Wandering CrankWandering Crank

Biking the World one crank at a time

Crossing Borders

For the want of seeing tigers!

by Nathan Molyneaux on category , , ,

Despite my experience of Indian bureaucracy, I can still be amazed by it.  Moritz and I enter the immigration office at the border and get invited to sit in a rather plush room.  None of these grey, dreary passport control buildings you get everywhere.  We were then taken individually into another room where they scanned the passport and took our photo.  The normal process.  After returning to the original room he would then fill in all the details in a book.  I am sure that book is never looked at.

Thinking this process was over, Moritz and I headed towards the gate, which the military controlled.  There we were given some seats to sit on in the booth where they once again wrote down all the details from our passport in a book.  We could then leave India!

Read On

In the Need of a Rest…a holiday from the…holiday?

by Nathan Molyneaux on category , , , , ,

We arrived back in Dushanbe and the Pamir adventure had taken its toll on me.  I was very tired.  Whilst physically I would recover, I had lost 7kg in one month.  Emotionally, I was not present.  I had receded into the depths of my mind.  Not a place anyone would want to be.

Your doubts surface, you second-guess everything and depression creeps in.  I noticed this most when in the Hostel talking to other travellers, none of it was going in and I never really engaged in conversation.  Maybe I am exaggerating, but I guess listening to Adele while writing this paragraph would change the way I felt about the situation!

Read On

Subscribe to receive more straight to your inbox.

The steppe and Uzbekistan awaits

by Nathan Molyneaux on category , ,

We set off with the intention of using as much time with the reduced wind as possible; however, this didn’t happen with a puncture of Julia’s bike.  We knew the wind would pick up in the afternoon and there was a good chance of rain in the evening.  Cycling across the steppe was a mixture of good compacted and churned-up mud track.  We carried water and food for two days.  We came across no one on the steppe.   Only camels, horses, destroyed buildings and abandoned trig points.

We found some cover from the winds in a destroyed building and started cooking immediately.  There were some creatures here that could do us some harm, but luckily we were too early for them.  We just about finished and dished out as the rain started.  We sat in our tents eating our food. A miserable end to the day. The rain had turned the mud track into a bit of a nightmare with the mud now sticking to our tyres and in Julia’s case, clogging up the fenders and forcing her to stop.

Read On

The restart and Shromantic Gardens

by Nathan Molyneaux on category , ,

Getting off the sofa in the first place is quite often the hardest part of an adventure, but doing it again knowing it will be cold and wet makes me regret pausing my journey!  Although being at home with parents all day pushes you out the door.  But I did start again and am happy that I did.  Why did I stop?

After a quick flight to Istanbul with the bike and a new saddle, hopefully less pain this time, I found myself a quick hotel for the night.  The next day, knowing crossing the mountains would be very cold in March I decided for a coach over to Trabzon.

Read On

EV6 and the search for cycling companions

by Nathan Molyneaux on category , ,

Friday and the call to prayer rings out across town, there will be a sermon and all men are meant to attend.  There’s also the hustle and bustle of market day in Çeltik (Turkey), farmers bringing produce, other clothes and shoes.  You can even find a new vacuum.  I push my bike through the stalls and find somewhere to sit.  I order a doner from a corner stall and start to write my next blog.  Once again I have fallen further behind because I am about to tell the story of my leaving Belgrade for the second time!

Read On

✕