Turkey - who says one man cannot change the world Monday, January 21 2008

I spent a further two weeks in Turkey after arriving in Istanbul. During that time I made my way east with Jannah through some lovely small Ottoman-era towns (Safronbolu and Amasya), stopping in Ankara to catch the Anatolian Museum of History, which is absolutely comprehensive and totally bewildering. It is really...  read more

	Cycling Europe statistics Saturday, January 5 2008

The summary:

• 112 days, of which 77 spent cycling
• 6,027 kilometres travelled
• 45 kilometres climbed - an average of 585 metres per day
• Longest day was 136km, in Brittany
• Most climbing in one day (and wasn't it a fun one) - 1,600 metres
• shortest country - Bosnia, at only 15km. (The...  read more

Reality check at the Nek Sunday, August 12 2007

Before visiting Gallipoli I was a little disconcerted by this man Ataturk. You can't really avoid the him as there are statues in every town square and every place he stopped once for a pee is now a national museum. Originally Mustafa Kemal, he was renamed 'Father of the Turks' after pretty much single handedly...  read more

Roast Turkey Saturday, August 4 2007

A little about the travails of cycle touring. When I started this trip I wanted it to be an adventure. My general philosophy was that backpacking in South America had been too easy - look in the guidebook, find a place that looked fun, get the bus, find hostel, go see attraction, etc. Hence the cycling idea, which...  read more