The Route

After restarting the bike in Calais (starter motor failure on Day One), I headed east through Northern France to Colditz in former East Germany. From there, diagonally through the Czech Republic to Vienna, Austria. On then, ever eastwards through Budapest, Hungary to its border with Romania.

I crossed Transylvania to Bucharest and arrived at the Black Sea at Varna, Bulgaria. Southwards then along the coast crossing (eventually) into Turkey and on to Istanbul.

South again along the beautiful  Mediterranean coast cutting inland at Antalya to Egidir and then crossing the wide open spaces of Central Turkey and Kurdestan. Sanliurfa, Diyarbakir, Van and finally Dogubayzit in the far eastern corner.

The dusty highway through Iran took me to Tabriz and Teheran. From there a loop to the Caspian Sea before heading southeast to Esfahan, Yazd and Shiraz. Here I left the beaten track and rode south to the Persian Gulf. So glad I did. In fact, I can recommend leaving any beaten track….

I crossed into Pakistan at Zahedan, through the inhospitable Baluchistan desert to Quetta. Southeast towards Sukkur and the long truck ride to Lahore. The Grand Trunk Road lead to Islamabad and the Karakoram Highway took me all the way to China. Well, its border at least.

Retracing my steps to Besham and then to Peshawar, the Khyber Pass and the Afghanistan border. Eastwards again to Lahore and Wagah crossing to Amritsar, India – where wine, women and song were back on the agenda.

A majestic sweep down through India via Rajestahan – Jaipur, Jodhpur, Pushkar and Udaipur. The palm lined beaches at Palolem, Goa then the tropical south – Hampi, Madurai  and Kanyakumari – the southern tip!  The west coast to Fort Cochin, Kerala before a leisurely train ride to Delhi. Bike repairs and new tyres and on to Agra before heading north through Lucknow to Sunauli .

Finally reaching Nepal and visiting Pokhara, The Royal Chitwan Park and Kathmandu. Large amounts of money then flew me back to the UK.