The end of Turkey and The beginning of India.

We have been kindly sponsored and supported by:

Mayo Wynne Baxter

www.mayowynnebaxter.co.uk

01273 477071

Mayo Wynne Baxter is one of the leading law firms
in the South East with offices throughout Sussex.

&

Gossypium is a leading brand in Fairtrade-certified organic cotton fashion:

• All our products are Fairtrade & organic - we're the real thing
• We only use good quality cotton; organic, pure & strong
• We are responsible for how our products are made
• The eco-system & environment are never far from our thoughts
• We're independent: working together as a family - in business
  

www.gossypium.co.uk

&

(click image to expand)

&

Located in the south lanes close to the seafront Terre à Terre is one of Brighton's leading
restaurants and continuously retaining the prestigious AA Two Rosettes and Michelin: ” Bib Gourmand” awards.

www.terreaterre.co.uk

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SPONSOR US, YOU STILL CAN!

We are obviously trying to raise as much money as possible for the Red Cross, and the default sponsorship donation goes 50/50 for the Red Cross and towards the costs of the trip (Visas, Food, Internet Cafes, Maps etc). We are budgeting as much as possible but it is still difficult to keep the costs down because we cannot control the majority of our spending which is not on food or any other variable but on things like VISAS (It costs £95 for Iranian VISA alone) and maps and unexpected repairs such as my front pannier rack which has given way. Any excess sponsorship cost covering money will go to the Red Cross once we have finished the trip if there is any too.
If you would still like to sponsor us you can by:

Emailing me the amount you have sponsored us, your name, and the amount you want to go to the Red Cross and amount you want to put towards covering the costs of the trip, if any.
The bank account I have set up for the sponsorship money is:

Nationwide
Mr Mohan Everett
account no: 72433983
sort code: 07 00 30

You can pay money into that bank account via phone banking, online banking, cash (in bank) or by cheque.
I'm set up with online banking and will be basing my budgets and checking balance/transferring money with it throughout the whole trip, whenever I'm near a computer.

You can also pay via Paypal to:
Moohan13@gmail.com

Thankyou!

Blog update:

We are now in India!
There's a lot to mention since we last updated... I dont know where to start.
Firstly from Turkey. We had to pinball around a bit in order to get our Indian VISAs. We had to buy a letter of recommendation from the brit consulate for 70 quid. And then wait around for our visas to process, meanwhile we were fishing around for flights on phone, finding out different airlines policy on bicycles and excess baggage etc as this, alongside the actual flying price is the main thing really, as most airlines were charging about 30 euro per extra kg of luggage over 20kg which is a big prob for us.
Anyway, we got a good deal with emirates in the end, with 37kg of free allowance, so just stripped our stuff down which maybe was a good thing anyway. And booked our flights as soon as our VISA processed (7 days). We got the flight cheap and last minute which was a result, and flew to Delhi!
As we were waiting around for our VISAs I spoke to a friend in England. Miguel who had been checking our blog etc and wanted to join in from Delhi til somewhere in Thailand, going back alone when he felt like it.
Me and Finn thought it would be sweet, but we were flying to Delhi in about a week from when we were speaking, and asked him how it would work, seeing as he didnt even have a bicycle etc!
I half didnt think he was being serious but this changed as he desperately started asking me stuff about kit, jabs, malaria tabs, insurance etcccc.
So two days after we arrived in Delhi, he joins in, with a good bike and full kit! He must of had had a manic week...
As me and Finn were waiting, in Istanbul, we were speaking to Thomas (management of Gossypium), and filled him in on what we were up to.
Then, out the blue, told us he would treat us to our first night in Delhi, at Ashok country resort, a luxurious hotel in Delhi as a welcome present to India from Gossypium!
Me and Finn were very chuffed and grateful as you would be!
We jumped on our plane, had a 17 hour wait at dubai for our connection which was grim, but we didnt really care as we knew we had this to look forward to.
We had a couple of hours sleep on the airport marbel floor (in our shorts brrrr)
And the time of our flight eventually did come.
We enjoyed the comfort of the plane and got picked up in Delhi at 8pm by the hotel driver, our bicycles coming out the other end (practically) markless, which was a relief.
We then got to the hotel and were told that not only had Gossypium paid for our room, but also a dinner and breakfast!
We were the happiest of happy. And enjoyed a lovely, hefty meal which sent us straight to bed...
Next day we swam, ate an amazing breakfast, and set our minds on getting our first day done....
This stalled completely when we went to set our bikes up - we had to repump our tyres as they had been deflated (as a requirement of bringing them on the plane) and found that BOTH our pumps broke at the same time, completely unprovoked, just didnt work anymore when we tried them (valve attatchment was messed up on mine, and the connecting tube on Finns had split).
The hotel didnt have a pump so we ended up taking our wheels off, getting a lift with the friendly hotel staff to a tyre pumping station about 1km away.
By the time we were on the road it was late afternoon, and this was our first introduction to Indian traffic.
As the hotel was a bit out of the main town area of Delhi, we had about a 35 km cycle to the main bit again, and we made plans to adjust a bit, while waiting in a cheap hotel near to the airport, waiting for Miguel.
When Miguel arrived, we stayed another night there to allow him to recover from the time difference and flight, and then set off, towards Agra.
We started off slow to allow Miguels legs to adjust, and for all of us to adjust to the different culture and way of cycling. And how to deal with the MASSES of people who bombard you, trying to speak to you, taking pictures of you etc. This makes us feel like celebrities/freakshows. Most the people out of the main towns seem to have never seen a brit or something.
They're all very curious and want to speak to you etc, which is nice, but it has quickly lost its novelty as we ended up covering hardly any distance, and ended up speaking more than cycling.
One of our favourite things about this amazing place is our 'pit stops' - chai men every few hundred metres haha. We LOVE indian chai, and it is the perfect energy booster, and tastes amazing. And costs around 4p a cup which is a bonus.
The road conditions are nothing but mad.
Sometimes it has been like cycling on a a road full of rubble, sometimes it has been like a european road (rarely). So this is another 'obstacle' of cycling here. But even though the place is absolutely MAD in some ways, once you adjust to it, its calmer than european traffic. Everyone spends about as much time not beeping as they do beeping, which at first gets on your nerves, but we soon learnt the difference in meaning between English beeping ''you f**cking twat! get off the road!!!'' and here, where it's ''I'm here, and I'm overtaking you, so dont randomly jerk out to the right and bash into me please''.
After lots of mad times, meeting loooads of friendly people, sleeping in the courtyard of a hindu church (with permission) and sharing our cooked dinner on our now working stove, we are in Agra.
We went to see the Taj Mahal yesterday, which was amazing. And we bought a nice, loose, cotton indian-president (apparently) style suit each.
We look pretty funny to be honest, but it had to be done. And its soooo comfy. We wore them to the Taj, and got indians coming to us and asking to get pics of us haha.
Anyway, the story on the whole is... lovely country, lovely people, perfect weather, dodgy roads but just about cyclable on (so far), and operating day to day on far below our budget!
Miguel brought the latest edition of the India lonelyplanet guide which was a good move, and we have partially planned our route around this.
We're thinking of heading towards bombay from here, though we're not sure if we actually want to pass through it, because all it means is lots of traffic, beggars and pollution.
But thats our rough direction from here (south-west), and we will head south from the down the coast. Then we are thinking of heading east, towards channai, where we are going to give hitching a boat to the Andaman islands a shot, and then to Thailand from there, as we spoke to a cyclist in Istanbul whose friend had done this with ease. But we will see, at the moment we're soaking in the difference in culture and enjoying this amazing country.


START FROM TOP TO BOTTOM AND CLICK PICTURES TO ENLARGE.


Me trying to get some kip in Dubai airport


Cheeky monkeys


Miguel explaining his gears on his bicycle to the indians.



The people who we befriended while we stopped for chai at their stall



Cute elephant!


Miguel after his first day cycling, struggling to stay awake during dinner.


Some nice kid we met at a chai stall...


Camel! They're so big here!


Egg man!!


The decorators we made friends with at the hindu church where we camped one night.


Setting up camp in the grounds of the church.


They swapped belts haha.


Their brothers (the next morning)


Us outside the hindu church with their youngers.


One of many thousand chai man!


The Taj Mahal!


Beautiful.


The tomb of the emperors wife (If you know about the Taj you will know what I'm on about)


Finn, me, Miguel and some random people who wanted a pic with us, in the grounds of the Taj Mahal. In our legendary Indian cotton suits!

Pictures from Finns camera

We have been kindly sponsored and supported by:

Mayo Wynne Baxter

www.mayowynnebaxter.co.uk

01273 477071

Mayo Wynne Baxter is one of the leading law firms
in the South East with offices throughout Sussex.

&

Gossypium is a leading brand in Fairtrade-certified organic cotton fashion:

• All our products are Fairtrade & organic - we're the real thing
• We only use good quality cotton; organic, pure & strong
• We are responsible for how our products are made
• The eco-system & environment are never far from our thoughts
• We're independent: working together as a family - in business
  

www.gossypium.co.uk

&

(click image to expand)

&

Located in the south lanes close to the seafront Terre à Terre is one of Brighton's leading
restaurants and continuously retaining the prestigious AA Two Rosettes and Michelin: ” Bib Gourmand” awards.

www.terreaterre.co.uk

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SPONSOR US, YOU STILL CAN!

We are obviously trying to raise as much money as possible for the Red Cross, and the default sponsorship donation goes 50/50 for the Red Cross and towards the costs of the trip (Visas, Food, Internet Cafes, Maps etc). We are budgeting as much as possible but it is still difficult to keep the costs down because we cannot control the majority of our spending which is not on food or any other variable but on things like VISAS (It costs £95 for Iranian VISA alone) and maps and unexpected repairs such as my front pannier rack which has given way. Any excess sponsorship cost covering money will go to the Red Cross once we have finished the trip if there is any too.
If you would still like to sponsor us you can by:

Emailing me the amount you have sponsored us, your name, and the amount you want to go to the Red Cross and amount you want to put towards covering the costs of the trip, if any.
The bank account I have set up for the sponsorship money is:

Nationwide
Mr Mohan Everett
account no: 72433983
sort code: 07 00 30

You can pay money into that bank account via phone banking, online banking, cash (in bank) or by cheque.
I'm set up with online banking and will be basing my budgets and checking balance/transferring money with it throughout the whole trip, whenever I'm near a computer.

You can also pay via Paypal to:
Moohan13@gmail.com

Thankyou!

Blog update:


A few of the best photos from Italy, Greece til Turkey. Please start at the bottom of this post and go up. They are in order from bottom to top.

(PLEASE CLICK ON PHOTOS TO ENLARGE THEM AS THEY ARE HIGH RESOLUTION)




The journey back from the islands all the islands are lit up.

We wer determined to swim before we leave turkey, so we hunted for a suitable spot. Moe checking out the cliff edges.

What a view, of the other islands closest to us.



Such a wicked day trip in the islands

Moe cycling up to the helipad.

Hassan at the top such an incredible view. On the heli pad at the top.

We cycled up a crazy road sooo steep to the highest point of the island. amazing view and very intense cycle.

The island we were on is prince island. no cars and only bycicles aloud its our heaven... the two guys hired bikes, and we set off around the island.

Some amazing islands, would love to camp on this one haha.

the boat crossing through the islands.

Our trip to prince islan with two Libian guys from our hostel. Hassan on the left and

Hagia Sophia at night lit up by the spotlights.

The other view from our hostels roof bar.

Our relaxing evening spent playing chess and smoking the shisha pipe in a local caffe.

The local bagel sellers by the blue mosque, we are their best customers.

Our visit to the grand bazzaar, is amazing but our budget prevented us from buying anything. Try explaining this to the salesman.

Moe joining the hundreds of tourists in this popular photograph spot.

The brıdge in istanbul full of hundreds of fisherman.

Arrival in Istanbul and this is the view from our hostel roof bar... Amazing and only 7 euro a night. Unfortunately camping isnt really possible in this city.

Moes second punture of the trip i still havnt got one which is very surprising really. This punture took us about an hour to fix as our tyre wrench is rubber and the tyre was very cold and stiff. So we were bending the wrench backwards and forwards for hours as it got dark.

Our arrival in turkey.

Moe and all our kit in alexandropoli late at night in the centre of town haha.
Once in thessaloniki we met a group of greeks who showed us a nice cheap bar for greek wine.
This was about as close as we could get to capturing this astonishing view.

After a hard 3 hour cycle uphill we were rewarded by one of the best view of our journey. from the top of the mountain we could see down through the thin clouds into the valley below. Unfortunately no picture we took could capture the view through the clouds.

Grapes everywhere

After one of the many close encounters with a pack of wild dogs, we recovered with some grapes by the roadside like true greeks.

another preying mantis we discoverd doing some crazy stuff and hissing at us in the early morning.

As we were approaching Thessaloniki the sheep took over the road.

Another french cyclist we met who was learning the language of each country he went through as he cycled. He had a book of greek in his handle bar bag so he could read as he cycled.
o
As the landscape got more remote and forested we entered bear country.

This was the hut as we found it, without our walls. It didnt look like a very nice place to sleep. But better than a tent filled with water.

After our experience with the leaky tent we tryed to avoid sleeping in our tent when weather was bad. Therefore even this skelaton of a hut was better than our tent in the rain as it had a waterproof roof haha. We made the makeshift walls using our tent and polithene ground sheets. This nights sleep was one of the coldest of the trip so far because the gale force winds blew under our flimsy walls and the wind even detached our walls it was that strong. So i had to rebuild the walls in the night. My sleeping bag is also completely ripped down to my feet so i had a very cold night.

After we had recoverd from our horrible cycle we had finally dried most of our clothes and shoes. We were back on the road very hilly but amazing views.

The abandoned caffe we sheltered in for 1 day and night in Ioannina. This was just before we cycled in the rain with no food up a mountain away from any towns or shelter or food haha.

Exhausted after a long cycle uphill in the heat.

One of the many preying mantis we narrowly missed squashing as we cycled through greece.
A wild dog pup who looked exactly like a wolf, and was living with a herd of sheep on the mountain side.
One of the many amazing views we witnessed as we cycled up and down the amazıng moutains of greece.
The view from our campsite of the mountins ahead.

The next morning we were both a bit ill and very tired. Insects everywhere and this enourmas spider was one of the animals we found as we dryed out our stuff.

The next day we left Nicola and John and headed north, the weather got bad quickly and this was the result. We were caught in a thunder storm and our tent was tested. It definately failed and within minutes the floor was one big puddle. Everything was soaked including sleeping bags and i definately had the worst sleep of my life. This picture shows our attempts to stop the rain and we had to wake up repeatedly and take it in turns to empty the pot outside haha.

Our private beach was lovely and we enjoyed snorkling here.
Our firs proper day in greece and we met Nıcola and John from the lake district. They had cycled here through the northern route of Romania, Albania ect. They are wicked was so good to meet other english people after so long. We traded books, and spent the night on this small beach.
An amazıng beach in a small town we went through.
Back on the road whith our repaid bikes. The scenery is amazıng as we approach the most south east point of italy.
Thıs was after my collision with a car in the town of Bali. My front wheel was completely bent and we attempted to fix it using the spoke tool. But after about 20mins of trying to bend the rim back into shape we decided i would need a new wheel. We pushed the bike into town and eventually after some very enthusiastic directions from a group of italian guys. We found a small bike shop which didnt look very useful. The shop was more of a museum. The owner had no spare parts only tools, and the walls were lined with pictures of him winning bicycle compatitions. It was amazing, he took my broken wheel inside and we watched as he speedily flew the wheel round and adjusted spokes like a true master. He bent the rim back into shape and in about 2 minutes my unfixable wheel was better than it had ever been. Anyway this picture is what the mechanic did to moes broken front rack. The rack is now super strong and although it looks a bit dodgy, the bit of metal he put in has saved us another lot of money. He charged us 10 euro for the lot which saved my about 60 euro for a new wheel.
This was an amazing sunrise from the roadside. We had woken up especially early because of our slightly dodgy camping spot ın a restuarant lawn. But had a wicked early morning cycle and covered a lot of miles towards greece.
One of our many afternoon lunch swims. The beaches were amazıng and kept getting better as we went further south.

Amazıng views as we cycled down the Italian coast. The scenery just kept getting better the further south we went. This was taken from a brıdge crossing one of the many small rivers that join the sea.

Gradually as we woke up more and more fisherman appeard until we were surrounded by them. I didnt see any of them catch anything though.
Waking up to find a new nabour the local fisherman who was probably fishing from about 3am. He carried on until we left at about 10.30am. He didnt seem to notice us sleeping in the middle of the beach.