August in Mongolia. As the summer heat settles in, the landscape is overflown with colour. The steppe is in full swing, desert flowers unfold, slim grasses thrust through the mould the colour of cappuccino. A few hours after dawn, perched on a steep hill of 45 degree cheeks, our light green tent is whining under … Read more
Mongolian summers are short and brutal, like a day at Romaniacs. Since we’ve came, the road kept pushing us forward, the steppe unrolled its deceiving monotony, until we got lost in the guts of this endless and bottomless Mongolia. When your wheels and thoughts are stuck in mud, both me and Ana have discovered, one … Read more
Last night the wind swirled and howled like an orphaned beast. In this vast steppe there’s no tree, no mountain to stand in the way of nature’s unleashed forces. Cows mooed, horses sputtered, and a toddler cried in his yurt. His grand grandmother cuddled him and put him back to sleep, making sure that his … Read more
Can’t really put my finger on it… nervousness, excitement, adrenaline rush, a bit of fear. We feel like we’re about to pass an important exam. It’s Mongolia. It opens up ahead like a huge mass of oblivion that can swallow you into its deceptively beautiful guts. It dares you to leave the Man’s world behind, … Read more
In Bishkek we are couchsurfing with TC Berker, originar from Ankara and currently teaching Journalism and New Media to the Kyrgyz. Before ringing his doorbell we take a breather in Balikci, a small town on the banks of Isik-kul lake. A quick lunch in a local shack is in order. We also shop for some … Read more
White Frost After my little illegal detour on Chinese territory – where we aim to be since the start – we return to the charming M41. The final kilometers piercing the Pamir mountains are scarcely tarred, as if to test our 908s and our lucky star. But our karma contains bicycles as well. Once our eyes soak … Read more
Back To Kazakhstan [vc_separator type=”transparent” position=”center” thickness=”1″ up=”10″ down=”10″ separator_color=”” color=””] It’s a wonderful feeling to have your helmet drenched in riding sweat after almost a week off the bike. Rahmat! I say to the police officer who is raffling my passports. He directs us around the warehouse, to the customs control proper. I happen to park … Read more
Let’s cut to the chase: this is real yak blood left to rot in the middle of the street, and an actual yak hoof left to rot in the dumpster. Both nothing short of boring details in the life of Murghab. A town sitting in the middle of bloody nowhere. Last night, when we rolled … Read more
This is where we camped. It’s our first night on the Wakhan corridor. Let us zoom in. This narrow stretch of land lies between Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan. What we can see over the river Panj is surely more charming than what we have going on on our side. And it’s not what we would … Read more
(by Ana) I’m, as you well know, a rookie motorcyclist. I left Bucharest less than two months ago with less than 600 km done on a motorbike. By car I have clocked even less, perhaps a little over 150 km, driven more than a decade ago. In May I had zero traffic experience, and I … Read more