On the Asian Continent

26-Jul-08: A New Crowd
Turkey: Istanbul to Sile
90km, 4h 30min ride time

A new tour, new staff and a new riding contingency and things feel a little strange. The Orient Express was a very diverse large group of people who all managed to integrate really well together and become somewhat of a family…now we have a much smaller group of only 16 riders and 4 staff members, the dynamics of which are entirely different. I will try not be too quick to judge though so will reserve my judgment for a few more days at least.

We gathered on the waterfront by the Bosphorus this morning for a group photo prior to riding in a group flanked by the tour vehicles front and back for the first 15km out of Istanbul. After the group ride we were on our own again, armed with a set of directions and a new sense of anticipation. Those of us continuing on were the first to continue onto our destination for the day whilst the ‘newbies’ lagged behind having not yet developed a sense of confidence enough for them to carry on immediately once left to their own devices…we laughed at the scenario as we are certainly not elite cyclists but to be in the lead was quite a change from the days of the Orient Express.

The ride through to lunch was quite similar to that entering Istanbul, although much cleaner and now in Asia. There were quite a few good climbs for a first day and we felt for those who have only started today. The climbs are noticeably much steeper now although quite a bit shorter…today’s altitude profile looked more like an ECG printout than a terrain map!

We arrived into camp at about 2pm and have spent the afternoon bathing and washing riding clothes in cold water facilities…we have 7 days until our next rest day so hand washing will now become more of a common daily task than previously.

27-Jul-08:
Turkey: Sile to Soccer Field
105km, 5h 18min ride time

Hot and hilly would pretty much sum up today…the terrain has certainly changed dramatically from our pre Istanbul riding to include a general upwards trend and the hills are much steeper now. So today was no exception to the new rule with much climbing which combined with the heat made for a pretty tough day. The route took us through general Turkish countryside, passing through the occasional town, but mostly through general rural land. The climbing afforded some spectacular scenery and awarded us with the occasional downhill run to rest the weary legs.

Camp is on a small town soccer field with some facilities…if you call running water a facility! The ‘shower’ involves using a hose delivering cold water, once you manage to turn it on with the pliers provided…privacy is afforded by hosing down inside a muddy and otherwise earthy coloured drop toilet cubical…did the job but can’t say I will be installing one at home in a hurry!

There are a few local children who have asked every one of us on numerous occasions what our name is…which is sweet at first but is now getting a little tedious. They are enthusiastic though…those of us ‘lucky’ enough got ‘help’ putting up our tents which delayed the process somewhat but is all part of the experience. Not long after arriving in camp we were descended upon by half the town in a wedding procession complete with saxophone player and drummer. We were invited to take part in some celebratory dancing and we watched the bride and groom to be dance also. The bride did not smile once which despite all the festivities did highlight the reality of arranged marriages. The party continued for half an hour before the procession of about 10 cars and 2 buses moved on to spread some more cheer.

Sunday was clearly the day for getting married in Turkey as we were passed on the road by at least 8 wedding processions of a similar nature…some of which comprised of only cars and others including buses…and some including cars with so many people and children in them that they should ought to have hired buses!

Miles the chef (with the help of his girlfriend) is proving to be a success in the kitchen, particularly at dinner time with meals being healthy and nutritious…and tasty. So far so good.

28-Jul-08:
Turkey: Soccer Field to Duzce
115km, 5h 30min ride time

We were told that today would be very hilly…and by comparison to the prior ‘hilly’ days had us a little apprehensive. The route description was fairly accurate…the first 30km were very hilly, followed by our first real flat road since Romania for the following 30km into lunch, after which was even more hilly until we reached our accommodation in a Teachers Hotel in the town of Duzce.

As most of us had read the blogs from last year we had expected that Turkey would offer up some serious climbing and it has certainly kept its end of the bargain. A standard climb now has a gradient of 8-12%, a frequent climb is 12-16% and today the steepest gradient hit 20%! These figures compare with something in the order of 5-6%, 6-10% and 16% for the climbs we encountered on the Orient Express for the same categories of climbing. We are expecting to have built some serious climbing strength by the time we leave the country.

The scenery today was quite impressive, afforded by our elevation reached through climbing…we crossed through our first real mountain pass and had views across the countryside and out to the black sea. Actually, our lunch stop was in a very scenic spot on the shores of the black sea.

In the morning we passed through small country villages containing farming residences complete with chicken pens. The houses were either in pretty poor repair or in a partially completed state. We are told that there is no such thing as a mortgage in Turkey so it can take a family up to 20 years to build a house, a bit at a time, when they have the money. The latter part of the day led us on to quite a major highway with a wide shoulder and smooth surface albeit hilly…but the downhills were quite fun.

We are lucky to have in our midst on this journey, Paul, who is a historian who has written a number of books on the history of the Silk Route…so he is filling us in on relevant details which does mean we pass through these lands with a little more background knowledge than some of us had initially.

But probably the single most noteworthy event of the day was our first rider down…Steve took a corner too fast and came off as a result. He escaped with quite a few grazes and will no doubt have a few bruises tomorrow but also split his chin open very similarly to the way I did earlier this year back at home. As a direct result of my accident I now carry butterfly bandaids with me for exactly this kind of injury…they came in very handy for Steve as Joan our doctor patched him up in the seating area of a roadside café/store. We had to purchase a razor from the store to shave his beard so that the patching would stick! He will be given stitches tonight by our very own doctor Joan…

Speaking of injuries, the news in Turkey has been totally consumed by the recent bombings which killed 17 people, including 5 children…the news footage has been continuous and is certainly not as well censored as it is at home so is quite disturbing at times. It is a reminder of how close we are to potential tragedy every day and how lucky we are to avoid being in its midst.

29-Jul-08:
Turkey: Duzce to Gerede
100km, 5h 57min ride time

This morning was a slightly later start due to our accommodation providing breakfast a little later than we get it in camp...combine this with an early night and despite the barking dogs and calls to prayer, I managed to get a very healthy night sleep for the first time in a while which was very welcome and a good start…just as well…

We left the hotel and started climbing…only gradually at first but progressively steeper so that we reached a 12km climb with a gradient of about 7% to conclude the first 30km of the day. The views afforded by such elevation we again quite spectacular as we could see right back to the town we came from and the highway we had climbed…unfortunately photos were not possible due to the solid concrete barricade dividing the oncoming and forward travelling traffic lanes.

The roads were very good and provided a good shoulder to ride within for most of the day…but as we experienced, this is not always enough to avoid being hit…our mechanic and leader in training was clipped by a truck from behind and is lucky to be alive. The truck hit his left elbow, seat and the left side of his handlebar, which threw him from the bike and left him with a deformed arm. X-rays and scans have not shown up any muscle or bone injury but his arm is very badly swollen and no doubt he is aching in many more places from the impact. It was another somber reminder that accidents do happen and we must be vigilant to avoid them happening to ourselves…I am glad that I have a rear view mirror as it has most certainly given me prior warning of idiot drivers and I am able to get well clear of them in plenty of time.

After hearing of Ben’s accident the majority of us rode together to lighten the burden on the now limited staff present to monitor people on the road. We had some flat road and a little down hill in the middle of the day which led us into some more climbing to conclude the day…which has turned out to be the greatest day of climbing since we left Paris.

We are now at an elevation of 1,500m in a mountain top town and camped in a picnic ground on the top of a hill in the town. We are being blown about by strong winds and are cold for the first time in well over a month. Tents are being pegged out to their maximum strength with extra guide ropes to ensure they will not blow away in the night!

30-Jul-08:
Turkey: Gerede to Ilgaz
143km, 6h 48min ride time

Having survived a windy night and happily waking to dry tents accordingly, we packed up as per usual and hit the road at about 7.20am…and subsequently took the following hour to travel barely 10km due to some vague directions and very confusing signage. A group of us took quite some time to navigate our way out of town and with the help of a few locals managed to set off in the wrong direction. Luckily it became very obviously the wrong direction when the road turned to dirt, so we did not go too far wrong, but on a day which was already going to be 135km long we did ourselves no favours by adding an extra 7km to it!

Whilst lost, we found ourselves on a dirt road in a rural area which we had a fairly good idea ran parallel to the highway that we actually wanted to be on, so Max decided to follow a side road up to the top of a small ridge to see if he could see the highway on the other side. Unfortunately for him he was set upon by a pack of about 5 dogs half way up the hill and had to try and outride them…a difficult enough challenge on a downhill let alone an uphill! Somehow he managed to get through unscathed as we watched with sympathetic fear until we lost sight of him over the ridge…at the top of our minds was the knowledge that he had to now come back down from the ridge past the same pack of dogs.

We waited 10 minutes or so, wondering if he was lying helplessly mauled out of our sight, until we saw him sprinting back over the ridge at breakneck speed to get through the dogs as quickly as possible…the dogs chased him half way down the hill again until they lost interest…all the while I was poised to take flight incase Max led the dogs right to us! After having enough excitement to last us an entire day, and all only in the first 10km, we decided to back track to the point where we concluded we must have gone wrong…and were finally on the right track.

Much to our relief today involved much less climbing than on prior days and we knew we had to descend about 500m from our starting point to our destination, so the general trend was always going to be down. There was still enough climbing to remind us of how much our legs hurt and enough long straight flats into a horrendous head wind to remind us of how much our bums hurt, but in the end we made it. The scenery really was quite striking today…changing from golden grass covered hills resembling sand dunes to pine tree covered mountains and on to a combination of the two. For the first time we got a sense of what we may expect ahead of us on desert riding days.

Some of the other riders got talking to a British cycle tourist today who was riding our route on a folding bike-Friday style bike…he was a member of a philharmonic orchestra and on off times spent his time cycle touring different parts of the world with the intention of eventually having cycled around the world. He has been the first non-TDA cycle tourist we have seen since departing Istanbul.

Physically things are getting a bit tough now…we have now completed our 5th riding day in a row and have covered over 550km in this time, being by far the greatest distance for time covered since Paris…and we still have 2 more riding days until we get a rest. My legs are feeling like lead weights now and my bum has decided that it has had enough intimate time with my saddle for one week, so the next couple of days will be a challenge simply just in that respect. The good news is that there do not appear to be any large mountains in our way between here and our rest day town so hopefully we will get a little break from climbing, which above all else except headwinds presents the hardest physical challenge for me.

31-Jul-08:
Turkey: Ilgaz to Osmancik
119km, 5h 16min ride time

We made good time today…finally! To arrive with enough time to relax in the afternoon is a luxury compared with arriving with only enough time to shower, eat dinner and go to bed! Our route today was predominately flat or downhill with a few climbs thrown in for good measure, but nothing bad enough to slow us down dramatically.
The scenery is getting increasingly ‘raw’ the further east we move. Things are seemingly less interfered with and if there is sign of human interference it is old world in style and barely offensive…although as is a sign of progress just about everywhere, power lines have scarred the landscape in numerous locations. Today we weaved our way along the D100 Highway which hugged the base of mountain ranges on both sides which dwarfed us in comparison.

As has happened a couple of times on the trip so far, we passed the scene of a car accident today in which a car had driven off a bridge and into a dry water canal…I avoided looking but am told it did not look good by those who took a look to ensure no cyclists were involved…the latter being the first thought that comes to mind when approaching an accident. The highway we are on carries a great deal of traffic and is the major route for trade into Iran so there are many trucks travelling the route…trucks are almost common place now and don’t phase us as much as they did in the early days. It is now quite normal to be jostled about by the wind vortex created by a truck passing at 120kph! Perhaps not an ideal situation to be in, but far safer to be un-phased than jittery under the circumstances!

We are in another teachers hostel this evening and this one has wi-fi and so I will post my last few days of diary to keep you updated…and so that they rightly fall within the month of July, rather than August which would be the result of posting on my rest day in 2 days time…small things, I know…

I have just returned from a walk into town to find a pharmacy to purchase a replacement for some medication…the first part was easy with directions, the second part was not so much hard but an entertaining exercise to complete without a common language but with the use of two hands, arms and some universal charades-style gestures! We are clearly the only foreigners in town and have been looked upon with intrigue by all who see us. Again, we have been blown away by the hospitality shown to us by the Turkish people and will carry on with only good things to say about our experience in this country so far.

Earlier today the shop attendant at a garage station took a liking to me and wanted his picture taken with me on his mobile phone…I had to pose for 5 photos before he got one he was happy with…not a very enjoyable task seeing I was held closely under his very smelly armpit! Children everywhere we go run out and wave and shout ‘hello’ and ‘what is your name’ which is always a joy to hear and makes me smile, even if being cornered by a group of children repetitively asking your name, when all you want to do is rest after a long day on the bike, does get a little tedious! And just now, a little old man in a bakery smiled and laughed with us as we pointed and nodded our way through buying a selection of shortbreads and pastries…he threw in one extra for good measure at the end…and the total price is less than 2 dollars for half a dozen pieces of shortbread.

Neil Update

The latest news on Neil is that he is now at home in Eugene in Oregon in the United States at a rehabilitation facility. He has developed another blood clot in his calf but is being treated with blood thinning medication and is expected to be okay in that respect. We have been forwarded on an email from his son-in-law which contains an account of the accident and some of his days in the Bavarian hospital written by Neil himself…it is nice to read and a comfort to know that although his body may take some time to recover, his mind and sense of humour have not been lost. So, in his own words…Steve is his son-in-law and Julie his daughter, I believe...

July 21, 2008 - Monday

This is not your generic "this-is-what-I-did on-my-summer-vacation" letter.

I distinctly remember the crunching sounds as that large over-sized tractor, and the trailer it was towing, drove over my body on June 18 and I thought, "There goes my bike." Except that my bike had fallen the other way and the crunching sound was my bones and my body.

I was aware of the few locals on the street in the Danube river town of Windorf, where I lay, looking at me and then quickly looking away with expressions of what seemed to me like dismay and shock, not wanting me, I thought, to see what was in their faces.

And it was silent. Except for my moans. It didn't seem good to me. And I really hurt.

Then I heard the voice of the tractor driver. I didn't see him. I just heard a voice that I assumed was his and I read some emotions into it.

Anger primarily and some fear. I imagined that he was yelling at me because I had fallen into his tractor and that he was pissed and afraid of being blamed. I heard a few locals grumbling back at the driver, imagining them saying, "Get off the guy's back. You just ran over him. Don't yell at him too."

Somehow in the midst of chaos and pain things were moving at an almost stop-action slowness. I had heard the scary noise of that tractor behind me as I rode. I wanted to get out of his way so I pulled up at the curb with one foot on the curb and one in the street, waiting for him to get by. Somehow, as he went by, I fell into him, drawn into the vortex of noise, wind, and confusion. It was no one's fault.

So, in that stop-action slowness, I yelled at the few locals there, "Don't blame him. It's not his fault. There's no blame."

Silence again. A police car 20 feet to my left with a red light. Someone came and said quietly, "The emergency doctor is on his way."

Dr. Durchholz knelt silently in front of me, checked my body, thought and said, "You've been in a serious accident and you're going to make it." "I know I am. I trust you."

No thought on my part - no questions or reflections. No what-ifs or how-do-you-know or where-am-I-hurt. I just looked at this guy's eyes and knew. He was not a stranger. I knew him without any past history.

I trusted him. I would heal. And, it would not be easy or quick.

July 22 - Tuesday

I've just read what I wrote last night and earlier today. I like it and part of me is also anxious. When I write about looking into the eyes of that Bavarian doctor as I lay broken and crippled on the street and trusting him and knowing him, I smile at the simple beauty and truth of that and I also cringe a bit at the recognition that some of you may well dismiss that as "another example of Neil's cosmic BS."

What I get to do is write my story as I know it. What you get to do is to read that story in the context of your own story. What each of us gets to do then is to accept, analyze, judge, reject, understand, laugh with the other's story.

And that's perfect and just the way it should be and is. Thank you for being part of my story.

My last conscious awareness of those stop-action motions on the pavement was me saying "I know I am going to make it. I trust you."

Then the darkness came. Emptiness, blackness, confusion, absolute terror, a profound sense of being totally, totally lost, an occasional sound and touch from outside that puzzled me, frightened me, only dimly spoke of something beside terror and alienation. I had no sense of time, except knowing that this darkness was profound and endless. I was afraid. I'd never been in a place like this before. I didn't want to be there anymore.

This didn't happen in an instant and sure as hell didn't end in an instant. I was transported to the hospital (krankenhaus = "house for sick people") in Vilshofen, a close-by Danube river town where the Vils River flows into the Donau (Danube).

I have no lucid rational memory of the transport or of my first hours and days in the hospital. A nurse later told me that Teresa and Duncan, staff from the bike ride, came later in the afternoon, stood together, and watched me being wheeled into the operating room. I take great comfort in that now, great comfort.

One memory I have is of being at a reception that first evening in a fancy building. I was dressed nicely in clothes I didn't bring with me on the trip. I appeared to be the only American there and I wasn't clear on the reason for the reception or for me being there.

The well-dressed man in charge talked with me and insisted that I was a guest at his institution. "I don't want to be here. I didn't receive an invitation."

"This is a hospital. I run it. You must stay. You were run over by a tractor."

This clearly didn't happen and yet I can spell out and recall details as clearly as if it happened yesterday. It was the first of a multitude of drug influenced fantasies from the opiate based killing drugs that came intravenously into my body. Many of these fantasies were terrifying and all were extraordinarily detailed and real. The edge between truth and fiction was blurred or non-existent for weeks.

I know my detailed memory of my bike crash was true because it happened before any opiate based drugs and because I had partial confirmation. I began to understand that most of my later memories came from drug induced fantasies that were not true. Julie helped me a lot with this.

Wednesday July 23

This writing is both a burden and a release, a large release. Other than a thank you card and some flowers to the nurses and doctors in the Intensive Care Unit a few weeks ago, I have written nothing until I started this two days ago. My eyes would not focus. My writing was awful - misspellings, words put in the wrong places, a badly unfocused mind.

One of the most healing parts of this entire process has been the flood of letters from dozens of people. Son-in-law Steve has been of immense help in getting information about me out to the world. I will reply to cards, letters, faxes, and emails and it will take a bunch of time. My energy and strength have moved from below zero to slightly above zero. Writing this, as an example, is at times exhausting - as well as being therapeutic.

Julie suggested the possibility of writing a generic letter like this and letting Steve put it on an email or whatever he magically does.

Included in this generic letter is the following statement: "Thank you to much for your correspondence and support. It is a significant part of my healing. I will write to you individually and it may be some time. I have little energy or strength.

When I get back to Eugene, I'll go first to Sacred Heart Hospital and then to a rehabilitation facility to re-learn how to walk and to function. This will not be quick or easy. I would like to see you all at once immediately and hold you in my arms (my upper body strength is relatively OK - everything from my waist down in is in bad shape). I can't do that - I don't know for absolute sure where I'll be staying. Sacred Heart for a while. A rehab facility for a longer while. Friends.

And someday I'll crawl up those 15 steps to my second floor apartment and sit at my desk and look out at the world. And, I will be home. Before that, please do not stop reaching out to me - your support and love will be a very important part of my healing. Call and leave messages. Write. Someone will pick up messages and mail. Drop by the hospital or the unknown rehab place. Call me. I may or may not have a lot of strength or energy to talk at that point. Please try again. Keep me in your life and heart as you are in mine. Thank you!

Wednesday, July 23

Two big deals about today, Wednesday, July 23 - it was five weeks ago today that the bike accident happened and tomorrow Julie and I go home!! Hooray!

Arranging the transport for me on a stretcher has been a huge challenge, a regular circus. Having Julie here and Steve in Long Beach has made it possible. Working with Lufthansa and with the insurance company has been a fascinating dance to watch and a nervous one to be part of. Six seats blocked off for me, one for my escort nurse and one for Julie - all in peak travel times - not easily done. We leave here by ambulance close to midnight, drive four hours to Frankfurt to the airport hospital, get to go through all the check-in procedures at the hospital and avoid the terminal on a stretcher, meet my escort nurse, get loaded on and depart at 9:45.

10 1/2 hours later is Portland. I expect I'll be carried out after the passengers have left. A 2+ hour ambulance ride to Eugene and check-in at Sacred Heart Hospital. About 24 hours total. Potentially tiring and I'm ready!

Some fun, thoughtful and emotional interchanges today as people have come by to say goodbye - notes, hugs, conversations. I am touched. Each farewell had a special anecdote or story to it.

I am tempted to write some of those stories and I won't. I can't do them all and I don't want to leave the impression that some are "better" than others. One nurse just came in for a half-hour farewell and spoke of a smile from one eye and a tear from the other at the joy of going home and the sadness of leaving.

And at about 10 PM, Helmut, Peter, and Bernhard wheeled in a little table with a cloth on it - plus candles, a bottle of white wine (Bernhard had asked me the night before what I wanted to drink) and half a dozen glasses of wine poured - what a delight. What a party. Claudia was there too, Julie, a woman internist who hangs around ICU. It was sweet. The three men also brought a bubble wrapped, well packed package of Bavarian beer for me to take home to friends.
Amazing!

Going Home Day -Thursday, July 24

I'm writing in the stretcher raum at the Frankfurt airport. The departure steps slow and they appear to be working - a huge day for Julie and me.

The ambulance came a bit after midnight and it was a four hour drive to the airport hospital where we're being processed.

Bernard loaned us a few pillows from the hospital and it was a good thing. I have a difficult time getting comfortable in bed and the nurses and I worked out a routine in Vilshofen concerning pillows and comfort.

The stretchers for these 24 hours of travel between Vilshofen and Eugene were not comfortable. The pillows were a huge help and are here in my hospital room in Eugene. Never have I traveled abroad before and brought home hospital pillows as souvenirs.

A wonderful warm welcome when I got to Sacred Heart Hospital. I'll probably spend a few days getting tested and x-rayed and then go to a rehab center. I'm not going to write a bunch about that in this letter.

Saturday - July 26 - 6:45 AM

The sun's out. I'm even a bit hungry. I haven't had much of an appetite for the past five weeks plus. The hospital here thinks that I'm malnourished. Something else for me to work on.

Yesterday, my first full day back, was joyous and exhausting - 20 visitors - plus hospital x-rays, interviews and talking with doctors and technicians and a social worker. I'm going to manage my time better. I was exhausted at the end of the day.

Julie is going home today. She has been such a gift to me in my healing. There were a couple of times I wasn't sure that I'd make it without her.

I'm going to send this with her for Steve to work his magic on - Thanks.

There are some other things I'd like you to know about my five weeks in that German hospital. I'll add a P.S. later.

Training Complete

18-Jul-08: Rolling Hills
Turkey: Kirklareli to Saray
75km, 3h 30min ride time

Firstly, I have a few stories from the balance of our rest day yesterday...we ended up finding a cinema and watching the movie 'Wanted' starring Angelina Jolie and Morgan Freeman. The film was a bit weird, which had nothing to do with the fact that we were watching it in Turkey, other than it stopping dead in the middle without warning for about 10 minutes...as they manually changed the film reels over!

We ventured out for dinner and thought we would brave having a sit down meal, rather than a point at the picture doner kebab style meal which has generally been a safe option. So we walked into what looked like a little restaurant in a side alley and gestured that we would like a table for the people in our party and we seemed to make ourselves understood as we were offered up a table. Not long after sitting we were each served a beer...and with perplexed looks we consulted each other and shrugged of the clear misunderstanding but were not prepared to attempt arguing it so we just accepted the beer. We then gestured that we would like a menu for food...with the pretend to hold a morsel and eat motion...to which we got an 'Ahhh I understand' of sorts and 2 minutes later received a bowl full of salt encrusted nuts! At this point we laughed and concluded we must be in a beer garden which did not serve dinner...

We moved on to another safer bet which did have pictures of their food in the front window...we walked in and pointed at what we would like and were shown to a table upstairs. There must have been some miscommunication between the staff because we were then approached by another waiter who wanted to take our order...try explaining that you have already told your order to the guy manning the kebab grill downstairs in hand signals! It was quite funny and the waiter was very confused and a bit exasperated after a few minutes of trying to order us a kebab and so hunted down someone who spoke English...who quickly picked up on the fact that we had already placed an order and why we kept pointing at the guy at the kebab grill! The food was great and very cheap and once the confusion passed the service was also very good and very friendly.

Okay, so on to today...started with a group ride for the whole 3km out of town just so that the Mayor could lead us out and show us off! It is nice to be treated as something special rather than a nuisance. The route was through some good old fashioned rolling hills through some beautiful Turkish countryside. There were so many colours with the bright blue skies, the golden wheat fields, the green trees and the yellow fields of sunflowers. It was picture perfect.

With nice riding conditions and temperatures in the low 30's we made good time and so decided to stop in the little town 10km before our final destination. We bought ice creams at the corner store and John bought lollipops for the group of boys who had gathered to see us. The locals set out some chairs for us outside the corner store and the children brought us honeydew melons in return for the lollipops. The longer we sat the more the crowd grew around us...they all tried to communicate but all we could do was point and gesture without much understanding. Once we had finished eating we walked our bikes through a street market which was taking place and were gleefully followed by a group of boys who were treated again by John to a hand-lofted shower of lollies which caused a scramble amongst the market stands. The market stalls were manned by elderly locals with gap toothed smiles sold everything from lollies, fruit, vegetables, shoes, clothing and general brick-a-brack.

A young woman who spoke a bit of English stopped us and practiced the phrases she did know...'Hello', 'How are you?', 'Where are you from?', 'This is my...mother...grandmother', 'Goodbye', 'Have a good journey'...at which point it became clear the conversation was over for lack of any further ability to converse, but was sweet all the same. We waved goodbye to all the children and continued on our way, very pleased that we had made the decision to stop.

The town of Saray is home to 20,000 people and a whole host of jewelry and general junk shops but not a lot else...so having arrived not long after lunch and already completing a wander about town, waiting about for the day to end is getting a little tedious...although we do have free Wi-Fi and the Tour de France on TV in the lobby which is keeping most people occupied.

19-Jul-08: Otel’s
Turkey: Saray to Tarakadyn
90km, 4h 30min ride time

The morning started with a cold shower as per the night before...Allen aptly and amusingly noted later in the day that he had figured out why the 'hotel' was called an 'otel'...because the 'h' indicated the presence of hot water!

Today's route was a beautiful one which took us through quite a few small towns in the Turkish countryside and although quite hilly no-one seemed to notice overly as we were in no hurry to make it in to 'bush camp' early so took it very easy and stopped on a number of occasions for drinks, ice creams, etc. Despite taking it easy we reached a corner store in a small town for our afternoon tea stop at 11.30am! We stayed here for some time as the store owner, being obviously grateful for 15 cyclists having graced his store, brought us Turkish tea on the house and generally served us very kindly and enthusiastically for about an hour. He was very surprised and appreciative of the dollar that we each left behind as a tip in thanks for the service and the tea.

The hospitality and kindness we have been shown by the Turkish people in general has been very contrary to my expectation...which was to receive an indifferent if not hostile reception, particularly from the male members of society. What we have received has been very much to the contrary. Manon noted that she had been waving in return to so many people that she would have to change arms to avoid overdeveloping the muscles in her right arm only!

After a substantial climb and for the last 20km our path weaved along a mountain ridge so that we either had valley views to our right or left and sometimes both, with distant ocean views on one side. All in all it was beautiful scenery and another one of those days that reminds us of the great things that come from being on a trip of this kind.

Our penultimate night for the Orient Express tour was spent at a ‘bush camp’…aka camp ground with no facilities to speak of…drop toilets and no showers. Randy rigged us up his and hers shower cubicles for bucket baths which due to the hot weather and relatively tepid water did the job in relative comfort.

After dinner we were all awarded with our Orient Express tour jersey’s, which to a few people’s disappointment were quite a close fit…I was glad I erred on the side of caution when ordering!

20-Jul-08: Sprint Finish
Turkey: Tarakadyn to Istanbul
50km, 2h 32min ride time

Having had a reasonably busy and equally lazy week in Istanbul I am only getting to write my account of the last day of riding almost a week after the event and so will probably miss the finer detail but can hopefully recall the salient points!

We started out a little later than usual due to instructions not to arrive at the finish line before 10.30am and with only 50km to travel we had time on our side. By comparison to the second last day, this day was pretty ordinary scenery wise as the route led us into Istanbul via industrial areas to the North of the city. The roads were lined on either side by copious amounts of garbage which thoroughly distracted from any beauty that may have existed.

We made one coffee stop en-route at a go-kart track at about the 35km point and otherwise took it easy, arriving at the finish line at about 11am after a sprint finish for the final 1-2km. To avoid any traffic dramas this year the finish line was alongside the Bosphorus Strait on the Northern side of the city, after which we all boarded a ferry boat to take us in to the heart of Istanbul in style.

For those of us continuing on to Beijing the achievement so far gave us a small taste of what it may feel like once we reach Beijing, but compared with the clear elation of those who have finished the journey they set out to make from Paris to Istanbul we have merely only completed our training period and our enjoyment tempered somewhat by the fact. All the same we joined in congratulations for those that have completed their long distance challenge and enjoyed the festivities on board the ferry for an hour’s cruise into Istanbul.

On arrival at the Ortakoy pier we unloaded the bikes from the ferry and walked them through a pedestrian area from the waterfront for about 500m up to the hotel where we locked them in the outdoor carpark and descended as an army of 50 people on the poor staff at reception who were fielding passports left right and centre in an attempt to check us in as quickly as possible!

The final dinner was held at a restaurant in the old town which involved a taxi journey to reach and was a nice evening of reflection including a nostalgic slide show of images prepared by Theresa which had us all laughing and smiling at moments of experience over the past 7 weeks.

I will come back in a week or so with my reflections on the first trip and account of my week spent in Istanbul…but right now I am battling to get to bed at a reasonable hour before having to get up at 6am tomorrow!

Photos Loaded

You will be pleased to know that I have finally been able to upload photos from the first trip from Paris through to Istanbul…please follow the link from my home page to the photo page. I am yet to fully complete labeling the images, but I am sure what is there will be enough to tell the story. Enjoy!

Next Stop Istanbul

14-Jul-08: Roads & Spirits Up
Bulgaria: Varna to Aheloy
115km, 6h 01min ride time

My experience today was remarkably more positive than that of the few days prior to our rest day in Varna. No doubt a combination of factors being a day of rest, massage, lighter bike and riding company led to a more positive outlook for the day.

On the flat riding days a trend started whereby Graeme, Manon, Dan and I would set out together but Dan and I would inevitably break forward of Graeme and Manon who chose to ride at a pace that we found too slow...the trend resulted in us eventually setting off in pairs rather than a group. But the tables have turned now that we have hit hills again and for a while Dan persevered with waiting for me at the top of hills but it became quite clear that he is a much stronger hill climber than I and my trying to keep up or not keep him waiting no doubt contributed to my negative view of a few climbing days.

So, this morning I re-joined Graeme and Manon who have since grouped up with John and Liz from New Zealand and rode at a nice easy pace which when hills are involved is a much more pleasant experience. Today we climbed 2 long ascents, the second of which was about 20km long at 5%. The temperature rose to a maximum of 41 degrees in the sun...which is the only relevant temperature to us as that is exactly where our heads are!

The route led us inland for a bit and then back out to the coast of Bulgaria and a little side detour took us into the tourist town of Nesebar before our final destination of Aheloy. In the morning we were all lucky to have escaped being caught up in a 3 car accident which occurred on the highway somewhere between our fastest riders and those of us in the middle. All we could think as we rolled up towards one of our riders, Fred, who was helping direct traffic was 'oh god please let it not be one of ours' to which Fred responded without questioning 'no cyclists involved', much to our relief. 2 cars and a truck were involved and one car was carrying propane gas bottles so we hastily moved past the scene to get well away. Traffic was backed up for kilometres as we rode on our way.

Our detour into the town of Nesebar gave us a nice break to the afternoon as we sat on a pontoon restaurant on the ocean and had something to eat and drink. The town was like Gold Coast central and the attraction in it was some old castle ruins which had been somewhat 'ruined' by being turned into tacky tourist bars and gelati stands. Bulgaria has been a surprise to most of us with friendly people and some very modern cities and towns...much different to its neighbour, Romania.

True to form we are staying nowhere in particular in a cluster of little hotel/guest rooms at the back of a construction site! But the rooms have TV and I am able to watch the Tour d'France so all is not lost...

15-Jul-08: Out to Impress
Bulgaria: Aheloy to Malko Tarnovo
115km, ride time n/a

The place we stayed at overnight must be fairly new or recently renovated as the owner went all out to impress in the hope of having the tour come back next year...they had a live band playing poolside after dinner and gave a free nightcap drink to everyone. A few got a bit carried away on the vodka and gin and spent a frivolous evening dancing and singing away until midnight whilst most of us went to bed. There were a few sore heads this morning.

As we have moved further east we have been staying in more hotels and have therefore been mostly at their mercy where breakfast is concerned...in regards to what it is and when it is served. So for the past few days at least we have had later starts due to the hotel not serving breakfast any earlier than 7am, which is fine for a sleep in but does not help combat the heat by getting away early. This morning was a pleasant change as breakfast was not only served early but contained the one and only essential ingredient...muslie! We have had a very bad run of being served all manner of preserved meats and cheeses for breakfast which is very nonsustaining food for a full day of cycling in the heat.

Today the temperature hit 36 degrees in the shade and there was not a stitch of breeze which made all the climbing we had to do even more difficult...and the downhills even more of a relief than usual. But we managed without too much drama, although Graeme only just made it in alive after suffering from food poisoning and vomiting on a number of occasions throughout the day...but he stuck it out, grimly (and probably stupidly) clinging to the EFI (every fabulous inch) status. I do have to admit that by the last 15km I was totally over it and was very glad to get to our final resting place for the day.

As was the case for every (if any) town we passed through on route today, we are staying in a backwater of a place with virtually nothing to offer by way of interest except a restaurant with pool about 200m up the road. The accommodation is interesting to say the least...dilapidated dormitory accommodation where a rat running down the corridor would not be out of place and with the most revolting 'bathrooms' which are more like wet rooms containing a basin, toilet and shower head poking out of the wall...so that when you shower everything in the room gets soaking wet...including the toilet paper!

Tomorrow we cross into Turkey for the final leg of the Orient Express portion of the trip. Those finishing up in Istanbul only have 4 riding days left...all of which are less than 100km and 2 of which are less than 70km...but all of which are hilly! It is amazing to think we have nearly come 4,000km but daunting to know that we are not even a third of our total 15,000km aim! To think back of those first days in France where it rained nearly every day seems like a lifetime ago, and knowing that everything will change in Istanbul except the 7 of us continuing on is a bit sad but just the next phase of our journey.

16-Jul-08: The Tour's in Town
Bulgaria/Turkey: Malko Tarnovo to Kirklareli
50km, 2h 27min ride time

Most of us woke this morning to the sound of a thunderstorm and torrential rain at about 5am, all silently praying it would pass before we had to get on the roads at about 7am...which thankfully it did. The early start did not do much to help most of us recover from the late night prior caused by a few incessantly barking dogs...if I had a gun I am sure I would have shot the main and am surprised did not rupture its vocal cords through barking for over 2 hours straight without taking a breath...it nearly sent us all mad!

Despite a less than perfect sleep, most of us were pretty excited to get on the road today to undertake our border crossing into Turkey. The temperature had plummeted by comparison to the days prior and we started out in 16 degrees which ended in a maximum of only...compared with the same day last year being 50 degrees, we were counting ourselves lucky. Hill climbing in cooler weather actually leaves room for some enjoyment of the experience! The route was short with a great deal of climbing and broken by a 45 minute border crossing after about 10km.

The border crossing was an example of bungling bureaucracy and quite entertaining...there were 3 queues, each of which had to be stood in successively after the previous one. The first was to obtain the visa permit in our passports and pay the relevant fees...which differed for just about every nationality and in our case varied from New Zealander's getting in for free and Canadians paying USD$60. The second desk was to be subjected to questioning and/or receive an officiating stamp...by the time I had reached this desk they had clearly asked too many cyclists their purpose for visiting and all I got was a stamp. The third desk was for money exchange.

Some confusion arose when the attendant at the first desk told the South Africans that their visa's were free but the attendant at the second counter said they should have paid USD$10...which resulted in back and forthing between desks and provided a bit of entertainment for the rest of us.

So after an entertaining 45 minutes we passed through another 2 checkpoints and were on our way in Turkey, straight into a downhill of 6-9% through the gravel and wet slippery clay of roadworks! On a dry day the downhill would have been a great rest but in wet conditions was in many respects more tiring than the climbs in trying to stay upright!

At the bottom of the downhill roadworks we passed through a small town and stopped at a little roadside cafe for a break and loaded up on Turkish delight...the shopkeeper was very pleased to have us there and posed for all the photos and then gave us a business card with his email address so he could get a copy of the pictures. I made the decision at this stage that I was going to like Turkey.

We had an official lunch stop at the 40km mark, at which we were joined by an entire car load of Turkish police who simply just sat there and watched us and posed for photos and took photos of us...all a bit odd really. Unfortunately a reminder was issued about the type of country we had entered as a couple of the ladies were groped across the chest while riding along by a young guy on a scooter just before lunch!

The roads into our first stop in Turkey were brilliant...some short steep climbs with fantastic downhills on wide roads. We rode into Kirklareli and felt instantly on display as the locals stared at the strange foreigners on bicycles riding into their town. We were welcomed on arrival at the hotel by our local support person who explained that the government in the town is doing their best to keep the Orient Express tour coming back each year. The promotional brochure for the town even contains a photo of the Orient Express group from 2006!

In the evening we were invited to take part in a bus tour of the old Greek area of town and go to a cocktail function put on by the Municipality of Kirklareli to welcome us. So all bar a few showed up in their finest travel pants and sandals and were guided around the old Greek district of town which we gather is being preserved and restored over time. The local kids gathered and followed us around on a walking tour of the area, posing for photos and practicing their 'hello', 'where are you from' and 'what is your name' English phrases on us. All the boys thought it was a great joke when I had them all pose with me for a photo and I was nearly bowled over in the rush!

The cocktail function turned out at the last minute to be a complimentary dinner and we were joined by the Mayor and some of his staff. The Mayor spoke English well and hopes to join us on his bicycle to ride with us out of town when we leave on Friday.

17-Jul-08: Turkish Delights
Turkey: Kirklareli – Rest Day

Kirklareli is a town of 60,000 people and is quite animated with a few pedestrianised streets and lots of bakeries, street vendors and a more than their fair share of mobile phone shops. There is so much activity that simply wandering the streets provides good entertainment and no shortage of great food. I found my favourite Turkish food so far for breakfast this morning...a soft pastry and cheese or meet dish which very slightly resembles a sausage roll. And I plan on making another trip to the sweet shop to get some more Turkish delight and cookies later this afternoon before heading off to a cinema for some R&R and an English movie with Turkish subtitles.

Chinese Visa Update

The current plan is for all of us not currently in possession of a visa for China to all apply in Baku, Azerbaijan with the backing of a local support agency who has been hired by TDA solely for the purpose of ensuring we have the best chance of getting a Chinese visa. Despite it being a plan contrary to all previous advice regarding the necessity for us to apply in our countries of residence, at this stage TDA is positive about the ability for the local support agency to work miracles...so we will just wait and see!

Neil Update

We are told that Neil has gotten out of bed for the first time since his accident and was able to stand up for 30 seconds. He is also sitting up to eat. As sad a position as it sounds to be in, the doctors are positive regarding his recovery although realistic that it will be a long road. The hospital is working with his insurance company (who are obviously trying to get him home asap) and it looks as though he may be transferred home on July 18th...we hope that it does not occur too early or against medical advice purely to save a few dollars...

Hills on the Horizon

09-Jul-08: Raindrops Fallin' on my Head
Romania: Bucharest – Rest Day

The rest day started with a short and successful journey in the morning to a little bike repair shop to source a few replacement crank-set bolts which were needed to replace those that were transplanted from one of the staff members bikes to replace mine which had the allen key fitting stripped while re-greasing the bottom bracket to stop it from creaking.

About 100m down a little side street the bike repair shop was barely 2m wide and 6m deep with a glass frontage completely caged in to guard against break-in. The sign said open from 10am, so the fact that it was closed at 10.10am was a little odd but not altogether unexpected...it is Romania after all...at 10.25am the owner turned up and proceeded with the opening shop routine which involved removing 5 bicycles from the only floor space in the shop and hanging and locking them on hooks on display out the front of the shop.

Inside was a wall covered with and glass display cabinet full of a multitude of cut-off empty soft drink bottles filled with all manner of nuts, blots and other miscellaneous bike parts...exactly the kind of thing I was hoping for and after pointing at what I wanted and paying out the equivalent of $2.50 for 4 crank-set bolts my mission was successful.

My only other venture outside was to take an afternoon walk around the peoples palace, the parliamentary building, which our hotel was located near to. Problem being that half way around the circular route the sky opened up and in a manner of seconds I was soaked through!

After returning to the hotel to dry off and change, a group of us headed off by taxi to meet Manon and her friend who lived in Bucharest (as Manon used to 7 years ago) for dinner at a swanky looking restaurant on the riverfront. The restaurant had all the appearance of a quality establishment but in true Romanian form our meals took about 2 hours to arrive and in the end were disappointing for the price we paid. Manon's friend Juan was full of entertaining stories and was a bit of a local celebrity, having appeared on a local Romanian 'Bachelor' reality TV show and as a Briton and the only non-Romanian contestant, won it. Overall it was a nice night, but ending at 11.30pm on the night before a riding day, it won't be happening again in a hurry!

10-Jul-08: Traditionally Bulgarian
Romania/Bulgaria: Bucharest to Ruse
107km, 4h 54min ride time

Our friendly police escort returned to lead us out of Bucharest for a day made up of fairly flat and straight roads on which we made good time despite a lingering headwind.

But as per usual, just when you think you are one step ahead, something goes wrong. The staff had traveled forward in the morning to locate a new campsite en-route to our next destination as the campsite from the previous year was more en-route to last years route, which has been changed and so would mean an 8km ride in the wrong direction. At the lunch stop we were given direction to the new campsite. However, on arrival at the new 'campsite' on the grounds of a hotel we were told that plan had fallen through and that we would need to keep moving to another location, which was 14km in the wrong direction, so worse than the original campsite from last year! The hotel manager had overridden the agreement of his staff saying that a group of construction workers were booked in for a function that night and that they typically got very drunk and looked to pick fights with other guests and so would not let us stay...afterwards our staff clarified that they got the impression that the hotel was really a brothel so decided that it better to move us elsewhere! So, we were re-directed to a campsite with no showers or toilets to speak of, but by that stage we were all over it and just happy to have somewhere to stop.

A short walk from the campsite was a little family run restaurant on the lake where we had some food and met the daughter, Biliana, who having studied languages at University spoke English very well. She and her father were very friendly towards us and very typical of the overwhelmingly friendly nature of the Bulgarian people in general. Biliana's father gave me a tablecloth decorated in a traditional Bulgarian pattern, which is pictured below.


11-Jul-08: Not Happy Jan!
Bulgaria: Ruse to Sumen
136km, 6h 54min ride time

Today was one of the few days that comes along to make me question what on earth I am doing here! We awoke at camp, comparatively a little tired which seems to be a general and now accepted consequence of camping, to the daily route instruction board which read...”130km, Hilly ALL Day Long”...there was not one happy face at camp, nor one person raring to get on the road!

The route had been determined the day before by Randy the tour leader in an attempt to keep us off the busy highway 2. In hindsight the effort put in to creating a scenic and safe route was far more deserving of thanks than he got, but hopefully he has accepted that being our tour leader is a thankless job...damned if you do, damned if you don't!

Granted the route was scenic and safe but the consequential climbing involved, at least for my part, rendered me blind to all else but the pain in my legs and desire for the day to just come to an end! It was by far my toughest physical and mental day (resulting in a couple of teary moments) and second only by about 100m to our greatest day of climbing...made even tougher by incongruent expectations owing to a throw-away comment by one of the leaders that we would not see any hills until after Varna...yeah right!

The riding day did finally come to an end with a 5km descent (after a whole day of climbing, for which it did not come even close to making up for!) in to the town of Shumen where thankfully we had hotel accommodation, because I think putting up a tent and camping may have tipped me over the edge! Although, the lack of hot water in the showers on arrival very nearly did!

Okay, so I think you probably get the picture that today was not my best, but it is all part of the journey and it would be boring if it were all the same...a sentiment much more easily appreciated in hindsight I can tell you!

12-Jul-08: Are we There Yet?
Bulgaria: Shumen to Varnan
105km, ride time n/a

Logic would dictate that a ride towards the coast would have a general trend, being downwards, but there seems to be an upwards trend hanging about which once again left me with very little appreciation for much of the route today. But I do remember being blown away by the fields of sunflowers so large they extended for as far as I could see.

Varna is the Bulgarian coastal tourist hot spot...like the gold coast with an eastern European influence. And the hotel we are staying in is for once right in the centre of the action.

My first priority for the afternoon leading up to a rest day was to find a decent massage and thanks to direction of the hotel reception I had success in finding a masseuse that did sports massage. So, after dropping off laundry to a you pay we do all the hard work service, which we love, I headed off for my massage, an experience which is almost worthy of a blog entry all of its own!

The massage 'room' was on the second floor of an office building just across from the hotel, which on entry looked abandoned as it was under renovation, so the lifts were out of service and I had to take the stairs which led to this little seemingly in use room at the end of a little dark corridor. The door to the room was obscured by magazine cutouts pasted to the glass and a little sign above which simply said 'massages'.

As I walked up the stairs the first time in search of the place I was fortunate to bump into a man and a lady about to enter the room...so I said in hand gestures that I was looking for a massage, to which the man gestured that he was the masseuse, to which I thought 'oh boy'...but I was desperate, so I said 'okay'. Part of my surprise was that I had just passed the notice board in the foyer of the building which had an English translation of the massage advertisement and the name of the masseuse was Nicola, to which I though 'oh good at least it is a woman'...hmmm of course hindsight and not being in a completely 'I am English, therefore I think mindset' makes the fact that Nicola in Bulgaria is not a female name obvious! So Nicola got out his appointment book and told me to come back at 5.30pm, which I did...

I was a bit nervous having booked myself in to be massaged by a foreign slightly strange looking middle aged man in a magazine clad room so had one of the guys walk me over to the place in a non-verbal attempt to make Nicola aware that there was going to be someone to notice my absence if I disappeared!

So, I enter the massage 'room' which is more of a broom cupboard and only big enough to fit a massage table with about 30-40cm to clear around it. The table is positioned diagonally in the room with the head jammed into one corner and surrounded on all sides by a clutter of newspapers, magazines, lotions, potions and all manner of things. The floor is covered with an array of mismatching and overlapping scraps of carpet and the ceiling is decorated with a selection magazine cutouts of bikini clad and naked women, paintings of country houses, seed packets, post card, envelopes and pictures of dogs all barely keeping hold to their backdrop.

Nicola follows me in to the room so that we are standing with barely room enough for one other person and closes the door and motions for me to hang my clothes on one of the many hangers tangled on the back of the door and to place my bag on top of a pile of magazines and newspapers and my shoes in a small free patch of space on the floor. An awkward few moments of silence passed in which I was waiting for him to leave the room so I could undress and position myself on the table covered in a towel...it became obvious that he was not going anywhere so I resigned myself to the fact that this is Europe in which modesty has no place...so I undressed to my underwear an lay on the table face down.

Through a combination of hand gestures and words I managed to explain that I was a cyclist on a trip from Paris to Beijing...to which he replied 'cuckoo, cuckoo' in conjunction with the finger rotating around the ear 'crazy' gesture...I laughed and nodded...and relaxed a little. I was then shown a whole host of massage oils, lotions and deep heat rubs and made to smell quite a few to nominate my choice of poison before he started.

The man clearly knew what he was doing and every time he located a problem area he would say 'pain' and then prod somewhere else and say 'problema' to indicate the source of the problem. He kept tsk, tsk-ing at all my problem areas and kept saying 'champion', I guess in some kind of reference to my resilience. There were quite a few areas of 'pain' in my arms from the past few weeks of bumpy roads and I obviously endured enough pain to be deserving of a kiss on the back of each hand after he had kneaded and stretched each arm...I had to laugh on the inside at the seemingly innocent action and how it made my western senses stand on guard. He repeated the 'kiss it better' routine on each foot after doing my legs and then again on and in appreciation of my 'tiny little ears' whilst massaging my neck...the latter of which did make me a little uncomfortable.

Throughout the whole massage I did note a clear lack of delineation between the western lines of distinction between public and private body parts! The first thing he did when massaging my leg muscles out was to pull my underwear in to a wedgie so that he could get to my bum muscles, which in itself was not wholly unexpected but the fact that no care was taken in subsequently covering me up was a little unnerving! Also wholly expected, he unclipped my bra so that he could massage my back and then had me remove the straps so that he could get to my shoulders, which while lying on my stomach was completely fine...but while being pushed and stretched in all manner of 'yoga' positions as he called it, was somewhat uncomfortable. All in all I didn't feel threatened at any point...a tad uncomfortable at times but not threatened.

He went on to employ an array of techniques including suction cups, rough textured massage mits, vibrating 'infra-red' tools, 'reike', 'manual therapy' and some more 'yoga' moves. While massaging my stomach he concluded that I had a 'spasm' in the muscle at the base of my esophagus and said something about 'reflux' and my 'immune system', after which he rummaged through his stash of lotions and potions beside my head while saying 'aromatherapy' and placed some oil in the palm of each of my hands and told me to rub them together and 'respiratorae' ie. breath. I was also accused of drinking too much water and not enough salt...which in the context of cycling is probably not such a far fetched accusation, so I was pretty impressed at what he could tell from my stomach!

When all was done and I was allowed to dress again I was offered up a concoction of something from a bottle which he had just taken a swig from and in the spirit of not letting fear get in the way of experience I gratefully accepted the brew, which I gather was a self brewed mix of 'vino' ie. wine and 'schnapps' which nearly blew my head off! I was then offered a cup of pineapple juice to wash it down. After being told I had a beautiful face and smile a few more times I said my goodbyes and left the little cluttered magazine clad room chuckling at the whole experience! I am told by the others that I was giggling and smiling for at least an hour afterwards and even as I write this I am smiling and chuckling at the experience that was my Bulgarian massage...and am all in anticipation of my upcoming Turkish massage!

13-Jul-08: Sun, Sand and Surf
Bulgaria: Varna – Rest Day

Today has been a restful day and probably the most successful rest day to date. Very little to report other than a quick visit to the beach to have a swim in the Black sea just to be able to say I have done so. The day is bright and sunny and the atmosphere nice to just generally wander about and see the going's on. Most of the afternoon has been spent updating you all, which I have now sworn to try and at least type up my entries daily to save on time!

Neil Update

Poor old Neil has had a few more troubles during his stay in hospital but is still with us! All the pain medication he had been on up until recently had masked another injury which was found as he was weened off the pain killers...a broken bone in his lower left leg! The break was repaired under surgery and plate inserted. He is certainly having a rough trot but is still fighting on.

Chinese Visa Update

Latest and dwindling feasible means of obtaining a visa are:

1.Apply to an embassy in your country of residence, ie. send my passport home...and hope they don't decide they need me to apply in person;
2.Wing it and see what the post-Olympic mood does for our chances of getting a visa issued en-route at some point between Turkey and China...

A group visa was squashed as an option and the cost and time invested in flying home on the off chance it would make a difference does not make for a practical course of action. At least our choices are being narrowed down!

Battling Bureaucracy

05-Jul-08: Scenic
Romania: Baile Herculane to Targu Jiu
104km, 5h 04min ride time

Its funny when I sit down to recap only 2 days how easily they can blur into one without the benefit of having kept a cue sheet of notes for reference...but I think I have managed to sort the memories in my mind into their respective days...not that you will know any different anyway!

Immediately upon leaving the spa town of Baile Herculane we started on a climb that lasted for the first 40km with only very small patches of relief when the gradient shifted from the predominant 5% back down to 1-2%. The climb did offer up some magic views and cool temperatures as we made our way upwards and alongside forest covered mountain sides. The road led us alongside a waterway at the foot of two spectacular mountain ranges which towered regally above us, each peak dressed in a white limestone crown and leafy robe.

And the reward for having spent 3 hours climbing was about 5 minutes and 5 kilometres worth of descent on the other side which in itself made the climb worthwhile. The scenery changed from being surrounded on all sides by tree covered mountains to little valley farming settlements. Houses were of all types, but as is typical of the village areas we have seen in Romania to date, in very poor repair...rustic, would perhaps be a more sympathetic way of describing them.

We have witnessed an odd blend of old and new technologies in use today...in the cities and major towns quite modern technology is in use, the most novel example being the countdown timers on traffic lights and pedestrian crossings which tell you how many seconds until you will get a green light or the opportunity to cross the street. But there is very obviously many traditional practices still in use, including cultivation by hand and the frequent use of horse drawn carriages for transportation of people and goods. There is also no discrimination between the old and the younger generations. It is common to see 3 generations out in the fields cutting grasses or picking fruit.

There is a widespread and amusing practice in Romania of storing grasses for use as cattle feed during the winter months. Hay is stacked in conical style piles resembling ant hills which are wide at the base and rise to a peak at the top and are often supported vertically by a branch which protrudes from the centre of the pile. Most are covered at the peak by a small sheet of plastic which prevents water from penetrating the centre of the pile and directs it so that it runs over the outside of the conical formation ensuring most of its contents stays dry without the need for full covering. Some of these piles are huge and most require ladders to reach their tops and others are even supported on stilts in low lying areas to keep them off the ground...all in all quite an odd sight which is ever-present in rural areas and even in the front yards of more suburban style houses.

Dogs are also equally widespread but aside from the odd idle threat they have been quite timid compared with our expectations for the contrary and to date there has been no encounter in which a dog has even come close to being declared victor over a human powered bicycle.

The day following on from the 40km climb and subsequent descent was fairly forgiving and led us into the town of Targu Jiu in quite a respectable time, particularly compared with ground covered in the first part of the day. After a short venture into the nearby shops we retreated inside to escape the heat and before we knew it dinner...a rather 'interesting' pizza party...was over. Following dinner those of us continuing on the Silk Route through to Beijing were invited to meet for an update on the current status of obtaining Chinese visas, the event and outcome of which deserves an entry of its own and I will relay later.

06-Jul-08: Bumpy Ride
Romania: Targu Jiu to Ramnicu Valcea
127km, 6h 37min ride time

Today's ride was dubbed by a participant a few years back as a 'pitch and bitch' day...if you weren't going up you were going down and once you were down you started back up again. Give me a 40km climb any day! And the road surface for about 70km was terrible. So I would like to re-dub the day as 'pitch, bitch and ditch'...I am surprised my bike held together it got shaken about that much!

The route took us away from a highway and up through many a small village. As it was a Sunday everyone in town seemed to be out and about for some reason or another. There were huge gatherings at brick-a-brack style markets and many families just walking alongside the roads.

Romanians love to see and be seen. The majority of all street-side houses have a bench seat sitting outside their front fence looking out over the street, and others have two seats on either side of a driveway positioned to face each other, and are most often occupied by little old ladies just sitting and people watching.

The environment we rode through today was clearly very traditional and the generations who have called these villages home all have their own charm. The elderly dress very traditionally, much as I would expect settlers would have in the early days back home in Australia, and treat you with suspicion and curiosity until you wave or shout 'Buona Zseta'.

Younger generations dress in a fairly modern way, particularly in the cities where young Romanian girls seem to always be dressed up and ready to party with full makeup and meticulously styled hair. Little children, particularly in the villages, love when we ride past and many run out to 'high-five' us as we roll past. Others practice their 'Hello's' and are delighted when we respond. When we stopped for lunch the locals were all wandering right up to our food table to have a look, which was quite funny, and apparently when the food was first set up they came along and started taking it thinking it was a market stall!

Overall the P,B&D day was well worth the physical exertion and stress on the bike...some riders turned back to take the more direct highway route after only enduring a couple of kilometres of rough road surface and had their own experience of smooth roads, tailwinds and easy riding, arriving at camp in about half the time we did. But in my opinion, not as rich for the experience as those of us who stuck out the rough stuff and saw the real Romania.

Our route did eventually lead us back to the highway, so we got to experience the smooth roads and tailwinds for the latter part of the day, although the hard work in the early part had taken its toll on energy levels and backsides! Coming into camp we passed by a lake, the shores of which were swarming with weekend sun lovers, cars haphazardly parked any which way alongside and protruding onto the road and fires of all makes cooking sausages 'till they were black. Immediately after the lake, so close that all the commotion appeared to related, was a large public pool in to which so many people were crammed that it was standing room only, and with a carpark which resembled that of the Ekka show grounds back home.

We are camping on the front lawn of a small pension motel tonight and have use of 3 rooms for showering...for 40 people...so it was first in best dressed!

07-Jul-08: Manon's Birthday
Romania: Ramnicu Valcea to Dragodana
111km, 5h 14mins ride time

My day started at about 4.30am when I woke to the roaring of lions at the zoo neighbouring the motel we were camping on the front lawn of. Being awake and needing to answer the call of nature I ventured off to the bathroom, balloons in hand...I attached a bunch of balloons to the back of Manon's bike in recognition of her birthday, which she kept there for the whole day accompanied by a bunch of plastic tulips someone else gave her and so drew a bit of attention riding along!

On my way to the bathroom I clearly caught the attention of a few wild dogs lurking about the camp and started them off barking which made me nervous about how their proximity to the camp and my ankles may change in the time that I was in the bathroom! Thankfully the sun started to rise whilst I was in the bathroom and when I emerged I was at least able to see where they were...

Our riding day started with 2 consecutive ups and downs, comprising a climb of about 5km and a descent of a similar distance, after which the day was predominantly flat. But the terrain was not our greatest concern today...we were riding for the whole day on Highway 7, which seemed to carry every motorist and truckie in Romania on a Monday morning! We were being passed every 2 seconds by a fast moving vehicle of some sort and throughout the day the number of 10-12 wheeler trucks would have been in the hundreds.

The road was in good condition for most of the day, however had no shoulder whatsoever so we had no choice but to ride on the white line, which in the wake of so many trucks is cutting it very fine and the risk became too much for a few who opted out and took a ride on the support bus in lieu. Drivers in Romania, unlike those in western Europe have no respect for cyclists, but in fairness the vast majority do exercise tolerance, which is more than I can say for drivers at home...at least no-one has maliciously tried to run us off the road as yet.

To add to the necessity to hold on for dear life every time a truck passed to avoid the push and suck of the wind draft they cause, we also had to contend with a few aggressive wild dogs en-route. Thankfully, in all instances someone had passed before me and so I had warning and also the benefit of the dog being subdued by the prior onslaught of pepper spray and tasers!

Just before the lunch stop at 60km, the traffic stopped dead and was backed up for about 5km as a consequence of road works...the benefit of being on a bike was the ability to scoot up the outside and skip the queue. It was like an obstacle course though, with pot holes, car doors, truck doors, exhaust, etc...when I reapplied sunscreen at lunch my arms went purple from the blend of sunscreen and exhaust stuck to my skin!

After lunch the highway became marginally quieter as the majority of trucks turned off onto the motorway, much to our relief. The highway by appearance could have been a 4 lane highway passing through small towns anywhere, except for the presence of horses and carriages using the highway and cows and sheep grazing on the nature strip alongside it!
The road surface was appalling for the last 10-15km and the accumulation of bumpy surfaces is taking its toll on bruised palms and sore elbows.

As we turned off the highway into the town of Dragodana for the last 7km, the thought on everyone's mind was 'how on earth did they find this place to stay', as the road was well off the beaten track. The accommodation arrangement was supposed to be the same as the night prior, camping on the grounds of the motel, but on arrival the owner refused to let us camp on the one obvious patch of grassland for fear of us destroying her overgrown greenery, and so we were accommodated in a combination if squeezing tents onto any other available patch of grass or on concrete in the carpark, or joining the slumber party in the reception hall...the latter of which I did.

We all survived the day and received an apology from the tour leaders for the high risk day of riding...last year they did the route on a Sunday when the traffic was pretty much non-existent and don't imagine they will being doing it again on a Monday when the traffic was an accident waiting to happen!

08-Jul-08: Celebrity Cyclists
Romania: Dragodana to Bucharest
82km, 3h 36mins ride time

Today started early again for me, waking to the coughing, snoring and 'whispering' of other slumber party campers and also to the sound of dogs fighting outside. Throughout Romanian the dogs have been everywhere and their presence is probably most obvious at night when it is like the neighbours dog incessantly barking all night long...times a dozen! The problem of wild dogs in Romania started during the communist time when families had their farms repossessed and were forced to move into inner city apartments and leave their dogs behind...

Our route today had us retracing our tracks out of Dragodana and back to Highway 7 bound for Bucharest. Aside from the persistently bad roads, the morning was quite good riding, with less traffic and flat roads and no hurry to be anywhere. We had all morning to cover 70km in order to reach the lunch stop and starting point for our police convoy into Bucharest so no-one was in a hurry. Even so, we all still ended up arriving about 90 minutes prior to the departure of the convoy and so retreated with our sandwiches in to the shade of a few small bushes and a large billboard by the side of the highway.

The convoy was something we were all looking forward to and it didn't disappoint...although the only police presence we got was one officer on a bike, it was still very effective and drew a lot of attention as we were escorted through intersections and ran red lights. We felt like celebrities as onlookers waved, shouted and took photos on their mobile phones. Some even took to returning the waves with a queen-like hand turn which was quite amusing.

The afternoon in Bucharest was frustratingly spent on a wild goose chase for a couple of non-existent laundromats and the evening spent doing laundry by hand!

Chinese Visa Update

A few days ago we had a meeting with TDA staff who updated us on what they are doing to assist us in getting our Chinese visa's. The first statement was 'Henry (the owner) would like to remind you that TDA is not responsible for your visa requirements'...which got things off to a flying start!

The current situation is such that not even our tour leader has been able to obtain a Chinese visa as yet...so where that leaves us no-one is entirely sure, although it was pointed out to us that there is a possibility that the tour will end at the Chinese border.

It seems that our current available means of obtaining a visa are:

1) Apply in person at an embassy in your country of residence...which means flying home...not altogether the cheapest or most practical option!

2) Apply randomly at all other embassies in the hope of winning the lottery as a consequence of inconsistent rules and regulations.

3) Wing it and see what the post-Olympic mood is...we do not enter China until after the Olympics and so there is a chance they will relax restrictions in the interim, although there is also a chance of them getting worse!

4) Very small chance of getting our group visa for all tour participants.

We are all getting very frustrated with not knowing what to do next and running out of time to make any arrangements...but all we can do is wait for the next update...which is the outcome of TDA meeting with the Chinese embassy in Toronto...

Will keep you posted, in the meantime am open to all suggestions, advice and condolences!

Undulating?...Hmm...Try Mountainous!

02-Jul-08: Spirit Lifting
Romania: Timosoara to Resita
98km, 4h 22min ride time

As we were unable to secure a police escort out, the day started with a hectic departure from Timosoara. Two staff members and a few other riders wore bright construction vests and literally had to stop traffic to create a clear and relatively safe path out of town for us!

The first 20km or so was spent holding on for dear life on a busy and narrow highway which was quite scary but now just par for the course so does not get dwelled upon but taken in our stride (or stroke). We turned off the highway on to a quieter road after passing through the first town en-route, after which the morning offered up some really pleasant riding conditions including cooler temperatures.

On the quieter road we rode up our first climb of the day which led us up on to a plateau from which all we could see in all directions were rolling hills covered in grasslands and forest trees. The more pleasant conditions made for a relatively easy morning with the 65km to lunch complete before the heat hit.

Speaking of lunch, things have been on the improve since Henry was overwhelmed by constructive criticism and we have since had the best lunches of the tour, which has made everyone happy.

Resita is a town built around industry and has little else to offer by way of attractions so much of the afternoon was spent lazing about and staying out of the afternoon heat. The hotel we stayed at appeared grand enough but on closer acquaintance revealed arctic cold showers on arrival, tap water full of lead which was unsafe to drink, original style finger-dial telephones and threadbare carpet...and bed bugs did cross my mind but thankfully did not present themselves. They did, however, serve up a decent dinner and turned on the hot water for us to have warm showers in the evening.

03-Jul-08: On the Edge
Romania: Resita to Baile Herculane
127km, 7h 20 seconds ride time!

An early start meant we were on the road by 7am today and in hindsight it was just as well...the day was FULL of climbing and started with a 20km climb just to warm up the legs!

I was feeling good for the first climb and reached the top in good time. I was greeted by a few other riders ahead of me and a little old Romanian lady selling cherries who must have taken to my being female and gave me a handful of cherries in a very kind gesture.

The scenery was beautiful as tends to be the case on particularly hilly days as elevation tends to result in views. And as much of the morning was spent riding along a road which was carved around a mountain and through forest the temperature was very cool by comparison...at 19 degrees I was actually getting a little cold but felt a bit ungrateful to complain in light of the heat of the past week so just tried to ride faster to warm up! But after the first climb and subsequent undulating landscape my body started to groan in protest.

By the 120km mark I had reached a stage where I felt faint and had the shakes as a result of needing food desperately. So only a few kilometres out from our final destination I was forced to stop and refuel in order to make it the rest of the way. By the time I reached the hotel I was exhausted and only managed a shower, a hotel dinner and some TV before collapsing into bed!


04-Jul-08: Resting Day...Really
Romania: Baile Herculane - Rest Day

Continuing in the vein of how I felt last night, today has been nothing but lazing about. I have limited movement to within 1km of the hotel and done very little! The way a rest day should be...

Chinese Visa Update

As some of you would know, those of us continuing on from the Orient Express trip to join the Silk Route trip which will take us all the way to Beijing are having some difficulty in obtaining Chinese Visas. The current status is that the tour company at this stage is not allowed to take our support vehicles across the border and our tour guide who is presently in Turkey awaiting our arrival also cannot obtain a visa!

All the rules have been changed in the lead up to the Olympics and it seems every avenue we try and pursue just leads to a dead end. So at this point in time we may be spending some time sitting in no mans land between Kyrgyzstan and China...or perhaps following in Ewan and Charlie's tracks and re-routing through Russia? or not...but either way the major component of this trip so far is not so clear. But we are optimistic...

Romanian Charm

Latest on Neil

The latest news we have had on poor old Neil is that he is now conscious and talking, which is a great thing. He unfortunately developed a lung infection for which he had to be given antibiotics but has responded well. He also underwent further surgery for compartment syndrome in his leg, but it also all went well. The doctor is happy with his current status but he has a long way to go. But it is good news that he and his humour are back in the world!

27-Jun-08: Buda & Pest
Hungary: Budapest – Rest Day

I think my last blog came to you from Budapest on my rest day, which as per usual was mostly consumed by sightseeing as achievable around necessities such as laundry and internet. Although still making it to bed at a pre-midnight hour on the night of my birthday, the night had been a relatively late one considering the long day we had, so the better part of our rest day morning was spent sleeping in! Although, I think I managed to cover the major sights of interest whilst fighting with my better judgment to get out of the oppressive heat. But did treat myself to an afternoon massage, which was a little disappointing in its impact on my tight muscles but did manage to send me to sleep on a number of occasions, so I suppose cannot have been bad in all respects.

28-Jun-08: Bring on the Tailwinds!
Hungary: Budapest to Kesckemet
100km, 3h 55min riding

We were warned that roads would start to get worse as we head further east and today saw the first of the deteriorating conditions. The previously smooth bitumen is becoming increasingly rough and ready with pot holes and bears the uneven scars of repair upon repair, all of which makes for a pretty rough ride.

Notwithstanding the rough roads, a sub 4 hour ride covering 100km for the style of riding we are doing is considered a very good day and our fastest to date, particularly considering that the first 20km was a slow group ride out of Budapest which took an hour. We rolled into camp at 12.30pm.

The evening camp was located next door to a huge water park where everyone in town seemed to be stationed in an attempt to combat the heat! The music (in mostly English) was pumping and children screaming, so we could hardly avoid paying a visit to see what all the fuss was about. None of us took to the water given the un-pleasantries likely due to the number of children in the water, but did station ourselves at the waterpark bar for the afternoon where we chatted and some practiced for the following nights Orient Express talent quest...

29-Jun-08: The Orient has Talent...
Hungary: Kesckemet to Szeged
111km, 4h 35min riding

We were a mostly tired bunch heading off today as sleep was interrupted by a group of rowdy local campers who thought it a great idea to hurl themselves through hedges located directly behind our tents and sing to loud music all night long! Thankfully we were blessed with another day of tailwinds as the temperature was also baking hot, even as we set off at 7.30am.

Knowing full well that motivation levels to walk any substantial distance into a nearby town once showered are slim to none, we rode straight past the camp site and directly into the town of Szeged to ensure we got some sight seeing in. We meandered around the town on our bikes and drew attention with our signage affront out bikes reading “Paris to Istanbul” or “Paris to Beijing” as applicable. An interested local started talking to us all about a trip and where we were all from, which was nice and gave us a little background on the town in which we were staying. We then found a little cafe and had some cake, ice cream and cold drinks before retracing our tracks 4km back to the campground.

Henry, the tour company founder, said his goodbyes tonight but not before having been pulled aside by numerous riders with feedback, mostly constructive complaint, regarding the operation of the company. Some have had substantial issue with the quality and quantity of the food and the general organistion of and communication between staff and riding customers, both of which I would agree there is definitely room for improvement. But the feedback appears to have been well received and it will be interesting to see how it now affects the balance of our journey.

On a more positive note the night was concluded with the first Orient Express 2008 talent quest, which was organised by a few motivated and talented members of the peleton. What had initially appeared to be an idea which may not bear any talent turned out to be a very enjoyable show, with quite a few riders demonstrating their singing, poetic, comedic and engineering talents. The subject of many entrants was Carl & Rita, the tandem two, who graciously enjoyed their being fodder for comedy as much as we did.

30-Jun-08: Road to Nowhere
Hungary/Romania: Szeged to Timosoara
121km, 5h 25min riding

Today started with a short 8km ride to the car ferry which took us across the Danube. Whilst waiting for the ferry we all compared our respective dog weapons in preparedness for crossing into Romania and facing the notorious wild dogs. Sticks, pepper spray, tasers, stones tucked into bike shorts...some sticks looking more like logs...we laughed at the prospect of the first poor friendly dog getting more than it bargained for in saying hello as we are all on edge and very fond of our ankles!

After the ferry crossing we found ourselves riding on a very bumpy, long, straight road into a headwind and spirits which were lifted by the preceding 2 days of tailwinds were decidedly less positive. The one pearl on the road to nowhere were many fields of beautiful sunflowers which afforded good reason to stop and take a breather from the headwinds to take photos.

The border crossing between Hungary and Romania is our first to date which has been an official border crossing with check points and need for passports so we were all keen to just get it over and done with without incident. Thankfully this was the case and 2 stamps and a few minutes later we entered into Romania, the poorest country in Europe.

We were told that the wealth of the country would become evident almost as soon as we crossed the border and it proved to be the case. The style of buildings and housing is still very European but more rustic and most evidently in a very poor state of repair. To our surprise the condition of the road surface improved, which was a pleasant surprise, but there is absolutely no road shoulder to ride on and a good 6 inch drop from the bitumen surface to the rubble beside the roadway. As a result the ride in to Timosoara along a highway required a high level of concentration to avoid falling off the edge of the roadway whilst still staying as far away from cars passing at high speed from behind!

After lunch my energy levels faded rapidly in the persistent heat and headwinds, but knowing we still had 60km to go was more of a mental challenge than physical. You can either let the situation get the better of you or you can attack it. We attacked. Head down and peddle hard in to the headwinds and just get it over and done with became the focus, as did the 10m of white road line in front of me. Kind of like the running mantra “just to the next light post”. And eventually we made it into Timosoara at about 5pm local time, as we have gained an hour in crossing the border.

We are all very impressed by Timosoara, especially having been primed for Romania being Europe's poorest country. It is my favourite so far. It is a very beautiful city full of pedestrianised plazas and beautiful buildings and no wild dogs! After changing and resting for a little while we headed around the corner from the hotel into a plaza and found a nice bar/restaurant for dinner which included some local specialties, most of which were well received, but I could live without ever having cured pork fat again!

01-Jul-08: Sleep In & Siesta
Romania: Timosoara – Rest Day

Today has been a battle between wanting to see things and wanting to avoid the heat, but so far we have managed a good balance of both. We are getting better at not having the essential rest day tasks destroy a good day and have seen quite a bit and rested quite a bit.

We have retreated inside for the afternoon to escape the heat and are now about to head back outside for a bit of pre-dinner sight seeing.

So I will leave it there for now x