After much consideration over the hairy logistics of taking our bikes on the train through Europe, Belarus, Russia etc, we have taken the decision to fly directly to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Tied in with this is also the decision to abandon Kazakhstan which, we realilsed, is probably not the most upbeat country to start our adventure in. It would also take a LONG time to cross this enormous, flat, barren, harsh country, which would mean that we would miss the very best month in which to be in Kyrgyzstan and put real pressure on our time available before needing to get over the KKH before winter sets in. Having taken the decision to dive straight into Kyrgyzstan in September, we will now see this beautiful, mountainous country in its very best month, and be able to take our time a little bit - which has taken some pressure off. SO! We've bought the flights!! Flying by 'Russian Aeroflotsam & Jetsam' as Andrew calls it!! It will be 10 hours of praying that our bikes are safely on board I expect!
The last month has seen great progress! The innoculations have begun and we will soon be like pincushions and several hundred pounds worse off (wow - they cost alot!). The house has been let for the full 6 months that we will be away, which is brilliant news and a big relief. I have given in my notice on my job and every evening we are working through the long long list of tasks to do this month (house insurance, travel insurance, visas, gas certificate for house etc etc). We're also doing a steady amount of exercise and starting to get some good distances done on our bikes to try to get our bodies used to the miles. That's all for now!
7 comments:
Thought I'd leave you a blog so that I can be first! Was just checking that you had updated your website with your new route. Glad to hear you are getting on with your 'to do' list and getting yourselves 'organised and sorted out'! Good Luck! Mum/Linda
Great stuff, what's the latest news on the route?
I was most amused by the "View Larger Map" link on your route page - you've got about half the known world on there already - how much bigger a map do you need?
John
First time on a bog and look forward to following the adventure as it unfold. Sorry to have missed all the leaving parties.
What is the disabled sign for on the word verification - is that Andy when he gets back.
Ed, Lucy and Rosa
Some info for anyone who's watching this, Tracy and Andrew have arrived safely in Bishkek and checked in to their nice B&B - complete with big statue of Lenin. They'll be building the bikes today and leaving tomorrow.
Before they went, we did a lot of balancing on small scales, loaded with big bikes and found the following metrics:
Andrew's starting weight: 109.8 Kg
Andrew's panniers 19.8 Kg
Andrew's bar bag 2.8 Kg
Andrew's bike 21.4 Kg
Racy's starting weight: 64.8 Kg
Racy's panniers 17.6 Kg
Racy's Hand luggage 4.6 Kg
Racy's bike 21 Kg
Total Weight of bikes and hold luggage = 79 Kg
They weren't stung too badly for excess baggage, which was a relief!
John
Am laughing at Racy's hand luggage...! Where are you both? Have you been arrested yet? Are you in the sunshine and are you smiling? We are missing you both lots already. Love fi xx
Haha - Racy's hand luggage was one of her panniers - I'm sure you hadn't imagined her taking a vanity case with her? 8)
So, Racy's panniers were 22.2 Kg in total.
John (Racy's brother)
I have been watching their fantastic weather, 29C average so far, it's a long way to go to get away from our dreadful summer. It took Andrew and myself four hours to take the bikes apart and pack them in the boxes, I wonder how long it took the two of them to do the reverse? I hope you took the cardboard to the Bishkek recycling tip.
Philip, Racy's Mum's husband.
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