Month: May 2010
-
On The Rails – Sochi to Ulaanbaatar
As I write, it’s 5:30am in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia. Through the window of my host’s flat I can see the pale orange of the morning sun picking out the shapes of the new industrial complexes and apartment blocks that are sprouting at great speed. After a couple of years they will be crumbling, […] Continue reading →
-
Rain, Train and Pain – Yerevan to Sochi
Her familiar, tearful, smiling face was framed by the tinted window, then a silhouette, receding; finally she joined the flecked shapes swaying within the departing bus as it began its 24-hour journey to Tehran. I put my hands in my pockets and trudged towards the subway. For the next few days I would put loneliness […] Continue reading →
-
Get A Postcard From Outer Mongolia
When was the last time you got a postcard from Outer Mongolia? Probably a fair while ago, I’ll warrant. So here’s the deal. I’m trying to raise £1,000 for The Wilderness Foundation UK by – appropriately – mountain-biking just over 1,000 miles off-road across a big wilderness area of Mongolia. I’ll send a postcard from […] Continue reading →
-
The Adventure Cycle-Touring Handbook
One of the most valuable resources I had when preparing to make the leap and begin cycle touring was the Adventure Cycle-Touring Handbook. In fact, I’d say that it’s responsible for my ideas becoming anything more than just ideas. It was summer 2006 and I was living in Edinburgh during the festival season, working as […] Continue reading →
-
Mountain Biking Across Outer Mongolia
A couple of weeks ago, I went to watch Armenia play ice hockey. The match was part of the 2010 International Ice Hockey Federation World Championships. Being a 3rd division group match, it featured countries not usually associated with winter sports – South Africa, North Korea, and on this occasion, Mongolia, who were promptly thrashed […] Continue reading →