Cycling in Asian and African countries, writing about it
I take a moment to admire the snowy mountains in Naryn Province on a February afternoon
What happened when we cycled at snail’s pace and said yes to everything one winter day in central Kyrgyzstan (2,300 words). Continue reading
A park’s caretaker, far right, approaches to find out why we are trying to break into a yurt near Osh, Krygyzstan
Generally I narrate my life story back to myself with me as a protagonist. But if everyone’s doing that, the people we meet on the road may cast me as the idiot, the callous foreigner, the terror. They might even have good reasons to do so (1,400 words). Continue reading
Evan and I prepare to part ways with Timothy and Au Hei, as we stay in Kyrgyzstan and they head for Tajikistan. We stayed together in Osh Guesthouse for a few days.
Other people travelling by bicycle that I’ve been lucky to meet over the last few years. Continue reading
“Proud,” on the road in Kazakhstan
Narcissus fell in love with his image in a pool of water, hence “narcissism.” I must love my image if I now have hundreds of selfies from the last three years of travel. This album contains about thirty four of them—my attempt at a representative sample. Continue reading
A girl waiting for the train in Taipei’s main station
Looking back three years later, I was lonely in Taiwan when I visited as 2014 came to a close. For me it was a good country to be lonely in: Continue reading
This gallery shows how the daily search for water impacts our lives on the road as bicycle travellers.
This man has a small business providing water to his community, for a fee. He pipes it down from the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro to his home in southern Kenya.
What’s the best way to ‘do no harm’ when relying on others to collect water during bike travel? I don’t have a simple answer, but I do have some blunders and learnings to share (1,200 words). Continue reading
How we pursue a comfortable night’s sleep outside on the ground (1,600 words). Continue reading
A man poses inside his bicycle repair shop, where he has installed a new bottom bracket on Stan
I made generalizations about men in Turkey, until I cycled through. Two different stories of being hosted (1,700 words). Continue reading
Pedalling west, it took me two months to cross a chunk of Turkey by bicycle during the winter. I entered by way of the Cilder Border and made it to near Bartin before boarding a bus the remaining distance to Istanbul.
My favourite photos follow a bit of context about the mental experience.