m2aFkruwMgpc5jclQobyoxkoY167HZ72nya_jOJQtBViOzUtA96f/s900/tajik139.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtHe2yMJnrZgwIO1ZBBT_mIFsgZTllW4JzFAz5kdqkzrdaYmQRWAJtJ259oEZXeiq0YMom3nm8tKpiN3faTRAVJnb-m2aFkruwMgpc5jclQobyoxkoY167HZ72nya_jOJQtBViOzUtA96f/s900/tajik139.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The only bridge across the Panj river wasn't big enough for trucks.</td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0WVD_IE-2EwtGTcUTBecG5MrtWkIfNzxu2-bbATEkgvbIWjPdSsmCvT3xzvL4Q0rQLXIQ0QL6umP_OvGaE0afYs6PkAjcALehh6Z10LV5LzErFdPxJwsxMcEsTsyEbKcr_PCOBdStPgjN/s900/tajik140.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0WVD_IE-2EwtGTcUTBecG5MrtWkIfNzxu2-bbATEkgvbIWjPdSsmCvT3xzvL4Q0rQLXIQ0QL6umP_OvGaE0afYs6PkAjcALehh6Z10LV5LzErFdPxJwsxMcEsTsyEbKcr_PCOBdStPgjN/s900/tajik140.jpg" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhCRi_K0Z3Ru3WF_nt73JT3XDKgRScdA_kd3mA_oEI5bkuHf8I3V-wMlp9uAZd7mT5OKaJ8C7bHsdGLTzdCrNSsuWlSeOSmPLh-5jLngHgfvg0cT6aZjPSY-u8-H9DXRhi9xVyX_5OXVS-/s900/tajik141.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhCRi_K0Z3Ru3WF_nt73JT3XDKgRScdA_kd3mA_oEI5bkuHf8I3V-wMlp9uAZd7mT5OKaJ8C7bHsdGLTzdCrNSsuWlSeOSmPLh-5jLngHgfvg0cT6aZjPSY-u8-H9DXRhi9xVyX_5OXVS-/s900/tajik141.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Woodpecker</td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcwx5fFumHRYWCYaE5agu8Liwk66s79KALa-cUJiG6bIclBVifV_aQk5IuUAZbDU7nEVIQZ6MhqFtyD0rVO6jZQbmWONCWwjcYTtlxMHM1W5xO4zf9uQuV1hz62oa24jzZMTpqRI3A7fj4/s900/tajik142.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcwx5fFumHRYWCYaE5agu8Liwk66s79KALa-cUJiG6bIclBVifV_aQk5IuUAZbDU7nEVIQZ6MhqFtyD0rVO6jZQbmWONCWwjcYTtlxMHM1W5xO4zf9uQuV1hz62oa24jzZMTpqRI3A7fj4/s900/tajik142.jpg" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIbgvz1sfzLyodM0swI4HxlbZKqrbLxQxxZs6CLSS3muS9XHCW8Uo0A5QQTVjO3H3-LM2W-S2__KthyfXR8KLxh5-UcFZv9FzunpztUnpQCfop-MmBUAWVtroNvXum7xG9fZOHWNG_KREu/s900/tajik143.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIbgvz1sfzLyodM0swI4HxlbZKqrbLxQxxZs6CLSS3muS9XHCW8Uo0A5QQTVjO3H3-LM2W-S2__KthyfXR8KLxh5-UcFZv9FzunpztUnpQCfop-MmBUAWVtroNvXum7xG9fZOHWNG_KREu/s900/tajik143.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I was invited into what I was told was a traditional Pamiri house, built by the father (in the black hat). Pamiris are people who live in the Pamir mountains. They will tell you fondly how they are not Tajik and have many differences in culture. They are also Shia Muslims, whereas the rest of Tajikistan are Sunni Muslims. In some parts of the Pamirs, one can literally find a different language in every valley.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF1RdyHS8019Q5OCgsG2MvX4REjK8KCYxkeBGlE-9pNa_CXdLbmQ3jmME-EStGHthpDfRjd5TLweGWz3pUQ_9cVLmEP8xaWTa3GOQPO-otcLVUJXeVgcmAH_GVOUX8V0Cn7QZVoSmo2VVB/s900/tajik144.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF1RdyHS8019Q5OCgsG2MvX4REjK8KCYxkeBGlE-9pNa_CXdLbmQ3jmME-EStGHthpDfRjd5TLweGWz3pUQ_9cVLmEP8xaWTa3GOQPO-otcLVUJXeVgcmAH_GVOUX8V0Cn7QZVoSmo2VVB/s900/tajik144.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What was truly unexpected about this stay was that the husband offered for me to have his bed and bedroom while he and his wife slept by the fire. They did in fact have a real wooden frame bed and a huge plasma TV in front of it. I slept very well.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSgxPRPzHPmIx82B7pkijw5pyRDZbRmGrTEFbgrV7N4isBalWtM3HbEshIBEne4U33GyX3rbZVPNTTj_4LNHvVr7oqdUjmVKNYYmlw-j4bHM7teMXD6yLO1QRm_TqbqDUsAVHik0BDo61b/s900/tajik145.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSgxPRPzHPmIx82B7pkijw5pyRDZbRmGrTEFbgrV7N4isBalWtM3HbEshIBEne4U33GyX3rbZVPNTTj_4LNHvVr7oqdUjmVKNYYmlw-j4bHM7teMXD6yLO1QRm_TqbqDUsAVHik0BDo61b/s900/tajik145.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A very kind sending-off gift.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNaHhwkG0s8cJ2BPlgesHk-wFz07weTC4d00Jp1UDrlDwKTnK9036Qp7NA7RShCjzeTkfsmPK1y1TR_64fX9VldK03S_TshEtnWJRLoBg-yG73nEm3taSnSJVqXDKzLOYIM0UArXlIbTMp/s900/tajik146.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNaHhwkG0s8cJ2BPlgesHk-wFz07weTC4d00Jp1UDrlDwKTnK9036Qp7NA7RShCjzeTkfsmPK1y1TR_64fX9VldK03S_TshEtnWJRLoBg-yG73nEm3taSnSJVqXDKzLOYIM0UArXlIbTMp/s900/tajik146.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tajikistan and Afghanistan</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxMHVBPYtnf-W9-MNWXrCHme1f2sYXq9m4RJi0X4_RMsfIcrYgUdWWh7gqqMaIpsz906H8FPkhPQvecyhOfuopkcy4MwXOQ8WOT6GOEhDAzSYblnyOxVT_kkD6veb6dxLU2k5XmXPl3Kl4/s900/tajik147.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxMHVBPYtnf-W9-MNWXrCHme1f2sYXq9m4RJi0X4_RMsfIcrYgUdWWh7gqqMaIpsz906H8FPkhPQvecyhOfuopkcy4MwXOQ8WOT6GOEhDAzSYblnyOxVT_kkD6veb6dxLU2k5XmXPl3Kl4/s900/tajik147.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A blizzard came down just after I took this photo and within a few minutes I also had a puncture which I had to fix.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMgkeXbzEwJrF-VI3My-KsBDC7qZnikTdZXNfBEwv2hLYkBmRClqQ-dhcgmfgzM7oEId5U4zp52cezkaxoE-L53qYpkffghKG2C9GwoM1M6nvB8qlF_gFeJu0z-Yqdyz7EjXOh25rwVq7M/s900/tajik148.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMgkeXbzEwJrF-VI3My-KsBDC7qZnikTdZXNfBEwv2hLYkBmRClqQ-dhcgmfgzM7oEId5U4zp52cezkaxoE-L53qYpkffghKG2C9GwoM1M6nvB8qlF_gFeJu0z-Yqdyz7EjXOh25rwVq7M/s900/tajik148.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">When the air temperature is well below zero my breath condenses on my beard and then freezes. This was one of the most troublesome conditions I had ever cycled in as it was snowing, the air temperature was a bit below zero but the road temperature was just above zero. This meant that the snow would fall, melt to water on the warm road, spray up off my wheels onto bike and then freeze again. My brakes and gears all froze solid. My boots would also stick to the pedals if left for more than 5 minutes.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGAsDxpYcESr_kj3rQAPrRLH7gE7EN5cKeerYUhwdx1dZvLrk7wtHidjEtBxyfqGW_8Vga7JI3WLKRpiXbqYh4DjG6szjKITx7_s2JPsqSs6VHADrJRDFRhzGMEC3xbMXrhsegBDz1rB56/s900/tajik149.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGAsDxpYcESr_kj3rQAPrRLH7gE7EN5cKeerYUhwdx1dZvLrk7wtHidjEtBxyfqGW_8Vga7JI3WLKRpiXbqYh4DjG6szjKITx7_s2JPsqSs6VHADrJRDFRhzGMEC3xbMXrhsegBDz1rB56/s900/tajik149.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Osh, Kyrgyzstan, was the first city I hoped to encounter after the Pamirs in Kyrgyzstan</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM4k7iwtfL0gdAvO-j0m4PTD492JxlfPP9Jj85RJE7MMyQN_YiMtDIQ9FV57257skb684Ynfou6IcJpvaN6xS9d5Q3NVqQO44X6D53Dd3wfiBm0K6CCfsMxIM8B12onL_RDEhW_jmK5jkd/s900/tajik150.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM4k7iwtfL0gdAvO-j0m4PTD492JxlfPP9Jj85RJE7MMyQN_YiMtDIQ9FV57257skb684Ynfou6IcJpvaN6xS9d5Q3NVqQO44X6D53Dd3wfiBm0K6CCfsMxIM8B12onL_RDEhW_jmK5jkd/s900/tajik150.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Breath + Snow. This was taken in Khorog, a medium-sized town on the edge of the Pamir mountains. I cycled around in the snow but no one offered me a place to stay (I wonder why?) so I went for a cheap hotel. Within a couple of days I'd picked up an extremely painful 'something' in my stomach.<br />
<br />
During the days I was always fine but then every night, around 10 pm I would feel what I thought were stomach cramps, if stomach cramps are the most ridiculously painful think you can possibly imagine. I would wriggle around in bed every night desperately trying to find a position to ease the agony just for a few seconds. I would go to the toilet several times a night to see if it would help but it never would. I have a very strong memory of sitting in the freezing cold wardrobe of a toilet rocking back and forth like a crazy-man while thinking of nothing but suffering. It was strange, I was in a lot of pain and all I could think of was all the desperately poor children I'd seen in Afghanistan. I kept imagining what it must be like to be a young child living in a mud hut while having some excruciating pain. What could they do? What possible solution could there be? I think this was the point; I was desperate to find a way out of this pain. It couldn't go on for ever. And yet it did.<br />
<br />
On the 3rd night of endless trips to the toilet I must have woken the man in the room next door as he summoned someone from the hotel who asked, not in English, if I wanted to see a doctor. I hastily agreed. 20 minutes later and two matrons arrived carrying a toolbox. At least that's how it appeared to me. She did some checks, feeling my stomach here and there. After 5 minutes she opened her steel toolbox and got out a needle and gestured "do you want this injection?" I had no idea what it was but I was lying on my front with my pants down before she had even prepared it. I recall half-jokingly hoping that it was morphine. In fact, I really hoped it was morphine. But surely morphine can't be handed out just like that. Mind you, maybe she realises how severe my pain is. And this is Tajikistan, after all.<br />
<br />
Alas, it wasn't morphine and the injection made no difference although it was fun having a group of people stare at my hairy white butt (for some reason, I'm guessing as I'm a foreigner, this situation drew a crowd. In my hotel room. In the middle of the night).<br />
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A couple of days later I went to the local hospital, if you can call it that. I got some generic stomach medicine which may or may not have worked and 3 days later I was better. The night before I'd started texting my dad about possible flights home. The relief came just in time; I'd really had enough.<br />
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This pain in my stomach had kept me in Khorog for 10 days and I no longer had time enough on my visa to cycle all of the Pamir Highway. I was bitterly upset as it was this exact road that had made me want to get on my bike and travel well over a year ago. I caught a ride in a Jeep to just over halfway along the 'highway'.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsJ5aboRHahFiT-pHqinOfyuVi2OZSBpFNQrZWFy1IENS_0e9Hs3khxS3MuQgDWES-4WBfiXyQR5ik163VppVMVXCquyS7VG1X-PxrqvphDZIFdXgxevO6TsSsvXS7egaps5YZcZ3xcLhG/s900/tajik151.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsJ5aboRHahFiT-pHqinOfyuVi2OZSBpFNQrZWFy1IENS_0e9Hs3khxS3MuQgDWES-4WBfiXyQR5ik163VppVMVXCquyS7VG1X-PxrqvphDZIFdXgxevO6TsSsvXS7egaps5YZcZ3xcLhG/s900/tajik151.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Pamir Highway!</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfY31-3coCnbGYoPuHbRQHopBiok_ShWHokv0CdcM4-XmzZ85Mt9qKWgsYi4rSczO_kAa6pfsYPZ7bk7YNYne5nW4cXOcMqwEy0_EG_fUXOHMaP-SwkfomO0XOPrQCPdt57FeD5Ea27_c0/s900/tajik152.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfY31-3coCnbGYoPuHbRQHopBiok_ShWHokv0CdcM4-XmzZ85Mt9qKWgsYi4rSczO_kAa6pfsYPZ7bk7YNYne5nW4cXOcMqwEy0_EG_fUXOHMaP-SwkfomO0XOPrQCPdt57FeD5Ea27_c0/s900/tajik152.jpg" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1AcQLHub0hgZ7tpdHkFW2V5emEt1ighxvJdZY3tWcTQhEbyY6zktHtaS6QU62bwqrqm0cHq8-3ra8H_LWWhgNdJo873mcMnfJ26Q5EImWz9-S8w91Ukocr4I2VtVT7eORJ2LQWn8q5z6A/s900/tajik153.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1AcQLHub0hgZ7tpdHkFW2V5emEt1ighxvJdZY3tWcTQhEbyY6zktHtaS6QU62bwqrqm0cHq8-3ra8H_LWWhgNdJo873mcMnfJ26Q5EImWz9-S8w91Ukocr4I2VtVT7eORJ2LQWn8q5z6A/s900/tajik153.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">How thoughtful.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizhjKcMIV1IgsbQkzLX6ygejnmYt3w6Jx8Sn2BQRx18RAqoEfOlC7oeOGtW8vMgDGcPVg8n-87hyE3cSh3arPdBOLrQuI8rwrn8Z7Wgd-X8qOezp23ce9t2CqYehErTNKZJzSplTk-NP5A/s900/tajik154.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizhjKcMIV1IgsbQkzLX6ygejnmYt3w6Jx8Sn2BQRx18RAqoEfOlC7oeOGtW8vMgDGcPVg8n-87hyE3cSh3arPdBOLrQuI8rwrn8Z7Wgd-X8qOezp23ce9t2CqYehErTNKZJzSplTk-NP5A/s900/tajik154.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On my first day cycling in the Pamirs I camped at 4,300m; my highest altitude ever. Do note the "negative" symbol before the temperature!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggON1gV6kgensNprqnpkBzdU3CV6o_39OYDdb9HKV0eSZhWALKJNqJjBWXHA-pDR65ieuqNFUrqFV-fKpUToTUCSWqDs72ijzlrZiJlClUGiGFOm2YCsmOuKxhTzPIistAOf-RsKzXcWC4/s900/tajik155.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggON1gV6kgensNprqnpkBzdU3CV6o_39OYDdb9HKV0eSZhWALKJNqJjBWXHA-pDR65ieuqNFUrqFV-fKpUToTUCSWqDs72ijzlrZiJlClUGiGFOm2YCsmOuKxhTzPIistAOf-RsKzXcWC4/s900/tajik155.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dropping fast!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyJ5WMAPDvZxKnjH-8cn7eO29mf8a1Mj8aLNVuDuA7Yy6S6IEMXQfllkSejNoqVimguxpgaQ15GUw2x5W5JxK7gB_gZXDNEjpm2ijtdpRBuclDBjpnyR02ZtdlLBCk9Ad37Nhg5PSxUBYk/s900/tajik156.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyJ5WMAPDvZxKnjH-8cn7eO29mf8a1Mj8aLNVuDuA7Yy6S6IEMXQfllkSejNoqVimguxpgaQ15GUw2x5W5JxK7gB_gZXDNEjpm2ijtdpRBuclDBjpnyR02ZtdlLBCk9Ad37Nhg5PSxUBYk/s900/tajik156.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This was the worst case of ice/snow in my tent I've ever had to deal with. No it didn't snow last night. Similar to what happens with my beard, my breath condenses on the cold fabric overnight. Every time I move in my sleeping bag more ice falls from the tent onto my face. Thankfully the Pamirs are so dry (close to 0% humidity) and so cold that the ice never melts and can be easily swept off later.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNlApKcBOyPrjcROepnYRB_vzAhydiGqDDNsWCUhYl5ACEbmjfgVdtFryKzSxlbEddzBpnovzw5vYh9P4r81SeO8uZUaycCqMIJ1LQhhVEXoYXnslfqDTSt0H11qlqUuIQURSyv4MZGzjl/s900/tajik157.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNlApKcBOyPrjcROepnYRB_vzAhydiGqDDNsWCUhYl5ACEbmjfgVdtFryKzSxlbEddzBpnovzw5vYh9P4r81SeO8uZUaycCqMIJ1LQhhVEXoYXnslfqDTSt0H11qlqUuIQURSyv4MZGzjl/s900/tajik157.jpg" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYGkyP9FnAzBPLyZMLaEW4fwGTGvkCjnFIeEHPCz77w_7kHTerfkSHlWZlMNb3BmMzcnS79Ng8qdY43Q8ZavY_QLruPufb4EwUtu6lURS08yYOeKkLa-C-_nfEIsqiXC_DFkRY8cdXxqhR/s900/tajik158.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYGkyP9FnAzBPLyZMLaEW4fwGTGvkCjnFIeEHPCz77w_7kHTerfkSHlWZlMNb3BmMzcnS79Ng8qdY43Q8ZavY_QLruPufb4EwUtu6lURS08yYOeKkLa-C-_nfEIsqiXC_DFkRY8cdXxqhR/s900/tajik158.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">-30.8 Celsius, the minimum temperature, recorded just before sunrise. That night I wore 2 pairs of extremely thick mountaineering socks, cycling shorts, thermal leggings, tracksuit bottoms, North Face wind-proof trousers, thick skiing trousers, a thick woollen jumper wrapped around my legs, a thermal top, two t shirts, a polartec fleece, a down jacket, a woollen head-band and polartec gloves all while in my sleeping bag which is rated down to -31 Celsius (that's the "extreme temperature", the coldest temperature at which an average male could survive naked in the bag for 6 hours) and I was still cold. But I was happy as I was only just cold and managed to get a little bit of sleep. My days never seem to be affected by having a poor night's sleep. In fact, I sleep poorly most nights in these parts (Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tibet).</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4gcF-2Dgvu6JTwwSMkUbuSuKhxEoABiz8xoSeBnH526KeCnTgT0JL3xwNKwJFjaud36R04ap67yYvqDU5bR8jom0wn6oPT1L2ur1sy6oD-nPmmrxOOXNgKUNwrURWkz_HoeDQl0q2-_UY/s900/tajik159.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4gcF-2Dgvu6JTwwSMkUbuSuKhxEoABiz8xoSeBnH526KeCnTgT0JL3xwNKwJFjaud36R04ap67yYvqDU5bR8jom0wn6oPT1L2ur1sy6oD-nPmmrxOOXNgKUNwrURWkz_HoeDQl0q2-_UY/s900/tajik159.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">4655 metres above sea level; my highest pass ever. I would have been a bit more excited if I wasn't so out of breath, peeing every 5 minutes (apparently one's body does that to avoid wasting energy heating up liquids. Some mountaineers make use of this by peeing in a bottle and using it as a hot water bottle) and knowing that I had no brakes to do down my biggest pass ever.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbKLFIY7sLGSEudn8jvlvkcQjx90OseICgjvBux5sMh4eWms76z8hliCQk8aK7z99R7l8ZvI5Befj2BC0OU4-EOVGObhZw3e5JAiPiEWXlmLlVNTGY682Ee3G25xUlPNEPun2yVOKIVly-/s900/tajik160.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbKLFIY7sLGSEudn8jvlvkcQjx90OseICgjvBux5sMh4eWms76z8hliCQk8aK7z99R7l8ZvI5Befj2BC0OU4-EOVGObhZw3e5JAiPiEWXlmLlVNTGY682Ee3G25xUlPNEPun2yVOKIVly-/s900/tajik160.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">When it gets really cold even the inside of my balaclava freezes to my beard; painful.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsXx6Rov-48Ns2tzXCVgeydU8I_HEAPUMbL2FU2Lj8PTT5QTfWUsAMTamQMnURR6vlCW6Nlj8eCjNZKEeIlRxgVAM8f4RDZcgZ_bURpUxH4Z14b1tQloHsk4Wyw069dfJ7c6OLpIQTizgC/s900/tajik161.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsXx6Rov-48Ns2tzXCVgeydU8I_HEAPUMbL2FU2Lj8PTT5QTfWUsAMTamQMnURR6vlCW6Nlj8eCjNZKEeIlRxgVAM8f4RDZcgZ_bURpUxH4Z14b1tQloHsk4Wyw069dfJ7c6OLpIQTizgC/s900/tajik161.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is what we cyclists call "washboard" or "draining board" surface. It's caused by the suspension of trucks and it's an absolute nightmare to cycle over.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqy8NPSm30DJTkGHBDZxwl5j6IQyU5kP0dS0iQiEUGOVdeXeErlHFTuyS6un1727VAlsdeBu-9zV8chshREtb3zSKuk9SLz5fIXgbCCBZqj-NyNWJGqPNwZdjAgYfYYVI8sVBdB4X7S2LJ/s900/tajik162.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqy8NPSm30DJTkGHBDZxwl5j6IQyU5kP0dS0iQiEUGOVdeXeErlHFTuyS6un1727VAlsdeBu-9zV8chshREtb3zSKuk9SLz5fIXgbCCBZqj-NyNWJGqPNwZdjAgYfYYVI8sVBdB4X7S2LJ/s900/tajik162.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Trying to get the neck of my bottle low enough on top of a frozen river.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6d4qz7fYRwpS3-87xNe7sAmxPAK45arGqzZpMXB8icRlayC13rWlO20rVlvQdk0YKtO0eWyof5fNRCofD5ltRPAHDEGm6gjTHdAOGFRxjLSAhJmcDQ5bOgDYzxJ3qeDeLZrwqpqheTOL_/s900/tajik163.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6d4qz7fYRwpS3-87xNe7sAmxPAK45arGqzZpMXB8icRlayC13rWlO20rVlvQdk0YKtO0eWyof5fNRCofD5ltRPAHDEGm6gjTHdAOGFRxjLSAhJmcDQ5bOgDYzxJ3qeDeLZrwqpqheTOL_/s900/tajik163.jpg" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiix0oB7rFkCrY2f5ZVqPDnCII_IR8aVOWeXz9rttk29hqskWi2mXyCfU9tdQeTvLhegkqa9tNpUyOgfEQI1zUCgZspwT1Pqo7vNpjokUYiSeuKUmiD1E-ILxwh1rNRSx7iGbsfYaiK3g5Q/s1100/tajik164.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiix0oB7rFkCrY2f5ZVqPDnCII_IR8aVOWeXz9rttk29hqskWi2mXyCfU9tdQeTvLhegkqa9tNpUyOgfEQI1zUCgZspwT1Pqo7vNpjokUYiSeuKUmiD1E-ILxwh1rNRSx7iGbsfYaiK3g5Q/s1100/tajik164.jpg" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV2Ai_FM_2ll6TjmdeQgDRp859gl0wFjESqjQJJaa02luYUdpVfCAxwGm1l1WOJLxPVoMeQCmwiKwGDlMOyxUgRle42hkJUriwkvonoXcfiIF6zKJgIUZGDpXwQS1UeWY6aWww0njW5llw/s900/tajik165.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV2Ai_FM_2ll6TjmdeQgDRp859gl0wFjESqjQJJaa02luYUdpVfCAxwGm1l1WOJLxPVoMeQCmwiKwGDlMOyxUgRle42hkJUriwkvonoXcfiIF6zKJgIUZGDpXwQS1UeWY6aWww0njW5llw/s900/tajik165.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On the right of the fence; China. Tajikistan ceded hundreds of square kilometres of land to China in 2008 and now the border comes right up to the road. This fence runs for several hundred kilometres but is entirely unguarded.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Before Karakul (Black Lake)</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzJm0L1TpOhv-hoYkk6JwLRmKoPqQOvsWCRmOwxUsS-DfaumYClqllWF2a3JZbsGU632rZxCdL_S4Opzrx4PjnVuWyTDKvIuko8xmoVD-iNGCmd28oCvub8hwCFDqMGw67nl3xEdqR7fV-/s900/tajik167.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzJm0L1TpOhv-hoYkk6JwLRmKoPqQOvsWCRmOwxUsS-DfaumYClqllWF2a3JZbsGU632rZxCdL_S4Opzrx4PjnVuWyTDKvIuko8xmoVD-iNGCmd28oCvub8hwCFDqMGw67nl3xEdqR7fV-/s900/tajik167.jpg" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-uN5HlzIcvbQuamDhR7lcvfiixgSRdwqp81dQNkBmLbHs9RnH2lugM-f3ybsesYe1qdiaVA9VjgGQYKaGvDgVS5kz7ep602NX24_Uz_RhEv0NRgX_GjBZggjgLPVJgICJDcIpLZMwYlSI/s900/tajik168.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-uN5HlzIcvbQuamDhR7lcvfiixgSRdwqp81dQNkBmLbHs9RnH2lugM-f3ybsesYe1qdiaVA9VjgGQYKaGvDgVS5kz7ep602NX24_Uz_RhEv0NRgX_GjBZggjgLPVJgICJDcIpLZMwYlSI/s900/tajik168.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My 11,000th KM</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIktpA_p0mmXxosyl_V5EjOzyTh0S3xLXsuFlIX-L_RL5xcXj2mfMwuiD3lKP3qVBJ7y5_27oepffUg0EwnxkatIgPxmJktNZRZSi3p8UDU7Wswpfs4gpkAAoxvJ37rCvbWAzoVugFnBAy/s900/tajik169.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIktpA_p0mmXxosyl_V5EjOzyTh0S3xLXsuFlIX-L_RL5xcXj2mfMwuiD3lKP3qVBJ7y5_27oepffUg0EwnxkatIgPxmJktNZRZSi3p8UDU7Wswpfs4gpkAAoxvJ37rCvbWAzoVugFnBAy/s900/tajik169.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An opportunity presents itself to pop into China.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIodT_mD-TcwBqEwO34e-bXj-PCCpOtVHvUip6AV3yvHAdGakdoifZU7QjvbEwj661aV5gZQF9p-YN_op6KWxhSOArY6HwHmuE2T5qU7rJyq4cnnlgmJfMI4X_YwkH5z-iLctLZou84rmd/s900/tajik170.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIodT_mD-TcwBqEwO34e-bXj-PCCpOtVHvUip6AV3yvHAdGakdoifZU7QjvbEwj661aV5gZQF9p-YN_op6KWxhSOArY6HwHmuE2T5qU7rJyq4cnnlgmJfMI4X_YwkH5z-iLctLZou84rmd/s900/tajik170.jpg" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoXEg-uXvhjNMIkdBKLeL_Svdz1sWTqR-9X_PsagBWEQNEf-cS36iT9PXRqgbxkh6RAH4SQeUjT6qOL8eZjpe6ELwNQVOI5lMqtkLT_0PoYaRBzuzd2aIUhMx060TqwOZ_-lX1J2QIAPDF/s900/tajik171.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoXEg-uXvhjNMIkdBKLeL_Svdz1sWTqR-9X_PsagBWEQNEf-cS36iT9PXRqgbxkh6RAH4SQeUjT6qOL8eZjpe6ELwNQVOI5lMqtkLT_0PoYaRBzuzd2aIUhMx060TqwOZ_-lX1J2QIAPDF/s900/tajik171.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Front wheel and left foot in China, back wheel and right foot in Tajikistan.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDwrZY9Mdkn_UOGhIxrINMxoTylEWY51jA-Wet4oFVbAIgZBKh79tzhoHYPT5Epac76DgZLrJkc3IrBKsaFolqpH4YEsOyxfIubMxhEZgXBlSYakW6-uXEZJSXZ96fYXLwUpLiUC_S3mID/s1100/tajik173.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDwrZY9Mdkn_UOGhIxrINMxoTylEWY51jA-Wet4oFVbAIgZBKh79tzhoHYPT5Epac76DgZLrJkc3IrBKsaFolqpH4YEsOyxfIubMxhEZgXBlSYakW6-uXEZJSXZ96fYXLwUpLiUC_S3mID/s1100/tajik173.jpg" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg12qYkuYQdJjNddV08VpGqYZcbPKbeRYsP3BjvaDJiwgf7BT9TeXxSo1YR5HIE6COatiyAV-PKz7bsojp5i3E2SSosUMX95wYC4dSpeIvRFCtyHeZd3ICl43lq-F13UrcldHNwiE8ijp83/s900/tajik174.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg12qYkuYQdJjNddV08VpGqYZcbPKbeRYsP3BjvaDJiwgf7BT9TeXxSo1YR5HIE6COatiyAV-PKz7bsojp5i3E2SSosUMX95wYC4dSpeIvRFCtyHeZd3ICl43lq-F13UrcldHNwiE8ijp83/s900/tajik174.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">As soon as the sun stopped directly shining on me the temperature would plummet. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNEjVchgVgL4anHAicAPyleeJf1LwGHvLTjO305_80QtunsfCSbmHlM2T_9KiuXkijesLzJmdZNOrgDwBFOJxPF6Hf4xRsG_1uCbnOWm33JHiKjrXSoBz7OKiqVP7kbjsrtq9bJqGBc2M2/s900/tajik175.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNEjVchgVgL4anHAicAPyleeJf1LwGHvLTjO305_80QtunsfCSbmHlM2T_9KiuXkijesLzJmdZNOrgDwBFOJxPF6Hf4xRsG_1uCbnOWm33JHiKjrXSoBz7OKiqVP7kbjsrtq9bJqGBc2M2/s900/tajik175.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The police officers at the checkpoint by Karakul offered for me to stay in their Russian military tent. Little did they know, the permit I had to be in the Pamirs (required as it is an autonomous region with a slightly troubled recent history) was made by me in Photoshop. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-9HWu5lPuR7g-qMWl40GT3JMkAol-g07DPhtKuUA1jnehwPg40kxDr18p_kHVvTNsjHTKdyUNNbT_bPgte8p4CK0fNZsDZ9HeUJDj3DaJXRdpBFtaBIFasODFMxtuSFCoRsisKs1g-Isu/s900/tajik176.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-9HWu5lPuR7g-qMWl40GT3JMkAol-g07DPhtKuUA1jnehwPg40kxDr18p_kHVvTNsjHTKdyUNNbT_bPgte8p4CK0fNZsDZ9HeUJDj3DaJXRdpBFtaBIFasODFMxtuSFCoRsisKs1g-Isu/s900/tajik176.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Karakul town.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sweat evaporating through my fleece and then freezing.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilk1mQ3ywLmRnCd7pWRY2up5Ir9lT6prf4X9Oxb_Xy5jCWDqCbIKR-O-gHgw-6UlJ6dSB5SiQdj50kje-_ijTGUE61Oi6jpDEeoQqRVZUbp3h-hHB__VDz7C1inmeLMHN0o9ro18g6PNcc/s900/tajik184.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilk1mQ3ywLmRnCd7pWRY2up5Ir9lT6prf4X9Oxb_Xy5jCWDqCbIKR-O-gHgw-6UlJ6dSB5SiQdj50kje-_ijTGUE61Oi6jpDEeoQqRVZUbp3h-hHB__VDz7C1inmeLMHN0o9ro18g6PNcc/s900/tajik184.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Islands in the middle of the frozen Karakul</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYwiBDikW6-1J0OfsltQXHCEHi0_dmzqmnnEWZyCqEiz8TZ-ICwm7AGDJAb8SJgKbIF-QWUnn5qp90-c57YjZNZo-ADgD7zDMMyXd1qCfOgiUNvRgFVXmhc7s5I11jnjE-t41T7YQl9_Jl/s900/tajik186.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYwiBDikW6-1J0OfsltQXHCEHi0_dmzqmnnEWZyCqEiz8TZ-ICwm7AGDJAb8SJgKbIF-QWUnn5qp90-c57YjZNZo-ADgD7zDMMyXd1qCfOgiUNvRgFVXmhc7s5I11jnjE-t41T7YQl9_Jl/s900/tajik186.jpg" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1LIfCFISV4O608zbaY7gY9x1Eyu-jAoW51z4F6G5E2zXlcuo4lF3tFmaeUXAttBQADT2RWF_8CyjYH424_cUpvJkc8T2RsLwoW_qvAZ7XezVnz3bBCacpB8rjDWaupeQ7yWw1zsK7k-or/s900/tajik187.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1LIfCFISV4O608zbaY7gY9x1Eyu-jAoW51z4F6G5E2zXlcuo4lF3tFmaeUXAttBQADT2RWF_8CyjYH424_cUpvJkc8T2RsLwoW_qvAZ7XezVnz3bBCacpB8rjDWaupeQ7yWw1zsK7k-or/s900/tajik187.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I love my tiny camera but it has one flaw, especially for the lone cyclist; its self-timer is only 10 seconds. This was a test shot. I thought it would be really cool to show how steep this road up the pass was by having the horizon be above my head in the shot.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZw9NgA0zIVhaNGveLVuXCnVAKEFum5ejWdCoIpcmwDU_z2ngldorDOB_TnHLvhU_R90WY7AAiFwUDni4-BKjn6I8c9sCisxKFE4_Ysoc0XD1o1y2TnQIoo5tDCigPbd1RL5EGTUT9E0cN/s900/tajik189.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZw9NgA0zIVhaNGveLVuXCnVAKEFum5ejWdCoIpcmwDU_z2ngldorDOB_TnHLvhU_R90WY7AAiFwUDni4-BKjn6I8c9sCisxKFE4_Ysoc0XD1o1y2TnQIoo5tDCigPbd1RL5EGTUT9E0cN/s900/tajik189.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In Iran I bought a tiny flexible tripod for $1. I set it on some rocks in the middle of the road (I saw about 3 or 4 other vehicles every day so I knew it would be ok). I would press the shutter button and then leg it like a mad man and try to get into a pose with my arms in the air, all within 10 seconds.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFNZEXQo7F690MEZuoDHrs0BqHAL6ynV9T7G_e3MLh6SpW2WoJ8pKAsZdhA_d81tuhlsIi-wuEOIjGZ7iTqaYKeD-cW79naPoIs2Z7nYWhoIXG1miNolIi7X7TG1na4Q-ZhkUj0ilLOIrM/s900/tajik188.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFNZEXQo7F690MEZuoDHrs0BqHAL6ynV9T7G_e3MLh6SpW2WoJ8pKAsZdhA_d81tuhlsIi-wuEOIjGZ7iTqaYKeD-cW79naPoIs2Z7nYWhoIXG1miNolIi7X7TG1na4Q-ZhkUj0ilLOIrM/s900/tajik188.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The closest I got. Missed it by about half a second.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfA8-wIxChzw_i2rj9Cq_UC63VDNSDG_sXpGbe5LnAUYt05UKI-A60OHi536Fg6oAIQ4eRY1JpK7F14d7hv8iSXYlxmlV2LSPoRz02qkUdRRYoc_IMA_Fual1iuIQdBwU5-EDaa0OxNzk7/s900/tajik190.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfA8-wIxChzw_i2rj9Cq_UC63VDNSDG_sXpGbe5LnAUYt05UKI-A60OHi536Fg6oAIQ4eRY1JpK7F14d7hv8iSXYlxmlV2LSPoRz02qkUdRRYoc_IMA_Fual1iuIQdBwU5-EDaa0OxNzk7/s900/tajik190.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More terrible road. It always looks better on the other side but it never is.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQMSjVQxpa_YG1CgKqFAW8g6bWLBZ06dOaqYcFePZCbGjSrI-Jk8CG126JNuG5n_ASGAXWRHcBKQ6iI3irh6sFMCFsyi_dE4Hyimt1MrhaYDW1P4ZAaXMAZeisG95CgsOjXh1ZnsXKqSrg/s900/tajik191.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQMSjVQxpa_YG1CgKqFAW8g6bWLBZ06dOaqYcFePZCbGjSrI-Jk8CG126JNuG5n_ASGAXWRHcBKQ6iI3irh6sFMCFsyi_dE4Hyimt1MrhaYDW1P4ZAaXMAZeisG95CgsOjXh1ZnsXKqSrg/s900/tajik191.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">While stopped to eat some bread I noticed how gorgeous my bicycle is.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbirQFw-GZUtwa4aCC8aPxRTMRxcdGMPMZwNLsd4mBynG37xtuDkkeXvpSTQozBYEtjUxoy1VnCxJ4lqMG-Eh5diptBqQf9uL7D-V5UEvINGIj9UUle65ozClWlyB87NngvekhicZ2mJ-D/s900/tajik192.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbirQFw-GZUtwa4aCC8aPxRTMRxcdGMPMZwNLsd4mBynG37xtuDkkeXvpSTQozBYEtjUxoy1VnCxJ4lqMG-Eh5diptBqQf9uL7D-V5UEvINGIj9UUle65ozClWlyB87NngvekhicZ2mJ-D/s900/tajik192.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In places like this I really got the feeling of being on the roof of the world. When there's nothing above you and everything below you and you've come a long way through a lot of nothing only to get to more nothing, just a bit higher up, it's a great feeling of being somewhere special</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHHOJGSp-aNd6TwMr2WRyreSUlA9jAw0zul1Qfa_BrTkr0HPFq2XEH-X-U6qKpXMwcP4417g15uD5_29tXjEEbKo5_RQj-aQfP-8VnxkJGuz0J3o9pu6NTU8Hn14xEm0AszBiA4Ac3uz5N/s900/tajik193.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHHOJGSp-aNd6TwMr2WRyreSUlA9jAw0zul1Qfa_BrTkr0HPFq2XEH-X-U6qKpXMwcP4417g15uD5_29tXjEEbKo5_RQj-aQfP-8VnxkJGuz0J3o9pu6NTU8Hn14xEm0AszBiA4Ac3uz5N/s900/tajik193.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another gap in the fence to China. This time I went for it as there were some tracks to follow. I went about 3 KM in. Some people may not understand, but it was one of the most exhilarating feelings I've ever had. A whole new country, a new frontier, a new land to explore. And one that I'm not allowed to explore! How could it be any more perfect? Honestly, and I don't know if this sounds good or not, but the only reason I didn't continue is that I knew my parents were expecting a text from me and if I went down that valley there wouldn't be any signal or civilisation for days or weeks.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBG9atwWKOnKjJMV7DCClBTwdVn4u2DAhyphenhyphenbf2eFGnxFum5PavYmz6Xd1T3UUZ61OQyPI7g_WRq92QCSmfZfHPVTqVm6o1vAz8_NbwThhPl4CbQ9W4l7rYAGsEfhfcalHqNp9ImMBrVccdn/s900/tajik194.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBG9atwWKOnKjJMV7DCClBTwdVn4u2DAhyphenhyphenbf2eFGnxFum5PavYmz6Xd1T3UUZ61OQyPI7g_WRq92QCSmfZfHPVTqVm6o1vAz8_NbwThhPl4CbQ9W4l7rYAGsEfhfcalHqNp9ImMBrVccdn/s900/tajik194.jpg" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPhz_necUapjQK0Hbc9-RHTFMWJaaowgBBKBrWG-Dcbg8D02UNW5qyPXUgsucTOy4rA712mJoM-QnXZdTzrtgOh2zPfWzI5bOFVL4w2viEHKiXfY-sSrYH2J_3AmiLw2I3usKA5C3yQ9Fv/s1100/tajik195.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPhz_necUapjQK0Hbc9-RHTFMWJaaowgBBKBrWG-Dcbg8D02UNW5qyPXUgsucTOy4rA712mJoM-QnXZdTzrtgOh2zPfWzI5bOFVL4w2viEHKiXfY-sSrYH2J_3AmiLw2I3usKA5C3yQ9Fv/s1100/tajik195.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The valley next to the road as I climbed my final pass of the Pamirs</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy-IDvhyphenhyphenLasDPSrpPkqZtbHCX8rNllvncAQigRu3F9oOulGze-ySgx8UC38rpXnDnIz4NLfHC06HdaYiTwXysRX3OBpT2tKLlzzqH0uryd82vNXAtppQQAuHLsyBnlj5sOChFqKDxRH1ox/s900/tajik196.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy-IDvhyphenhyphenLasDPSrpPkqZtbHCX8rNllvncAQigRu3F9oOulGze-ySgx8UC38rpXnDnIz4NLfHC06HdaYiTwXysRX3OBpT2tKLlzzqH0uryd82vNXAtppQQAuHLsyBnlj5sOChFqKDxRH1ox/s900/tajik196.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">When I see buildings like this, in such incomprehensibly remote places, I can't help but think "who lives there"? And why? It's fascinating</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaBCi8siDwLQjIjZcjyoaV1SaJp5l_n54a00QTNuSrYMisaN2L7WtqymPl3WiKJZ-dY0RVXQRB51JHH385TrQVJVY8QMQyKye6vBLPlEwsDkqWEK_9Ag66kYDVF5owmygVS-43MydvD0bb/s900/tajik197.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaBCi8siDwLQjIjZcjyoaV1SaJp5l_n54a00QTNuSrYMisaN2L7WtqymPl3WiKJZ-dY0RVXQRB51JHH385TrQVJVY8QMQyKye6vBLPlEwsDkqWEK_9Ag66kYDVF5owmygVS-43MydvD0bb/s900/tajik197.jpg" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9TGY-OPqYO7fHL1QYw7MeWvO0w9fEX1RByJ-iPro5Dr3A0BMkRKBAXR4E9UR_taHxGG9WF1mN64kctHI8QZYI6j03VcSdb6Sx5D4M3BlSXdHZj2tqwqCnjpZdnkfMpq1d2jQ_JjXI4aRV/s1100/tajik002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9TGY-OPqYO7fHL1QYw7MeWvO0w9fEX1RByJ-iPro5Dr3A0BMkRKBAXR4E9UR_taHxGG9WF1mN64kctHI8QZYI6j03VcSdb6Sx5D4M3BlSXdHZj2tqwqCnjpZdnkfMpq1d2jQ_JjXI4aRV/s1100/tajik002.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">360 degrees put together in Photoshop</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV2SQmSDc5oeaEBgqTJ634D91AVap8L_-8uMAdpZscK1CKojgeaEcQ-aINLngLJgLihFgfGKDaOvMMU3fPl3VRBoQqjF23RKCW8xqwtZIxczuNfZvyodMjIU3pZpqjBrRSF3tCxbVywsR-/s900/tajik198.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV2SQmSDc5oeaEBgqTJ634D91AVap8L_-8uMAdpZscK1CKojgeaEcQ-aINLngLJgLihFgfGKDaOvMMU3fPl3VRBoQqjF23RKCW8xqwtZIxczuNfZvyodMjIU3pZpqjBrRSF3tCxbVywsR-/s900/tajik198.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Tajik side of the border with Kyrgyzstan at the top of Kyzyl-Art pass, over 4,300m. One of the policemen I'd stayed with in the checkpoint by Karakul told me to shout for him when I got there. I was going to stay the night at the top, even though my visa expired that day. I got my visa stamped even though I wasn't going to leave until tomorrow. Then I noticed something horrible. A flat tyre. But worse than just a flat tyre. A flay tyre on a split rim. There just happened to be a small and empty minibus about to head into Kyrgyzstan that I could hitch a ride in. I'd now have to hitch-hike almost 1,000 KM to Bishkek to get a brand new wheel.<br />
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And so my journey into the next country begins...</td></tr>
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<b>If you've enjoyed reading about my antics in Tajikistan then please consider <a href="http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserProfilePage.action?userUrl=englandtoindia" target="_blank">donating to St. Margaret's Hospice.</a> It takes a very long time to put these blogs together (it's 5am here) so your support is greatly appreciated.</b><br />
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I chose to ride in aid of St. Margaret's before Nanny was ever treated by them but on her recommendation as she knew so many people who directly benefited from their never-ending help and support. It was only by great coincidence that the charity I want to help by cycling to India also helped Nanny.<br />
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My target, which I am determined to reach but a long way from is £25,000. So far I have raised just over £3,500 including gift aid.<br />
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Thanks for reading, and please share this blog post!<br />
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<a href="http://www.englandtoindia.com/">www.EnglandToIndia.com</a><br />
On Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/England2India">https://twitter.com/England2India</a></div>
Judehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05996912167887879684noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7930417312752206140.post-36207998307591804482013-03-31T20:35:00.001-07:002013-03-31T20:36:59.736-07:00Pride of Somerset Youth Award<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
We are so close to breaking the £3,000 fundraising milestone. I kindly ask that someone does the honours and smashes that milestone for me and the hospice! I'm about to cycle up a 4,000m mountain and it would be really nice to come back to see that the total raised has gone up a bit more. <a href="http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserProfilePage.action?userUrl=englandtoindia" target="_blank">Dig deep people!</a><br />
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<a href="http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserProfilePage.action?userUrl=englandtoindia" target="_blank">Click here you lovely people</a><br />
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Shameless pleas aside, this is just a quick post to say that I was very happy to be awarded the Pride of Somerset Youth Award last weekend for my fundraising efforts. For obvious reasons, I wasn't able to collect it myself but thankfully my parents did.<br />
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Please read more about it here (with a photo!): <a href="http://www.somersetcountygazette.co.uk/news/10324097.Pride_of_Somerset_Youth_Awards__Jude_keeps_on_riding/">http://www.somersetcountygazette.co.uk/news/10324097.Pride_of_Somerset_Youth_Awards__Jude_keeps_on_riding/</a><br />
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I'm now in China, having just crossed the Taklamakan desert, north to south, where I didn't see a single shop, person, house, restaurant or tap for 250km. On my last day in the desert I cycled my 12,000th kilometere (about 7,500 miles). In 8 or 9 days' time I will arrive in Golmud, on the Tibetan plateau. From there I will write a blog post for Tajikistan, where I cycled for well over a month.<br />
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For now, here's just a few pictures from the Tian Shan mountains and the desert "of no return". I'm afraid I'm struggling to put them in the right order!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">That's a big mountain to have to cycle up!</td></tr>
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<a href="http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserProfilePage.action?userUrl=englandtoindia" target="_blank">Please click here to help me achieve my fundraising goal for St. Margaret's Hospice. Many Thanks.</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.englandtoindia.com/" target="_blank">www.EnglandToIndia.com</a></div>
Judehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05996912167887879684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7930417312752206140.post-35861667911645666722013-03-02T03:30:00.001-08:002013-03-03T07:22:07.178-08:00Afghanistan<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Of the thirteen countries this journey has taken me through so far, none were as exciting or opinion-changing as Afghanistan. Never have I felt such a need to tell people of what I learned than in this beautiful war-torn country.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">In the last few weeks of my trip I have met more and more ex-patriots who have taken an overwhelming and unexpected interest in my stories from the saddle. It is because of this, along with the constant pestering from friends and family and my own ambition to put into words what I have experienced that I have decided to commit myself to writing about my adventure properly. Yes, a book.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">This doesn't mean I will write any less on here. It just means that when I do write, I am going to take a lot more time than I have done in the past. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Below are all the photos and videos I captured in Afghanistan. I will write about one or two of my stories from Afghanistan in the coming week.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">To bring you up to date on where I am in an aesthetically pleasing manner, here is a map I made of my entire journey. Every bicycle icon represents one day of cycling, if you zoom in a lot you can see them individually. Click on the other icons for descriptions.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="400" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=214121301499656413876.0004d63f8570596c418a8&ie=UTF8&t=p&source=embed&ll=37.300275,48.691406&spn=54.886061,140.625&z=3&output=embed" width="800"></iframe><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><small>View <a href="https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=214121301499656413876.0004d63f8570596c418a8&ie=UTF8&t=p&source=embed&ll=37.300275,48.691406&spn=54.886061,140.625&z=3" style="color: blue; text-align: left;">England to India</a> in a larger map</small></span>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Here is a video slideshow of my photos from Afghanistan. Below the video I have posted the same photos individually with short stories/explanations in the captions. There are also other actual "video" videos from Afghanistan fitted in chronologically amongst the photos, so check them out too, some of them are crazy! The only benefit of watching the slideshow instead of seeing the photos below is the traditional Afghan music and that you don't have to scroll!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Finally, for those of you who don't remember, I was cycling with a Spanish cyclist, Agustin, who I met on the road in Iran. Credit for many of the photos goes to <a href="https://www.facebook.com/goeastexperience" target="_blank">him</a>. We often argued about who was the fastest cyclist; the lack of photos of me on my bicycle proves my point!</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">20km of nothing but excitement before the Afghan border</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">We both managed to slip the SD cards out of our cameras in time to avoid having to delete these photos</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">We entered Afghanistan at 14:30 but weren't allowed to continue until the morning as the road becomes too dangerous at night. We were told to stay in the hotel on the border. When we claimed to have no money they said we could stay anyway. It was like a horror movie, we were the only "guests" and were locked in by ourselves all night. Later we found a ladder onto the roof and had some chai while dreaming of the next few days.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Ahmad Shah Massoud, the Lion of Panjshir and my Surly!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Chai, naan and cream for breakfast</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The 130km from the border to the city of Herat was all desert.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">USSR tank</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">A warm reception in the first village we stopped in</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">"Yeah sure, you can try my bike, what could possibly go wrong"...</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The contents of Agustin's handlebar bag spilt on the road - the local kids picked them all up and handed them straight back.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC0QZee7BMC2dbFkbLquVoZ3Kz8hshOvDJpw6FAstvczB1R86laYkXuyca6hwEVW0D6-C9YFL1nVMxVYN91lK74XEabLQagPlyGUBUgZA7CG_A-MWGsi0cSdP-ndKssegIn8hlocMOwRBq/s800/name018.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC0QZee7BMC2dbFkbLquVoZ3Kz8hshOvDJpw6FAstvczB1R86laYkXuyca6hwEVW0D6-C9YFL1nVMxVYN91lK74XEabLQagPlyGUBUgZA7CG_A-MWGsi0cSdP-ndKssegIn8hlocMOwRBq/s800/name018.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Every 20km we encountered Afghan National Army checkpoints. They were really friendly guys, perplexed by what we were doing there!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Ignore the blotch - an Afghan "football field"</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">A large predator</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_Xq3FrfrK-m4sZyinCRiyjZDuCf0E-aft910UqdTEn5MJ879eli-K88I4GLOm9_N3WwP-ha6gQchtqhlf6Bz8fAdvqIABAExGsBA5JlcCP955uHWMTdLg3r5ARlQ0X2VWFFdr9mmY8eWc/s800/name023.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_Xq3FrfrK-m4sZyinCRiyjZDuCf0E-aft910UqdTEn5MJ879eli-K88I4GLOm9_N3WwP-ha6gQchtqhlf6Bz8fAdvqIABAExGsBA5JlcCP955uHWMTdLg3r5ARlQ0X2VWFFdr9mmY8eWc/s800/name023.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Circling over us in the hot desert sun</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6DdswCA0NbA9PgDi7pXrAjW_W5k9Zdrji4JTIlDmiW_nb9hGLCyA_fFqeSn2N8vz4Je1sP-R53uMOhowfeAmryv6CmPWef-LfnJzQZCw1LU4ENS_4gcyp__fgyrcDCWV9foakGfZ80WuG/s800/name024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6DdswCA0NbA9PgDi7pXrAjW_W5k9Zdrji4JTIlDmiW_nb9hGLCyA_fFqeSn2N8vz4Je1sP-R53uMOhowfeAmryv6CmPWef-LfnJzQZCw1LU4ENS_4gcyp__fgyrcDCWV9foakGfZ80WuG/s800/name024.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">After all the anticipation, excitement, fear, planning, dreaming; we were loving our first hours cycling in Afghanistan!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXeoGugz0e2fR7sQLx_8k9-SD_EBeywtMQmr8zqnDOacOR08IU2QVMC_45jrGFfBjRLhGtxTQ148jAvBtTelvehUkuYrAm3XIAos9kKA_mTX2mbFRJFkq_fNFlrphSg1055aTvXHNvz-tv/s800/name025.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXeoGugz0e2fR7sQLx_8k9-SD_EBeywtMQmr8zqnDOacOR08IU2QVMC_45jrGFfBjRLhGtxTQ148jAvBtTelvehUkuYrAm3XIAos9kKA_mTX2mbFRJFkq_fNFlrphSg1055aTvXHNvz-tv/s800/name025.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I've seen many of these in every country since Iran, but no country has as many as Afghanistan. There is an incredible amount of aid money here.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">A traditional town - the houses built out of mud bricks</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The first mention of the infamous mountain range I'd been dreaming of for so long!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Our plan for Afghanistan: cycle to Herat, which we knew to be safe. Next, find out what the info on the ground was.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">As we entered Herat we were spotted by a member of the Herat cycling team. We stayed at the team leader's house.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Like the Iranians, the Persian influenced Heratian's knew that there's nothing a cyclist likes more than fatty foods!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The woman were physically hidden from us the whole time we stayed there. The man in the middle offered me $20,000 for my passport. Even though he's well-off, he has tried (and failed) to migrate to Europe seven times.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">A lot of UNICEF aid is visible</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi60DPFU2auymj7pMa4MucF2uC6HbNsaQ3EwAL62nLshyphenhyphenDWvufVmJQfkl1DbCUrtpNgo-G5zFnr2n275WRofd3SI448k-Y4hZ-KAyyLSEk0SlhX4wujuTTCerpaI7umjD43vUmsR1Lja1Wp/s800/name039.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi60DPFU2auymj7pMa4MucF2uC6HbNsaQ3EwAL62nLshyphenhyphenDWvufVmJQfkl1DbCUrtpNgo-G5zFnr2n275WRofd3SI448k-Y4hZ-KAyyLSEk0SlhX4wujuTTCerpaI7umjD43vUmsR1Lja1Wp/s800/name039.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">We were trying to avoid large gatherings. These kids had just come back from winning a Central Asian martial arts competition in Kazakhstan and drew a huge crowd outside the football stadium.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">A billboard discouraging farmers from growing poppies (for opium and heroin) and encouraging them to grow grapes (although not for wine, as that's illegal too).</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRKK3MyewejiFVihpCNKbILv-_MhJHZ0sgulW8o0SAr1DgpMHtiYfpCEA7VC-tb84_LjOpqVSuHFldx1KBdyCVZYxe52ThxCdfl2ZUY7yizcjzDlb18TphKf25CnS4aoLUzigNDu1HozK_/s800/name139.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRKK3MyewejiFVihpCNKbILv-_MhJHZ0sgulW8o0SAr1DgpMHtiYfpCEA7VC-tb84_LjOpqVSuHFldx1KBdyCVZYxe52ThxCdfl2ZUY7yizcjzDlb18TphKf25CnS4aoLUzigNDu1HozK_/s800/name139.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">In our effort to get to Kabul without cycling through Kandahar and Helmand Province, we tried to "hitch" a lift with a Spanish or Italian military flight. This photo was taken inside the ISAF airbase, one of the most amazing experiences of my life. We hung out with Spanish, Italian and American troops.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Our time in Herat was manic as we never found a host for more than one night. This guy found as at around 19:00 as we were getting pretty desperate!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjDWJEwDjxjAYMt3heplcWc44TeDkcUixZHpEbcj-fyn4uhyphenhyphenatd-k864oQ8GbF_txeopkEcibzF220FNLy40kK266ABXXQb6icwwJPuQGJVqklPUxWNtS-EZZb7pan_-5CG_oQZlXzKLAZ/s800/name045.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjDWJEwDjxjAYMt3heplcWc44TeDkcUixZHpEbcj-fyn4uhyphenhyphenatd-k864oQ8GbF_txeopkEcibzF220FNLy40kK266ABXXQb6icwwJPuQGJVqklPUxWNtS-EZZb7pan_-5CG_oQZlXzKLAZ/s800/name045.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Every time I stopped in the city centre a group of 10-30 people would surround me. I had an "I come in peace" style message written on my handlebar bag. Eventually I took it off in the city as people would see other people reading and the crowd would grow and grow. It was, however, very useful for paranoid police/army checkpoints</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgptRDdLko5Zb7M2ix62dpvdwi3B_y_yYKKMN3YB4GVW4RPWw1Msiq3yxTuQjZ2fqhMaaDjY2jVm_MM7zI2wPZMnTJuxSz67fm74etF7VZ7lY2D2bfG_7h5z2vz4VTZKapKs1f3o07frUd1/s800/name046.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgptRDdLko5Zb7M2ix62dpvdwi3B_y_yYKKMN3YB4GVW4RPWw1Msiq3yxTuQjZ2fqhMaaDjY2jVm_MM7zI2wPZMnTJuxSz67fm74etF7VZ7lY2D2bfG_7h5z2vz4VTZKapKs1f3o07frUd1/s800/name046.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">In the shop of Morteza, a local Couchsurfer who helped us out a lot</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJDDedPKBijTZKFG1G_Bw-LW_RsEtpxncO9OlM67HHIXHPS49NZ4OPehm7IOk3i-11nOqBrGUkkxO9rt8pd-ziud3033Sg-pnTCTEuj_9sUXrYVLCN1PXxn9zw2v4m7Re4JHTC9cSdcpGC/s800/name047.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJDDedPKBijTZKFG1G_Bw-LW_RsEtpxncO9OlM67HHIXHPS49NZ4OPehm7IOk3i-11nOqBrGUkkxO9rt8pd-ziud3033Sg-pnTCTEuj_9sUXrYVLCN1PXxn9zw2v4m7Re4JHTC9cSdcpGC/s800/name047.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I made friends with this guy for the short time that I was there. Bananas from Pakistan. If you paid double the price you could get what we'd consider "normal" size bananas from Africa.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">City Centre</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDWlDsPSNM47BlFzjjyVL7DuCwm5El_wD9wbfSn58kpRMddlNu_Yxg24GYEuUoIyHhOTDjBk37MdSBG669IqywEYhbuTf0fO1qz_jE_seRwj-0vFYK_k1JmL1AgoUNJK-gCf1-Z6AEaAlb/s800/name050.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDWlDsPSNM47BlFzjjyVL7DuCwm5El_wD9wbfSn58kpRMddlNu_Yxg24GYEuUoIyHhOTDjBk37MdSBG669IqywEYhbuTf0fO1qz_jE_seRwj-0vFYK_k1JmL1AgoUNJK-gCf1-Z6AEaAlb/s800/name050.jpg" /></a></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW3kF6ZodgU_YRYzLKclXiGGTQhTPybMRYabxQzFasRPOm9-U5IkKOxO4F1fMZvTQGTrhKHFL-PA6Jb38sJuypOhK_nhovmXW037D8oYtaEOntMxQ1yI7C4ePZguyM0ynhAEgMG4JE8oYA/s800/name051.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW3kF6ZodgU_YRYzLKclXiGGTQhTPybMRYabxQzFasRPOm9-U5IkKOxO4F1fMZvTQGTrhKHFL-PA6Jb38sJuypOhK_nhovmXW037D8oYtaEOntMxQ1yI7C4ePZguyM0ynhAEgMG4JE8oYA/s800/name051.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Dying my hair black with henna to blend in with the crowd. I also bought brown contact lenses but couldn't get them in.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqzhNkCjnbE82R6gS0aVwSAJCi1h5iGLU1peMaDVImndX0NrCSJGotgrTMojiPxw1gE30Q48zdOTF5RfTItHYqlLydz6I025ElnvpkK9v2eYCAVPkGvGj1CprCZka9tvFtijqAikMCmKwn/s800/name052.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqzhNkCjnbE82R6gS0aVwSAJCi1h5iGLU1peMaDVImndX0NrCSJGotgrTMojiPxw1gE30Q48zdOTF5RfTItHYqlLydz6I025ElnvpkK9v2eYCAVPkGvGj1CprCZka9tvFtijqAikMCmKwn/s800/name052.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">A brief encounter with three guys who we met, had dinner with, and said our farewells to in just two hours.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOz_rQCIy0eXzQwxVSMByVzOX-327ODIPzy53MIsAwBIRIWlPpVR8ZTVK3MYK6BWtRh2wSuMwR_GiPR2NCaEI-OhEksRoeIV5fZTLAYrEA743wSJIdkmrAwxx8nZSX-O1ztHHxzs-1Vm7a/s800/name054.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOz_rQCIy0eXzQwxVSMByVzOX-327ODIPzy53MIsAwBIRIWlPpVR8ZTVK3MYK6BWtRh2wSuMwR_GiPR2NCaEI-OhEksRoeIV5fZTLAYrEA743wSJIdkmrAwxx8nZSX-O1ztHHxzs-1Vm7a/s800/name054.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">They're everywhere...</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsTqeocJLbU8ehtHKGUJE4bdBhdUpczGTmaNweo6tr3N-CrY14_s6jQP8PyIidFyR4jRgJ_BFh6RtU8zm_zHmuSvogGhFi0-q5_6bvBXcYZQ4KWKw8485N50EK4slz6EovWbVCAJVwic03/s800/name055.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsTqeocJLbU8ehtHKGUJE4bdBhdUpczGTmaNweo6tr3N-CrY14_s6jQP8PyIidFyR4jRgJ_BFh6RtU8zm_zHmuSvogGhFi0-q5_6bvBXcYZQ4KWKw8485N50EK4slz6EovWbVCAJVwic03/s800/name055.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">A really nice travel agent who hosted us in Herat. The most strict Muslim I have ever met. He taught me many Islamic "rules" I had never heard before nor since.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJVkKkvo9kdvXsTwxDqVLQPLhVy4rfe_hzmEwm5uKAVUmoP-RzaYk6s5aKiFmhjTvs5gSmT3RE2hU40g-hyvxaLnnwLC55NTjpfETJXw1yLfYfTR_EC0GRC4pM29Stb2P30eG4aODbFFrI/s800/name056.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJVkKkvo9kdvXsTwxDqVLQPLhVy4rfe_hzmEwm5uKAVUmoP-RzaYk6s5aKiFmhjTvs5gSmT3RE2hU40g-hyvxaLnnwLC55NTjpfETJXw1yLfYfTR_EC0GRC4pM29Stb2P30eG4aODbFFrI/s800/name056.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">His children at his house.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO560bGgX88Z82JofoOJTjpo14VCfnDgaXCPHqqdWD_MK4RRE8hLkyaBbZ-sXEy9T4NYRyFCh8vtvIjN_RlKM27L5j-fujPFUb0OPtkZnicZe-uYsM-k0rpht4I8dgKhKxOaERomSzSdFi/s800/name057.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO560bGgX88Z82JofoOJTjpo14VCfnDgaXCPHqqdWD_MK4RRE8hLkyaBbZ-sXEy9T4NYRyFCh8vtvIjN_RlKM27L5j-fujPFUb0OPtkZnicZe-uYsM-k0rpht4I8dgKhKxOaERomSzSdFi/s800/name057.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">We had to try hard to remember the Dari (Afghan) word for this, as "shisha" in Persian means something like "crack"</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPG8m7doIyBlOPPDNvnjlXn0BDl4DutBotBRYND3MbwNH_KZw9xHhEsscL4ofjzggNmtL7gqoX1HSGxwm8Zgurn1zzMH5YeByUQeb7n48mSVhULxFR4juj0B5TksaKGOOvfyehzGSmW4YG/s800/name058.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPG8m7doIyBlOPPDNvnjlXn0BDl4DutBotBRYND3MbwNH_KZw9xHhEsscL4ofjzggNmtL7gqoX1HSGxwm8Zgurn1zzMH5YeByUQeb7n48mSVhULxFR4juj0B5TksaKGOOvfyehzGSmW4YG/s800/name058.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">In the travel agency, booking a flight to Kabul. My bike drawing the eyes of many.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd8ck_IHJ7z_Wm4DQvbsOMV24t_Wz1619N8b1ik2bwmZkO1j2YpRCgM1w-xUMmfE0l5DCMCG1Lq6QZFiMr7OHnLi_YHtJD39O8M9wFCvVk1jnbGwklkukHfFaDG53RTy3K023RoysExxtI/s800/name059.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd8ck_IHJ7z_Wm4DQvbsOMV24t_Wz1619N8b1ik2bwmZkO1j2YpRCgM1w-xUMmfE0l5DCMCG1Lq6QZFiMr7OHnLi_YHtJD39O8M9wFCvVk1jnbGwklkukHfFaDG53RTy3K023RoysExxtI/s800/name059.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">This guy had a small little bike shop and took me to his house to get a cardboard box to put my bike in for the flight.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhams2_LEHuz_7vlglYsCdLXJk47tRoiEPnYzPDKKm_X1RGjyH9kUHPZ0GHgWzyLGZXm2sGqzIYZM9scq6XHAiJZIZQ_c9DqTmhJQzTpiUNuQoCQTwWuTHr9GTFtHw9vNAjA3eO7NdtNenP/s800/name060.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhams2_LEHuz_7vlglYsCdLXJk47tRoiEPnYzPDKKm_X1RGjyH9kUHPZ0GHgWzyLGZXm2sGqzIYZM9scq6XHAiJZIZQ_c9DqTmhJQzTpiUNuQoCQTwWuTHr9GTFtHw9vNAjA3eO7NdtNenP/s800/name060.jpg" /></a></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTumqw032JSFrnVd_6GpVpWbgWh6S2eQINxvm9rk72LLoqUEkmGfo99rbjTgZ1LWSN9DK1obdvQ1PXfJ8YRWaR2XYVX82KFcj1EE1ZDc6Hq4GVWgcA41RzgXXsEjk1Yr-gklXvtC8Gjy9N/s800/name062.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTumqw032JSFrnVd_6GpVpWbgWh6S2eQINxvm9rk72LLoqUEkmGfo99rbjTgZ1LWSN9DK1obdvQ1PXfJ8YRWaR2XYVX82KFcj1EE1ZDc6Hq4GVWgcA41RzgXXsEjk1Yr-gklXvtC8Gjy9N/s800/name062.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Most women in the city wore Burqas </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Very few roads are paved in Afghanistan</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhup15fInCDmCT09rzDCy-2Z5sJrXdHlO-xEHkFwp_JMA0ZBlH-3Hb2uO-afV5q8nN57DRz2uz6Mkx8rGXxePOSbeW5uUq4A21LhXFQiAi3evC3XcVenF_3MRpJJuWzAKrLzznEumzxsReX/s800/name067.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhup15fInCDmCT09rzDCy-2Z5sJrXdHlO-xEHkFwp_JMA0ZBlH-3Hb2uO-afV5q8nN57DRz2uz6Mkx8rGXxePOSbeW5uUq4A21LhXFQiAi3evC3XcVenF_3MRpJJuWzAKrLzznEumzxsReX/s640/name067.jpg" width="480" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">A boy gets his kite stuck in a tree. When the Taliban where in power they outlawed many activities, including kite-flying, barber shops and television</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQa78YuYu3AT7N2vLUXhr3_1bG6E6fA2d5TDsQvFEpvpBiQh3WKXF56qqKKN2KP9SmsD7WqmQq_VmMNNGRUNI0tQkRLuducoXSeLx7LI_GAeyBS0q-OpAHDiN7cykOXTt1Q0SEBUGWcr56/s800/name068.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQa78YuYu3AT7N2vLUXhr3_1bG6E6fA2d5TDsQvFEpvpBiQh3WKXF56qqKKN2KP9SmsD7WqmQq_VmMNNGRUNI0tQkRLuducoXSeLx7LI_GAeyBS0q-OpAHDiN7cykOXTt1Q0SEBUGWcr56/s640/name068.jpg" width="480" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Cute kid who I had many face-pulling competitions with</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcTpz6bxYiYr9Kjf1D8ky-sxfBCtx08756P9t5qzXmEqN98ajK2xWmDIKF1KCudIEI2UGLL35miubsUudsh3Lr-ni5Tt9JE9zmS-etJwZtCJybblHSaFkEU594ydC-ySUVX2PI6SZXJ0zE/s800/name069.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcTpz6bxYiYr9Kjf1D8ky-sxfBCtx08756P9t5qzXmEqN98ajK2xWmDIKF1KCudIEI2UGLL35miubsUudsh3Lr-ni5Tt9JE9zmS-etJwZtCJybblHSaFkEU594ydC-ySUVX2PI6SZXJ0zE/s800/name069.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Two really nice guys who let us stay on the roof of their family house when they saw we had nowhere to sleep.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_l0EbwH3Oul5-eIpW9Hz4isgJyDJYhyphenhyphenGkurMxugiwAnycCllnT_A0RlCIpMsjn1UE0cdWWfoHKaKkhNnQs41a30iZngPnrfCW9kmQB56QVd2YKJc3BkWM-oaRbnzX90YkyCTASWY7n9Fq/s800/name075.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_l0EbwH3Oul5-eIpW9Hz4isgJyDJYhyphenhyphenGkurMxugiwAnycCllnT_A0RlCIpMsjn1UE0cdWWfoHKaKkhNnQs41a30iZngPnrfCW9kmQB56QVd2YKJc3BkWM-oaRbnzX90YkyCTASWY7n9Fq/s800/name075.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">My official airline ticket from Herat to Kabul</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbQBuiDl-gKzrq_6rI5K9DEPtC2OVJsS2BgeA2tIfPFvJi_1XFYaMldDSyOJapjUG7MBnuz1vimbRxIiWiKg0IN5ydpcqokm1eNTGnevYiQOMFtMg5kHvgP7FX8T_E0B8Vi39ih_Lao1hh/s800/name077.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbQBuiDl-gKzrq_6rI5K9DEPtC2OVJsS2BgeA2tIfPFvJi_1XFYaMldDSyOJapjUG7MBnuz1vimbRxIiWiKg0IN5ydpcqokm1eNTGnevYiQOMFtMg5kHvgP7FX8T_E0B8Vi39ih_Lao1hh/s800/name077.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Looking down for the whole journey wondering if we could have cycled it. I didn't see any Taliban!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL9jxcmEqtZ2VAa0z0yUmjLmn7zBH0i3bs3xsUbrR2qTHJ9P9tS9EDt8eQMdqJ6z8svY5HYBf74yP2LmfGM9hLyxF111jEg_QM_2fro-7dU6GeZfXuvLhuSS8NgkaE5x94PAHe-3HZZKF_/s800/name076.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL9jxcmEqtZ2VAa0z0yUmjLmn7zBH0i3bs3xsUbrR2qTHJ9P9tS9EDt8eQMdqJ6z8svY5HYBf74yP2LmfGM9hLyxF111jEg_QM_2fro-7dU6GeZfXuvLhuSS8NgkaE5x94PAHe-3HZZKF_/s800/name076.jpg" /></a></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0gJflGgNN2zmjrK7h-l8FWRmDyY8diwkqKYaPSuiHuL9MGlsCswOpqf3Ruztf8sRuPQU3Reaor9G5oAXAXnvsFoeKH6rKeuAxyv_fddNm2lHNYk1Eptht7l2zk314NADlq_td4-hjRTJY/s800/name078.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0gJflGgNN2zmjrK7h-l8FWRmDyY8diwkqKYaPSuiHuL9MGlsCswOpqf3Ruztf8sRuPQU3Reaor9G5oAXAXnvsFoeKH6rKeuAxyv_fddNm2lHNYk1Eptht7l2zk314NADlq_td4-hjRTJY/s800/name078.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Kabul Arrivals - another plane had just landed bringing people back from the Hajj to Mecca - Chaos ensued.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc4sjUQKlfFHn2k9iThtQhoXl6dbBHKb3hBaxlieSjQMoytLxXn3_buCIukn5XBn6MEIyzNJSY1XrAUFQjPVqJ_ImPP9xRaw_b3UvdZzB9JY2mV-p5XLaJRWojdRDjAQjVJWqbYy-rVyC3/s800/name079.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc4sjUQKlfFHn2k9iThtQhoXl6dbBHKb3hBaxlieSjQMoytLxXn3_buCIukn5XBn6MEIyzNJSY1XrAUFQjPVqJ_ImPP9xRaw_b3UvdZzB9JY2mV-p5XLaJRWojdRDjAQjVJWqbYy-rVyC3/s800/name079.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Out of the storm a beautiful site emerged</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjviNghn1U9CqDbbwfE0y0jhcfEgUA3sGEJJgwY3Kwwl_NfPx3JqOXGI_XFR4iGkdvd7gR_FJhaRWxL7Zsm6A5HVG4mWmGSZ56rmp31tSHh7hOC78k5SXHBqDnbQ063UgHk_ceDJU7tskYp/s800/name080.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjviNghn1U9CqDbbwfE0y0jhcfEgUA3sGEJJgwY3Kwwl_NfPx3JqOXGI_XFR4iGkdvd7gR_FJhaRWxL7Zsm6A5HVG4mWmGSZ56rmp31tSHh7hOC78k5SXHBqDnbQ063UgHk_ceDJU7tskYp/s800/name080.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Our happiness sealed with sticky tape. Two lives crammed into two cardboard boxes - Notice Agustin's pedal, which he couldn't remove, sticking out the box</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">We Couchsurfed with Ali (right) and his girlfriend, Alyssa (not pictured), in Kabul. Alyssa had been travelling in Africa for 3 years but had now landed a job in Kabul - I contacted her months before to get information about the security situation on the ground.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">A Hazy game of pool </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">In Kabul many westerners, including myself initially, don't bother to wear the local Shalwar Kameez</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Afghans eat a lot of meat!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Darul Aman Palace, formerly belonging to the Shar (king) of Afghanistan before the decades of war began. Seiged upon by the Soviets, the Mujahideen and finally the Taliban.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Not just bullet holes, rockets too.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I still don't know what they are guarding</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The whole of Kabul is surrounded by mountains rising 2/300m above the centre. Houses creep up in every small space available.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Agustin doing the tourist thing.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFpb1xd-WEughEvLR3iBuw7IvQGQ_CEvGNEOG5GUiYvqASttFkKjI4XQk11eof79qIUSNqILNC7Ao_c3YmR1bEeve5DReln6GUwB2QP8OV8nJtPescUp7hUeC8ARUOFN8FsTLGtDB6O9TC/s800/name098.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFpb1xd-WEughEvLR3iBuw7IvQGQ_CEvGNEOG5GUiYvqASttFkKjI4XQk11eof79qIUSNqILNC7Ao_c3YmR1bEeve5DReln6GUwB2QP8OV8nJtPescUp7hUeC8ARUOFN8FsTLGtDB6O9TC/s800/name098.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Ali, the only Dari speaker among us, trying to de-escalate the rather escalated situation. The horse owner charged per lap of the field. Agustin made four whole laps, but the owner counted every rotation of the horse, even those on one spot, as a full lap. He claimed 15 laps. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW056a3FM66FaUpukun5TzdW_Wnu8vPyiEl4rAtjVEezVe8OXvD7IFqc_asIH2GqHGmCPtc9xxIoVClmh0funLdeokjVvPvDwcUzGwP22Gc9JlnC5Plwzo83i_5qymeVaVl4ibhxVsBuKl/s800/name099.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW056a3FM66FaUpukun5TzdW_Wnu8vPyiEl4rAtjVEezVe8OXvD7IFqc_asIH2GqHGmCPtc9xxIoVClmh0funLdeokjVvPvDwcUzGwP22Gc9JlnC5Plwzo83i_5qymeVaVl4ibhxVsBuKl/s800/name099.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Locals will always be fascinated to see what westerners have inside their cars. I didn't see any other white people in the whole city who weren't driving blacked out Toyata pick-ups. No exceptions!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1soj3wEU82pH_y3IwzDHZC0-CLnYem7jV39zrhTrubAVtF749jsUJl_6_0xG7HUOfAzPSpGgBcXGOQCWQP8ibjHHKIPT_Kp81v4oQUjxO-IfJvvofarnVhPWHaMQyP86DYV16c3kosQeS/s800/name100.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1soj3wEU82pH_y3IwzDHZC0-CLnYem7jV39zrhTrubAVtF749jsUJl_6_0xG7HUOfAzPSpGgBcXGOQCWQP8ibjHHKIPT_Kp81v4oQUjxO-IfJvvofarnVhPWHaMQyP86DYV16c3kosQeS/s800/name100.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Kabul by night</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWuefbyei1XVVIl7-GmUCjq2Eaaegj4CCxB3yUiAayUKeIX3fn21BhrSeZKIG83IY-YNm86eB-7nyz5UJRTlw4vYtCEdKA3KbafrYHw7WLxfAFsOVilKawIeZuIiqOE6y1ats_tGoAs-hQ/s800/name101.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWuefbyei1XVVIl7-GmUCjq2Eaaegj4CCxB3yUiAayUKeIX3fn21BhrSeZKIG83IY-YNm86eB-7nyz5UJRTlw4vYtCEdKA3KbafrYHw7WLxfAFsOVilKawIeZuIiqOE6y1ats_tGoAs-hQ/s800/name101.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Background: Bush Bazaar. A market selling anything military related. So called from the Bush days as most of the products on sale here are stolen from ambushed NATO supply trucks (supposedly belonging to Bush). A great place for cyclists to buy energy bars, head lamps, winter boots and so on.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_lDgICEC85cmsvSO3hawkYdDWWykdcrn6GUyTIuocadrvett9E5v8lB0QNSnCpGppxSyDusDbqj_46TjHi_LNVo_89VTB9tTSKdm6MwJUgjrPjcz1zHURq2QytBQWvfXM3LYC3mpoy3_y/s800/name104.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_lDgICEC85cmsvSO3hawkYdDWWykdcrn6GUyTIuocadrvett9E5v8lB0QNSnCpGppxSyDusDbqj_46TjHi_LNVo_89VTB9tTSKdm6MwJUgjrPjcz1zHURq2QytBQWvfXM3LYC3mpoy3_y/s800/name104.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">This is the typical layout of a shop. The idea being to get as much stuff as you can on display. There is no "out the back" - if you can't see it, you can't buy it! Afghans work long hours, more than in the West, but take it much easier while doing so, as seen here.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Bicycle shop!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Restaurant</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3XtPEG5PthFXwiXQDZSGT3bUk3CqJhqCk8zsESk8piy3pNrfEM9qVCsyqJHPfqLPZK0a4tJGoJObdB-lx72YHKLR1hF1cAo8seb8VqEJ0H-Jep2XzVNS9kRWSgb41LuapRDK0nIkhiCzk/s800/name109.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3XtPEG5PthFXwiXQDZSGT3bUk3CqJhqCk8zsESk8piy3pNrfEM9qVCsyqJHPfqLPZK0a4tJGoJObdB-lx72YHKLR1hF1cAo8seb8VqEJ0H-Jep2XzVNS9kRWSgb41LuapRDK0nIkhiCzk/s800/name109.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Kabul river runs through the centre of town.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKVsMaj1VS9aS6am6cVFlTf2vakL27Vu1Chy3xGfrEqup0QctKngKb6uYyoHL9CMOq78pwQjtOpJGpH22sRWIpCvmY6-f8DpOLG2YihizWv4kbgpBPXJqyi4bOCOwn1OMxZAIE5s5YaOII/s800/name111.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKVsMaj1VS9aS6am6cVFlTf2vakL27Vu1Chy3xGfrEqup0QctKngKb6uYyoHL9CMOq78pwQjtOpJGpH22sRWIpCvmY6-f8DpOLG2YihizWv4kbgpBPXJqyi4bOCOwn1OMxZAIE5s5YaOII/s800/name111.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The parks leave a lot to be desired. Frequented mostly my heroin addicts.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKWMq_jEWUDqQ_SiaN07Dux_ay1AjJd_qrgRuktpam7QPVq5N-t0hJQmoSa3uXT0yOBDC43PSKQp8cCt7WwIbKG3tGv9TymODoIcl5w6iS-4P0-OQFhICbm7G15vucAGnUFWAl6eiukLa8/s800/name112.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKWMq_jEWUDqQ_SiaN07Dux_ay1AjJd_qrgRuktpam7QPVq5N-t0hJQmoSa3uXT0yOBDC43PSKQp8cCt7WwIbKG3tGv9TymODoIcl5w6iS-4P0-OQFhICbm7G15vucAGnUFWAl6eiukLa8/s800/name112.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">A very unfortunate rubbish truck</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPUpyq-z08MWmZQ9ZenWQx2MVisfwQTsKr9xd3rVX-Dcms9yMTuhXtQ1CjgUp8ad-kV-5Nzfqgo4BRztskBRijHV2nmWUs9qGGKTRuSw-VGqF7P8Y_aBtPkYfUU8w4_nYaiqhkzeYKTccd/s800/name113.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPUpyq-z08MWmZQ9ZenWQx2MVisfwQTsKr9xd3rVX-Dcms9yMTuhXtQ1CjgUp8ad-kV-5Nzfqgo4BRztskBRijHV2nmWUs9qGGKTRuSw-VGqF7P8Y_aBtPkYfUU8w4_nYaiqhkzeYKTccd/s800/name113.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">From the East to Pakistan to Afghanistan!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJrmK_Ez0wXgPXaFK4rXZrbpb1Wi5Eq_v0DKIL8CG7qh9dV2FfDFAastTudWdThyphenhyphen-TIyFAePMhU2CIDTfGevs1hqfcF-XYABZL-ultA43tCc7_OJKg7dL736yfkSAHg6j9AP29ljMZxLen/s800/name114.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJrmK_Ez0wXgPXaFK4rXZrbpb1Wi5Eq_v0DKIL8CG7qh9dV2FfDFAastTudWdThyphenhyphen-TIyFAePMhU2CIDTfGevs1hqfcF-XYABZL-ultA43tCc7_OJKg7dL736yfkSAHg6j9AP29ljMZxLen/s1600/name114.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The 7 storey electronics market selling nothing but TVs, laptops, generators and not much else!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1j81jb-kLvXa49zGgoA7F4yI7bX8LZgY9OqN1CbJrmxhssXpP_AbOyY-82tGVJmlMjJHL8PzNN-azd3l90u4GLf6RwiOstBhIkK1DZ3o8B5SVJaPf_HlyX5HT0931Bhsl98BFrc-lirM8/s800/name115.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1j81jb-kLvXa49zGgoA7F4yI7bX8LZgY9OqN1CbJrmxhssXpP_AbOyY-82tGVJmlMjJHL8PzNN-azd3l90u4GLf6RwiOstBhIkK1DZ3o8B5SVJaPf_HlyX5HT0931Bhsl98BFrc-lirM8/s800/name115.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The blimp that you can see in the sky (centre-left) is used by the American forces to monitor activity on the ground (It is unmanned with cameras). There are a dozen or so scattered above Kabul.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHYByeno6nSdLX9HDIQhdZa13zEYEjIcIPRoglPGbEYr12P4CIrM6xY7IAehV30LuV7tx_gUqCpHmX3B3W3Wt2ja-kyQVRApNAN8LLqRjxpWRSFP5bfooawfdp2MhxTV5Li-idfVrZDD1Q/s800/name116.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHYByeno6nSdLX9HDIQhdZa13zEYEjIcIPRoglPGbEYr12P4CIrM6xY7IAehV30LuV7tx_gUqCpHmX3B3W3Wt2ja-kyQVRApNAN8LLqRjxpWRSFP5bfooawfdp2MhxTV5Li-idfVrZDD1Q/s800/name116.jpg" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT4mWfKqQv1FRQgChWlsF9an0HKfRYQUzF5a6UJyGZ6Mo4x-31EhOG4dWRzNC9p6v60_foYdWoXzhm-oSCWIDiCAO51AlCujj4W6tGOtJC7xMzVYzbSOdQQ_d9XmbET63_XXqhgC7lyQWR/s800/name117.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT4mWfKqQv1FRQgChWlsF9an0HKfRYQUzF5a6UJyGZ6Mo4x-31EhOG4dWRzNC9p6v60_foYdWoXzhm-oSCWIDiCAO51AlCujj4W6tGOtJC7xMzVYzbSOdQQ_d9XmbET63_XXqhgC7lyQWR/s800/name117.jpg" /></a></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiqD8sqlwT9nuImH9ynyPqqvizKmfyWfVjf0641ugKcEo1jKtTQqi17cP8FMw8Js36zLLcRWvvSkbREVCqmTYmRjzb_AMMEn4qCgeX4yk_ishfZY1Nea12OrZ0ffLG5qeW4Q5SD1-ro1NN/s800/name118.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiqD8sqlwT9nuImH9ynyPqqvizKmfyWfVjf0641ugKcEo1jKtTQqi17cP8FMw8Js36zLLcRWvvSkbREVCqmTYmRjzb_AMMEn4qCgeX4yk_ishfZY1Nea12OrZ0ffLG5qeW4Q5SD1-ro1NN/s800/name118.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Dried and threaded dates</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVnn100SSPWdbZmq5gfLmxVwSuMvkTAuwXZefNpuQ52WYzh0fBB7plygLN-GgCpg3QbxcDJIMjtcktMbVK2HCktzXkPhoT_ixrAFE5rp-eEai7-tng23uKvr-SIqrhLQiY4JzDyRJx_tMw/s800/name119.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVnn100SSPWdbZmq5gfLmxVwSuMvkTAuwXZefNpuQ52WYzh0fBB7plygLN-GgCpg3QbxcDJIMjtcktMbVK2HCktzXkPhoT_ixrAFE5rp-eEai7-tng23uKvr-SIqrhLQiY4JzDyRJx_tMw/s800/name119.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Pakols on sale</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw29Cy5fDikbrCbr9xY_NoSPdK6yCynwi6ApCuAh994gj4LOx4-HPsCVMegyxGfEua67Yf9WjveOypjpRBftMqBk410mDfucjlAzxO8KL1nSCwQ6RC5TUOiQyI8c_fNWWUkgd3drJ4iOQO/s800/name120.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw29Cy5fDikbrCbr9xY_NoSPdK6yCynwi6ApCuAh994gj4LOx4-HPsCVMegyxGfEua67Yf9WjveOypjpRBftMqBk410mDfucjlAzxO8KL1nSCwQ6RC5TUOiQyI8c_fNWWUkgd3drJ4iOQO/s1600/name120.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Hijabs for women. These scarves would have been deemed too colourful during Taliban times.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUR__ew4Y_YleTWBmmg6jpM2RjUYTbDG8GPP__t8kDL0HEmTwH8jMCqZFv0C1P4e52EQeGWce56fF3mIy1yQ9V1Uq1ezD4BtXDTnvXs3bhPfHEXpQDakrMn1TqOLauGeOpkj1hkchyhwgi/s800/name121.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUR__ew4Y_YleTWBmmg6jpM2RjUYTbDG8GPP__t8kDL0HEmTwH8jMCqZFv0C1P4e52EQeGWce56fF3mIy1yQ9V1Uq1ezD4BtXDTnvXs3bhPfHEXpQDakrMn1TqOLauGeOpkj1hkchyhwgi/s800/name121.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I tried but failed to understand what was going on here. I saw many kids picking up old Monster cans (which I never saw on sale), stretching them out and filling them with something else before reselling them.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAOXpKPYt18yvMprZ0IuMOjNzwQLcSUxZKO06e3jDxPO3FLjoUKMhWBlVFjch6I3xCAVtSDRS3-MBqVjo_CpjK8NA4T7KYDiTqQiP6TCOsfp77bGaUdq2CMTIUhLcmhe5RCBwU2Cf-D9Fi/s800/name122.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAOXpKPYt18yvMprZ0IuMOjNzwQLcSUxZKO06e3jDxPO3FLjoUKMhWBlVFjch6I3xCAVtSDRS3-MBqVjo_CpjK8NA4T7KYDiTqQiP6TCOsfp77bGaUdq2CMTIUhLcmhe5RCBwU2Cf-D9Fi/s800/name122.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioTZleB7D3YHE60oKS2Hsq_LcDizC3kexJQ9E2w09tzTEbsB1r9o9OWHkp0wuB6r-snF4aa_Ue2xQf1YH657e4smYQ0ZWW6Db4T3bs0Q9WkgX5k-VQpU35LVGD0NYI7RzWMYpjHz87x_95/s800/name123.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioTZleB7D3YHE60oKS2Hsq_LcDizC3kexJQ9E2w09tzTEbsB1r9o9OWHkp0wuB6r-snF4aa_Ue2xQf1YH657e4smYQ0ZWW6Db4T3bs0Q9WkgX5k-VQpU35LVGD0NYI7RzWMYpjHz87x_95/s800/name123.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Spices</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgEZl0UG7S8uNeBPIfLN1vEpCa82sfpIgW2JTg5GU0zxS_3OmX-ss3gEDX_PuAd1zdrPxJ26GaPIl2pWy8LAVLZ9Yw8xfg2xX0GJtjP95hPe_KzPKagiLf5hp5-9b3cbhAD7_R_RJbPsbM/s800/name124.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgEZl0UG7S8uNeBPIfLN1vEpCa82sfpIgW2JTg5GU0zxS_3OmX-ss3gEDX_PuAd1zdrPxJ26GaPIl2pWy8LAVLZ9Yw8xfg2xX0GJtjP95hPe_KzPKagiLf5hp5-9b3cbhAD7_R_RJbPsbM/s800/name124.jpg" /></a></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgurXJ5fNgleG5tRKktiJBDRdqi7Tvja9PbweKOkqfEh0Oq7bux0CrpZjXUaI4HNIWcSOLVoyUS0Qb41YfuIotGSimCKk72quuOmOalwGu9mVi6_CMAs1u9eC3k56ua_NvxfOMXr7kedvW/s800/name125.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgurXJ5fNgleG5tRKktiJBDRdqi7Tvja9PbweKOkqfEh0Oq7bux0CrpZjXUaI4HNIWcSOLVoyUS0Qb41YfuIotGSimCKk72quuOmOalwGu9mVi6_CMAs1u9eC3k56ua_NvxfOMXr7kedvW/s800/name125.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Considering that Afghanistan is landlocked and has a very slow transport system, I'd be reluctant to buy unrefrigerated fish here.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhihuBhdSxD94ADtRhqvq_PTkih-0xklR9_BbIg-Ya-7seElcUqvYF6SEocNC8IDMtfcA6_BRjp-Hdd3YbIMQdZSsv3CHuADXzl3YbA5LJXwAqal__8zS8rPFDa6rpztrOTHEnpErmqJI3M/s800/name126.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhihuBhdSxD94ADtRhqvq_PTkih-0xklR9_BbIg-Ya-7seElcUqvYF6SEocNC8IDMtfcA6_BRjp-Hdd3YbIMQdZSsv3CHuADXzl3YbA5LJXwAqal__8zS8rPFDa6rpztrOTHEnpErmqJI3M/s800/name126.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">DIY bazaar</span></td></tr>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="450" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/aeFSdYyBENM?rel=0" width="800"></iframe>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl-YxO9HpjbtKhjDV2ijClRjFjgJvdtzA5ml188OQEd5gqiNsSHkKbxmJyTyS0W_ZTSCv2iMxKWFyATK_1uAv5c5K41YBCmHD3EEXCDyoVE7GwJYLyk1Dah6qdy3Up1dt1Hi3Up1h-HPQZ/s800/name127.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl-YxO9HpjbtKhjDV2ijClRjFjgJvdtzA5ml188OQEd5gqiNsSHkKbxmJyTyS0W_ZTSCv2iMxKWFyATK_1uAv5c5K41YBCmHD3EEXCDyoVE7GwJYLyk1Dah6qdy3Up1dt1Hi3Up1h-HPQZ/s1600/name127.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">People selling whatever they have. I'd imagine it's impossible to find what you're looking for here.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtDCnRyz1eaJiE8bqhbh4fFxHiW37uqgBfmT-xvWCYBkc_oP77nMBZruI2gy94f5j75QDdffbGmSEeK1PylogI8Z7EYFYy1fEhQEyw2fYOay37NayzKi6JINUWysRuRLSzvqasteBjv_OC/s800/name128.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtDCnRyz1eaJiE8bqhbh4fFxHiW37uqgBfmT-xvWCYBkc_oP77nMBZruI2gy94f5j75QDdffbGmSEeK1PylogI8Z7EYFYy1fEhQEyw2fYOay37NayzKi6JINUWysRuRLSzvqasteBjv_OC/s800/name128.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Popcorn!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglFJtVw8SwNqcRSe5-1cfE7AbXO20cIWCcxs9oXSNYU2dbbsKDCN65T-pI8BlbJo-K0aQB8NIkA106ekjvkFnjuT6hXzwyPZ7x4SpEGXipw_rMhvSdGIwkO8ECUSsJQgp1D4KbedFECEQg/s800/name129.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglFJtVw8SwNqcRSe5-1cfE7AbXO20cIWCcxs9oXSNYU2dbbsKDCN65T-pI8BlbJo-K0aQB8NIkA106ekjvkFnjuT6hXzwyPZ7x4SpEGXipw_rMhvSdGIwkO8ECUSsJQgp1D4KbedFECEQg/s800/name129.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Carrot and Banana smoothies</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4Yh50MsSjh3iMCj841-ZjDWXE6pU9jPnVGQDUx4zsNCxwbOr9ONsXu7d6vw1-083US-_H7FK46Rp-2qjzozYdUJTn4nOKXj0k4Nd4wPUJ6lcOufnn_CiZSe5r3SlgWPOulHY6fwo2tOOU/s800/name130.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4Yh50MsSjh3iMCj841-ZjDWXE6pU9jPnVGQDUx4zsNCxwbOr9ONsXu7d6vw1-083US-_H7FK46Rp-2qjzozYdUJTn4nOKXj0k4Nd4wPUJ6lcOufnn_CiZSe5r3SlgWPOulHY6fwo2tOOU/s1600/name130.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Exchanging money always drew a crowd. We were apprehended by police for the fourth time that day about 5 seconds after I took this photo.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">This man was a hero, making eating pomegranates a true pleasure. Afghans often add salt.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">While trying to avoid the checkpoints and get to the bus station at 4am in the morning I had the opportunity to witness what happens at night on the streets. Unfortunately I deleted a photo of dozens of homeless market stall owners sleeping in lines on the street next to tiny fires made from litter.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Cycling in the Kunduz desert on my way out of Afghanistan to Tajikstan.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I reached the Afghan/Tajik border at around 8pm and was told it was closed and that I must sleep in the last town. I wasn't happy about this but one of the soldiers showed me a safe place to sleep. On the way there a blacked-out Toyota Land Cruiser rolled its windows down. It was the chief of police. I told him I didn't think it was safe for me to go back to the town and so he opened the border for me!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>I am making this journey from England to India in aid of St. Margaret's Hospice. To read a short paragraph about why I want to help them raise funds and to donate</b> <i><a href="http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/englandtoindia" target="_blank"><b>please click here.</b></a></i></span></div>
Judehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05996912167887879684noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7930417312752206140.post-58583712371453252162013-01-19T05:04:00.000-08:002013-01-23T20:50:27.626-08:00"Jude's Desert Dash Home"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Update 24/01/2013</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>I wish I had time to give more thought as to what to write. Nanny passed away peacefully early in the morning of the 20th of January with her daughters by her side. I have left the post below unchanged.</b><i><b><br /></b></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i><b> </b> </i></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0qmoGQpES9j-kbyyyTmFDYKyMFNj0O92x70H1h1YyJMyNgdx39TvpwCxuBx4Zy79Y2eV_sc5XzTKh3l4ueSFqsdgSFP30NykkHD6-4U_r_R-fd-NTEkzBcXeI5Y2QTJa1VpyK5hNtZu5E/s1600/IMG_0075.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0qmoGQpES9j-kbyyyTmFDYKyMFNj0O92x70H1h1YyJMyNgdx39TvpwCxuBx4Zy79Y2eV_sc5XzTKh3l4ueSFqsdgSFP30NykkHD6-4U_r_R-fd-NTEkzBcXeI5Y2QTJa1VpyK5hNtZu5E/s320/IMG_0075.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Together in St. Margaret's Hospice - December 2012</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i>For the best view of the photos in this blog I recommend hitting the 'F11' key to go full-screen.</i> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">On the afternoon of the 8th of December, 2012 I was sat on the western shore of Lake Iskanderkul, Tajikistan, pictured below, hoping that the path beyond Iskanderkul would lead me to another road. It was that or I would have to turn around and track back on my last few days' progress. I had cycled about 9,900km over 6 months from England to get there.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Fast-forward two days and I wasn't further into the mountains as hoped, instead I was sleeping in a double bed in my parents' new house in Bath, England. How on Earth could something like this happen?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5E_gRGzC34N5K1Ss0IBUlwQD0KNdsIHxFg9nzZtiTFv_IGacLWPoal2ooXdhH56zX6J4DF9m3yr01Y7fZ9beYCMgfZN56WqRndJkfwPUzzWi83hprgu7RXxhiftC861MZ3wJw3bwP1g-m/s1600/DSC_0489.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5E_gRGzC34N5K1Ss0IBUlwQD0KNdsIHxFg9nzZtiTFv_IGacLWPoal2ooXdhH56zX6J4DF9m3yr01Y7fZ9beYCMgfZN56WqRndJkfwPUzzWi83hprgu7RXxhiftC861MZ3wJw3bwP1g-m/s850/DSC_0489.JPG" /></a>Thankfully, I hadn't decided to give up on my trip. Far from it. It had taken me a few days of hard cycling through snow and the most polluted tunnel I hope to ever venture into to get to those crystal clear waters of Iskanderkul, and I was in the mood for rest and thoughtfulness as I let the low sun dry my sleeping equipment.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">As a thousand people have written before; being in such a place, so far away from people and our civilisation, our take on the world, high up in the stone cold mountains, untouched and unchanged for years gone by invokes a feeling inside of the witness. It is a feeling of realisation, clarity and of a different understanding.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">In fact, it didn't matter how far away I was from civilisation; all that mattered was that civilisation wasn't there, in that spot where I was. And it didn't matter what my thoughts on humanity were. This place was not bliss because it was better than human civilisation. This place was bliss because it couldn't be judged, there was no opinion to form on whether I thought it was right or wrong, loving or hateful; this was an area of Earth which simply was. It was rock and water, air and frost, light and dark as it always had been. I suppose, when one spends so much of one's life in a world shaped and formed by humans, the relief comes in being able to witness the way the world was before we had our say.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqe9B2eWZZI4fbgb7iRj0HnDin3iEYOI1F1_Q7-fXXrwx1u-JhTMThWR6TDtL8Y4frPs9ueQqHfXDAVlARH3nIYqhBy9WQ-IEws4qxzovaqgf49mVtYnvUap16n3Cev8w9fZ53ARbcka3c/s850/SAM_1642.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqe9B2eWZZI4fbgb7iRj0HnDin3iEYOI1F1_Q7-fXXrwx1u-JhTMThWR6TDtL8Y4frPs9ueQqHfXDAVlARH3nIYqhBy9WQ-IEws4qxzovaqgf49mVtYnvUap16n3Cev8w9fZ53ARbcka3c/s850/SAM_1642.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Taken on the flight from Istanbul to Dushanbe</span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">One of the subjects on my mind on that contemplative afternoon was my very poorly grandmother, who was receiving care in St. Margaret's Hospice. When I left England six months earlier I knew there was a chance that I may not see her again. At the same time, however, I had originally expected to reach India and fly back to England by December. So my mind wasn't sure. Now, thanks to the wonders of modern technology, sat by that lake, I was almost certain that if I continued my trip at its current pace, I would have very little chance of seeing Nanny. And it was only then that I decided that I wasn't ok with this; I wanted to see her one more time.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Panic, emotion, and amazing logistical organisation ensued. Unfortunately, that morning I had decided to unpack and air almost all of my belongings meaning that getting out of there wasn't going to be straightforward. I was convinced that in my rushed thinking, with my eyes welled up, I was going to forget something. Almost every day for the last few months I had been telling myself that I was at peace with the idea of not seeing Nanny again, as life must take its course and I must continue my journey. Now I had finally given up being strong, I knew that I did in fact have emotion relating to this matter and that only listening to my rational thoughts was no longer the way I would deal with this.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">It was 24km along a steep dirt-track, ruined by landslides, before I
could get to the asphalt road leading back to the capital. I stopped
only once, to look back and take a of photo of a place which I would never
have imagined would turn out to be so important to me. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjisCLO5ceCis017Hota2tFblq_Zupu1A6VVvQxX-ZpWL1lCidF2mnx1ykcjaSgTBMQYruaJjY-3cmQdb_DDrpwWVRXKYe1DIosDowZrSepiMD2JuX2WjMDL_uzBlRkC2ojm4m_EsK9SuT/s850/SAM_1616.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjisCLO5ceCis017Hota2tFblq_Zupu1A6VVvQxX-ZpWL1lCidF2mnx1ykcjaSgTBMQYruaJjY-3cmQdb_DDrpwWVRXKYe1DIosDowZrSepiMD2JuX2WjMDL_uzBlRkC2ojm4m_EsK9SuT/s850/SAM_1616.JPG" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Lake Iskanderkul</span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I knew that once I got back to the main road I had two choices; cycle back up the 1,100m vertical ascent, so steep that I had been overtaking cars when coming down it the day before, to the Anzob tunnel (pictured below from when I passed through it coming the other way) or stick my hand out and try and hitch a lift for the first time ever.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdQk-LEPTgOaLf_eSLPIUAcuGFUNoEqkLaTJLRpLBCMG_T1ymWG1N1LqLRGBUVsEvGeJYjQrozXrQYnypvSTw6IqCLnwzimRy3xsUb5PrF3FG3IQQYp1DamYw0hw3bmU_iPpFTXExbACnY/s1600/SAM_1572.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdQk-LEPTgOaLf_eSLPIUAcuGFUNoEqkLaTJLRpLBCMG_T1ymWG1N1LqLRGBUVsEvGeJYjQrozXrQYnypvSTw6IqCLnwzimRy3xsUb5PrF3FG3IQQYp1DamYw0hw3bmU_iPpFTXExbACnY/s850/SAM_1572.JPG" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Pollution in the 5km long unventilated and unlit Anzob Tunnel</span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Thanfully I quickly found a good spot to try and hitch from; a bus stop with plenty of space for a truck to pull into. The only vehicles I'd seen before on this road were shared 4x4 'taxis' and haulage trucks. In my mind I was hoping to be offered a ride by a truck, as the taxis often have nine or ten people in and are packed full of luggage.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The first Jeep came past and I stuck my hand out, palm faced to the ground, and gestured for it to slow down (sticking your thumb up isn't recognised in these parts and in Iran traditionally means the same as a middle finger). Of course I had no chance, even if there was a spare seat; the roof and boot had no space for my large bike.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">A couple of minutes later a truck passed. I was more hopeful. I added some desperate facial gestures to my hand movements to try and convince the driver. As he passed he lifted both hands in the air as if to say "there's nothing I can do".</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">At this point I decided that if I couldn't get a lift before dark I would cycle up the mountain at night, sleep at the top for one or two hours and free-wheel down to Dushanbe in the morning. I really was desperate, I didn't know whether I had 24, 48 or 72 hours to get back.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I decided that I needed to be tough in my mind. I called upon my old mindset I used when working as a cold-calling telesales person. Rejection came just about every phone call and it didn't phase me then so I wouldn't let it phase me standing on the side of the road in this foreign country, feeling helplessly stuck, either.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The third vehicle I saw was another 4x4, all its windows blacked out. There's a lot of narcotics money in Tajikstan, which shares a 1,300km border with Afghanistan, a country which produces 90% of the world's opiates. One kilogram of heroin in Dushanbe is worth about $5,000 but on the streets of Europe's cities is worth hundreds of thousands. It's not hard to see why Dushanbe has an extremely high proportion of Mercedes-Benz compared to any other city in the world.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The driver, who I couldn't see, ignored me and drove straight past. I looked around to check its number plate; often blacked out cars will have fancy registrations, or 'UN' at the start if it's a diplomatic car. To my surprise, before I could focus on the characters on the back of the car, dust lifted off the road as the white vehicle skidded to a stop.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Without hesitation I ran up to the passenger window. A man in his thirties leant over from the driver's seat and said "sorry, I thought you were Tajik. Can I help you?" I've found that in many poor countries the elite, or at least the nouveau riche, talk horribly of their own people as if they themselves didn't belong to their own country. "I'd never stop for a Tajik person, they cause all sorts of problems", the Tajik man explained.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">My luck had been incredible. The third car to pass happened to be as empty a 4x4 as is possible; one driver, no passengers and no luggage. We collapsed the back seats and my bicycle fitted in perfectly.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Two hours later and I was sat in the dark outside 'Mervin' fast food restaurant, using the free wifi to try and research flights from Dushanbe to London which is no simple feat. Until the very last minute, my journey home and back to Dushanbe was going to consist of six separate flights including two operated by airlines banned from Europe for appalling safety records.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I was researching flights for so long that I got through both my laptop batteries and had missed the opportunity to meet some local people to find a place to stay. This wasn't a problem in my mind, I would happily sleep in the park if it meant I could have the freedom of not having to be polite and hang around with kind hosts.</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1Rr7dE2xhskd5e1Lha33geB6oiMl9PwZsK5q6Klikxu_zcioeZR4PhvAS1VUdzs7ayiJXCP8nqgexRf0jJeo94h5LOWjt6bqC-w4jaU4_kyXi-8lmpt1gzOn1078s8RztryWM8ciFdWxx/s1050/SAM_1622.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1Rr7dE2xhskd5e1Lha33geB6oiMl9PwZsK5q6Klikxu_zcioeZR4PhvAS1VUdzs7ayiJXCP8nqgexRf0jJeo94h5LOWjt6bqC-w4jaU4_kyXi-8lmpt1gzOn1078s8RztryWM8ciFdWxx/s1050/SAM_1622.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">It's hard to call this "wild camping" and it certainly wasn't "stealth camping" - Left, Parliament. Right, The President's Palace</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The next day was spent confirming flights over multiple Skype conversations with my father and trying to find somewhere to leave my bike for a month. As I'd never had such an unprecedented opportunity like this before, there were many new things I had to think about. I could take some rarely used equipment home that I didn't want to throw away, I could buy gifts for my family and I could try and find something that's cheap in Dushanbe that I could sell in England (other than opiates).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I found somewhere for my bike, bought a load of cheese to give to my family (which I ended up eating 99% of as they didn't like it) and decided what stuff to take back with me.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I would fly from Dushanbe to Istanbul and then on to London. My flight was at 4am the next day. Being Tajikistan, it didn't leave the ground until 2pm. Thankfully I had booked both my flights with one airline, meaning that when I knew I would miss my connection I called them and they gave me a later flight from Istanbul. Even though I was given a later connecting fight, I still only just made it. I pushed in front of every single queue in the international transfers section of Istanbul airport and arrived at the gate without even a boarding pass; all I had was my passport. I made it with five minutes to go.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Once back in England, the first thing that happened to me was that I received a fine for not having a ticket on the Heathrow Express service to Paddington. The guard on the train told me that I either had to buy for a ticket for £30 or they would send me back to Heathrow. I told them that I'm sure they're not allowed to physically force me to go back. I was in a determined mood; I only had one more connection to make and I'd be home.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">In the end I did get to see Nanny at the Hospice, three times in fact. Having briefly gone home, she is now back at St. Margaret's meaning the whole family, Nanny included, can enjoy the rest of her time a little bit more. Although she's not doing too well now, it was great to be able to see her cheery smile again, talk to her about my trip and show her the newspaper articles about my fundraising efforts for the Hospice.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>If you would like to donate to St. Margaret's Hospice please <a href="http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserProfilePage.action?userUrl=englandtoindia" target="_blank">click here.</a></b></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzhcXcnHFuS1NSZ0CdDRPQal0usSBueW8KDKR3O6HFucCtmHNTGZwnMZTVVieuwptkCRYYTzymJPOEQtT0jo-HzI5an7tELmgy4XpxMEJGxl8dTysfhlev6IceeLhY_8VvurpaF9M6p7b3/s850/SAM_1644.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzhcXcnHFuS1NSZ0CdDRPQal0usSBueW8KDKR3O6HFucCtmHNTGZwnMZTVVieuwptkCRYYTzymJPOEQtT0jo-HzI5an7tELmgy4XpxMEJGxl8dTysfhlev6IceeLhY_8VvurpaF9M6p7b3/s850/SAM_1644.jpg" style="cursor: move;" /></a></td></tr>
<tr align="center"><td class="tr-caption">Dushanbe</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Here are a few online versions of England to India press coverage from while I was home:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="http://www.thisisbath.co.uk/Bath-marathon-cyclist-Jude-Kriwald-ready-continue/story-17782013-detail/story.html" target="_blank">Bath marathon cyclist Jude Kriwald ready to continue epic ride for charity - Western Gazette</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="http://www.yeovilpeople.co.uk/Jude-ready-continue-epic-ride-charity/story-17781999-detail/story.html" target="_blank">Jude ready to continue epic ride for charity - Yeovil People</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="http://www.somersetcountygazette.co.uk/news/10138642.Cyclist_returns_from_6_000_challenge_to_visit_sick_Taunton_grandmother/" target="_blank">Cyclist returns from 6,000 mile challenge to visit sick Taunton grandmother - Somerset County Gazette </a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i>I
am now back in Tajikistan and continuing my trip as before. I have been riding here for just over a week
which I will write about in the next few days. I realise that I have
yet to write anything about my time in Afghanistan, so that will come
soon too.</i></span> </i></span> </div>
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Judehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05996912167887879684noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7930417312752206140.post-390541923682699512012-12-26T03:28:00.000-08:002012-12-29T08:38:53.221-08:002 Months in Iran - The Most Hospitable Country in the World <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Just before I produce a written account of my fantastic stay in Iran, I would like to show you a YouTube slideshow of my favourite photos from the 2 months I spent there.<br />
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Of course, it was the people of Iran who made my visit so memorable. The people introduced me to and gave me more Persian food then I had previously thought was ever possible to eat, they played me the spectacular music of their culture (the modern stuff can take a while to get used to but the pre-revolution music is simply beautiful) and they engaged me in their varying and insightful opinions on Iranian and world politics.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/V2rFyTBap4c?rel=0" width="640"></iframe>
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While I owe much to the Iranian people for convincing me that their country is the most hospitable in the world, I dedicate this video to my two cycling companions in Iran; Rob, my old friend from England, who was with me all the way to Tehran, and Agustin, the Spaniard who I met on the road who happened to be cycling the same route as me for the entire country. While I am happy to be taking on the great mountains alone once again, my greatest memories from this beautiful country were undoubtedly shared with them.<br />
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<a href="http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/englandtoindia" target="_blank">I am cycling from England to India in aid of St. Margaret's Hospice. Please click here to donate. </a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://twitter.com/England2India" target="_blank">Follow me on Twitter.</a></div>
Judehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05996912167887879684noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7930417312752206140.post-53641627729686177762012-12-21T11:02:00.000-08:002012-12-21T11:12:41.263-08:00Press Images<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkMjFsN63xtzd88Xx5bhnL2PBpa0PM5AtPTzRyBJgmVK2R2bFJEQjOBLFH20Qf5tWwK7cNgs-CUauia7nlF27uox9Zr4QCL8AE94XqPH5yahnsk70LMYt0kTrIpikwew_GJWEXtUI-eDqL/s1600/agustin67.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkMjFsN63xtzd88Xx5bhnL2PBpa0PM5AtPTzRyBJgmVK2R2bFJEQjOBLFH20Qf5tWwK7cNgs-CUauia7nlF27uox9Zr4QCL8AE94XqPH5yahnsk70LMYt0kTrIpikwew_GJWEXtUI-eDqL/s1600/agustin67.jpg" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIgkPanMFxrCiTKUtn-9Hjr3JqQAQTmyUYI9DGTivRPIODmQn0j5qSlA-9AhUaWHP77LzsZUTjbQv_m8vFNBAqeskqKldqUvRCegs7EJpFwJkPbahf5NKUH1IjRLy2evjJPZvfgiAcuxdl/s1600/agustin70.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIgkPanMFxrCiTKUtn-9Hjr3JqQAQTmyUYI9DGTivRPIODmQn0j5qSlA-9AhUaWHP77LzsZUTjbQv_m8vFNBAqeskqKldqUvRCegs7EJpFwJkPbahf5NKUH1IjRLy2evjJPZvfgiAcuxdl/s1600/agustin70.jpg" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaHth4jDSg0sIxASo65rXunr6kzO0UbrVF3_yYurpBf14Cm8X1DdUETV3eNgnFNIyzikG7d57eRk4wW1oHCpDRVNJJ84dOtC2JorQkVXuveSO5FY0l79lSPFdnVDKErib03J8jHya1Vn5U/s1600/80338343-3207562.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaHth4jDSg0sIxASo65rXunr6kzO0UbrVF3_yYurpBf14Cm8X1DdUETV3eNgnFNIyzikG7d57eRk4wW1oHCpDRVNJJ84dOtC2JorQkVXuveSO5FY0l79lSPFdnVDKErib03J8jHya1Vn5U/s1600/80338343-3207562.jpg" /></a></div>
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Judehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05996912167887879684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7930417312752206140.post-13698917043186864662012-09-13T04:14:00.000-07:002012-09-15T06:12:19.704-07:00Crossing Turkey<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="text-align: left;">Turkey has been very good to me. I have met more locals and tourists here than anywhere else on my journey. Not a single day goes by in which I don't drink çay (tea) with Turks or Kurds on the side of the road, whether it be outside a cafe, in a dominoes room (the equivalent of bingo in Turkey) or someone's home.</span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">The majority of these photos are from Samsun onwards. In Samsun my friend from England, Rob, joined the expedition for three weeks, to Tehran. We rode along the Black Sea for four days before turning south and crossing multiple mountain ranges. The first day of climbing saw us pedal for five and a half hours from 120m to 2640m. The next day the map showed that we had to do two 2,300m passes, nothing compared to the day before. As it turned out, just when we thought we'd done our final pass and could roll downhill, a third mountain pass popped up which required conquering.</span></div>
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This meant we didn't stop cycling until hours after sunset. We found a quarry with dozens of trucks in and asked if we could sleep there. No one spoke English but the workers invited us in for dinner. After thirty or so minutes of stuffing our faces and having our photos taken someone gestured to say they'd found us a bed. We slept in a 6-bed dorm with the quarry workers who woke up at various times in the night to get working.</div>
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Below are 60 photos from Istanbul to Erzurum, and one video of climbing the big mountain pass. As you can tell, I am rushing, we are trying to get to Iran in three days and there's a nasty headwind outside!</div>
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The first night away from Istanbul and missing people already</div>
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Climbing over a 900m pass while the motorway stayed low, using tunnels </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLMI5gFcMAO3yU_v4SkViXXeW8rfBbGID9552ykMtDeRJtGEXPxnZguYQSSIPEfHYEHsllCtpFD8r41k2vGNgYHw5VLEnQ4I6YSk_czR2Upu_3L97Za3mV4sKQS77zZkUSE47yPYNmOn5_/s1600/DSC_0379.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLMI5gFcMAO3yU_v4SkViXXeW8rfBbGID9552ykMtDeRJtGEXPxnZguYQSSIPEfHYEHsllCtpFD8r41k2vGNgYHw5VLEnQ4I6YSk_czR2Upu_3L97Za3mV4sKQS77zZkUSE47yPYNmOn5_/s640/DSC_0379.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Four days to Samsun </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This photo took me all day to get, the lake is created by a dam 3km to the south</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkURvcNvovJzdKY6Y9MGSUAF9FaOJqz46c1ZKa5GEFOnKjjpjyV3O8KyScnuoDI7Z_7jY8Zu_svNndg_mmQ-rgqE3lVQw0csJU0fSSrauO9jeKsfOVXr1XpIzEtfbn7Oumu0AAW3tJDL6A/s1600/SAM_0788.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkURvcNvovJzdKY6Y9MGSUAF9FaOJqz46c1ZKa5GEFOnKjjpjyV3O8KyScnuoDI7Z_7jY8Zu_svNndg_mmQ-rgqE3lVQw0csJU0fSSrauO9jeKsfOVXr1XpIzEtfbn7Oumu0AAW3tJDL6A/s640/SAM_0788.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Found Rob sitting on a bench in Samsun - Unpacking</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHt8YTvjYpsXlI2CxyUWk-xEdGnaqkUyXp7GVYMteG5bhoGHFZ1jo8J9O2LEJm4GJSfURP00CLx_35KYMO9jOyxrhQ4I6hhQXPYZQuiBbzDLz02p01XfDq6X1k9EXHP7-bGhkepEPgq8Gz/s1600/SAM_0789.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHt8YTvjYpsXlI2CxyUWk-xEdGnaqkUyXp7GVYMteG5bhoGHFZ1jo8J9O2LEJm4GJSfURP00CLx_35KYMO9jOyxrhQ4I6hhQXPYZQuiBbzDLz02p01XfDq6X1k9EXHP7-bGhkepEPgq8Gz/s640/SAM_0789.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My Rubik's cube, brought from England by Rob - expertly wrapped by my dad</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJt9_QyI1cI6N6p7pwBYQGM1Q8pdqql-s852zGfdjOvbMGzvhrTvNDU4MKdETWFkMJUNmcG41lWgQXPm3Pfs13BdCJ9PAuo1xFpQxc_eq9E0PzXQRfKrZr1Kpbb37mbQ5gHWWIAm-xLoDs/s1600/SAM_0791.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJt9_QyI1cI6N6p7pwBYQGM1Q8pdqql-s852zGfdjOvbMGzvhrTvNDU4MKdETWFkMJUNmcG41lWgQXPm3Pfs13BdCJ9PAuo1xFpQxc_eq9E0PzXQRfKrZr1Kpbb37mbQ5gHWWIAm-xLoDs/s640/SAM_0791.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Camping on Samsun beach with Agustin</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_zs8L2E__pdl0baF_1ANxeYR5DcvjnYyn4AmJfVpaDYHsk6hJbhcQqEub_F678gtQQt8ttONKwjIIvQZfc1KshBtxTTjWKUES8R_O5mfSenrduYjOnT0RpHEYVkkoRNw5dazoJFksJLkD/s1600/SAM_0792.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_zs8L2E__pdl0baF_1ANxeYR5DcvjnYyn4AmJfVpaDYHsk6hJbhcQqEub_F678gtQQt8ttONKwjIIvQZfc1KshBtxTTjWKUES8R_O5mfSenrduYjOnT0RpHEYVkkoRNw5dazoJFksJLkD/s640/SAM_0792.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rob's 1st day - The rear rack detached at the top, causing all his luggage to fall onto the road</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7QRt9K4RipQnTTQ2GMeTSOTB24vQaY1xCnzI0c73SRhxktcOdRsDjyenbCfLg7NgOYL6uYOlhPTRM4TFXtNRI0Vny3n2GflwmKNfbp-b6Ax_vN_6CD6TbM3LI63V1jonV7KPi5v7KOno0/s1600/SAM_0793.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7QRt9K4RipQnTTQ2GMeTSOTB24vQaY1xCnzI0c73SRhxktcOdRsDjyenbCfLg7NgOYL6uYOlhPTRM4TFXtNRI0Vny3n2GflwmKNfbp-b6Ax_vN_6CD6TbM3LI63V1jonV7KPi5v7KOno0/s640/SAM_0793.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The view from my tent the next morning</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU-C5r0SjpY5kJhHr79nouxcHa8wb_Xshyphenhyphen1j2Z5PcfyXnOta5QVgZEwY9NEpiyTfGVAySszCInjj2L56hXteaJEb7XgwfcDY_pu2tC-jRXNxJW_S2tY3yzm65JPsZkD4GMsqKZLvr17cTu/s1600/Rob1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU-C5r0SjpY5kJhHr79nouxcHa8wb_Xshyphenhyphen1j2Z5PcfyXnOta5QVgZEwY9NEpiyTfGVAySszCInjj2L56hXteaJEb7XgwfcDY_pu2tC-jRXNxJW_S2tY3yzm65JPsZkD4GMsqKZLvr17cTu/s640/Rob1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Route planning in a petrol station with free çay</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMj-k6XgBDOgaCKyCGT4ApZ_tgWSC_OVGv6WRc3u8Hh8McxQFRVjdUZ2rnYqMZnjKjU_N5kSTWa0xuLqLgFXqGF_YveXIA5UG3ufuFZsd4NjYIRx6er6_8crgQKoYbdKf9mTxTlJkmdokc/s1600/SAM_0795.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMj-k6XgBDOgaCKyCGT4ApZ_tgWSC_OVGv6WRc3u8Hh8McxQFRVjdUZ2rnYqMZnjKjU_N5kSTWa0xuLqLgFXqGF_YveXIA5UG3ufuFZsd4NjYIRx6er6_8crgQKoYbdKf9mTxTlJkmdokc/s640/SAM_0795.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">6000km done since England!</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKMguUEzdsrRsV013TmTZwIsREmFvfJXTOeAsiGvGmTt7GaUwYWQAUOQIg-kV-tGMEXPgyYasPrn0v81SUd4GjGfYrmDbVniRP6g_YTOxrHtOKRWA9sW3cs82AuW4XKrreoG4p3rr5USMg/s1600/DSC_0396.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKMguUEzdsrRsV013TmTZwIsREmFvfJXTOeAsiGvGmTt7GaUwYWQAUOQIg-kV-tGMEXPgyYasPrn0v81SUd4GjGfYrmDbVniRP6g_YTOxrHtOKRWA9sW3cs82AuW4XKrreoG4p3rr5USMg/s640/DSC_0396.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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We camped in a block of flats that was being built, the locals came to investigate with their lovely dog - in the end they came back with some freshly caught sardines and mullet</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisZQYf1pip33hoV4glaarpc8XoO5GUy-9JQLWSz-YyxH8jDa6Ia59XSNK_91kP7GDZ46yNKlxINQFWJR3EIPVCPbwCaI-6z2tuvEM_HQYAWiMLNH31Mlampu1ENLCZGOYPZBWoZfqJDHEi/s1600/DSC_0397.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisZQYf1pip33hoV4glaarpc8XoO5GUy-9JQLWSz-YyxH8jDa6Ia59XSNK_91kP7GDZ46yNKlxINQFWJR3EIPVCPbwCaI-6z2tuvEM_HQYAWiMLNH31Mlampu1ENLCZGOYPZBWoZfqJDHEi/s640/DSC_0397.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rob tucking in</td></tr>
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The garage we slept in - our food stuff is out as we'd already eaten pasta when they brought as fish!</div>
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Our only hill for four days, 200m above sea level</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Having breakfast ( a pan of muesli) in our own block of flats with a nice morning view</td></tr>
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The dominoes room where we played chess in the rain - and the proud man who owned it<br />
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Having dinner in a çay warehouse<br />
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Preparing the bike and solar panel</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO5rYhMtpcFT06wiPU-q9BfHi8yw6WPU4EXRe9NAzKMUjxmxLai6WAk35ZRZASr66eQ6TB-o_fAnRKooHF1wRX2EJKKJoREUFqb1xoKqk7uu6IPJOvTmq5qrY71KWRFa1ojP1PIabqoP6B/s1600/Rob5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO5rYhMtpcFT06wiPU-q9BfHi8yw6WPU4EXRe9NAzKMUjxmxLai6WAk35ZRZASr66eQ6TB-o_fAnRKooHF1wRX2EJKKJoREUFqb1xoKqk7uu6IPJOvTmq5qrY71KWRFa1ojP1PIabqoP6B/s640/Rob5.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not the best weather to wake up to when you have to ascend over 2,500m
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In the valley leading up to Ovit Dagi pass, tea leaves being grown everywhere</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rob and corn</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBe4MV4KZwYoREru_CQgilYwfU4j6g9CkpYpR5P3tTFRdNkS7Z11xWFxwglehtarGvit9OwnQ4At2Gd7YYbQ66vbvjLPVI2duNLREQ2Fkexhbqo0NHURgyqqP1fBS2lvEpXREE2IuZOBD7/s1600/SAM_0811.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBe4MV4KZwYoREru_CQgilYwfU4j6g9CkpYpR5P3tTFRdNkS7Z11xWFxwglehtarGvit9OwnQ4At2Gd7YYbQ66vbvjLPVI2duNLREQ2Fkexhbqo0NHURgyqqP1fBS2lvEpXREE2IuZOBD7/s640/SAM_0811.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We started climbing from 120m at 7:30</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmN_gNr4CfcPmbqD6_IstEXuXrQHmNS4ZTtiFZiJujF41DWZAdWi58WpLvnohsRFdb0VifzpkyoawNF7s0TevFmqXl5W47yhHHWftBwyh5mu84grSSg-w26uGq8AwykHVXItEtz3NAy5Ml/s1600/Rob11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmN_gNr4CfcPmbqD6_IstEXuXrQHmNS4ZTtiFZiJujF41DWZAdWi58WpLvnohsRFdb0VifzpkyoawNF7s0TevFmqXl5W47yhHHWftBwyh5mu84grSSg-w26uGq8AwykHVXItEtz3NAy5Ml/s640/Rob11.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbDZ0aQL-x9hyphenhyphenOYuCHjNe0mMA0BCbdsJoTvTpTGBzGJjR5rIDFRTwdumki66YHAzrvM3h8s6d6kiH6njXYZl3MdNAAvzDFwOHB7T4y09o_Hespbu9y5dfp5gfSLfSj9FTTlIpQyEK6oPdZ/s1600/SAM_0814.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbDZ0aQL-x9hyphenhyphenOYuCHjNe0mMA0BCbdsJoTvTpTGBzGJjR5rIDFRTwdumki66YHAzrvM3h8s6d6kiH6njXYZl3MdNAAvzDFwOHB7T4y09o_Hespbu9y5dfp5gfSLfSj9FTTlIpQyEK6oPdZ/s640/SAM_0814.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Soon we were in heavy rain</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVj3oSdnVJjQ0VVwLg3-bG3fqCsJe_nLaTzMuQMVqdeRQXPGYFQxFc2SGtArTbfgU_ynLN6IwNZDNT5KJxxn33tI3Rs6Ig5q2O-Cds9jytGJvIFfQSZR-G9-JIXnqLQZJ_mt1VD_VAGUrr/s1600/SAM_0815.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVj3oSdnVJjQ0VVwLg3-bG3fqCsJe_nLaTzMuQMVqdeRQXPGYFQxFc2SGtArTbfgU_ynLN6IwNZDNT5KJxxn33tI3Rs6Ig5q2O-Cds9jytGJvIFfQSZR-G9-JIXnqLQZJ_mt1VD_VAGUrr/s640/SAM_0815.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Once we cycled into the cloud the visibility was really poor</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirnUXXbzBNp2C8TfNA-AcsDxAHQ_wuSgA1UYV_kSE3hVSRJi7T-M2NHgo7euFMlOhqB11YoZrXRvgG9m1EPl3Eq6qDTczqcflyDaAvpqSsclQaBnB1aGEuEJcU_84EINVLCoakIhst1rhY/s1600/SAM_0816.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirnUXXbzBNp2C8TfNA-AcsDxAHQ_wuSgA1UYV_kSE3hVSRJi7T-M2NHgo7euFMlOhqB11YoZrXRvgG9m1EPl3Eq6qDTczqcflyDaAvpqSsclQaBnB1aGEuEJcU_84EINVLCoakIhst1rhY/s640/SAM_0816.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY0pitiTpPT-a4z5VkIl7caWYbGhCbXTjHBw2oMY4mYMr9fmpQ5hoeE0RBHJ0MSf_GcR7XycjU_3Q_o2mf_F3f0yRLDIAehnHWjA7ysJANSSOlUUNxf_o9TfUAv3gaKVbEhxEWysO__4_m/s1600/SAM_0820.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY0pitiTpPT-a4z5VkIl7caWYbGhCbXTjHBw2oMY4mYMr9fmpQ5hoeE0RBHJ0MSf_GcR7XycjU_3Q_o2mf_F3f0yRLDIAehnHWjA7ysJANSSOlUUNxf_o9TfUAv3gaKVbEhxEWysO__4_m/s640/SAM_0820.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfQ49HznVh-H7-CqzOCUJbpabQIwD3pOIk1VOnZ6StXXqlnmf8YSb8pZZAAOpct_nEW_edxRsKCnw_-FTjrpyFynTBaCZmuU22F_7knoEV4gsKlosCf1psVxrn3HN0bAMvNGCmyVKGgSwX/s1600/Rob16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfQ49HznVh-H7-CqzOCUJbpabQIwD3pOIk1VOnZ6StXXqlnmf8YSb8pZZAAOpct_nEW_edxRsKCnw_-FTjrpyFynTBaCZmuU22F_7knoEV4gsKlosCf1psVxrn3HN0bAMvNGCmyVKGgSwX/s1600/Rob16.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The best view we had all the way up to 2640m</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu94UCxpsGh9eEOoX2lq3kltxhB4nbQNKCJgcu2YdXoxpDRH7F3BRjU5HPJRkFGenYlYKWDiPTgA-rpx3Rq3gO_qXKqduXA1cNl3ejCRgfbsnmI77gLu5Y5Tt0IEHJlPWMOu6KLepbf15v/s1600/Rob14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu94UCxpsGh9eEOoX2lq3kltxhB4nbQNKCJgcu2YdXoxpDRH7F3BRjU5HPJRkFGenYlYKWDiPTgA-rpx3Rq3gO_qXKqduXA1cNl3ejCRgfbsnmI77gLu5Y5Tt0IEHJlPWMOu6KLepbf15v/s1600/Rob14.jpg" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnMyQlXiBZuLqKrUX18qTGcLvvO4lcYRzuxjB96bVlEpIN7b0HP5WMoBYOAB9gaMltWaOvhjE8F1EiJT0fTTx5QRpqBX0Tt6e0_r5gGaYfWd9z4ynqXHkuAWJ1ZLw294QGsMwmwIh3joMQ/s1600/Rob13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnMyQlXiBZuLqKrUX18qTGcLvvO4lcYRzuxjB96bVlEpIN7b0HP5WMoBYOAB9gaMltWaOvhjE8F1EiJT0fTTx5QRpqBX0Tt6e0_r5gGaYfWd9z4ynqXHkuAWJ1ZLw294QGsMwmwIh3joMQ/s640/Rob13.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Cycling on a really bad road = hard work</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-mi3eEUGtZrl7IISLhGpDeRoLWf9ReWx-I3KLnQAvuKdRaxmAIEY2lobwwPuDkvLKnTjfJfwD0_608m_mpuX2Hp4VY1wytLNGNzWgonPFodX2ce05ueWt0jBzU4DAMfiYtKg-7bMnCS_Z/s1600/Rob12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-mi3eEUGtZrl7IISLhGpDeRoLWf9ReWx-I3KLnQAvuKdRaxmAIEY2lobwwPuDkvLKnTjfJfwD0_608m_mpuX2Hp4VY1wytLNGNzWgonPFodX2ce05ueWt0jBzU4DAMfiYtKg-7bMnCS_Z/s640/Rob12.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
soaked through</div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
Near the top I started filming - unfortunately the battery didn't make it all the way</div>
<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/umhOfli6w70?rel=0" width="640"></iframe>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD-9TaQ4bndalSjGKG-9rqokbxLnLbZyD5f0ay8itICeFUkQJMBOO5hFt8VQG4GOyS_XCyYhUmatjlb3btlhciqemEDq9GB3KElN1PvrmJ38W57olkYpj_cyrv28tRxl-8GpFE3fmwDoMd/s1600/Rob19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD-9TaQ4bndalSjGKG-9rqokbxLnLbZyD5f0ay8itICeFUkQJMBOO5hFt8VQG4GOyS_XCyYhUmatjlb3btlhciqemEDq9GB3KElN1PvrmJ38W57olkYpj_cyrv28tRxl-8GpFE3fmwDoMd/s640/Rob19.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At the top, the temperature was around 3 degrees Celsius </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiVvtRDbA2v7P4_RPJeW708D8SKNbt3jwsX2JID6Is8WkZY-Py615bvR6SCK2hy1s9UKsc-a9sDf7pK-1pKg8Oq_MZsNxp2JmyYCwxcZmbXDDMP6JwpIazgZp0pjcWJV6yTYJg1H1QbQ7S/s1600/Rob20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiVvtRDbA2v7P4_RPJeW708D8SKNbt3jwsX2JID6Is8WkZY-Py615bvR6SCK2hy1s9UKsc-a9sDf7pK-1pKg8Oq_MZsNxp2JmyYCwxcZmbXDDMP6JwpIazgZp0pjcWJV6yTYJg1H1QbQ7S/s640/Rob20.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After we'd wrapped up warm</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBWHPfsHgmzvKBPWqvRi_HrXSwPlmdLIIry1ScNDqikrxZfC_VyZVn6yREp28rUVWL4EBIVNFN-7wcGsmHkO27A3rw-_zhQQgTD-WG8dHhp19YoVXikxWWIIn16OP9puLgqbkEunnCBi39/s1600/Rob21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBWHPfsHgmzvKBPWqvRi_HrXSwPlmdLIIry1ScNDqikrxZfC_VyZVn6yREp28rUVWL4EBIVNFN-7wcGsmHkO27A3rw-_zhQQgTD-WG8dHhp19YoVXikxWWIIn16OP9puLgqbkEunnCBi39/s640/Rob21.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihyphenhyphenSucU9q_we8iBPGcDXnzdqGwD-d8hiCx10eF7TRpiSVG9R3KA5nEv8Sncy1Myggs_IFxTtsRvpT-9UjtcC00xxvI69CjmLR3Rzcu0fWitwbneLia0x1Se4NZ8XlvQSUWZBFwrjrKa3dm/s1600/SAM_0825.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihyphenhyphenSucU9q_we8iBPGcDXnzdqGwD-d8hiCx10eF7TRpiSVG9R3KA5nEv8Sncy1Myggs_IFxTtsRvpT-9UjtcC00xxvI69CjmLR3Rzcu0fWitwbneLia0x1Se4NZ8XlvQSUWZBFwrjrKa3dm/s640/SAM_0825.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
The next day we were expecting to do two mountain passes - no problem when you have such nice views<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaraMmSefo_ECCzwQvCOCc6_Zr_WMgCoQ0roSWr92T-2kos6GvzmQVwsPe3NJdnm42Pmas-HK5x97SsFBI2sVwleAsMtFXMzdHduoCtJFPxO0JLyrPeJDWw1odGip4gLcLzTof7qjkuZo_/s1600/SAM_0826.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaraMmSefo_ECCzwQvCOCc6_Zr_WMgCoQ0roSWr92T-2kos6GvzmQVwsPe3NJdnm42Pmas-HK5x97SsFBI2sVwleAsMtFXMzdHduoCtJFPxO0JLyrPeJDWw1odGip4gLcLzTof7qjkuZo_/s640/SAM_0826.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipnjUfbg00dg5MZqckDskHXwTushINcX_jvx79SpuohDMa-beiUag6hP9987btdVMuhYbCY2C07GrVuddZNZLYNDgypx9zGVx-Jt9EQR3002JmRtj8sBtWHJ8JK-sk8ityQxgfiZ4v4kk8/s1600/Rob24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipnjUfbg00dg5MZqckDskHXwTushINcX_jvx79SpuohDMa-beiUag6hP9987btdVMuhYbCY2C07GrVuddZNZLYNDgypx9zGVx-Jt9EQR3002JmRtj8sBtWHJ8JK-sk8ityQxgfiZ4v4kk8/s640/Rob24.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPsAIj5RjEVdLM2Y0oQeQaof5hvAv6xh6ZtVhVjsae_dQ2YMDJTQF7ErKQXLAz0TaNxXDCQER-jlVI0B1qMve3N8SDRk0SOJJsMYDaa7pDH3qjI_ZauHPSTYTJo4Jbis1UX_2XWM1D6aY0/s1600/Rob26.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPsAIj5RjEVdLM2Y0oQeQaof5hvAv6xh6ZtVhVjsae_dQ2YMDJTQF7ErKQXLAz0TaNxXDCQER-jlVI0B1qMve3N8SDRk0SOJJsMYDaa7pDH3qjI_ZauHPSTYTJo4Jbis1UX_2XWM1D6aY0/s1600/Rob26.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The mountain range on the right, which we climbed over the day before, was holding back all the bad weather </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjhyphenhyphenVlik1VUFvZr7rw6QBNt6rsWCep6hjlEs5yBA-b6T2-TIV6H20sHaUR6R-ADQ6aADTVJyIul118WDzxDn_V4RNkIQyYnkRJUOuFVO14EH8CBPUGwfpxxgg-ffZIfFzmulP-hODLxYfS/s1600/Rob28.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjhyphenhyphenVlik1VUFvZr7rw6QBNt6rsWCep6hjlEs5yBA-b6T2-TIV6H20sHaUR6R-ADQ6aADTVJyIul118WDzxDn_V4RNkIQyYnkRJUOuFVO14EH8CBPUGwfpxxgg-ffZIfFzmulP-hODLxYfS/s640/Rob28.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
A small part of the road we climbed up</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicWIJaNvRaiELDmY906Lj9UrjJA7XNFOBzw8U3z_fEAAMA5xqgEZEQpi_LpeOWYn6rhVAtvTOWg89-_NSaqxF7EZ7kG6MeGOY1L9wOhuhvJbGyJmSqON-fMfirvLG_XgOFebhvNeFbvjHL/s1600/Rob30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicWIJaNvRaiELDmY906Lj9UrjJA7XNFOBzw8U3z_fEAAMA5xqgEZEQpi_LpeOWYn6rhVAtvTOWg89-_NSaqxF7EZ7kG6MeGOY1L9wOhuhvJbGyJmSqON-fMfirvLG_XgOFebhvNeFbvjHL/s640/Rob30.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Really steep roads</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN7uUrFJMq6_P_Y7b9K0osse8PsXSyYH_9RFqjDPcTFYQfWx9EjgAckI5c_1XfPZGL7gKOb9uqlLFw0wHuL2b1jeTnky_KBpqU4cf83J_gk68AlC90T_MqijEnHi5lvaJxMiXuVp7hSAaV/s1600/Rob32.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN7uUrFJMq6_P_Y7b9K0osse8PsXSyYH_9RFqjDPcTFYQfWx9EjgAckI5c_1XfPZGL7gKOb9uqlLFw0wHuL2b1jeTnky_KBpqU4cf83J_gk68AlC90T_MqijEnHi5lvaJxMiXuVp7hSAaV/s640/Rob32.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lovely cycling without a shirt - not so good when we stopped and the winds kicked in</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj5buFY8sKriM2sSCNtrqL1hE8e8biWijo81E2dThAOFhjzL_O-p7jBD38RqRh6HG8Wrjeu_KBQd0ltmqiiZBoGe446j0z3Hz8el0AnCwSALDBFukqtpfoJXdatkAeutojEky6NgiH3K3L/s1600/DSC_0404.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj5buFY8sKriM2sSCNtrqL1hE8e8biWijo81E2dThAOFhjzL_O-p7jBD38RqRh6HG8Wrjeu_KBQd0ltmqiiZBoGe446j0z3Hz8el0AnCwSALDBFukqtpfoJXdatkAeutojEky6NgiH3K3L/s640/DSC_0404.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmff_kDpeiqDq5OFCZgyIy59QB70Y9h025gpRRzM1gH_TMmYrzey4YdQJgn2DMXotD-MdB15XEhYrE5ouehqDm4CEbKvPnlPAAaMN3_DUZLNWc5VQRkkASQ0xrzaa3UsMNuoDDMsJxAzQj/s1600/DSC_0404EDIT.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmff_kDpeiqDq5OFCZgyIy59QB70Y9h025gpRRzM1gH_TMmYrzey4YdQJgn2DMXotD-MdB15XEhYrE5ouehqDm4CEbKvPnlPAAaMN3_DUZLNWc5VQRkkASQ0xrzaa3UsMNuoDDMsJxAzQj/s1600/DSC_0404EDIT.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cropped for better viewing of facial expression while munching on bread</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV6B0dFRN_MZ8zmXm7HV4kL1OzDOOwlSj7aCEAkyneYDXzDh_BKd2oovdejkV1s1I9M3kqe4I68KYToeI04UtQZUcK2rOaNQ05EfpqhyQ9tp3gBw2GmmBVEVDXEXvplQ_QgmMcE-_wcl5H/s1600/DSC_0405.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV6B0dFRN_MZ8zmXm7HV4kL1OzDOOwlSj7aCEAkyneYDXzDh_BKd2oovdejkV1s1I9M3kqe4I68KYToeI04UtQZUcK2rOaNQ05EfpqhyQ9tp3gBw2GmmBVEVDXEXvplQ_QgmMcE-_wcl5H/s640/DSC_0405.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rob resting and eating after the first pass of the day<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdQeyYuE3ntF-Fr2kbRHC8FuSh9Ue4dD5HUbvsuGcepDdCX8VgLlseKRGQdGTUZ2tKJN-ClVx_uNytkMvVx2eVns3HOEZxx3fGxjiMxyY1CVYPXUFPnlOWg0p0c2JyQr_Aq2jswJ_NsxYl/s1600/DSC_0406.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdQeyYuE3ntF-Fr2kbRHC8FuSh9Ue4dD5HUbvsuGcepDdCX8VgLlseKRGQdGTUZ2tKJN-ClVx_uNytkMvVx2eVns3HOEZxx3fGxjiMxyY1CVYPXUFPnlOWg0p0c2JyQr_Aq2jswJ_NsxYl/s640/DSC_0406.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Looking down from the top of the first pass </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVtNY-K3jaz32rd3P1fhyz_hY3TAJSqsYjfSUmt82Aj7RHNjSRoOji1jZLOyp1tQ6RrAq1HzCC-RMScbtli1hbMmQw7PnP7LFwBKWlXYj5YpebOrB4LI42ck3p5YQ8D_SRqMNwJtzp9z-d/s1600/DSC_0407.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVtNY-K3jaz32rd3P1fhyz_hY3TAJSqsYjfSUmt82Aj7RHNjSRoOji1jZLOyp1tQ6RrAq1HzCC-RMScbtli1hbMmQw7PnP7LFwBKWlXYj5YpebOrB4LI42ck3p5YQ8D_SRqMNwJtzp9z-d/s640/DSC_0407.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Nomads living in the valleys below</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO49zD3YHAKSkO3PaXBm3-avuTfhIrVRkeWFFXEYr99iZ1YqMsCUB0jVRNtztysWBTkQS2d20hscPsRtut3v7sl_vc9wRjwoca4yrwgsESc8YaAcXjUcHMw2CCJrkH9ii6O8mQuDNOGFm2/s1600/DSC_0408.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO49zD3YHAKSkO3PaXBm3-avuTfhIrVRkeWFFXEYr99iZ1YqMsCUB0jVRNtztysWBTkQS2d20hscPsRtut3v7sl_vc9wRjwoca4yrwgsESc8YaAcXjUcHMw2CCJrkH9ii6O8mQuDNOGFm2/s640/DSC_0408.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">As soon as we were low enough to join the stream (1900m) the landscape changed</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV6spIjcC_9SGJ9MkWRexHGUKq_4J2ZfK3eR-YPJROPYmT7YKXRSfI6FMFDkFCbtEKzZwyQmLTTeYnjrY3bdYI65L4Bw63BkBHXaibKK6YgWSDJqZlBz0Spu_P3t_qj8DseYkcPJbjepAz/s1600/DSC_0409.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV6spIjcC_9SGJ9MkWRexHGUKq_4J2ZfK3eR-YPJROPYmT7YKXRSfI6FMFDkFCbtEKzZwyQmLTTeYnjrY3bdYI65L4Bw63BkBHXaibKK6YgWSDJqZlBz0Spu_P3t_qj8DseYkcPJbjepAz/s640/DSC_0409.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLfY2-sRgK99fv0cUt1PGewqsDyhoKQoef_7DSFOcyPQJmKsvz4XdqJFBa9QxI60DsxlJW_G_JPd3bS6PRVbSMSFYbUdJuIq0X_izNcrIrXYhpE_nTpEVIXD0gc_CwZ0z2Q_AwTb4Frft9/s1600/DSC_0410.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLfY2-sRgK99fv0cUt1PGewqsDyhoKQoef_7DSFOcyPQJmKsvz4XdqJFBa9QxI60DsxlJW_G_JPd3bS6PRVbSMSFYbUdJuIq0X_izNcrIrXYhpE_nTpEVIXD0gc_CwZ0z2Q_AwTb4Frft9/s640/DSC_0410.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More Nomads</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdabgB9qHpVen1GtIG0fnKfyLI9hZf3MjPHX3Z1vPtaNV6fjjPI-Htg1zLz2JXfvPLXum13GTqn9NhKzJjAYei0RQhTAasksPAzZjeEb-uNPcSGiBat5yal7qSIo_qOfMo5k5Lr_THs7tn/s1600/DSC_0412.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdabgB9qHpVen1GtIG0fnKfyLI9hZf3MjPHX3Z1vPtaNV6fjjPI-Htg1zLz2JXfvPLXum13GTqn9NhKzJjAYei0RQhTAasksPAzZjeEb-uNPcSGiBat5yal7qSIo_qOfMo5k5Lr_THs7tn/s640/DSC_0412.jpg" width="424" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfBAh9n7nz-Vb_Sr0OkmZ1fjPPJma5Cj8_2hQNX75BgtfFe1P2sFZQWUxkWvdbLY7R_LSNpzvzvNgpeY50uInptG0FRwc_yWkDmSRu0s6xXkq8zqt7D5XpEngVSt1YcDchd1sCA26rU5tv/s1600/DSC_0413.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfBAh9n7nz-Vb_Sr0OkmZ1fjPPJma5Cj8_2hQNX75BgtfFe1P2sFZQWUxkWvdbLY7R_LSNpzvzvNgpeY50uInptG0FRwc_yWkDmSRu0s6xXkq8zqt7D5XpEngVSt1YcDchd1sCA26rU5tv/s640/DSC_0413.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjffaPB1UznLKfMmKId-U1OusX_yD9UwPct3bwn_7W_9FPDnfgHwWSsNIJdNxpdxDZkKIFqYxxZkg2nAwsiMk99r3rG8HUeFVRnwtsBOBPBdi1ylFepy4tbQzdnG6RyVMsx4fwusnzk16JQ/s1600/DSC_0414EDIT.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjffaPB1UznLKfMmKId-U1OusX_yD9UwPct3bwn_7W_9FPDnfgHwWSsNIJdNxpdxDZkKIFqYxxZkg2nAwsiMk99r3rG8HUeFVRnwtsBOBPBdi1ylFepy4tbQzdnG6RyVMsx4fwusnzk16JQ/s640/DSC_0414EDIT.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8PJGX0-ELzz_6v_wviiRUYE6ZbWd_qa0n9GET6NCUqYOq0gbSB16Yy3XeyMGFM71AczNnYtJeAqvTHxedWwxYG_4WUHyaICko2XZJoVwyVtgoFAVQ8qAbcJeuDRAg22PifOUySMa8GytU/s1600/DSC_0417.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8PJGX0-ELzz_6v_wviiRUYE6ZbWd_qa0n9GET6NCUqYOq0gbSB16Yy3XeyMGFM71AczNnYtJeAqvTHxedWwxYG_4WUHyaICko2XZJoVwyVtgoFAVQ8qAbcJeuDRAg22PifOUySMa8GytU/s640/DSC_0417.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The seconds pass of the day at around 5pm</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt10C7neBkBN29S_dX3PHJvxn6OJMdlxqmh6BERwIbtd-ejg59XiJ9LqHrj4MkM3u1pIoDAoir5fI97HwE10AOs_cfSSpltSU6DyDCUx6CNcH9TwOnP2D_P2VP6JEZrq22OLXGmcBATrXj/s1600/DSC_0421.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt10C7neBkBN29S_dX3PHJvxn6OJMdlxqmh6BERwIbtd-ejg59XiJ9LqHrj4MkM3u1pIoDAoir5fI97HwE10AOs_cfSSpltSU6DyDCUx6CNcH9TwOnP2D_P2VP6JEZrq22OLXGmcBATrXj/s640/DSC_0421.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The pass that we didn't know existed at around 7pm</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl94QzOwLFTBRA0Ozacf8OLWKS3q6CY6SVIGiRCDRaA6vhtk6gTCNWOeNiasIwTLdI-6k0LUQLNRu5SgfytuV188q8oWhq6c5aH7O4U5P97nKqAF698cq-70KDY0FqxfNe6l20yDjpDLWi/s1600/DSC_0422.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl94QzOwLFTBRA0Ozacf8OLWKS3q6CY6SVIGiRCDRaA6vhtk6gTCNWOeNiasIwTLdI-6k0LUQLNRu5SgfytuV188q8oWhq6c5aH7O4U5P97nKqAF698cq-70KDY0FqxfNe6l20yDjpDLWi/s640/DSC_0422.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
Aubergine with mince meat sauce - to start with they just gave us one, then they brought out three more each (plus macaroni and sour cream)</div>
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Most of the workers in the quarry were Kurds </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwkKw3BYLQIIpkLxiN6nq7IMB-sbtfSvCD8Zv1vnDpDmL8nXMYwnR8hDi2WDW00LlJm1UZl3S3IyRvmzWK5_EjIuEj8m5h0l1bf7gnHmisls6ymwmUl_vIyn_-tdCZu2sXg7hcPz307G1V/s1600/DSC_0426.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwkKw3BYLQIIpkLxiN6nq7IMB-sbtfSvCD8Zv1vnDpDmL8nXMYwnR8hDi2WDW00LlJm1UZl3S3IyRvmzWK5_EjIuEj8m5h0l1bf7gnHmisls6ymwmUl_vIyn_-tdCZu2sXg7hcPz307G1V/s640/DSC_0426.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3RP8B88x-EKVl8FmQweJX410aBaQ_wbVGQPDKwGsjOFQ4HuL-ptfh0u-WHdAPjacs9ypFWB9Ya_X7kME5z6jUSMnuCVzsGz5haAOZJbMismJYUvrrIU_XuE9XGUFt36HzotWpA-mmBjXU/s1600/Rob35.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3RP8B88x-EKVl8FmQweJX410aBaQ_wbVGQPDKwGsjOFQ4HuL-ptfh0u-WHdAPjacs9ypFWB9Ya_X7kME5z6jUSMnuCVzsGz5haAOZJbMismJYUvrrIU_XuE9XGUFt36HzotWpA-mmBjXU/s1600/Rob35.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A huge plateau at 1,900m</td></tr>
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If you've enjoyed this blog, please consider donating to St. Margaret's Hospice, the charity I am doing this journey to raise money for - Thank you! <a href="http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/EnglandToIndia">http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/EnglandToIndia</a></div>
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Judehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05996912167887879684noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7930417312752206140.post-80384948595252969612012-08-27T15:52:00.001-07:002012-08-27T15:55:26.832-07:00Italy to Istanbul<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The most recent day I have written about is day 29, the 14th of July. Today is day 73. My problem is a matter of time. I wake up five minutes before sunrise and cycle until no more than half an hour before sunset in order to set up camp and eat. As the seasons change and I travel further south the days only get shorter. Rarely do I find myself with time in the day to have a nap or read a book. The mountain passes in Pakistan will be snowed over by the end of November so I've got to keep rolling.<br />
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When I last wrote I had just passed into Italy. Since then I have gone back to Austria, did the whole of the Adriatic coast of Italy, caught a ferry to Albania (taking the shortest crossing possible), cycled there for two days before entering Greece and finally Turkey. Below I have made a slideshow of photos covering this period. I hope the photos can be as informative as text. When I come home I will write about all of my experiences in a satisfactory manner; there is nothing worse than rushing something you really care about.<br />
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Do watch it, it took me several hours to compile as I have thousands of photos to choose from. Below it are two bonus videos from Istanbul.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="650" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/R7GeXAaZG48?rel=0" width="867"></iframe>
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Navigating into Istanbul<br />
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Having fun in the Saturday night traffic<br />
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Judehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05996912167887879684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7930417312752206140.post-4970472501464606022012-08-27T04:25:00.000-07:002012-08-27T12:57:32.571-07:00Why We Cycle<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The road has an unparalleled ability to bring you close to another person in moments of time so short that you may trust someone with all you have, all you are, while in the same period back home the ice may still not have even begun to melt.<br />
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It's 4am on Saturday night and I'm riding my newly revamped bicycle through Taksim, the nightlife district of Istanbul. I am going to meet three Italian cyclists who have come from Milan who tell me they are having some beers under the Galata Tower. They are the same as many other Italians whose outlook I have grown to love since leaving home. I know of no other country from which so many people share the same wanderlust; the easily forgotten, often suppressed belief that we are free, the world is ours and that the only limitations are in our minds.<br />
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They also look the Italian part, at least that of the Italian who travels; thin, sculpted faces, enough facial hair to keep mosquitoes at bay and short, but getting messy, brown hair. In Italy, meeting people is much simpler than in England where I struggle to choose between "Hey, I'm Jude", "Hi, my name's Jude" and "What's your name". In Italian society, at least amongst the people I have spent time with, without exception the greeting is always "Ciao, Jude"; a simple greeting and all the information they need in one word; my name. Maybe my thinking about this is a sign of slight social awkwardness, but on the other hand maybe this is shared by more people than I'd imagine; people tend not to talk about such seemingly trivial matters.<br />
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With them is another man who I immediately pick out as an adventure cycle tourer. A cheeky smile, an expression on his face suggesting he is open to whatever is about to happen, and of course a rough and unkempt beard. His name is Augustine and he is cycling to Singapore. I ask him why he chose Singapore, but I feel quite happy with myself as I can tell he knows I'm not asking the most common question a tourer faces; "why?" (with "are you crazy?" also implied), as he understands that I share the same passion as him. I ask the question only as I am interested as to why he has chosen Singapore out of all the countries in the world. He tells me he chose it because "it's sort of at the end of the land, you can't go further in that direction".<br />
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Everyone fancies a little look at my bike, Surly being a brand with a great reputation for bikes that just don't break (I'm talking about the frame, not the third party parts, such as the chain, which has now broken four times). We walk towards the main square, and in the ten minutes that I have now spent with Augustine we have spoken about the Khunjerab Pass between China and Pakistan (for which we have to keep up a good pace as it closes in November), the Kulma Pass between Tajikistan and China (which China insists is open to foreigners but there is not a single report of any foreigner making it through) and variable visa costs for Iran.<br />
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I have met a few other people doing the same route to the sub-continent as me but Augustine was the first person who had done his research as thoroughly as I had; it was truly a joy to finally be able to talk passionately about this information which had taken me so many months of research to learn and so far has just been stored in my mind as 'how to get to India', now it was a topic of the most interesting, exciting and relevant conversation I have had in months. He tells me he has friends who are currently cycling in North Pakistan, reported by more than one cyclist to be 'the most beautiful place on Earth'. At this moment I have never longed so much to continue my journey, to get back on the saddle, to get my head down and to pedal the road beneath my bike, to put as many kilometres between by bed in the morning and my bed to be for the night.<br />
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Augustine asks if he can try out my bike. Of course I felt honoured that he, an experienced cyclist going on a journey longer than mine, wants to ride my bike. He jumps on the bike with the gusto of a child at Christmas and cycles down the main road, weaving through the drunk tourists who are pushing the boundaries of what is acceptable in a country where over 99% of people are Muslim. When he is forty metres away I notice that my handlebar bag, containing my wallet, passport, debit cards, iPod etc. is on the bike, yet I didn't have a worry in the world. I know that however I explain this people will think I have let my guard down and that it's just not worth the risk but that's not a problem.<br />
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In the first place, there is no one, not even friends I meet along the way who I will let ride my touring bicycle, my vehicle to the world and my home. The only exception is cycle tourists. It's not simply that we have something in common, like when you meet someone who supports the same football team as you, but that I know that everyday, from when they wake up at sunrise to when they lay their head on the floor of a new home every night, they have to go through the same joys and hardships, the same beautiful views and rough rains but most importantly the same tough decisions we are sometimes forced into when faced with choice of trusting someone or not. This one was an easy decision.<br />
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I can try to explain further. It takes a certain type of person to step out of what for most people varies from mediocre lives to genuinely fulfilling lives and step into a way of life which throws greater extremes; higher highs and lower lows than you can experience by staying comfortable at home. Sure, the average of the highs and lows may not even be that much greater than the easy normal life, but to accept these moments, to be willing to embrace and deal with whatever is thrown at you is to experience the full spectrum that this life has to offer.<br />
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Augustine, with the video camera, was leaving the next day and asked to take a quick video with the Italians, the people with whom he shared the road for just a few days. They jumped up and down in a huddle, celebrating nothing more than the fact that they are now great friends.</div>
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<a href="http://www.englandtoindia.com/"><b>www.EnglandToIndia.com</b></a><br />
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Judehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05996912167887879684noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7930417312752206140.post-85412464116781358542012-07-26T10:27:00.001-07:002012-07-29T07:07:26.276-07:00Today is my 41st day and 3000th KM!<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<b>Announcement (copied from Facebook): <i>I meant to post this ages ago. If any of my friends (or friends of) want to join me for a
cycle for a week or two then feel free. This is really becoming a bit
of a holiday and I intend to keep it that way through the rest of Italy,
Albania, Greece and Turkey. You can come for Iran, Uzbekistan, Pakistan
etc too if you have the nerve!<br /><br /> All you need: A bike (literally any bike will</i> <span class="text_exposed_show"><i>
do), put a rear rack on it and get some panniers (all can be got from
Argos for around £50). A tent, sleeping bag and nothing much else as
I've got all the specialist stuff and have done all the planning
already. It would really be a cheap holiday for you (flights the only
major expense); I currently spend less than 10 Euros a day and that will
go down soon!<br /><br /> I would happily slow it down a lot (think 30 or 40 miles a day) and it could be a ball.</i> <i><br /></i> </span></b><br />
<b><i><a href="mailto:jude@englandtoindia.com" target="_blank"><span class="text_exposed_show">This is my email address </span></a></i></b> <br />
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I've obviously got a fair bit of catching up to do. I'm not going to skip anything out but for those days where nothing major happened I'll keep it concise! McDonald's is my best friend these days; free internet, free power, free water, free toilet paper, shade, air conditioning! I don't even have to buy anything from them!<br />
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Unfortunately I am a bit rushed and thus I can't write quite as I'd like to, I'm afraid it's going to be more of a captions under photos affair. I should also say that if you have trouble viewing my large photos on your screen try hitting the F11 key to go full screen!</div>
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Day 27 - 12.7.12; Distance Cycled - 62.2km; Average Speed - 15.5; Max Speed - 68.9; Elevation Climbed - 900m; Elevation Lost - 400m</div>
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Over the next seven days I would climb and go down one mountain pass per day. Today was Gerlospass, standing at 1624 metres above sea level. According to my map is was only 1539, so I was pretty unimpressed when I got to that height and I still wasn't there (having been telling myself 100m to go etc.)</div>
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Upon seeing this sign I remembered that our family isn't 100% sure where our surname comes from but that it could have been a town somewhere in Austria. I was hoping there would be a little place between these two towns where I could feel at home.</div>
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It wasn't until I'd done a few mountain passes that I realised it's much easier counting down distance to the top in terms of km of road remaining instead of metres of altitude left to gain. 17.5km doesn't seem bad, but 1100m straight up does (Passo Rambo).</div>
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Getting up to 1000m was quite gentle, it simply felt like going uphill as opposed to taking on a mountain pass.</div>
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I saw this waterfall at approximately 900m.</div>
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I do actually enjoy taking on passes. Well, I think I do. They're a huge challenge and that's never a bad thing. I rarely cycle more than twenty minutes without breaking. On some passes I'll break every one or two minutes at the steepest points (15% gradient).</div>
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A teasing pizzeria 100m from the top (or so I thought)</div>
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Where the top should have been. The valley that I'd cycled out of to the left and, to the right, the waterfall that I was below earlier!</div>
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At the actual highest point on the road there was nothing more than a toll gate. Thankfully cycles always go free. These moments on top of passes are hugely enjoyable; not only do I have the chance to look back on the mountain I just cycled up, I can see the mountain I'm about to race down. Due to the fast speed achieved going down a pass I always get completely changed at the top. I put on my thermal leggings, waterproof shorts, waterproof jacket, waterproof gloves, socks, overshoes and of course my helmet if I've taken it off while crawling up the pass. A 70km/h wind, or maybe an average of 40km/h wind blowing against me for twenty minutes when I'm high in the Alps would otherwise make me extremely cold!</div>
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Passing down through Gerlos was pleasant enough. As I often do I found a petrol station and bought a Twix and Snickers for the much needed energy/reward.</div>
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Those who have checked out my new <a href="http://viewsfrommypillow.tumblr.com/" target="_blank">Tumblr</a> will have already seen where I slept that night. </div>
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I spotted the barn below the road that I was on which was winding along the hillside. The open door was simply too inviting. I cooked dinner outside before taking all my stuff (bike included) in as I really didn't want to burn the whole place down. In Salzburg my parents gave me a load of 'lightweight dinner' sachets into which you simply need to pour boiled water and you have a meal. I was over the moon when I discovered a chocolate mousse sachet that evening!</div>
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There were some fairly huge spiders in there but only in the corners. In these situations I try to simply not think about them.</div>
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Day 28 - 13.7.12; Distance Cycled 47.23km; Average Speed - 12.4; Max Speed - 49.5; Elevation Climbed - 1327m; Elevation Dropped - 646m</div>
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Today I would cycle up to a lake at 1800m near Schlegeis glacier. My plan was to camp near there and try and make it over a pass that heads towards the highest alpine road the next day. The problem was that on my map it was only shown as an unnamed footpath so I'd have to wait and see.</div>
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Steep looking roads as I finished descending after yesterday's pass.</div>
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Trainspotting</div>
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At one stage in the road there was a choice of tunnel or no tunnel. There was a traffic light (even though there was absolutely no traffic) before the tunnel that had just gone green so I thought I'd give it a punt. It turned out to be 3km long and extremely steep.</div>
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The tunnel is actually as dark as the first photo, I just used a longer exposure so you could see what it was like</div>
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After about 10 minutes of sweating and being dripped on by the rocks above my head I heard a roar coming from the end of the tunnel. Tunnels do weird things with sounds. Sometime if I'm standing 20m from away from the end of a tunnel, a car will sound louder 30 seconds before it comes out the end than it will as it passes me, it can be really misleading and hard to judge!</div>
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I soon realised that the traffic light was due to the tunnel being only wide enough for one vehicle at a time and so long that you really wouldn't want to meet in the middle. I figured that the timer on the traffic light was set up for fast cars, not slow cyclists, and started to worry when I heard another roar coming down the tunnel. This time it got scarily loud so I jumped off my bike and lifted it up onto the curb (which was annoyingly high and narrow). As soon as I got off the roar stopped. Pretty scary.</div>
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I soon worked out that the roar was simply cars driving past the other end of the tunnel. Echoes work in weird ways. Well, they are actually very simple but can be misleading!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgANUtOd8jWG0EMAOUR-04aH7FErDrAhA5grn4gXwLVyzXFPxxhV72NSsU7FbV5X3BsINjQ81Cek00hkm2UURpSKLo4kl8HD3Kn7ZJScDzBq1-WEaR7uPy0wk-GHkI9Zk1NN_XFr8m9Sm6Q/s1600/DSC_0053.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgANUtOd8jWG0EMAOUR-04aH7FErDrAhA5grn4gXwLVyzXFPxxhV72NSsU7FbV5X3BsINjQ81Cek00hkm2UURpSKLo4kl8HD3Kn7ZJScDzBq1-WEaR7uPy0wk-GHkI9Zk1NN_XFr8m9Sm6Q/s1600/DSC_0053.jpg" /></a>I stopped by this river for a break and to go exploring in the underground river. It led to underground water power-plant so I didn't go too far.</div>
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On top of this tunnel was a secret lush green field, would have been a perfect camping spot but I still had a long way to go </div>
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Much easier than the last tunnel</div>
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More tunnels</div>
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The start of the toll road</div>
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There's no point me writing about how hard the cycling is for every mountain pass I do, but I will say that this one was quite pleasant due to it being late and a lack of traffic.</div>
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Sun set was actually around 4pm due to how high the mountains were. I thought I'd see it again when I got to the top but I wasn't quick enough.</div>
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Going up</div>
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I think there were about 8 tunnels to get to the top</div>
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On top of the dam!<br />
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The last bit of the valley I'd come from.</div>
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Below is a video (with a wire in the picture) of me having a jolly on top of the dam! As you can see, I was the only one there.</div>
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Taken by a machine - notice clothing due to low temperature!<br />
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Taken from where I slept that night. It started to pour just as I put my tent up, I ate dinner in the rain. The valley leading away from the centre-left is the route I ended up doing the next day, I tried a steeper one to the right but there were too many rocks so I turned back<br />
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Day 29 - 14.7.12; Distance Cycled (Hiked) 46.05km; Average Speed - 8.3 (yep); Max Speed - 65.1; Elevation Climbed - 801.4; Elevation Lost - 1511.4</div>
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The next morning I saw a couple of mountain bikers going on a route below me so I thought I'd try it out. I had to make it over this mountain range otherwise I'd have to go back on the last two passes I did and spend and extra 6-7 days to get to the high road that this was all about. There were no other routes. My map listed my camping spot as beyond the end of the road. The first footpath had failed me so I was going to make this one work no matter what.</div>
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The photos pretty much say it all. It started off as a path which could be cycled, even though I didn't have a mountain bike.<br />
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After less than a kilometre I was pushing the bike which wasn't actually that hard<br />
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A lot of route planning and lifting of the front wheel required, made easier by an incredibly heavy rear end of the bike<br />
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At one point it did get worse than this and I had to take all my bags and water bottles off the bikes and carry everything up separately. The MTBikers carried their bikes past me arrogantly. To be fair, one said 'respect' which was nice.<br />
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Nearby waterfalls were rather loud (yes, I added a stone)<br />
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I couldn't get my bike up onto the bridge so I went 'Route 1' which was considerably easier than the uphill pushing I'd being doing<br />
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The trail ended up going over the hill directly above the path in the left of the picture - to the right, the land from whence I'd come now in a cloud<br />
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At Pfitscher Joch House at the top, 2285 metres above sea level! Notice that not a single bike made it to the top that didn't have disk brakes and front <b>and rear</b> suspension except my Surly Long Haul Trucker. I'm not saying that for any reason other than I was very proud and took about 10 minutes trying to find the perfect angle to show all their lightweight bikes with their hydraulic rear suspensions and no baggage and my steel beast of a bike that has v-brakes and thinks 'suspension' is a word best left in the science lab.<br />
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Now you see it...<br />
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Clouds would come in every few minutes, soaking everything.<br />
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Looking down into the valley I was about to go into - such a great feeling. There is actually a video of the descent but it's 25 minutes long. If anyone's interested let me know, otherwise it stays in the archive.<br />
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At the bottom of the valley and in Italy (the border was somewhere at the top)! Drying out all 3 pairs of my socks as well as my gloves and t-shirt in the first half hour of sun I'd seen in days<br />
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I then had a few kilometres of flat cycling before I did 200m of the next pass, just to make the next day easier. </div>
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A Ski-Slalom hut and my home for the night!<br />
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I was going to sleep in the hut but these guys were everywhere. Instead I wanted to sleep in the sheltered starting point (for ski racers) but they were running around there too. All childhood innocence is lost the day you learn that spiders love to play in grass. I ended up putting my tent up right next to the hut and leaving my stuff out<br />
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Trying to dry a pair of wet socks while boiling water. I can now confirm that this method does not work.<br />
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</div>Judehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05996912167887879684noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7930417312752206140.post-72356742561952662872012-07-23T06:20:00.001-07:002012-07-23T06:20:27.447-07:00Day 26 and new Micro Blog!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Yesterday I tried to record my journal instead of writing it out. Unfortunately I don't really like the result (I sound stupid reading out my notes) but it took me a good hour so I'm going to use it anyway. I'm afraid it's eleven minutes of my voice just for one day but I'll go back to normal blogging soon or find another method. I just got a bit bored of typing every day out systematically!<br />
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<object allowscriptaccess="always" data="http://kiwi6.com/swf/player.swf" height="24" id="audioplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="290">
<param name="movie" value="http://kiwi6.com/swf/player.swf" /><param name="FlashVars" value="playerID=audioplayer&soundFile=http://k005.kiwi6.com/uploads/hotlink/rbso967syu&titles=untitled 007.mp3" />
<param name="quality" value="high" /><param name="menu" value="false" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="wmode" value="transparent" /></object>
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Hosted by <a href="http://kiwi6.com/" style="color: #999999;">kiwi6.com file hosting</a>.
<a href="http://kiwi6.com/file/rbso967syu" style="color: #999999;">Download mp3</a> - <a href="http://kiwi6.com/">Free File Hosting</a>.</div>
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I would also like to announce the launch of the 'Views From My Pillow' Tumblr. If you're an old relative and don't know what a Tumblr is, do not fear,<a href="http://viewsfrommypillow.tumblr.com/" target="_blank"> click this link </a>(I promise it won't break your computer and I won't have access to your bank account) and you'll see. I intend to update this almost daily. <a href="http://viewsfrommypillow.tumblr.com/">http://viewsfrommypillow.tumblr.com/</a><br />
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I am typing this in a youth hostel 60km west of Venice. A dutch cyclist just walked in and we got chatting. After a while he said "Oh, are you the 19 year old on his way to India, the one who is on his third derailleur?" I'm famous in the cycle touring world for not knowing how to look after my bike!</div>Judehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05996912167887879684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7930417312752206140.post-72019006213667168382012-07-18T09:13:00.001-07:002012-07-19T11:17:14.656-07:00Lux, Germany, Austria, Italy, Austria...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>Day 15 - 30.6.12; Distance Cycle – 81.69km; Average Speed - 19.1; Max Speed – 49.5; GPS went loopy over the next week, no elevation data for many days!</b></div>
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This morning was the scariest wake up that I hope to have for my whole trip. As I think I may have mentioned in my last post, I was camping on the edge of a vineyard. There was perhaps 20ft between the outer most vines and the hedge; this is where I was. I had set my alarm for 7am as I knew this was an actively farmed field and I didn’t want to get caught. I woke up at 7 o’clock, noticed that it was silent and decided that it was fine to go back to sleep (in that way which my brain somehow always justifies going back to sleep).</div>
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I was startled awake by a petrifying sound. I knew what it was but I couldn’t quite believe it. I opened both layers of my tent to see that a tractor had just driven past me. As in, a-couple-of-feet-from-my-head past me. I didn’t think there was room a tractor to get through. If I hadn’t moved my bike around to the bottom of my tent last night then that would have been squashed. Not only did I find it hard to believe that a tractor squeezed through that gap: I was amazed that the farmer didn’t seem to care that I was camping next to his crops. He obviously saw me as he would have had to do some pretty nifty steering to make it through the small space of grass track still available.</div>
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Maybe he just had no problem with me being there. I’d said hello to one of the local farmers late the night before while cooking my dinner at the picnic table, maybe that established within him a small sense of trust for me. Generally speaking, I have noticed a slightly more accepting approach towards ‘travellers’ in mainland Europe. It’s probably because, being an island, we don’t get that many people passing through the UK whereas here it’s not that uncommon.</div>
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I spent most of today writing my previous blog in the beautiful town of Speyer, Southern Germany. While writing, a couple posed for half an hour for their wedding photos. </div>
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Two seconds after I took this photo a man wearing nothing more than his underwear ran out of the bushes and belly flopped in the fountain right behind them. I wish I’d caught that on camera.</div>
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This is where I wrote my previous blog</div>
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On the way out of town I cycled past an aviation museum</div>
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The cycling this evening was rather frustrating as I was on a normal carriageway winding up and down steep hills while, no more than 500m from me, there lay one of Europe’s largest motorways which bossed its way, with the use of tunnels and cut-up hills, through the hills I was climbing. I wished they’d just put a tiny cycle path on it!</div>
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Still, at least I captured this lovely out of focus picture – It was actually raining at the time but I was too hot to care; I took off my shirt and cooled down for a while</div>
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Not long after that photo was taken I saw lightning in the dark skies over the hills in the distance. Even though I hadn’t cycled far, I immediately stopped cycling, ran across the road, lifted my bike over a ditch and set up camp in the forest besides the road. Once I was all pitched up I went back to the edge of the forest to see the incoming weather. It reminded of whenever Mordor is shown from a distance in Lord of the Rings films; lovely sunny land in the foreground, then the mountain range that separates two lands and finally the evil lightning wreaking havoc down upon anyone unfortunate enough to be on the wrong side of these mountains.</div>
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My spot for the night</div>
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These guys love to come out and play in the rain. They’re much bigger here than in England. Unfortunately their slime is impossible to get of one’s tent. I even found one in my pannier 24 hours later; it had been kind enough to do a slug dump in there too.</div>
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<b>Day 16 – 1.7.12; Distance Cycled – 129.67km; Average Speed – 18.1; Max Speed – 56.8; Elevation Climbed – 1155m; Elevation Dropped – 1051m</b></div>
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I had a long way to go today to make up for yesterday’s shortcomings. My rush was that I’d told my parents I’d be in Salzburg for the 5th of July. The cycling today was really pleasant; my whole journey was surrounded by either typical tall German forests or vineyards. I also encountered my first switchbacks of this trip! </div>
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I’ve learned and thought a few things about hills in the last few weeks – You may not find the following at all interesting, so skip ahead of you don’t want to read about hills:</div>
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• Often I will think I’m on a flat when really I’m on a hill. This can cause me to be hugely frustrated and think ‘come on, step it up’! The simply way is to stop, balance my bike between my legs and see which way it rolls. Or if I want to be really anal (I haven’t done this yet) I can put my water bottle on the floor and do the same. Or for extra points I can pour some water on the road and see where it goes. If I’m going uphill then I probably don’t want the extra weight anyway (and there are normally streams near the bottoms of hills to refill bottles).</div>
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• When going round the hairpin corner of a switchback, whatever you do, do not look at the road you’re about to ascend (leading away from the corner) while the road you just cycled (leading to the corner) is still visible! This creates the illusion that the road is twice as steep as it is, as the angle between the two roads is twice the angle between either of the roads and ‘flat’. This has been the main cause of me cursing while on this trip. If, like me, you’re unfortunate enough to make this mistake every time, start cycling up, as you do, and stop after ten metres to close your eyes for a few seconds. Once you open again, the image of the road you’ve come from will have gone and the road will seem half as steep; works every time!</div>
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• Similar to above, I’ll often be cycling uphill and see that the road dips down in the distance, forming a horizon. Do not assume this means the road will be downhill!!! It’s the most demotivating occasion when you reach this change in gradient, whack the bike in to top gear and then come to a standstill. The opposite applies for going downhill :)</div>
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Looking back on the cloud I’d cycled into</div>
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Today, while cycling along, I remembered that Chelsea have won the Champions League. I punched the air, honked my horn and shouted a few “get in!”s to myself.</div>
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I reached Schwabisch Gmund (I don’t know the necessary keyboard shortcuts to write that properly) around 9pm. I was hoping to check into a youth hostel to catch the Euro final. It’s not worth writing it out in full, but due to a lack of preparation and information on my part, I couldn’t find any hostel or cheap hotel in the whole town and ended up checking into an expensive hotel at midnight, having missed the game.</div>
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An Italian-supporting bar in the centre of town, where I stayed for 15 minutes.</div>
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<b>Day 17 – 2.7.12; Distance Cycled – 115.11km; Average Speed – 22.6; Max Speed – 48.5; Elevation Climbed – 515m; Elevation Dropped – 413m</b></div>
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Today I stopped for lunch under a tree as I approached a town called Kaiserslautern. Having sat there for half an hour I noticed that the sign on the fence behind me was in English. It said something about scary dogs patrolling the area and that it was a US Army base. Fair enough, I knew they have bases around the world. What I didn’t realise was just how big they were. It was literally bigger than the whole town, maybe 10km long. It was so large (this could be a ‘yo mumma’ joke) that it had its own Burger King inside it that only US forces could access. What if I want a Whopper?</div>
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Whenever I enter a new town I look out for the sign stating which foreign towns it’s paired with. In Europe they do a lot of pairings with US towns, unlike the UK. I’ve seen a few names of English towns I recognise but I’ve been holding out to find one which a friend is from. Sorraya, this one’s for you!</div>
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On a separate note, it’s really important to be able to control your mood when doing a long solo journey like this. Things can get you down and so I decided to create a box of items which will rekindle my spirits and make me happy once again. See photo below.</div>
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The cycling today was unusually flat and, with 79km done, I noticed that I’d been cycling well under 4 hours. I decided to go for it and see how quickly I get 100km done. My pace was also helped by a small rearranging of items from my handlebar bag.</div>
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This just looks so right to me. I should say that I only ever use my iPod on cycle paths. I’ve seen two aftermaths of incidents involving bicycles and cars already and they only ever make me cycle even more carefully.</div>
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I put on my ‘Rock’ playlist that I made when I was 15. I have to say that I was rather happy with my taste in music as a 15 year old. That probably just shows that my tastes haven’t developed much since.</div>
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<i><br />Tonight Tonight, Breathe In The Air, Can't Stop, The Pretender, Throw Away Your Television, Little Respect, Reelin' in the Years, Best Of You, By The Way, The Zephyr Song, A Song For The Dead, First It Giveth, This Is The Place, 1979, Hotel California, Layla, Stairway to Heaven, In The Air Tonight, Time, You Think I Aint Worth A Dollar But I Feel Like A Millionaire, Dosed, Take It Easy, Venice Queen, Home, Is She Really Going Out With Him?, Us And Them, Teenage Dirtbag, But Honestly, Everlong, Don't Forget Me, Knockin' On Heaven's Door, Paradise City, Pinball Wizard, Universally Speaking, All The Young Dudes, Hey Joe, Spirit In The Sky, Comfortably Numb, Cabron, Numb, Warm Tape, The Boys Are Back In Town, Under the Bridge, One Step Closer, Times Like These, Crawling, In Too Deep, In The End, Fat Lip</i></div>
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Riding along from town to town while listening to rock music, punching the air every now and then; what more is life for?</div>
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In the end I did 100km in 4 hours, 18 minutes and 33 seconds, averaging 23.1 KM/H which I was rather happy with. It’s always nice to have a challenge now and then.</div>
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Now I remember, the reason my first few hours where so quick was that I was cycling on main roads. Unfortunately my Germany map wasn’t very detailed and so I had no other choice. In England, these are what we’d call ‘A roads’; normal roads with normal speed limits. In Germany the limit on these roads is 100 KM/H, or 62 MPH, the same as England. These were not dual carriageways, they were one lane each direction, no barrier in the middle. A road. I have no problems cycling on these roads as long as I’m surrounded by fields. As soon as the road goes up a ramp, or there are barriers either side, the Germans go crazy and start hooting like made. I’m not exaggerating when I say that I drew at least 20 horns today. They can all go stuff themselves as there were even bicycle signs now and then, warning drivers that cyclists are allowed on these roads! At one point I was going along, all the way to the right, as I knew that trucks and coaches were passing, then suddenly a noise louder than the horn of a cargo ship erupts from a couple of metres behind me. It was a German coach. Once he had passed, I let the driver know what I thought using official British DVLA approved hand signals.</div>
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<b>Day 18 – 3.7.12; Distance Cycled 132.76km; Average Speed – 19.9; Max Speed – 47.7</b></div>
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I realised last night that not only would I make it to Salzburg for my parents’ arrival; I’d make it there a day early! Today I would pass through two major cities, Augsburg and Munich. Going through Augsburg reminded me of something Dziadziu (that’s ‘granddad’ in Polish) had told me; be very careful cycling near tram lines. Now I could see why; they looked absolutely lethal! Get your wheel stuck in one of them and you and your wheel are done.</div>
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On the way into Munich I saw a sign for the Allianz Arena. I was oh-so-tempted, but it was getting late already and I needed to get out of the city to find somewhere to camp. Getting out of Munich wasn’t too hard; my GPS only has really major roads on it but I could use them along with my map to work out where I was and where I needed to go.</div>
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<b>Day 19 – 4.7.12 – Distance Cycled 139.05km; Average Speed – 19.5; Max Speed – 50.6</b></div>
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Today was the long haul to Salzburg to stay with my sister! I was so excited and motivated by the idea of staying in a flat for a few days that I didn’t even notice the huge distance I covered. About two thirds of the way there I took a small detour so I could visit Lake Chiemsee, right on the edge of the Austrian Alps. The first thing I noticed was in fact the Alps. Normally, whenever I see a hill in the distance I judge in my mind how hard it’s going to be to climb. I had never (on this trip) seen anything like these mountains. Thankfully I would turn East for Salzburg just before reaching them. </div>
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Cooling down in Lake Chiemsee. I walked 100m out but the water was still only up to my knees.</div>
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Clouds hiding a mountain just outside of Salzburg</div>
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With about 10km to go I realised I was extremely hungry. It’s quite dangerous being hungry on the bike as it means you’re running out of energy. It’s the first time it’s happened to me on this trip; I get quite dizzy and find it hard to concentrate. I’d only let this happen as I’d wanted to use up all my food supplies before I arrived in Salzburg for 4 days. Dad had texted me the coordinates of Lauren’s flat (the only information my GPS could digest) and, even though I knew I was less than 10 minutes away, I had to stop in a petrol station for a king size Snickers and Twix. I instantly felt better.</div>
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I then spent 15 minutes going up and down the wrong street looking for Lauren’s apartment; I even pressed the buzzer of an Austrian man who didn’t look too impressed. It turned out to be the next street that I wanted; it had a very similar name, I wasn’t paying enough attention.</div>
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I pressed the buzzer and the door unlocked. Lo-and-behold, 10 seconds later, there stood my sister! I’d made it to Salzburg!</div>
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My route from Luxembourg to Salzburg, Austria, highlighted poorly in Photoshop</div>
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Over the next few day lots of pleasant things happened. Time was spent with family and Lauren’s friends; picnics in the car (due to rain), rapidly changing weather, card games, drinks in bars and so on. Very enjoyable </div>
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Mum had booked me to see a physiotherapist to check on my knee. I was going to cycle there so he could see my ride position. Unfortunately a bungee caught around one of my spokes as I was departing. In the end I had to buy a new derailleur, change two spokes, two chain links and bend back the drop-out on my steel frame. A terrible mistake to have made causing hours of work needing to be done on the bike.</div>
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Photos from Salzburg</div>
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Salzburg in 1553, apparently.</div>
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The old town and castle at night</div>
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<b>Day 24 – 9.7.12; Distance Cycled 64.87km; Average Speed – 17.4; Max Speed – 52.8; Elevation Climbed 644m; Elevation Dropped – 385m</b></div>
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While in Salzburg I reread an online journal that had originally inspired me to do this trip. Having read of these adventures in rural China and Tibet, I decided I was bored of easy Europe and that I wanted to do some mountains. My original plan was to follow the Danube river to South East Europe as it’s pretty much flat. Now I would take a huge detour and head west to try and cycle to the top of the highest road in the Alps (3003 metres if I remember correctly)!</div>
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Mid-afternoon, as I was cycling up a mild hill I saw another cycle tourist pushing his bike up. When he got to the top he lit a cigarette. Makes sense. I asked if he spoke English which he did. His name was Lee (that’s short for something else, so I’m just going to spell it like that) and he was from the Czech Republic. Lee was cycling to Italy to try and find work picking apples. We would cycle the same route for a couple of days. He is 32 and pretty much a hobo. That’s not a bad thing by the way. You have tramps, who don’t work and don’t travel. Then you have bums, who don’t work but do travel. Then at the top of the pile you have hobos, who do work and do travel.</div>
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(I realised a few hours after writing the last paragraph that this pretty much makes me a bum)</div>
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Lee had spent the last 30 months cycling around New Zealand doing the same thing. He had far less equipment than me but seemed to get by just fine. He asked what my sleeping bag liner was for which made me wonder if I’d over done it a bit. Then again, I am going all the way to India.</div>
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Stopped for a break</div>
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Lee’s watch seemed to be stuck on 16:20 – why not? There’s no rush!</div>
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Lee suggested that we camp without tents which I quite liked the idea of. We stopped near a bridge in case it rained. I laid out my tarpaulin, my clean carpet for the night, and cooked dinner.</div>
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At about midnight I awoke to a small amount of rain. I quickly got my tent out but by the time I’d constructed the support pole the rain had passed. I fell straight back to sleep.</div>
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At 5:45am I woke suddenly to a lot of rain falling on my face. I woke Lee and went into a ridiculously fast action mode. Find bag which bag which contains all other bags. Stuff sleeping bag away. Deflate sleeping mat. Roll up and stuff away sleeping mat. Put waterproofs on. Shake down, fold up and put away tarpaulin. Try and get everything on the bike and run for the bridge! I really don’t know why we didn’t sleep under the bridge in the first place! When we got to the bridge I dug channels in the mud with my shoes to divert the incoming water. Finally I had found a use for the many hours I spent as a child building damns on West Wittering Beach.</div>
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<b>Day 25 – 10.7.12; Distance – 59.77km; Average Speed – 17.4; Max Speed – 60; Elevation Climbed 700m; Elevation Dropped – 557m</b></div>
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Waking up to a nice view the next morning and a great source of water</div>
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Drying our equipment during breakfast- Lee studying my map (he didn’t have one)</div>
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Today I would have to take on my first mountain pass. Pass Thurn (that’s ‘Thurn Pass’ in English’ stood at 1273m, a climb of just over 500m from where I would start. The final town before the pass was Kitzbuhel which apparently is famous. Whoopty-doo.</div>
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Leaving Kitzbuhel, just as the road started to climb, there was a queue of cars. I thought it would be cruely motivating if there was a queue the whole way to the top that I could cycle pass. Unfortunately this was the cause.</div>
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The hill on the opposite side of the valley</div>
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I found the constant battle with gravity to be a real struggle. Normally an uphill climb will reward you with a downhill ride after only a few minutes but unfortunately this isn’t how passes work.</div>
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About three quarters of the way up I noticed a clicking somewhere in my chain or gears so I pulled over into a layby. It appeared that one more link than I had realised had been bent by the bungee incident. Along with cutting my thumb, getting blood everywhere and breaking my chain link extractor tool (essential for the work I was doing), I eventually replaced the link with my final spare, altogether taking nearly an hour. It shouldn’t really have taken more than ten minutes.<br />
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A few hundred metres before the top of the pass I noticed this beauty. Having emptied almost all of the water from my bottles at the bottom in order to save weight, I couldn’t believe my luck at finding this.<br />
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A relatively steep road (maybe 8 or 9%) – At the bottom, the layby in which I did my repairs<br />
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Maybe you can tell from my obsessive photos of fountains (when I find them) just what a relief it is discovering something like this. My next source of water is one of the most important concerns I have to deal with every day, along with finding a spot to camp (no water means not only no drinking, but also no (cooked) dinner and trouble taking medication)! I should point out that I don't buy bottled water as it's not always available and is expensive when you're getting through 6-8 litres a day! The one exception to this is an Aldi I found in Austria where you could buy a 1.5l bottle of water for 19 cents and recycle the bottle there and then for 25 cents. No idea what they're thinking but hey, this is mainland Europe!<br />
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All visible parts of the fountain were crafted from wood<br />
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Pass Thurn!</div>
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A panorama of the valley I was about to descend into from near the top of the pass</div>
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Descending from the pass was great fun but I had to go relatively slowly; the road was busy and my whole load is something between 18 and 20 Stone, depending on how much water I'm carrying and how much I feel like exaggerating.</div>
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I was trying to capture the contrasting skies; a storm unleashing here and a sunny evening down the valley</div>
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Soon I was cycling along a flat road once more. Inspired by the luxury bridge the night before, I checked out the nearest bridge over the river running through the valley. </div>
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Unfortunately there was little more than a few feet between the water and the underside of the bridge; useless to me! With a storm coming in I changed my focus and looked for other forms of shelter. I noticed all the wooden barns dotted throughout the fields (sometime three or four per field, used for storage) and went exploring to see if any were good to sleep in. In the field that I was in (the only one that wasn’t fenced off) there were three huts (they weren’t really big enough to call barns). The first two were both inaccessible due to wood pilled in the entrances. The third, however, was perfect. It was more like a stable with three separate rooms. The first two full with a tractor and a trailer and the third pretty much had a sign saying ‘Hotel’ glowing next to it.</div>
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A dry floor; some stones a lot of hay and a tad of horse crap; I laid my tarpaulin out and felt like baby Jesus.</div>
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My room for the night (taken the next morning)</div>
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The great thing about sleeping somewhere with a roof is that you don’t have to put your stuff away when you go to sleep!<br />
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The storm that night brought in extreme winds. Thankfully my barn kept me toasty warm.<br />
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While taking extra care not to burn the whole barn down (I really have to be careful, overfill the cup a tiny bit before lighting it and the liquid fuel will drip down onto the floor causing dramatic scenes upon lighting), I took this photo of my stove being awesome<br />
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I’m thinking of starting a Tumblr entitled “Views from my Pillow”. Waking up to a view like this is one of the most beautiful joys of cycle touring that one would rarely otherwise experience.<br />
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If you've enjoyed reading this then please do me the favour of sharing this on facebook or whatever means you like! It does take me a lot of time to write and I'd love it if more people read it so I could get some more donations heading St. Margaret's way (the reason I'm doing this, after all)! Cheers Guys!<br />
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A quick up-to-date update! I'm now in Trento, Italy. I cycled in the Alps for a week or so, I want to have all that written up and published in the next few days. I have decided to change my course a bit; instead of doing the small Eastern European countries I am going to cycle the length of Italy as I just love this country and I have friends in the South. From the 'heel' of Italy I'll catch a ferry to Greece and the route will almost be back on track!</div>
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</div>Jude Kriwaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10149790059840460857noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7930417312752206140.post-75936468080312236582012-06-30T06:53:00.001-07:002012-07-02T06:34:14.793-07:00Day 4 (19.06.12)–Day 14 (29.06.12)<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;">I have not proof read a single sentence, please forgive all my usual errors. </span><br />
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<span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}"><span style="font-size: small;">Do excuse walls of text, as much as I try I can't get more than one line break in at a time!</span></span></h6>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Day 4- 19.06.12: (I’ve given up converting now, get with the KM program guys!) Distance Cycled – 104.51km; Average Speed - 18.19; Max speed – 68.65; Elevation Climbed – 558.2 metres; Elevation Descended – 618.2 metres</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">I woke in Norman’s bay feeling like a cycle touring/wild camping pro. I was finally getting the hang of making omelettes with my limited gastronomy equipment and the spot I’d camped on was so perfect that it even had bathing facilities (the English Channel).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">My ferry was at 9am the next morning from Dover, and I planned to stay the night in Temple Wells with Rebecca and David, two kind people who offered me a room through a website called warmshowers.org. Warm Showers is pretty much the same as ‘Couch Surfing’, but for cycle tourists, with the emphasis obviously being on the fact one will be able to have one’s first shower in days.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">I’m so behind with my blogging that I can’t remember anything spectacular that happened that day, but the evening was great. Once I arrived at Rebecca’s I had a quick shower which was sublime; I washed twice. Then she told me that we were driving over to her sister’s in Canterbury to watch England Vs. Ukraine. Absolute winner. I had hoped all day that I’d be able to watch the match. Not only did we watch the match, but Rebecca’s family cooked a vegetarian curry especially for me, thank you guys!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">My only photo from that day, I wish I’d taken one with all of Rebecca and David’s family.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Day 5 – 20.06.12; Distance Cycled – 108.11km; Average Speed – 18.83; Max Speed – 46.5; Elevation Climbed – 434.4 metres; Elevation Descended – 419 metres</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">Getting to the ferry was easy, it was only 8km away. Cycling through the ferry terminal was fun; there was a designated cycle path but then it weaved through multiple truck lanes and over many ramps. Once I got my boarding pass in the check-in area I found my designated lane, 213, at scooted past all the queued cars. I was then ushered on to the ferry as the first person on!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">Boarding Pass</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh98kurfJn3gKhZ6DKPtIb_TuCNMFen6GnoehTw13cCOjD_WgRf6JTZ8pGA5BYVOywjKJywM3QA_Vgb3VZ-VkibH4XpFg3ffRD6Mmm3OgOtcqUFG-ip-N8UCjNyNHhLWW2gw7s2KRGDedAq/s1600-h/SAM_0105%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img alt="SAM_0105" border="0" height="604" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifk8KNWWy9eihFjjwZBWxAEUPvCbknzvjMqTPom2wZ0ftTTwY9Q5UM5RQhG_io21VYQRmiGu_FQAoazc2JPSNUEHxk-6iXt83A1eDLOM7HxwHiIGPHywWRTjLX1ttyoa3awXNxV0SicDA7/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="SAM_0105" width="804" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">Looking back down the ferry</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">I was also told that I’d be the last off since cycles and motorised vehicles aren’t allowed on the ramp at the same time. I didn’t mind too much as this gave me more lounging time upstairs. The ferry journey was nothing special, I filled up my bottles and spent my last Pounds on a map of Northern France and some White Maltesers.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCmGmqt3WiM8nHmwEGlMbGmaABFUMKvPyY-UJIqXJx6U6qeuCpVNniyoT5JyM35fdEXmY9l6vAisW2Cn7fNI6vRF7mbcwfyJT8b6CT14fNDLdK36AcSKHqdPyMJFvCrK2u0TfmzKJ9vM19/s1600-h/SAM_0106%25255B6%25255D.jpg"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><img alt="SAM_0106" border="0" height="604" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQi3N3qkK9aRzrJ9BWiHjP2lP2JLwNauAUtNK9y2bwgCTmlJ9Wa-6zz5LsiKro6ykzPOqQ7qj_7XGcU5KsJUL0wDD7Buz1lpumqcrwiZTq3JkW_F35OJFS7ji-cMcyfdIkYPu-NRrM8dBS/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="SAM_0106" width="804" /></span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">The White Cliffs of Dover – Goodbye England!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">Arriving in France I really didn’t have any plan as to where I should go, apart from somewhere south east of Calais. My map only showed fast roads in and out of the city so that was pretty useless. The map did, however, show a river leading out of Calais, and it went south east! Perfect.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">Calais actually seemed quite nice, I was sort of expecting it to look like the refugee camp that one often hears of on the news.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">Following the river was obviously pretty flat and very quiet. Eventually the river turned into canals; lovely cycling but so boring, field after field of the same crop.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh_a2OQdx0UmvCWbtxKwZrFU12ui0IX3vnsulE-q1BkMdks9hzfCNjImKr_FPKBHz_SrAxkJJtQE5e97PsjWlqpjs3HEZ4QC27vYW7q0BN9PDsmVySbeD1OW-ya1s_vBAVaIzISuDUAK7T/s1600-h/SAM_0107%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><img alt="SAM_0107" border="0" height="604" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp77uwEiXA-XtxZx0fvGmOaAT0oq0XSFM1ujScMDnqLbFgqCOpYOho5_DUdfIEi83dUhATN2QEKkeXipRRKkFRb9Lvv0owcEA129yR61EVP-4sTdVszcpTeJg9Na3ugWkYr9v3O9w2ulgA/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="SAM_0107" width="804" /></span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">Somewhere on this road I met two cyclists who’d come from Lille who were having lunch under a tree</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">By now the river I was following on the map disappeared and I ended up going along a lot of dirt tracks through fields: as long as they went in the right direction I didn’t mind. I noticed after a while that the wind was blowing to the South, so I gave up on heading south east and just went with the wind.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">I did eventually grow tired of not knowing where I was actually going. While it is true that I was going in the right direction, without towns or roads to aim for I lost all sense of progress. For this reason my first two days in France weren’t the most fulfilling.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">One of the problems of following a canal is that if it turns in the direction you don’t want to go and there’s no bridge then you just have to go without, and keep pedalling North until you find one!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">That night I slept at the end of a dirt track next to a field. I got there quite early before sundown so I put my dark green tarpaulin over my bike to try and blend in with the bushes behind me while tractors and joggers passed in the distance.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhhjXP675qaQzE7P8SDVrs0NBI1E6QpFRNRbbDjGE7IW53EW2dz7OBLbh5lKe-OHQ9jxyGEn-7vwkowFSMdoU1aPGUjuktwINGinsmPc3LTo4cvGD3wiMusB2S0NvCYZ7FSS88n59JlI9p/s1600-h/SAM_0108%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><img alt="SAM_0108" border="0" height="114" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg64hsA-x2IOumM6sQpb3jaAf-6baKvdLnlOx6Ep8XPMwlrc1sAma2BEn7d-pTrbtk6_1JwFv2TtuyKY2pOeAr4nzph0iwQu-Ou9epDbrh8WE0JLVqr2Zua38rjG6LQDuuLPc8Ig7CeOiKv/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="SAM_0108" width="804" /></span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">A panorama of where I slept</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Day 6 – 21.06.12; Distance Cycled – 30.8km; Average Speed – 17.4; Max Speed – 42.36; Elevation Climbed – 128 metres; Elevation Dropped – 144.5 metres</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">I slept really badly that night. First of all I woke up in the middle of the night having rubbed my eyes in my sleep due to my hay fever. They were so swollen that my vision was blurry, when I got up to go the toilet that town lights in the distance twinkled like the stars. I was desperate for something to help my eyes; some frozen peas or a sink of cold water. When I did get back to sleep I dreamt that the local farmer came and found me in the night, but thankfully he didn’t mind, he just charged me 3 Euros.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">That morning was rough. I just remember waking up and standing outside my tent for ten minutes, not knowing what to do with myself. My eyes were still swollen, I was sweaty and smelly, I had no idea were I was and to be honest I felt rather homeless.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">I cycled south until I found a main road, and there are saw a sign for Bethune, 20km away. I decided that I was going to have a day off and a night in a hostel to clean up and gather myself.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">On the way into Bethune I saw a couple of hotels offering reasonable rates, but I was keen to stay somewhere in the centre so I could use the local amenities. After half an hour or so of cycling around the town I gave up, there was only one hotel, ‘Hotel de Ville’, it looked expensive and I couldn’t work out how to open the front door. I ended up staying in ‘Tour Hotel du Golf’ on the outside of town which was pleasant enough.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">That evening I made good use of the hotel’s internet, googling key French phrases to help me get by and skyping with my parents. They helped me come up with the idea of aiming for a particular town/city that I would like to see every few days so that I had something to look forward to. I felt a lot better after talking to them. (Later on in the trip I would realise that it wasn’t just not having somewhere to aim for that reduced my enjoyment of the trip, it was the quiet French towns I was going through combined with boring landscapes and a lack of stimulus/people to talk to).</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3g5LM3QK4XgYL5d6DDPOCzQKUCTDSVtWch2ZSaWDOaAZPqZI6EBm0nTAoL7gICh8ialZuoEnzec0y5bAg_cUyBeDfUUJqEMTpanT2IQTyoOUOHJWIR7ty9F_ZC1dRpc8NGCUL_0-opPNs/s1600-h/SAM_0112%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><img alt="SAM_0112" border="0" height="604" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi32UJa6mkO_x5seMGbpu74As_GlI_qXenLQ8bFuuqCdNtR_VqFrrqFrcDBqO5fQuBzz46qy9QRE4u83227-gFLqcCmRBaUFP8-veWnoC46KD_OdzwE_v7DFIhAgz9Jmh8sjC8qK5oGXN9Y/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="SAM_0112" width="804" /></span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">Dinner in Bethune</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXJSNZlWSsLUa7bbHIrqTtB9jNeNcvIsmrL4RZZ0utoV50y1UTmKqlvlOuGZkpkcItJxHL-yxiX0Mt0mVjFEmwccOs2uG3mE3e8J1tROLyxkDtlQzYrOlADzCY0cGf8-6LK3zr-dyKhx68/s1600-h/SAM_0114%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><img alt="SAM_0114" border="0" height="604" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtKb12ZJS_C6_ZtEBq5YTq9gNEn8hI4qF_yGJEZBfykIm2_Ry7iFcAIuTQEdWZkzhrDMG5nQDcVYKNcZo33h0ephivVl0RQbvVFEPu4-4wVylCOJ6Crzy7QwDeGwWurI3WiNtBN_cpe3Ze/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="SAM_0114" width="454" /></span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">The square in Bethune. There was a terrible concert going on that evening. Nice fountains though.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><b>Day 7 – 22.06.12;</b> <b>Distance Cycled – 98.5km; Average Speed – 19.2; Max Speed – 41.9; Elevation Climbed – 581.4 meters; Elevation Dropped – 488.6 metres</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">Day 7, a Friday, was a lot better. When I spoke to my parents the night before I said I’d aim to get in Luxembourg in 3 days; 100km a day assuming I stuck to the route. Most of this day was spent pedalling through fields upon very mild hills, my most pleasant day on the continent yet.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">Annoyingly my VDO Cycle Computer (speedometer etc.) broke in just half an hour’s light rain; not impressed! I had to use my GPS only for the next few days. My GPS always gives the distance at the end of the day at about 95% of that given by my cycle computer. I reason that my cycle computer is more accurate since it records every little turn, left and right, whereas my GPS might record straight lines from points taken every few metres.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">Again, I camped at the end of a track in the middle of some fields, but this area had something rather peculiar about it. I can safely say that I have never slept next to anything so weird. It might look like sawdust, but see if you can guess what the lighter heap is made of (the darker is cow dung (I know it seems horrible to camp next to, but it meant that the insects would, for once, be attracted to something other than me)).</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2EUIy4LRn0hv_jmVMsQ_yp_bxOyxZ2UlSsBuBWq2jb8kIQ8B2n_gPnRdOfoU_UVZdkNw0dVd6gshSu32pdrBjtmRXOL-rYaa7AKeTz2a7OnWazbbaNa3-u-RE0izfOo7dzmNrDkEOP7wY/s1600-h/SAM_0117%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><img alt="SAM_0117" border="0" height="119" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEHBMKmWF4__Cj98Dm27IeRKUXaUZsvSJLUhH9bbyjS4Q0VumIoo4JOLT1hLWVCyG8WXcoj49dvECyRUQjoiNKv79RKV16y-4OPADJw6sYpHiuVbBgLty1K_QjuTnIJPgfKC2Zbnl000qr/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="SAM_0117" width="804" /></span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">Yep, that’s right! You guessed it; it’s a pile of millions of crushed egg shells – Really creepy</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Day 8 – 23.06.12; Distance Cycled – 110.5 km; Average Speed – 19; Max Speed – 55.5; Elevation Climbed – 1490.3 metres; Elevation Dropped – 1398.4 metres</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">I soon worked out that, even though I’d done 100km the day before, I had a lot more than 200km to do before I reached Luxembourg. About half way through the day I guessed it to be about 230km all together, for that day and the next. So 115km today and 115 the next. Well I did 115 km, and it was really hard, but I had a lot more than 115 km to do the following day. I passed through France, Belgium and ended up again in France.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">I remember, around 8pm that day, being so incredibly hungry that I couldn’t wait until I’d finished climbing the hill I was on and found a spot to camp. I pulled over on the side of the road and set next to a war memorial. It had never previously occurred to me just how many memorials there are in France. I ate two Twixes and had one huge Royal Gala apple (my new favourite) but the second one I tried to have was mouldy so I spat it back out. I actually waited for the traffic to pass as I didn’t want the locals to see me spitting on their memorial.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">I managed to find a forest with a sign reading something along the lines of “community forest” so I thought it’d be a good place to camp. I have to admit that not a single night has gone by in which I haven’t heard distant gunshots while wild camping. I assume it’s something farmers do for a reason. I was particularly alert this night as, while I was wheeling my bike through the woods, I got caught up in what I thought was a trip wire. It turned out just to be a really strong piece of cotton which someone had threaded about 40cm of the ground to signify their land, or so I think. In my slightly panicked mood, I trod all 40ft of it into the floor, just to be safe.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_AC4OnSjaWZgQDNdizOAURZvSGM884xL2aVdsIaapSgXwnUIcnDIZW7QHLgJYaoWdGImmQF4B848A1qMeDpW48kM-Qrt2d-drgSEzh6UKU3WCs3K9QIdFVD6X0CqS7mWQrVAwHMl1Pqqv/s1600-h/SAM_0120%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><img alt="SAM_0120" border="0" height="604" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeW17Hd2-gZ-XJJdXMf0e6Y_XV5iCsXYnMn9r2tuhLZp-H3aRBNDsbFT_3ILGAQmSCJBiEifuKrtghklxFpm43Vh6e2a8qXfHEmS3xpfwYYNBghbe-i6dm3QVKbudyv6ynd-3wSusx735r/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="SAM_0120" width="804" /></span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">As you may notice, my tent is far from properly set up. It was only last night (I’m writing this on the 30th) that I think I actually got it right</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Day 9 – 24.06.12; Distance Cycled 144.7 km (more like 150 with GPS adjustment); Average Speed – 17.5; Max Speed – 47; Elevation Climbed 1879.3 metres; Elevation Dropped 1843.2 metres</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">This day I went from France into Belgium and then Luxembourg. I much preferred cycling in Belgium, simply because they seem like more interesting people (that is a judgement made without actually meeting any of them, I’m making this assessment based purely on cars and style). In France the only cool cars I saw where the classic old Citroens. In Belgium there were all sorts. I saw many young couples driving around in vintage cars while wearing matching outfits, the men with their hair greased back.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">I’m not going to write too much more about this day as I have already written about it in my last blog post ‘How to Slay a Hill’, do check it out; it’s mad.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">(Assuming you’ve read previous post). Once I’d decided to continue to Luxembourg I texted my dad to ask him to check my email to see if anyone had replied to my Couch Surfing requests, no one had. Instead, he texted back with the name of the best/only hostel in Luxembourg city and a booking reference number my mum had secured. Parents can be heroes sometimes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">The difference between Belgium and Luxembourg was immediately apparent. As I crossed the border, hooting my horn that my housemate, Gianluca, had given me, all the shops were suddenly open. Rural Belgium on a rainy Sunday evening can be a lonely place. The Belgian petrol station on the border was closed, but on the other side were two open stations, and a third 50m down the road. I reached the hostel around 10:30pm (I had my lights on; front secured to the top of my helmet, at the back to my rear left pannier).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">I managed to catch the dying moments of England’s Euro campaign. Watching this had really helped to motivate me. I went into my dorm around 12, everyone was asleep with the lights off, so I proceeded to be as clumsy as possible with my torch while putting my sheets on my bed and unpacking.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Days 10, 11 & 12 – 25, 26, 27.06.12; Distance Cycled – Approximately 50km.</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">These days were spent in Luxembourg city, I spent one night in the city hostel, then one in Bourglinster, 15km out of town, as the city hostel was fully booked that night, then two more in the city hostel. Resting my knee, which was giving me a small amount of grief, was the main reason for these days off</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">As I was leaving the city hostel for the first time, I met another cycle tourist, Jayden, who was cycling home. Cycling home from L.A. to South Korea. He started in January, crossed West to East over the States, flew to London, got the ferry to Holland and arrived in Luxembourg the same time as me. We’re actually doing the exact same route to India, so we should hopefully do some cycling together, except he’s nipped West across to Belgium briefly to catch the start of Le Tour de France.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjRnyz1Ek0BHZbwwfAabOIGTSPAVkNKAz8uWPQ_qhPmarClT61r2-Kt8xBDKjvFMRIeq2-37ZmEo-_3gN99WrhO1WI68yKjdGLtxFTg5eTxfWdtMTnspIOXMPtxcV0UC3EGg8XT4tAXI2L/s1600-h/SAM_0123%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><img alt="SAM_0123" border="0" height="604" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnaGIe7QBuKlQxA14kdV2yFfj91u3kU8FFp5Ew2PVWShcZU3gEriu9SuTdqDD0CRq8Gh3Nr4UJkxLkl0IkKrqcGL1TrjU_K2208KmaLbPqq9DNt5vCgvNG0tGVodXNwogwFA0petPpH9a6/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="SAM_0123" width="804" /></span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">Me with Jayden, about to go our separate ways</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">Jayden wasn’t actually the first cycle tourist I met, but he was the first one doing a really long distance. In Shoreham-By-Sea I’d met an Aussie guy, Matt, who had cycled down from Liverpool, via London, in four days and was heading back to Cornwall the way I came. I spotted him in the town centre. When you’ve been cycling by yourself and living a lifestyle so different to most around you it’s hard not to get excited when you see someone else with a fully-loaded bike. We asked each other many questions, the most basic things. Questions about camping, using ass butter (I’ll explain another time) and daily distances.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">The other person I met was a tattoo artist from Leeds who, having lost his job, decided to cycle from Amsterdam to Portugal on a 3-speed bike he bought for £150 from Halfords. I actually saw his bike outside the hostel when I first arrived, it’s looks like a real vintage machine. He told me that he had some stuff he wanted to ditch and that he’d give it to me in the morning, but I didn’t manage to catch him the next day. Instead, when I went to get my bike out, there was a nice collection of items on my front rack that he’d left for me; a compass, a salt and pepper holder, a torch, moisturiser and a really well made leather tool bag. I gave most of it to Jayden as I already had equivalent items, but the moisturiser was very useful! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">I found a bike shop as I was having some problems with my front brake, it wasn’t quite gripping properly. There were two men there who helped me, Duzellier, a young man who spoke good English and worked on the shop floor, and Philippe, the bike mechanic who helped endlessly.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">I told them both about my trip and, with Duzellier translating between Philippe and me, Philippe told me that his son is currently cycling around the world. He started in France, did a similar route to me but went further, to the Pacific, and now he’s in Canada. So far he’s done around 28,000 km, I’ve done just over 1,000 km! The great news is that he’s also riding on a Long Haul Trucker, so at least I have solid proof that they’re as reliable as I thought. Philippe didn’t charge me for any of the work he did which was incredibly kind. There’s something special about meeting and talking to someone who shares one small but rare thing in common with oneself.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-Jx9kynzr1ZNjYB63SlsASLkbjrsHE7ucQKfW7mF9gEi8hhSLi6kvSGqiFnp8-30lVqqU5GKGIEjGY-TxryWFIhQk-5rsJNITeTe9qaA-fiB3SrWTgNOIpq862tuzPkemxwEpPzog_Fzf/s1600-h/SAM_0127%25255B9%25255D.jpg"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><img alt="SAM_0127" border="0" height="604" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiAkwzUEViXq2Zmt-sDLHZgVGi8IFBJ0yONMFfCTN2CILPZwgge_4uwGnjhpyLKcUQp_sLm-lSWPZcYqXDpuMLI8hbrq0glttFLYHnHVCGy0g_hqGNB9JpbryQkGMjFp-XjrChcBAmL7ch/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="SAM_0127" width="804" /></span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">A cool kindergarten building on the way to Bourglinster</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">From the bike shop I had to go 15km to the second hostel in Bourglinster. Between me and Bourglinster stood a 10% hill, the steepest I’d faced so far. With my bike trying to roll backwards, I put all my weight on my right pedal, ready to go. As soon as I pushed down my foot fell to the floor; my chain had snapped. I immediately remember Jayden pointing out one dodgy looking chain link on my bike when we checked each other’s bikes out. I couldn’t believe it though, not five minutes out of the bike shop and I had to go back (I could have fixed the chain myself but I knew that the shop would do it a lot quicker and it would leave me feeling more confident.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">I now had the dilemma of keeping my speed up down the hill and then on to the flat road with the shop on, since I couldn’t pedal but not going too fast as I hadn’t tested my new brake set up yet. This caused me to get rather angry when someone stopped unnecessarily at a roundabout. I proceeded to push my self round it while still sat on the bike, drawing horns from multiple cars.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">Back at the shop Philippe cleaned my chain and gave me a new chain link. Again, he wouldn’t accept any money. “See you soon”, he joked as I left. Believe it or not I did see him again, the next day. The changes he’d made to my brakes weren’t enough and I knew I had to get a new brake lever, not a small job. He told me to wait a few hours. I sat in McDonalds and wrote my last blog post. When I went back he’d changed <b>both </b>brake levers just to be sure and he gave my bike a once over. While he was finishing I looked for a new cycle computer. Seeing me doing this, he got one out a box and gave it to me, for free. In the end I was left with a bike far superior to the one I went in with, and a couple of friends up too. They said I could come back anytime. Philippe and Duzellier, merci beaucoup! (That’s as far as my French will stretch).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">A few hours later I had a flat tyre. I had to rush back from the bike shop, check in again at the city hostel, wash my feet and then go see a physiotherapist in the centre of town. I cycled back, locked up my bike, rapidly checked in, washed as well as I could and got back to my bike not more than 20 minutes after I left it. The front tyre was completely flat. I knew had to run to my appointment, I really couldn’t be late; he’d agreed to see me very last minute and after his normal work hours. I was following a tourist map, crossed over a bridge spanning ten railway platforms, thought I’d made a mistake and went back over, realised I was right the first time and crossed for the first time. By the time I was there I was 15 minutes late and hot enough to be leaving sweat marks on just about everything I touched. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">Patrick, the physio, who is also a cyclist, said my knee problem is a common one and gave me some stretches to help with it. When he looked at my back his expression changed though. He said that my spine was completely wonky. He told me I should be much more concerned about my back than my knee as, although I can’t feel it yet, with 8,000 km to go it will start to hurt soon. I will see an osteopath as soon as I can. It’s either caused by knee hurting (and me compensating for it) or by bending forward on the bike too much. Since, I have moved my saddle forward for a more upright position and am using the drop bars less.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">In Bourglinster I met Vanessa, a Canadian girl backpacking around Europe. I would spend the next couple of days bumming around Luxembourg with her, being tourists. That night we went to the only bar in Bourglinster, a tiny little room that had more bottles of alcohol than the largest of Whetherspoon’s. It was a typical small European pub; dark, smokey and with bar staff who knew all the locals. At 1.80 Euros for 0.5 litre of beer (not quite a pint <img alt="Sad smile" class="wlEmoticon wlEmoticon-sadsmile" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgh_aPwFTz5F67h4d_R7rmD7135coqZVvD0snU9IJ65smWV43Jl_TGpL1R0vtqMTb7GEmk350-I7KXF_xOBt_RUs9lJQPAlN90e7CPypO1M4o6lNR0cdjoVnbQfKwzX08xKphy_4xqVwlp/?imgmax=800" style="border-style: none;" /> ) I couldn’t complain.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">I also met an incredible Italian guy called Nicola, who reminded me a lot of Gianluca. He was staying in the same youth hostels on the same days as me. He' had come to Luxembourg from near Lecce as his friend had secured him a job in an upmarket ice-cream parlour in the centre of town. His first day had been a ‘disaster’ as he hardly speaks any French, German or Luxembourgish. Apart from playing chess, my greatest of memory of Nic will be him telling me a quote from ‘On The Road’ by Jack Keronac, which he made me promise I’d read, saying it changed his life.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia;">“-We gotta go and never stop going ‘till we get there.</span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia;">- Where we going man?</span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia;">- I don’t know but we gotta go.”</span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">Nic told me that one day he will buy a bicycle and we will cycle on the road together. It’s astonishing how I felt like we understood each other so well after only three days of knowing each other.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Photos from Luxembourg and Bouglinster</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVuZCowRcEdDrKzsXnRZ3eJ8GLppOdcN3B7OBG-raumFGiigXFbts2bEZKKvlqduhlCONsxpl_giL-y_eLARRCryuH0xcHjX2Ep3ElMZMEeoIKYFsoJWXjvkbyI2N96oIngDtkEXxBd9Pf/s1600-h/SAM_0124%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><img alt="SAM_0124" border="0" height="604" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIII65-wh1sOUFLaZw8Up7B1YJZO1tfJY9TX8CRAzzaqU14bLciB0gBbFHgAvpJfMgpz5nBpv906y-2dD3YBZvfpkt2rS95KWFROSHpYG8OzudmU_0kG3iCwm4gXUergPTfCK1MrXFm15H/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="SAM_0124" width="804" /></span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio4Y8FCuwOBbKfKO8CZB-TfUAqMgl7icULB57TIezPlCVQ7fT9-_x-qK4OJXqASbhVVZ2MWozKmg2_g5oQI2aml7P0is_WeGCp96bBnC7j-N-yNfQ1p_5tk2bvhS8-IFOImMhyphenhyphenI6MtR_Ui/s1600-h/SAM_0127%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><img alt="SAM_0127" border="0" height="604" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGn8Xh0mVqAZim0kynOJJPBHqXfNj6CjTobOF-AKAzg9hpCe0HYnSKCWh3v1ZDteZziaOIgM22_2bXaUZ4F4RforD10LGYrwUzRCllTxsCTnPY4aBpT5IxMsam_RSOenDwqxlemkLodVFN/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="SAM_0127" width="804" /></span></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMAHHwn6mojEiD4iFBvQTHU9SEW4Yci89UKhlYAiDF0g7xYYeBcK7BbI7buDixuSCEs0gseACOjmskw1Z0WcaFzARGAwoC6ldzKRe439Y1mpPHI6eiODyj8Sqd-9aWRqKqPf31CK6A_0ws/s1600-h/SAM_0128%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><img alt="SAM_0128" border="0" height="804" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXL5YWQKJBDm_NzpnZk5N9RvFOWVjg1ivbFK07dEXtFIttX64tE1Yv26OCwqTimkZ1mLHkCsIxJn6Yrl6HjKox7V8GtujBW_vgEbsWoUaN8luyVIFkAu-LzlNelxyFKCk0iL3VHF9VEYkr/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="SAM_0128" width="604" /></span></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyZT-Z_VgWRKNSQcwY9lzvBQ8cqzEMVH8ObAlgM-MDYojBGzpk_0VKwPx5WnMiAAUKiWvOmWS9xPuQcZQXCLgMd_3mIggJTVqhGOZeLAE2a0dFKoD49eqLuYARpoX-I6oe1KPihciJDX7_/s1600-h/SAM_0133%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><img alt="SAM_0133" border="0" height="604" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9Z8DcfGRaXwpxKwDdO2Nolp7uug-5AjTWQWoc6LoY6kIeCE_8y4mp-L88bemq2tEczW8cZpyPSo_sZJo_yegPFNabdPLqiwuol2GDcTNFQKzBA0w_LwjOheEfu73yk8CNtbEOtAzL9nqD/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="SAM_0133" width="804" /></span></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSDRE_uHkxlsXSCPD3Vd3ddOaqgpMFe9SjhRLyjQH4mrlUFbyFypxcScjLQAPfHh5goTzTG08sOJpyKhUnsYs0dvYV8PxQy9h4g87URCdjkaGhbltibxDyp0dA_JP2RF981Ew9DgAFqJGG/s1600-h/SAM_0134%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><img alt="SAM_0134" border="0" height="604" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYAlGCnllnb25cHUhEyLkDx8RfG6td-g2LsuOO7VN65mQ5Jg7NAmfPtf2TUA6Ry6lR3AUmiii-CflNl5qGn_8Lj477CV6W3uxl4xxYMYH549tN8DrOgCy9dmGiwcjEpWY1CjPeNkEdLmrN/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="SAM_0134" width="804" /></span></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxXngqnJox9AJxlSW3i8-jrabKZ3JCmqaFhqWZrF5J5yfFJyeIVJNfjnJ8ulfg9rSDzQ2xWkj-2nAlt5j6jUEpOPjVZjgBnn4uXMeKZEtxQGF3bD7mHTgehb9DFt8NhvRVBmshVFSDXHs0/s1600-h/SAM_0137%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><img alt="SAM_0137" border="0" height="604" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6eIj3p6OYMr2uz4EM_pGGGAVt31Qrc3RoRqekSPFAs3QGs6b4I1PEAyUwopsjfoTNhjc1iczEketwCJ55jGQ8vHbShRkmvZKRFWQBfM7jj3eFY8p7aHtqP0ouMTWiNz52mbMqNyG3AFmz/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="SAM_0137" width="454" /></span></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0M8m8jFRRypKNC7XtHwAzmAFCcqvQ1jyN5tn6m-kuL_ePZo_xC-_r6afw3ZM7vK7NPl0GsePTjKevsvGdQW9gIQVKf7RKgwj_ffYbaxXcAZHB75TdOn0FFnHj-9e-O-e7OEEvxNfnvE_B/s1600-h/SAM_0138%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><img alt="SAM_0138" border="0" height="604" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFHZSF-KMWGbydNiUTAaEhfRJJ6mF5G5K6Ga-BQGjwaa86pJnW9XNwR0SE8EGLWdqJe0OyLjvkcDnKnyw9EqNBVdnXd7rg7vCIslXtT-qIrAx9pedf4FUU5zaP7cqoSCgP3NKPIZEX8vxf/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="SAM_0138" width="454" /></span></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDeY0rGnpDK5x8L9t8DGqvzW3oq3pYaSeKsxH_PzmAcMkYo7hrJdO8FlhyphenhyphenEqAn75gYcJVKXR2cJtwPtNpDruA_sH51fJKlCvWSXYuahwKPDCCpI7gpq_0EYOLf6g-7Wp5gRo1h_fJMBjhY/s1600-h/SAM_0139%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><img alt="SAM_0139" border="0" height="604" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKEH4sJ5CK-GEe26kkWU0TFwvsGWA9hwUSbb344KVj9xrHoayYLdoxP9Dfhcxn_xTpYymfh5syc1XyClnkCO9Jlwf24_2-PBhqcj3G-l8bKELk5a_4C3kl5_vhe1SXPuUFoaMdgT2hJfro/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="SAM_0139" width="804" /></span></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjejQchTMf0_mf0GSo42umOwZNDi29fVEtc9pjk9cJuLu1-_prLK1SECWW1vVutnRAOsvrpYpj44BPNy94TIoBu7LkudbCOluqKrKbX-TdyzfgaHBtia7M7rFlAVJecwqjGatlpQvoIX-MC/s1600-h/SAM_0140%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><img alt="SAM_0140" border="0" height="604" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimEgLYHlLhKgGBJPSz_mefigquaHOe8WPS-tWdAjLEoaKv6KqsBpwwPhwLyHtb-nUJWz5gm4Ql5ZlDabyWA19OOco5zymuLTfwJHrgi81pfJugU5NxQnq6icUdbR9kAM8I7Q8NPxCAjZzj/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="SAM_0140" width="804" /></span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Day 13 – 28.06.12; Distance Cycled 122.08 km; Average Speed – 17.5; Max Speed – 60.3; Elevation Climbed 1383 metres; Elevation Dropped – 1294.9</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">When I was in Bethune I’d told my parents that I should get to Salzburg by the 5th of July. I was going to stay there for two or three days and they would fly out to see me and my sister. Of course I wasn’t expecting to have three days off in Luxembourg. This has left me with around 100km a day, again. If my knee plays up and I can’t make the pace then I’ll have to catch a train to see them, stay in Salzburg, then get a train back to where I left off. If it really really plays up then I’ll just hitchhike to India. That shouldn’t happen though.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">In the Luxembourg tourist office I bought a map of Germany which conveniently displays Luxembourg and Salzburg too. As soon as I got into Germany, after a few honks of my horn, I turned off to sit by a river. There I saw a large sign detailing various cycle routes in the area. I’d heard a lot about German cycle paths so I thought I’d try one that was going roughly east. What a mistake. From my limited experience, dedicated cycle paths in Germany are useless. They have lovely surfaces but take one up endless hills, and steep hills, far more than a road designed for cars would ever go. That said, next to most major road in Germany are superb cycle lanes, also for pedestrians. These have the benefit of using the same route as the roads (so you can follow on a map, plus they cut through some hills). There is a video of one of these paths in my next day’s post.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">It’s been really hot in Germany, 27 degrees on this day or 30 the next. At around 4:30 I stopped, lost on a stupid cycle path, and noticed that the sun had disappeared. I looked up and saw the biggest thunder cloud I’ve ever seen, what a contrast with the rest of the sky. I thought that would be it for the day, so I went into the hotel that I was conveniently standing next to and asked if they spoke English. Nope. “Restaurant?” I asked. Nope. “Bed?”. Nope. Ok then, well I’m just going to stand in your doorway while the heavens open. I’ve never heard a storm like it, thunder so loud it would consistently make me jump. And forks of lightning seemingly close enough to make me take one step back into this person’s house with every bolt. I used this time to eat my lunch, taken from the buffet breakfast at the hostel of course, and then carried on once the thunder had stopped.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">The day became pleasant again and I pitched up quite late, after ten. I was woken twice in the night, once when I was convinced someone was standing next to my tent (this happens most nights, and it’s bloody scary) although I’m pretty sure now that it was just the local moles doing their thing. The other time was when another thunder storm came over I was camped on the edge of a field, next to tall bushes but no trees in sight. I’ve never wanted my bike (as opposed to me and my tent) to be struck by lightning so much.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ7R1elcgiKXBFIDKjjhmxe19SnnTrOsFT14ZHjXQlg20FwaLou1guSNfxOUhXP-u_FyaebKpeWrTfHhHZqogzSLiKXtnaOjTf_p7vTPriK8aiNnSbmq-TvOxnLLXSlESqnr7MK7D5klx4/s1600-h/SAM_0144%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><img alt="SAM_0144" border="0" height="604" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpiArazJEEjennNEndxYGHs1GkaWFfur-M_I_4WJTLpQ3C_VCqM5TQMIITrZbebT2LGHPxLsH78Km-XnJAq-EWVrmYcQmgk1WY5EtqYWpgQVbFKEHRXFjQ1HVd9IeW4yKdZceBveu7tUJ0/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="SAM_0144" width="804" /></span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">This little fella came over to see me. He/She needs to get his/her fringe cut.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaaXdosc1bj2q5flDN7oGEZ3Uk6Iz2fBNdoKIahJ68F9fOIhRjWRu3T4dIDMCj2hH_1-xJRll_TilfNxkIuNnxTri1lS6j8NKEZgdfi1B0aqcrls9t866WG58BrLCH0TPOXsCfDpcETlsJ/s1600-h/SAM_0145%25255B15%25255D.jpg"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><img alt="SAM_0145" border="0" height="604" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZo3R5EJgObrrNanyej0uWDPexINAxQYf38hJ9JeL1kNFUKWPGq1-F6GlLbHcsxX8miWY1wacrfqztxICDIActGpuxYKFwBLC-WyqMZffCBUyVELoBGKc6m-S2qiF7KEjV-nYYiRqDJdng/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="SAM_0145" width="804" /></span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">Stupid cycle path taking me over stupid hills</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8T11OZZQoF0eXHxq68CyXaNaIMzfR-EoH4PiMA_1D5CBY0OiWHWjj9vioeTrpcwBdnULvMgrbMqSWzSbtQc7r2uEFkDy0pF_kY13544g6w2tqF1uxgMQcx_nmSKDJueFb8UJbetzBZ3Gn/s1600-h/SAM_0157%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><img alt="SAM_0157" border="0" height="604" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_56tVV8DhO9n6GQbPoBkdBJiQyfZvKvxX7N6kZIqoMXOpef6To7zFIkTRPk9GpvwOIgLnSf0CbpmlRy5PN8BKe8A3iKLNBsjF99iFc3VC__QcxOBZAfOLvw1LjE37NCS8KgHndJJlCc3Y/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="SAM_0157" width="804" /></span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">Looking down on beautiful German forests from stupid cycle path. That’s fog, by the way, not smoke!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">I was in disbelief when I found this. I filled up all my bottles, washed my feet and legs, then stared at it for ten minutes as I tried to think of more ways to utilise it. What a gem.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFRASkNiyJ-rTR9wNxBp_CLAmTZKKbMLeYywhu5_fK_wjmM6G0zACtiSWKC3ltUPDYOeK5EKxwKZdKfHnqm6KkBHxsQVY8rC95lSacq2ple87bPEdvx9Nu84DnqMvgiqf15x0tfZ6LAHZ4/s1600-h/SAM_0161%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><img alt="SAM_0161" border="0" height="136" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicjPgEt3-xRyQTvdZICSkX2pr9EosUSukhFLxwAM11m1udFKVWbvHrFBXHbQ0lOl5HbMe2rzHHRbSLmFZoQ-PH9Mj8sDyxBetShPrKOFSApyy7RoovQB2vMcY4kD04hqP78BES6LoAU4Nk/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="SAM_0161" width="804" /></span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">Lots of fog in the nature reserve after the rains</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Day 14 – 29.06.12; Distance Cycled – 130.57 km; Average Speed – 20.2; Max speed – 62.3; Elevation Climbed 878 metres; Elevation Dropped – 1144.4</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">This day (yesterday as of time of writing) was by far the best yet. It was mostly downhill on a cycle lane next to a fast road weaving out of the hills of Saarland and onto the flats. 30 degree heat, a nice stop under a tree for lunch, a stock up of food from Lidl, refill of bottles from McDonald’s. Everything went my way.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5VioYq-slP2Dm-JWEThduFs47n-mrLLWVziOLbdtoN6p2e9eSaNTIfkrcrXDCK-uBFtraRI-gKV7b5rpt1TLtH-Z6DK5bx68TG0EOA8nYOgJ_O_DUWjf86r_B1QaSMSbsq4efbLIUJliK/s1600-h/SAM_0162%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><img alt="SAM_0162" border="0" height="604" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaCIlAB5oPlPnl0lhtx5mWVgBG3kip6MvkpQWXIVu0p04WnfEQhQ4-gf-ZiXVFsYLuQ_BuAkAYTeA9Au02l1nu8M80T6w9MUhDi2mr8Hjh_eKiG9p6MOXhMNCBSTL_AXc39spYnZGl3XIv/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="SAM_0162" width="804" /></span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">Lush Forests</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">As you may hear me say in the video below, I passed through a town called ‘Frankenstein’. And I’m about to go through ‘Hokenheim’, although I think it may not be the same one. Warning; turn your volume down, the audio in this video is mainly wind I’m afraid, I hadn’t worked out were the microphone was!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">The day ended when I saw a picnic table on my cycle lane and thought it would be nice to eat at a table for once.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ19ionip69sNcPzzRV0PVCABB9tJGHgHRgxHPO2whIrHzrNldSVDFY9axFyXj1Sok_b21NR-L-6O5KMvLV6MH0pur7EkmT4xG6UoXruRksL5bfHTSHfb8jY8_Eu_CivWn4dQk4Qq_A1qt/s1600-h/SAM_0163%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><img alt="SAM_0163" border="0" height="124" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh60eleEweAgU5up77Ky_0K03QQ3SHt36c43-vFOtT_YkiWcCY_-ydEo_53e0RNyTN4sfKT19ebERIagVJt2Q7z9GR-iNGs9c6ecR3TPnjcurAdWzy-YIhO1c6eWKpmhpN6n3HlSMFmNAvG/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="SAM_0163" width="804" /></span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">The cycle lane and table next to some vineyards</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiTzOkoRtjxHgDKvEiLwPGACT5BOedCDqDXNuzh6_VDGIY2DgDMYrrGml7vmCcBr9ZImEgndOwkguf64GAmIEMxvqFRMK6ZhzQyZWGa4w-dh3SlqssQKpczLLFnNQKwS6OJZMdtKTP2__p/s1600-h/SAM_0169%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><img alt="SAM_0169" border="0" height="604" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin3oQd5eqN3_VcjiA9WYKfAmnXUoNeoFOsK9R8sR0HFr166VxBTlie2tp1_h-r6KzaEdX13ONquXfT7IXF8bQ_1FMZfRHFbyU-8D7-9ZbH0mzNsM-cBR3H_xLQCDs39lfyecilvgvRNfW1/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="SAM_0169" width="804" /></span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">Cooking Dinner (pasta and tomato sauce, of course)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEd84uv1gzqxqThoNKc7pcSLRXHivz1veb6oYnYFQNkXJ8goT7fK0RhPVkswxTdNi6lOv_jM60NLpZCm-hATfUQt7gwEj8hY27SIws93_5BDQ58hWwTC7jAihSszZZ1bqcu575GnVYVfkf/s1600-h/SAM_0171%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><img alt="SAM_0171" border="0" height="604" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUM9J0mE_qAqZytdoslufFLwFKL1jQOjlAfu7rUWuHv8YDMZFyg9t-hgo5Z4QzndBG3wTGqtl3cMYs0Tojwbbhyphenhyphenc6_wSjf3HM_ry1lhYcgJDAPuG5sO8lfv_xQ3L36-VCmPG7sFjXI_EoB/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="SAM_0171" width="804" /></span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">The sun setting over the hills I’d come out of earlier</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;"></span></div>Judehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05996912167887879684noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7930417312752206140.post-23748200529080432912012-06-27T10:37:00.000-07:002013-01-19T05:25:24.126-08:00How to Slay a Hill<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I'm about to blog about everything that has happened up to now, but for now I'd like to give you the following and a bit of context. On Sunday I cycled for 10.5 hours over 150km (93 miles) in the pouring rain through Belgium, France, Belgium and Luxembourg to reach the capital as I was in great need of a rest day in a hostel. With 60km to go, at 4pm, I was cold and out of food, and decided to give up and look for a hotel. There wasn't one in the town I was in, so I had to continue on, camping wasn't an option that night.<br />
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There came a point in the next few hours where I lost all sanity, something clicked in my mind and I did the most vulgar laugh out loud as I realised that I was going to make it to Luxembourg no matter what. The determination was suddenly there in my mind and I was so happy as I knew this meant I would make it there for sure.<br />
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The following is a collection of brief conversations that occurred in my mind between me and the endless hills during the last 60km. It is the strangest, most insane thing I've ever 'written', and I won't be upset if you think I've lost my marbles. It's not meant to be a poem.<br />
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NOTE: It should be read in a slow, dramatic manner like someone in Lord of the Rings giving a battle speech to his soldiers, as that is how it sounded in my head,<br />
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<b>How to Slay a Hill</b><br />
<br />
You summon your most fierce warriors.<br />
Roaring great trucks from the depths of Eastern Europe<br />
Swoosh close to my side, unleashing a spray of fallen rain<br />
Upon my face, already dripping.<br />
<br />
You throw the intimidation card<br />
Utilising local tractors to build up queues of cars quietly<br />
Before a dozen Audis, Porsches and Mercedes try to shock me with their sudden acceleration<br />
As you release them from the slave-master tractor.<br />
<br />
You vandalise the smooth Belgian tarmac<br />
With potholes on the side of the road,<br />
Teasing me, knowing I can’t ride in the middle.<br />
Well I SPIT in your potholes.<br />
<br />
You call upon the heavens to open upon me<br />
But once again, your attacks are futile<br />
Can’t you see I’m wearing Gore-Tex?<br />
And if I am damp beneath these clothes<br />
Then it’s my own blood and sweat from defeating you,<br />
As there WILL BE no prisoners<br />
<br />
I will triumph over any gradient you throw at me<br />
I will cruise down in 3rd gear at the front, 9 back<br />
Laughing aloud, viciously<br />
<br />
I will pedal every last metre over you<br />
And when you put another climb in my way,<br />
I’ll put this bike in 2-2 and I will rise up,<br />
I will stand up and taunt you as I power this heavy vehicle,<br />
Swinging side to side over your tarmac face.<br />
<br />
And you will cry with every turn of my pedals,<br />
For I do not use clips, I do not pedal smoothly<br />
I jab my feet down on you with every extension<br />
Of these pistons some call legs.<br />
<br />
Cry! Go on, cry more, let it rain!<br />
For you underestimate my arsenal; fool!<br />
Can’t you see this is a Long Haul Trucker,<br />
Don’t you know I ate a whole baguette filled with Belgian cheese<br />
And two jumbo chocolate éclairs for lunch?<br />
And a four-egg omelette for breakfast!<br />
I have more calories to burn than a nuclear power plant<br />
My engine room of a stomach is working to full capacity.<br />
<br />
Don’t you know I have infiltrated you?<br />
See, I sleep in your woods,<br />
I drink from your rivers<br />
And I SHIT in your fields!<br />
There is nothing I don’t know of you.<br />
<br />
And you can try to confuse me and break my spirit with inconsistent sign-posting;<br />
Belgium, France, Belgium again and finally Luxembourg<br />
They all do it differently.<br />
But I have a compass and, more importantly, a sweet tooth for success,<br />
And it’s just over there, over that hill!<br />
<br />
And you weren’t expecting my allies to be so numerous,<br />
For every person who honks or shouts at me doesn’t know I don’t speak French, German of Flemish<br />
This leaves me no option but to assume they are all cheering me on. <br />
And onwards I will go.<br />
<br />
You try and trick me with your signs of ‘70’ and ‘90’<br />
“This road’s not for cyclists” you force into my mind<br />
But then, after 110km; a cycle lane!<br />
They’ve drawn a cycle lane on your pretty face<br />
And even had the audacity to paint it blue; the insult! Hah!<br />
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You send motorbikes racing past at 120KM/H<br />
“They’ll be in Luxembourg in just one hour” you sneer<br />
“You should be demoralised, you’re on a bicycle doing 8KM/H<br />
Up a hill with no end in sight, you’ve still got HOURS to go”!<br />
Yes they’ll be there in an hour<br />
But they’ll never know the feeling I know as I glide down every hill joyously,<br />
In all the glory earned reaching the top.<br />
<br />
And to every kid I pass on the side of the road I want to shout<br />
“Kid, do whatever you want in life, just make sure you achieve,<br />
‘cause when you achieve you feel like this”!<br />
And then I shoot past him as I break the <strike>sound barrier</strike> speed limit<br />
Preparing to slay another hill.<br />
<br />
And then before you know it,<br />
You’ve spent so much time thinking about how to slay a hill<br />
That you’ve arrived at your destination.<br />
And that is how it’s done.</div>
Judehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05996912167887879684noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7930417312752206140.post-55554964027574513472012-06-23T07:20:00.001-07:002012-06-25T03:56:02.279-07:00Unfinished<span style="font-family: Georgia;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">So far I’ve cycled 618 Km, or 384 Miles. I’ve had one day off, and zero punctures. I’d meant to write sooner but so far haven’t been inspired to do so. The cycling is going swimmingly. Apart from setting off in the wrong direction from Yeovil, there are no problems to report of with anything bike related.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Even though I’m recording everything in kilometres, as that’s what every country I’m going to travel through uses, I’m going to try and write in miles as well since I know most people in the UK and US aren’t too kilometre savvy. I’m sure I’ll grow tired of converting soon. I should also add that I’m using my cycle computer and my GPS to record statistics, and the results vary slightly due to what they don’t bother recording (when I pause or go too slowly). I am keeping a logbook of my cycle computer and transferring the GPS data onto my laptop and then using whichever I feel is most accurate. This is the reason for any error in unit conversions.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: medium;"><b>Day 1 – 16.06.2012</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: x-small;"><b>– Distance Covered 97.36 km (60.8 miles), Average Speed 20.15 KMH (12.52 MPH), Height Gained 823.7 metres (2,703 ft), Height Lost 845.4 metres (2774 ft)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">I arrived at the Hospice on Saturday morning 45 minutes before departure time. I was actually quite thankful that pretty much no one had shown up. As much as I do want to raise publicity for what I’m doing, I’d spent so much effort planning it all that I didn’t really feel like sharing the first few moments of the trip with too many people. I don’t mean to sound ungrateful for support, but I’d grown tired of people asking the same questions and just wanted to get on with it! In the end my send off was quite perfect as Brooke from St Margaret’s Hospice, who has helped me with my fundraising, my parents and a photographer from the local paper were there. No one more, no one less than what I’d secretly hoped for.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">On my first day I covered 60 miles from Yeovil to the west boundary of the New Forest, just past Ringwood, I was going to wild camp, but it was sort of cheating as I went back to the same place as I slept on my test run the weekend before. It was by far the hilliest day of the trip so far, winding through beautiful Somerset and Hampshire fields. I stopped off for lunch to see an old friend in Blandford where she teaches, before arriving in the New Forest around 5pm.</span><br />
<a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-cJPG38oV80I/T-XQXTj7TZI/AAAAAAAAAAY/GpXvqAgTqr8/s1600-h/SAM_0097%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><img alt="SAM_0097" border="0" height="484" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-iIMoYqbS8D8/T-XQaeMa5TI/AAAAAAAAAAg/vaOowzp9OY8/SAM_0097_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="SAM_0097" width="644" /></span></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: xx-small;">Testing out my camera’s timed photo feature as I have a feeling it will be used a lot. – Lunch with Milly</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">As my parents didn’t want to have to share their goodbye with lots of people (who we thought might come to my departure), they came out and saw me for half an hour or so to say our final goodbyes! Mum brought me Doritos which I liked.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">That night I slept for 14 hours. Actually, for the first 3 day of my trip I crashed (not literally) as soon as I stopped cycling. My head would hurt and I’d be completely exhausted; I had no problem falling asleep while it was still light.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: medium;"><b>Day 2</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: x-small;"><b>– Distance Covered 99.26 km (62 miles), Average Speed 20.15 KMH (12.52 MPH), Height Gained 569.8 metres (1,869 ft), Height Lost 582.2 metres (1,910 ft)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">That morning I filled up my bottles from a stream and sterilised the water with my Steripen. This has been the only time I’ve needed it so far but I have to say, even though the water tasted a bit like stream, it was hugely satisfying being able to drink from a stream and know I wouldn’t get ill. Washing in the stream was equally refreshing. I had to rush that bit though as a person and dog came by and I didn’t want to scare anyone. For anyone wondering, I used the filter that came with the Steripen to make sure that no bits got in my drink!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">My destination that day was West Lavant, Chichester, in a field next to my old house. On my way there I used the A27, which unbeknown to me becomes that M27 for a mile or two around Portsmouth. After that, however, I managed to find ‘National Cycle Network 2’, a route which goes all the way from Cornwall to Dover along the coast! I stuck with this for the majority of the journey to come. Going along the coast has one main advantage; it’s flat! Well, at least it is where the coast comprises of beaches. Passing Eastbourne the next day was a different matter.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">When I got to Chichester I headed over to Pizza Express, and enjoyed a hard-earned meal of garlic bread with mozzarella and a pizza margarita. This stop was particularly useful as the waiter filled up my bottles for me, a lot nicer than my source for Day 3</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;"><b>Day 3</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: x-small;"><b>– Distance Covered 122.11 km (75.88 miles), Average Speed 19.78 KMH (12.29 MPH), Height Gained 762.8 metres (2,505 ft), Height Lost 783.3 metres (2,570 ft)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">The only water I could find was the sinks in the public toilets in Chichester. Unfortunately they were those metal automated sinks like you find in old McDonalds. It was a pay-off for getting to use a real toilet I suppose. Someone had filled in a small hole in the door of the cubicle I used, but I pulled all the tissue out so I could make sure no one was touching my bike!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">The morning consisted of casually cruising along the A27 until suddenly…</span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhawPjKh4WEPN7xajKI1YHXZ4N2XF4k2jAfJPUFxQEhG7gQYHAeQaMUFQLUhexFiVTi6_RLj126iPTHhiaW3qzJvGxTeraNZ4OfBMoIJt7O0TPD6ydI8TqUAYwDxIody3IODSfLNON3eAc1/s1600-h/SAM_0098%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><img alt="SAM_0098" border="0" height="484" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVLpCyF1wtekOiXqG6AtD3E4rLa_Ad5Rk4Ze0iwL0WvVY6fU7FYSfubefwtTNWeYjzEupXd1qvS1ob_Bi6MTFxEqe-oZ92hKRIGFz-OpVPpL4XaNLd6yn6i4I6fxHtS8r7-bHBE5KOUENN/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="SAM_0098" width="644" /></span></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Wham! This moment made me so happy. Reaching the sea around Worthing</span>.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-LpqY9oTXXzDkkep3hOdqiv5S5ECdgA9ALO1UhOCfEY3sXq7XQvGa5XAyW_QjUj1KWUgO4Vf1aQMb-DiO4_EtZABo_3ZGfoGwqHQ8mSRvToYtb2CeJ7-l9tBcQ1fNSK0mVzRQmQdHhlN-/s1600-h/SAM_0099%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><img alt="SAM_0099" border="0" height="484" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1pri2EkQScoEmxfocPqJHxm2FDivFoXbNDvm-mDx0zoQ1lWTVWEYwhJqftP_pBvhFKrIGTjdj9DcI8Ht7KGNpu58j13BBnB-qDT0xl6PByYKAyyHN9efJuK3lHUZRgNkmlw88elt5Lk2b/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="SAM_0099" width="644" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: xx-small;">A cyclist’s heaven in Brighton</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;">As I mentioned earlier, it wasn’t all flat that day. The hills around Eastbourne where vicious. A fast, busy road with absolutely no where to go but up thanks to hedges lining the road. See if you can spot the two hills I’m talking about below.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8EybgECM-Ugivghp895RxVRJVvfuC7XTeJdqJ8zmozcT9W_lu2a41mocmltUN80ogHpEJwcRwvFTS5_H6BYEZXHM9enTKOqcvdAt-0qE-4Od8mh09X2wRhBpdkX6Hhs7sCpd8Zm72idbg/s1600-h/eastbourne%252520elevation%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img alt="eastbourne elevation" border="0" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiubwhZ1cI-lFyN5MgmUPiV0PwZwqLIK64BBRmtlylsrjbGDSI8P8wPXQ2elcjg_Lv3-tQMVNMjkSWF8f6_53sdLap3a562GxsF07DP3mUT2Z-vmtYf6RaWKlgrOg8-YuRBSdAdiz7vfrDQ/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="eastbourne elevation" width="733" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">The end of the day was incredibly pleasant. When planning my route to Dover before starting the trip, I knew that my first night would be in the New Forest, the second in Chichester and the fourth in Dover. So I chose somewhere on Google Maps that was equidistant from Chichester and Dover for my third night. It’s called Norman’s bay, and it’s beautiful.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">A three mile detour off the nearest main road, weaving through a local nature reserve, Norman’s Bay is made up of not much more than a big pub and deserted beach huts. I made the beach huts my home that night. Since they were private huts, someone had even bothered to put some grass in front of them which was considerate.</span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoEESkUE8c0o3N2epX65IFoiwppubkMArf9m4-8Sl0voCiAxBlNFU5qg30PABVs_19HmHZVjdZb_V7PByxyb9hSzmG0-f_uEyUVb39jaLhgmNHDcfLvomIPBaZwEnWfiQyVSlj6oHukYfQ/s1600-h/SAM_0102%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><img alt="SAM_0102" border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPpudvom4p71JL1-_5cUiWxNvZ1GRQ981Xx3ghwjyjmewFsYh1sdk6VwJ8BFR428VionC5nGHRYrbTXCHStQGw7RtH6oOX-1Myl2DpmzOyjm4YbD-T4M4jdTjqKCAs-6giiQYYeEkUbTAL/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="SAM_0102" width="820" /></span></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: xx-small;">In case you can’t tell, this is a panoramic photo, capturing light from 180 degrees.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: small;"><b>I will upload the rest of this entry tomorrow night! For now, here’s a tour of my bike. Sorry I’m so behind on my blogging, I promise to catch up by Monday when I’ll have proper internet (I’m currently sitting in a square in Belgium and can hardly see my screen!)</b></span></div>
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</div>Judehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05996912167887879684noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7930417312752206140.post-90840246315616140462012-05-15T19:49:00.002-07:002012-05-22T07:42:43.712-07:00One Calendar Month<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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One calendar month is all that stands between me and the start of my journey to India. One month plus one bike, more on the bike later (it's a minor detail). It's really odd to think that I'm going to pedal myself to India, as in, I'm going to experience everything that there is between here and India. Cool. I remember last year, when I backpacked around India, being excited about being there and experiencing a society that was new to me. It feels funny then, to think that I flew there. I remember how excited I was for that; what an adventure that seemed to be. Thus, for this new adventure, my expectations are extremely high.</div>
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I was watching the film 'The Beach' again at the weekend. The scenes where Richard (DiCaprio) and the french couple find the island and realise they're in paradise always made me feel slightly uncomfortable. It's the same feeling I get looking at a beautiful photo of some far-off Himalayan landscape, or photos of The Dolphin Bay Cafe that I visited in Gokarna last year. It's a feeling, induced by what I perceive to be the greatest things in life or the most beautiful or remote places on Earth, that I'm somehow not living my life to the absolute full. It makes me question myself and think "Aah, why am I still in Bournemouth (no dis Botown, me love you long time), I've been around here for 19 years now"! Anyway, I'm hoping that somehow doing this trip will satisfy that feeling, as there is no better way to experience what the world has to offer than to cycle through it.</div>
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Over the last few weeks I've thought of a few other ways of expressing why I'm doing this trip, although they probably all boil down to the same thing:</div>
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1) Because it's awesome</div>
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2) Because there's nothing better to do (if I didn't do it, what would I do that's greater?)</div>
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3) I just spent ages looking for a quote about bicycle touring but I couldn't find it, this one's not bad though:</div>
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"Bicycle touring is heightened awareness. It’s the difference between microwaving and cooking a meal from scratch. It’s the difference between standing awe-struck in front of a painting and clicking past it on the internet. Now imagine this feeling every day, all day. Something as simple as THE GROUND becomes very important. Is it level? Soft? Wet? You really begin to SEE the ground. You see people. And landscapes. And food. You might even see yourself."</div>
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One of the first things I did when I decided that I wanted to do this trip back in January was to buy the Adventure Cycle Touring Handbook. It recommends planning your trip over a year in advance and that you should have your bike at your side no less than 6 months before you intend to leave. This has been one of the biggest challenges for me. This trip only really got serious in late February and since then things have come a long, long way in every department except that of the bike. I don't want to whine about it, but boring story short, I had a small company offer me a bike but a few months later they couldn't fulfill due to financial reasons.</div>
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To try and solve this problem and also to raise funds for St. Margaret's Hospice, I recently got my 'story' into the <a href="http://www.somersetcountygazette.co.uk/news/9696090.Teenager_cycling_to_India_for_St_Margaret_s_Hospice/" target="_blank">Somerset Gazette</a> who actually support the charity already. The only problem is that they forgot to mention my website (the only way people can donate) or the fact that I'm still looking for a bike, so that wasn't too helpful! Having been put in a foul mood by this I did, however, learn a useful lesson. Whenever something negative happens that is out of your control, counteract it with a positive action that is in your control. I only realised this when, having had no new donations from an article in a newspaper read by 25,000 people, I asked my friends on Facebook to donate on and share my website one more time. The response was brilliant and lifted me out of my gloom! Also, it turns out that the grandfather of a close friend of mine was also looked after by St. Margaret's Hospice which was a lovely coincidence.</div>
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A couple of weeks ago I went to see the hospice in Taunton (there is also one in Yeovil) for the first time and all I can say is that I was blown away! I knew, obviously, that St. Margaret's was a good cause but now I am just incredibly excited to be raising money for them. They make the last days of the terminally ill an experience worth living for. Having had a tour around the hospice I had a meeting with the director of fundraising and the head of sponsored events. Amongst many fruitful ideas we decided that it would be a good idea for me to start my trip in Yeovil (at the other Hospice) as it would help drum up local support and get the press interested etc., instead of starting in unrelated London. So that's added a couple of days to my trip already!</div>
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Let's talk business. Since I last wrote, I've worked hard on getting serious sponsorship. One of the companies I spoke to was <a href="http://www.poferries.com/" target="_blank">P & O Ferries</a>. I spoke to someone in their marketing department and after briefly telling them about my expedition and the great marketing opportunities in it for them, they have generously sponsored me!<br />
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Another company which I'm really happy to be sponsored by is <a href="http://www.steripen.com/" target="_blank">SteriPEN</a>. For those of you who don't know, SteriPEN make portable UV water purifiers. They're pretty revolutionary (I'm not shamelessly plugging here, I find this stuff interesting); although UV light is used to treat the water that comes out of our taps, all previous portable water purifiers have been filtration systems using pumps. Instead of having to pump water through a mechanical system which could break in many ways, all I'll have to do is swill around their UV lamp in my water bottle for a minute or so and then BAM! It's drinkable; hurrah! SteriPEN told me that apart from wanting to help out with my charity ride, they'd also like to feature my blogs on their social networks to show their product being used in many different environments! On that note, I recently bought a tiny little laptop with super battery life to do all my blogging and video editing on while I'm away!</div>
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By next week I should be able to announce my largest sponsorship yet for camping equipment. I don't want to say who just yet but let's just that if you Google "camping equipment" they're <i>well</i> up there! There are also a few other sponsorship deals being finalised in different areas. Details will be provided once confirmed.</div>
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Regarding the all important bicycle, if I am still vehicle-less in a week or so then I have no problem in assembling one myself, I just think it'd be a shame as it's such a great opportunity for a bike company to show the durability of their bike (shameless plea).</div>
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On a separate note, I have realised that for the vast majority of Ramadan I will be in Iran! This won't be too problematic, it just means I have to be wise about buying enough food to last me through the sunshine hours and not eating it anywhere too public! The silver lining is that Ramadan ends on the day of my birthday so there will be feasts aplenty! Anyone want to come party in Tehran for one night only (not joking)?!</div>
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On one of my last few days fundraising in London (I am now back in Bournemouth at my parents' house) I met a man from one of the Asian countries I'm traveling through. I don't know why I don't want to reveal which one but it has something to do with the invitation he extended to me. This man's cousin is a colonel in the air force of said mysterious country and I have now been invited to be this colonel's guest for a few days while he shows me the "hidden" side of this Islamic country, the details of which include a helicopter ride through their mountain ranges! Very excited about this.</div>
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In terms of training I have adopted a ver<i>y </i>blasé attitude, having done only one 56 miles ride and one 76 miles ride both of which went rather swimmingly. I loved the fact that the 76 miles ride used up 3,000 calories, a perfect excuse to have two lunches! I am not too worried about not being fit enough as I intend to ease into the first couple of weeks as slowly as I wish (although I do have to do 50 miles a day to Dover) and relish the challenge of pushing myself more than ever!</div>
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I think this is all for now, I apologise for any outrageous grammatical or spelling errors, it's now nearing 4am on a weekday. Of course, if you've enjoyed reading this, please consider <a href="http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/englandtoindia" target="_blank">donating to St. Margaret's Hospice</a> which is, after all, the whole reason I'm doing this, by clicking <a href="http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/englandtoindia" target="_blank">here</a>.</div>
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If you've already done that:, thank you for being awesome, and please share my website with your friends! <a href="http://www.englandtoindia.com/">www.EnglandToIndia.com</a>.</div>
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Until next time,</div>
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Jude</div>
</div>Jude Kriwaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10149790059840460857noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7930417312752206140.post-62584060282070836892012-03-23T20:52:00.001-07:002012-03-23T21:05:14.632-07:00The Ball is Rolling<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
Hello there! Things have come a long way since I lost wrote. Amongst other things I have moved the start date back by just under a month to Saturday 16th June 2012. There a few reasons for this. Originally, the idea to leave in May came down to me thinking that I needed to get through the mountains of Tajikistan, China and Pakistan before winter set in (I was thinking sub zero temperatures and roads submerged beneath 10ft of snow). As it turns out, a few minutes of research put all my worries to rest. Similar to Kashmir, which I visited last year, most of these areas are technically deserts, it very rarely snows there! The temperatures are also quite forgiving in that they don't seem to drop below 0 Celsius too often, sounds like perfect cycling conditions to me! </div>
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This new start date also means that I will be in Europe during the middle of the summer instead of Turkey and Iran. It also gives me more time to sort everything out for the trip; in my last post I outlined 3 major elements I needed to start working on. The first was choosing equipment.</div>
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To be completely honest, I've been rather passive in this area. The main reason being that compared to getting sponsored and getting publicised, it seems like a relatively easy task. However, I do have one <b>huge</b> bit of news for you. I have been offered a bike (yes, an actual bicycle)! So, as it turns out, a friend of a friend of a friend (it's good to know the word's spreading) heard about England to India and just happens to be starting an awesome retro bike company; Quella. Quella have designed and manufactured a lush fixed wheel urban bike which has just gone on sale and are going to sit down with me to design a one-off custom-build touring bicycle completely from scratch! Amazing!</div>
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I'm actually currently helping Quella launch their website, but for now there's more than enough info over on their <a href="http://www.facebook.com/QuellaBicycle" target="_blank">Facebook Page</a>. I'll let you know when the bike design stage begins but, for now, anyone with any nomadic bicycle touring experience, please <a href="mailto:jude@englandtoindia.com" target="_blank">get in touch</a> if you have any recommendations as to what makes a bike roll for 6,000 miles!</div>
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I also have some <b>brilliant</b> news regarding sponsorship! I have received my first major offer of sponsorship from a company, <a href="http://www.pet24.org.uk/" target="_blank">Pet24</a>, who have offered £500 (that's £625 including Gift Aid). That brings the total raised so far up to a whopping £845. That's still a long way off £25,000 but it's £845 more than where I started!</div>
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Other <b>really</b> exciting fundraising news; you can now donate by text! Just text "TEXT69 £5" or "TEXT69 £10" to 70070 to donate £5, or even better, £10 directly. All of the money you donate this way goes straight to the cause. Far out.</div>
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I sent out a load of sponsorship request emails the other day. It took just about all day to send out 40 or so emails; I didn't want to simply send to info@bigcompany.com so first I tried to find a phone number of someone who could help me. This itself can be hard enough. Try going onto, for example, O2's website and finding a phone number that isn't something along the lines of customer care. I soon found out that the best way to access companies real offices is to search for a press office number, it seems to be the one way to access a real person which the companies feel the need to keep open! Once I got through I had to try and establish who the best person to speak to was. 9 times out of 10 I would be given the email address of the head of PR or marketing. This was good enough for me, at least I had a real person's email address that I could send my sponsorship letter to.</div>
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I did have one really embarrassing mishap. I emailed Le Coq Sportif but accidentally addressed the email to Nike (not the email address: the start of the letter). I got a reply back saying something along the lines of "you obviously meant to send that to Nike". I explained the copy and paste error and said that I did actually want the people at Lacoste to read it. Doh! I got an email back an hour later saying "we are not Lacoste, we are Le Coq Sportif, thanks". Oh well, I'm not going to be contacting Le Coq Sportif any time soon.</div>
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Trying to get publicity, via newspapers etc has been a very similar experience to applying for sponsorship from companies. A lot of time is spent finding out who is the right person to speak to. My general feeling now, regarding sponsorship and publicity, is to go for the large organisations still, but not so much the XL organisations. Companies like Mars, Kellogg's, Vodafone etc all have their own foundations set up already and this is where 100% of their charitable donations go. My best option is to find large organisations who feel they still have some giving to do!</div>
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In other news, last Friday I was working in Luton when I met a man called Sajid, from Azad (free) Kashmir in Pakistan. We talked for a long time about Pakistan and what I would experience there. He told me to text him when I was next back in Luton. It just so happened that I returned pretty quickly; on Tuesday. I told Sajid that I was there and he came out to meet me while I was working. He is one of the kindest people I have ever met; he said that when I get to Pakistan he will tell his best friends to throw a party for me. He also gave me a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurta" target="_blank">kurta</a> which his brother gave to him for when I get to Pakistan. He said to me "my brother gave this to me and so now I would like to give it to another brother of mine". It's a actually a really nice one; black with gold decorations, a photo to come soon! I've met so many people from Azad Kashmir now that I'm really tempted to take a detour off the Karakorum highway just to experience this peaceful land.</div>
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This blog has been written in quite a rush, I will edit it tomorrow and add in anything that I've forgotten.</div>
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Khuda Hafiz,</div>
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Jude</div>Judehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05996912167887879684noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7930417312752206140.post-85846066300225207772012-02-21T17:26:00.000-08:002012-02-21T17:55:29.731-08:00Things Just Got Real<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b></b>Welcome to my first blog post! <b>This</b> is the place to come for regular updates throughout the build-up to departure and, most importantly, the journey itself. I'm still a bit unsure what to call it all, is it an expedition, a trip, a journey, a tour, a voyage or merely a bike ride?! I hope to keep this blog so updated that by the end of the tour it will also help other people who attempt similarly daunting feats in the future!<br />
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Things have come a long way since I first thought of cycling to India back in December 2011. More importantly, things have a long, long way to go before I depart on May 19th 2012. In typical Jude style, I've left myself with very little time.<br />
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This week has been really exciting. After pulling two all-nighters over the weekend writing code for the website (no wonder my love life is so busy), I finally told people about the site on Monday and the first donations came flooding in from friends. In case you miraculously found this blog without coming from the site, you can check it out at <a href="http://englandtoindia.com/" target="_blank">http://EnglandToIndia.com</a>. I've designed several sites in the past but I normally cheekily take a template and change the colours and images around a bit and then claim it as mine: This one however was made (almost) from scratch, so I'm extra happy with it! The site has lots of information on it; there's info on the charity, the route, me (yay!), contact details etc.<br />
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On Monday I spoke to St. Margaret's Hospice, the charity I'm raising money for. They were super-stoked that someone had called them out of the blue and told them that hopefully they'll be getting a £25,000 donation before too long. Their fundraising team has been really helpful. They've sent me over some letterheads for me to write off to potential sponsors on, which is really useful. I'm planning on visiting the hospice in a couple of weeks too which I'm really looking forward to.<br />
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I've also set up the Twitter account (<a href="http://twitter.com/England2India" target="_blank">http://Twitter.com/England2India)</a> which I'm updating frequently. Unfortunately someone's squatting on the username "EnglandToIndia" so I had to use the digit "2" instead #FirstWorldProblems.<br />
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With the website done and the charity informed, there are three major things I need to get done.<br />
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1) <b>Choose equipment.</b><br />
For most things, except for my actual bike, I'm going to be looking at getting top of the range equipment. For example, I'll need a stove that will have no trouble brewing some noodles 4693m (15,397ft) in the sky (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khunjerab_Pass" target="_blank">Khunjerab Pass</a> between China and Pakistan). I'll need a super light-weight tent that can breathe but won't so much as drip on me in the midst of an hurricane. In terms of my bicycle, I'm going to go for a middle of the range mountain bike with front suspension only. Top of the range bikes may have benefits but can be hard to find replacement parts for in the virtually uninhabited Pamir mountains. Pretty much everything I have learned about required equipment comes from Stephen Lord's "<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Adventure-Cycle-Touring-Handbook-2nd-Worldwide/dp/1905864256/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1329873526&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Adventure Cycle Touring Handbook</a>" and one or two other blogs.<br />
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2) <b>Get sponsored, big time.</b><br />
£25,000 is a lot of money to raise, I realise that. As of writing, my friends and family have donated £160; party! The majority of money I raise will surely have to come from corporate sponsorship. I'll keep y'all updated on any sponsorship related news, but for now it's important that I don't just talk about it; I must <b>do</b> it. Also, I am going to create an Amazon Wishlist for some of my equipment. This gives people an opportunity not only to help out by donating to St. Margaret's Hospice but also to help actually get me on the road, as at the moment I have exactly *checks on phone* -£-17.74 in my current account (which is meant to only have a £10 overdraft) and £0.40 in my savings account!<br />
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3) <b>Get publicised, big, big time.</b><br />
I can't talk about this too much at the moment ("oooh, it must be a really big deal...")<b> </b>but I'm very hopeful that rather soon I'll be able to announce that I've teamed up with a certain media group who will make the story of my journey known to the masses. Again, I'll keep you posted on this!<br />
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And for now, I must sleep. Believe it or not (sometimes I get so excited about England to India that I forget) I do actually have a full time job that I have to be up for at 7am tomorrow!<br />
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Since this is the first blog post, I'll link you lovely people with more England to India content than you could ever ask for!<br />
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Website: <a href="http://englandtoindia.com/" target="_blank">http://EnglandtoIndia.com</a><br />
Donation page: <a href="http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/englandtoindia" target="_blank">http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/englandtoindia</a><br />
Twitter: <a href="http://twitter.com/england2india" target="_blank">http://twitter.com/england2india</a><br />
St. Margaret's Hospice: <a href="http://somerset-hospice.org.uk/" target="_blank">http://somerset-hospice.org.uk</a><br />
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Peace in love,<br />
Jude<br />
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P.S. My planned route is so ridonkulously long that I can definitely justify measuring it in light years. It'll be approximately 0.0000000010206685701636 light years. Look how many numbers that is; it <b>must </b>be a really long journey ;)</div>Jude Kriwaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10149790059840460857noreply@blogger.com0