Before embarking on this trip we felt it was necessary to step back into the closet. This was due to our travel plans for the Middle East, and to have a better chance of getting accepted by hosts on CouchSurfing . As a same sex couple we felt it was necessary to remove all our relationship content from Facebook, and contact CouchSurfing¹ and WarmShowers² to … Continue reading Bosnia’s First Pride… Finally in 2019
Dear Food Diary, This special entry will be about food that we cooked, food that we shared together with friends and hosts, and stories that came with each meal. Cooking has been an important part of our lives – particularly baking – that we missed a lot. We can only carry so much spices and ingredient to make basic meals, so when a kitchen presents … Continue reading Dear Food Diary #12: Our Cooking Stories
In Sofia we had to apply for Matt’s UK work visa. It was coming up to his 31st birthday so we had little time left to get the Youth Mobility visa. As it turned out, the visa office only opens twice a month so we had some mandatory “free time” to explore Bulgaria. With several weeks to wait, we made some travel plans with help … Continue reading Festive Times at “Wake Up Bulgaria”
Post title in Khmerដំណើរជិះកង់ឆ្លងទ្វីប ស្ថានភាពដំណើរ ទី១៤៖ អ៊ីស្តានប៊ុល Trip Summary សង្ខេបការធ្វើដំណើរ We’ve arrived in Turkey’s biggest city İstanbul after cycling through some scenic and magical places. We arrived on June 5th after cycling a further 2590 km, bringing our total to 16945 km. On this route we saw numerous policeman, deep blue Mediterranean Sea, and magical hot air balloons. ពួកយើងបានមកដល់ទីក្រុងធំជាងគេរបស់ទួរគី គឺទីក្រុងអ៊ីស្តានប៊ុល (Istanbul) ក្រោយការជិះកង់ឆ្លងកាត់តំបន់ដែលមានទេសភាពប្លែក និងអស្ចារ្យមួយចំនួន។ ពួកយើងបានមកដល់នៅថ្ងៃទី ០៥ … Continue reading Trip Status #14: İstanbul
We spent the longest time in Iran than any other country on this trip. Partly due to winter and the amazing hospitality of the people. We’ve learned so much about the country, so it has been a valuable learning experience over these four months. Iran A quick glimpse into the country: Capital: Tehran Population: 81 millions Language: Farsi/Persian Currency: Rial (80,000 = $1 NZ) Region: … Continue reading Iran’s Report Card
Every country has it’s unique culture. Maybe some things are closely aligned to your own, and some things you may consider to be quirky. Here are some quirky things we’ve encountered during our time in Iran. Fruit Bowl: Would you like some fruit? Please take one… especially the green one! We’ve seen this many times in Iran households that it’s certainly a common thing to … Continue reading Iran’s Quirky Side
Two years ago when we were planning our route, we decided to include Iran. The advice we got from our friends and family was to avoid the country. Such comments included: “It is too dangerous”, “Aren’t they at war?”, and “Is it safe?” Ignoring their advices, on October 29th 2018 we entered the country. We will write about how normal a country Iran is from … Continue reading Life in Iran
Trip Summary We’ve arrived in Iran’s second biggest city Mashhad (مشهد) after zooming through Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. We made it on November 1st after cycling a further 1150 km. On this route we hitched a ride at two spots: Tajikistan (for 21 km) and Turkmenistan (for 431 km). Halfway Hooray! We set off from Auckland on the 18th of March 2018 and arrived at the … Continue reading Trip Status #10: Mashhad
We almost the skipped country, but we are absolutely glad it was included in our route. Initially we didn’t want to come here because of the visa cost, but was convinced to go by Teddy (our Malaysian cycling companion in Xinjiang), then reconsidered again after the tragic incident south of Dushanbe where four cyclists were killed. But after flip-flopping a few times made our way … Continue reading Tajikistan’s Report Card
Besides our usual picnic meals and warm tent accommodation, the experiences from eating and sleeping at the homes of the people in Central Asia has been both culturally enlightening and a very humbling experience. Dining While many of us back home would sit on a chair at the table, things are a little different here – physically and culturally. Physically there’s no chairs, only a … Continue reading Eating and Sleeping with the Locals
Pedalling Continents 