London to Istanbul

Day 50: 22nd June ’05

Distance: 0 miles
Total Distance: 2559.2 miles
Route: Belgrade

I spend the morning walking around Belgrade which has a truly good vibe about it; lots of young people, ‘courting’ couples and old geezers talking, laughing and playing chess in the park. Saw the various sights of Belgrade; which included the bombed-out secret police headquarters – as well as some beautiful old buildings, and very cool bars. In the afternoon, I popped in to see Boban at his work and ended up getting a guided tour of the whole place!

The top 3 floors of the second highest building in Belgrade are occupied by ‘Studio B’ television station. The studio was very well-equipped, and enthusiastically run. Then to some shock, I was introduced by Boban to the producer of the station who had heard about my trip and wanted to do an interview with me that night!

3 hours later, and i’m heading down to the Danube river, in a knacked out van with 2 camera men, ‘Zelkjo’ the interviewer and his 2 assistants. I chatted with the likeable ‘Zeljko’ while we drove to a very cool cocktail bar, situated on a boat moored up on the banks of the Danube. I did my piece in front of the camera, and was happy that I felt relaxed and not overly camera-shy as I can sometimes be. We talked about my ride, politics (where I showed a great deal of ignorance – see the full-length video), tourism and people’s perceptions of Belgrade and Serbia.

After the interview was over, we started to cane some seriously strong, and pleasingly complimentary drinks (a just reward for some excellent product placement during the interview!) One bloke bought me several drinks because he thought I was in the starting line-up of Stoke City football club! Something slightly lost in translation there I think.

Afterwards, on to several more bars, and eateries around the whole of Belgrade. A district known locally as ‘Silicon Valley’ warranted a quick detour: an area of bars frequented by highly ‘augmented’ ladies. Then a guided tour of absolutely every building, site and area of cultural / historical significance throughout the city, and even a drive-by of Milosevic’s former residence. It was a truly brilliant night – even though I was dropped back to the hotel at 4.00 a.m, with a train to catch at 8 a.m!

Day 51: 23rd June ’05

Distance: 0 miles
Total Distance: 2559.2 miles
Route: Belgrade » Budapest (Train)

Woke up feeling a little ropey from last night and had a small dose of the fear about getting the bike onto the train. It was an all-out nightmare at first until I received some much appreciated help from two American girls. They were sisters, and as American as apple pie. But luckily for me, they had both been born in Serbia and spoke the lingo. Excellente ambassadore! After they had helped me allay the annoyances of the train passengers (to the bike wheels sticking in their ribs) and the wrath of a stream of mentalist conductors, we enjoyed a great chat for the duration of the journey. We agreed to meet up later that evening when we had all reached Budapest and found somewhere to stay.

We took an evening ‘river-cruise’ on the Danube – complete with free glass of sparkling anti-freeze – which is something that I would never dream of doing myself (the cruise that is; Anti-freeze is massively underrated as an apperatif). Most of our fellow passengers seemed to enjoy it though, and I was glad that my prejudices were justified that these types of things are god-awful rip-offs intended to part tourists of money. It was nice to have company in the evening for a change, and being able to converse in English was an added bonus.

Day 52: 24th June ’05

Distance: 72.04 miles
Total Distance: 2631.3 miles
Route: Budapest » Komarno

Back on the bike today after a week off and it felt great to be back on the open-road. Slow start getting up and away, after posting a letter and finding a map of Hungary (a useful addition to the inventory). After 6 weeks of seeing very few cyclists on the roads, there’s now millions (minor exageration) of them here in Hungary and bike paths absolutely everywhere! It’s good in one way, but it does make getting around by bike a little less special / original. Fitness levels are down a bit but not severely.

Was expecting to get to Bratislava tonight but I totally underestimated the distance. Not sure if I should stop in Bratislava tomorrow night, or try to attempt to get all the way to Vienna.

Day 53: 25th June ’05

Distance: 69.07 miles
Total Distance: 2700.4 miles
Route: Komarno » Bratislava

Felt wrecked today, but still managed to cane the mileage in double-quick time thanks to well surfaced and flat roads. I’m staying at a truly, truly weird hostel tonight. Most possibly it’s illegal and there’s major evidence of serious conflict between the owner and his neighbours.

It’s like a squat, but actually is also very cool. The ‘Madonna-shrine’, the porn-set styling and sheer craziness of the place both disturbs and delights in equal measure. The owner ‘Gabriel’ is a certified nut-job and properly shifty, but I don’t think he’s dangerous.

[Read the hilarious comments posted by fellow detainees at ‘Gabriels’: My favourites include “Don’t go there, we had to have medical treatment after an infected lice attack” and “We stayed in a room where the ceiling was five feet above the floor… and forget it if there is ever a fire. You’re toast!”]

Bratislava is pretty and easy to get around due to its compactness. Several weirdos / smack-heads about though.

Had major trouble finding a place to stay tonight, and had been to 5 places before eventually landing on Gabriels doorstep.

I expect that finding a place to stay will get increasingly difficult from now on as I head further west. I’ll be heading home in a few days though.

Day 54: 26th June ’05

Distance: 45.61 miles
Total Distance: 2746.0 miles
Route: Bratislava » Vienna

Last day on the bike today of the entire trip – unless something goes awry with my plans to fly out from Prague airport! I’ll miss the bike a lot; the freedom, the open-air, singing to myself, the occasional beat-boxing…

However, it’s not quite the same without a fixed destination in mind; a goal and ambition to achieve. There were lots of cyclists along the Danube bike path today. Fair play to them, but my best moments of the trip have been when I’ve felt like the only cyclist on earth. OK, so that’s never going to be that convincing within Europe, but there were times when I’d not see another touring cyclist for several days on end. It’s slowly starting to dawn on me that it really will all be over soon. I wonder how long I will last back in the UK before hatching another plan?

Vienna is beautiful, but not quite like I’d expected – but then again nothing much ever is. I had a nice chat with the owner of the hotel I’m staying at. She was sympathetic to cyclists staying at the hotel, and had said that she admired the individuality of the cyclist. Most hotels I’ve been to couldn’t care less, and see the cyclist in his or her unflattering gear and oily bike as an inconvenience.

Prague tomorrow and an expected tourist overload. However, I won’t have too much time for touristy things (except beer sampling), as I will be occupied in running all over the city trying to find a cardboard bike box for the flight home.

Day 55: 27th June ’05

Distance: 0 miles
Total Distance: 2631.3 miles
Route: Vienna » Prague (Train)

Excellent train from Vienna to Prague, and bike was easily stashed in the rear carriage even though I was technically too late to make a reservation for it. I notice that the service is improved in all areas of Western Europe, but you don’t half have to pay for it! Prague is, yet again, not as I had imagined it – and I’d heard a lot about the place. It is very beautiful but absolutely teeming with tourists; a necessary evil of attractive cities.

I tried a few bike shops in search of a bike box, but to no avail. I’ll have to try again tomorrow, and if I don’t succeed will have to take the train home, cycle home or run away and join the circus. Which one remains to be seen.

Day 56: 28th June ’05

Distance: 0 miles
Total Distance: 2631.3 miles
Route: Prague » London (Plane)

I found a bike box at the second attempt, and spend an hour getting strange looks as I drag it across the city back to my hostel. All good, but the box is a little small – so some skilful dismantling and packing is required. More sightseeing today. Prague is absolutely stunning, but the gormless tea-cake tourists were messing with my mind. Am I not a tourist then? Well, yes. There’s no getting around that, but at least I travel independently, eat / drink at small locally run establishments, use public transport and try my absolute best to learn some of the language (admittedly with limited success).

I suppose that it’s all over now then. A bit sad, but equally I’m feeling a bit jaded and wouldn’t mind some home comforts and to see a few friendly faces. If I had a new goal I’d happily stay out longer, but for the moment I am just a tourist.

I’ll start thinking of the next adventure soon no doubt. I’d like to go to Poland soon and travel up through the Baltic states to Finland [Edit: did this by train in 2008!]. Antarctica or the Atacama desert have always taken my fancy though. We’ll see…

Extracts of E-mail sent 24th June ’05

“After 45 days of sweat, blood and gears, I am pleased to report that I have made it to Istanbul. The journey covered a distance of 2560 miles, making it a heart-attack inducing daily average of 56.88 miles / day. (Average when taking into account 5 rest days = 64 miles / day)

The sum total of damage sustained to the bike was 2 punctures, and the total damage to yours truly was a little scraped leg and a slightly bruised ego when falling off the bike at 3mph – bloody SPD pedals. Although I feel physically fitter than at any point of my life so far, I don’t know if I would have liked to have pushed much harder; especially as the conditions of the roads had been getting progressively worse (& I think I may have developed a little bit of ‘white-finger’ from the assault-course style roads in Italy & Turkey!)

The journey was mostly everything I had expected. A mix of weather, landscapes, cultures and emotions. At times I’ve felt:- exhausted, energised, strong, lonely, depressed, calm, bored, ecstatic, doubtful and resolute. Has it changed my life? – no, I don’t think so. It’s reinforced a lot of things that I suspected very strongly anyway. That happiness can be gained from very simple pleasures; and that it’s vital to take yourself out of your ‘comfort-zone’ occasionally, in order to appreciate everything that you have.

What have I actually achieved? Nothing particularly significant – cycling a long way isn’t actually that hard (it’s just deciding to start that is!), and many people have done similar things, and much harder, things before. However, I have realised an ambition, a goal, that took a degree of planning, determination, risk and effort.

Highlights of the trip have to include:

‘Splugenpass’ climb into Italy from Switzerland; ‘Katara’ pass in Greece; anywhere in Luxembourg; ‘Thassos’ island in Greece; ‘Meteora’ in Greece; ‘Lake Como’ in Italy and of course Istanbul. Low-points of the trip were few, but Italy’s east-coast wasn’t much better than a grey-day in Blackpool, and the mentalist dogs in Greece chasing me like mobile-donner meat was pretty scary…

Thanks to all of you who have kept in touch, and sent your support”