Un viaje en bicicleta de Barcelona a Tokio

Una pareja, dos bicis y 12 meses. El reto: llegar a Japón a puro pedal, siguiendo la Ruta de la Seda. El viaje en bicicleta es un reto para salir de nuestra zona de confort, de esa rutina diaria que nos envuelve y nos cobija por la noche. Para cambiar de perspectiva, para pararse a pensar mientras todo a nuestro alrededor cambia. Para vivir el día a día. Para conocer y compartir con la gente que el camino nos ponga delante, y aprender de cada cosa que veamos. Para cambiar nosotros mismos y por sobre todo, para ver a dónde nos lleva el camino.

⬇️🇪🇸🇫🇷⬇️ 🇬🇧 Laos gave us a second summer in a year, quite a luxury for cycle tourers. Some complain of the heat but we couldn’t get enough after our experience in South Korea. Coming back to vibrant greens of the jungle, tropical fruits, and (un)healthy doses of sun was all we could dream for. A different setting to spend Christmas! •• The different landscapes also conquered our hearts, from steep endless roads in the mountains to Mekong Delta’s little dirt roads. But one thing was constant all the way: people smiles and kids running after us yelling SABAIDEEE ! We felt the people were very authentic and easy to connect with.
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⬇️🇪🇸🇫🇷⬇️ 🇬🇧 We took the ferry to South Korea trying to escape Japan’s rain, but what we encountered was colder: snow. It started to get colder and colder, down to -12°C when we reached Seoul. •• This simple fact just turned all our experience around. It was our first winter cycle touring, and Korea would pay the price of it. We couldn’t enjoy it to the fullest because of our numb fingers and toes, although we remain persuaded that the country must be beautiful in warmer weather. •• But like in any country, you have to figure out the little smart things that will put you at ease. When we couldn’t sleep properly because of the cold, we discovered Jimjilbangs, Korean’s answer to Onsen. Picture a mega spa open 24h, where you can sleep all night long on a warm floor for next to nothing.
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⬇️🇪🇸🇫🇷⬇️ 🇬🇧 Why do we travel? And why on a bicycle? Everyone has a distinct approach to traveling, and there is no single right answer. We imagined this trip as a way to explore the worldS and its cultures focusing on connecting with locals. For anyone interesting in the confrontation of cultural aspects, Japan will always be a hit. •• Japan is known for its super technology and the contrast with their millennial traditions, but to experience this took us to another level. It is simply impossible to remain indifferent to this country! Japanese were more outgoing than we had imagined, but still they were a relief compared to the over-friendliness -read sometimes intrusive- we experienced in Central Asia. At times we felt we missed the tools to better connect with them, having such a complex and distinct social code. There is much to learn to blend in! •• The particular experience of cycling Japan was extraordinary. It certainly was the most cycle touring-friendly, and it would reward the steep climbs and rain showers with beautiful landscapes and ONSEN. We spent one month and a half in Japan, we didn’t go for the straight line and yet, there’s so many things left to see in a future trip! We would come back in the blink of an eye.
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⬇️🇪🇸🇫🇷⬇️ 🇬🇧 Pushing just a bit more, always a bit more. We were almost there, at the end of our journey through Central Asia. From Kazakhstan we were flying to Japan, and it was going to be a big change. The city of Almaty was the perfect stop to get used to civilization again: big malls, restaurants with tables, sidewalks... •• The city contrasted with the small roads we had used, filled with potholes or sometimes even collapsing. Like on this picture, where the bridge had recently disappeared, leaving us no choice but to get wet ! •• While looking like two salvages trying to understand how to use the metro, we’ve met Aizhan, a Kazakh cake designer educated in Switzerland. After laughing together at how a journey in the wild had made us forget the basic urban skills, she invited us over to her house. Check out her Instagram @artisan.a what she creates is amazing. We want her to come create her pastry in Barcelona!We had a wonderful evening chatting about her country.
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⬇️🇪🇸🇫🇷⬇️ 🇬🇧 Crossing the border between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan was like day and night: we left the yellow and orange rocky mountains for green ones full of water. Marveled with this landscape and the Lenin peak in our backs, we left the 4000m of altitude behind. •• We were tired, very tired! Luckily we found ourselves a bicycle hub hotel to rest. It seemed that all cyclists passing by were arriving exhausted and staying for days to recover, finding it very hard to leave this paradise. Anecdotes and laughs were filling the days and nights that we spent with all these cyclists. •• When we finally managed to take our butts out of this hotel, we discovered a beautiful country, formed by mountains, green plains, yurts and horses running around in total freedom.
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⬇️🇪🇸🇫🇷⬇️ 🇬🇧 Tajikistan. It kept us on going for the first six months just dreaming about its incredible mountains, the Pamirs. Each physical struggle was dealt with realizing going through these mountains would require all the strength we had gained in the past months. •• In the cycle touring community, the Pamirs are seen as one of the most challenging but iconic routes to conquer in a lifetime. With several passes on washboards over 4000m and rare human presence, the trail rewards you with a unique feeling that will change you. •• Lucky we were to share that path with a group of cyclists that kept on growing: from 4 to 7 up to 10 in the end. A lot of pain and sweat mixed with joy and British humor. Sometimes you get an insight on what life should be when you’re 80 years old, your heart getting out of control with the altitude. Let us just say two words that sums it up well: Wakhan Valley.
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⬇️🇪🇸🇫🇷⬇️ 🇬🇧 Everyone talked about the majesty of the ancient cities of the Silk Road -Uzbekistan being the epicenter- but no one about the painful straight roads in the desert with head wind. We switched strategy and rode at 5am up to 12, then killed time in traditional restaurants, chatting with the locals and getting invited to their house. •• That rhythm eventually became exhausting, providing excellent excuse to stay longer time in the beautiful cities of the Silk Road. Walking between the sand-colored walls where the trading that shaped the world all happened gave us incredible perspective. We devoured many watermelons sinking that history into us. •• Next was coming our most awaited challenge…
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⬇️🇪🇸🇫🇷⬇️ 🇬🇧 “You’ve got two days, take it or leave it” said the officer at the Turkmenistan consulate. Let’s say it didn’t give us many choices: we would not cycle that country, or at least not all of it. •• The time race began, and included: a fight against the wind, a terrible heat, a taxi driver who wanted to make his day out of two tourists and an arrival in extremis to the train that would take us to the border in time. •• But the most amazing thing happened next, when we pedaled out of the last city and the desert showed us dancing sand over the road and a truck driver taking a shower surrounded by that sand ballet. Things that can only be seen in the desert and in Turkmenistan.
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⬇️🇪🇸🇫🇷⬇️ 🇬🇧 Melons. That’s what you survive on when crossing the Iranian desert. Locals know how hard it is and one would stop to give us one every 20 minutes, not kidding. When you look at your bike and you have already 4, you’ll find it very hard to say no to an Iranian. Not in their dictionary. •• What lacks in their dictionary is easily replaced by the word hospitality. They know every nuance of it and they will make you understand what it truly is. You don’t know anything about it before visiting Iran, and experiencing it is way more than hearing about it. An essential knowledge that we lack in our culture. •• We left Iran with a heavy heart, leaving behind all these lovely people we’ve met.
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⬇️🇪🇸🇫🇷⬇️ 🇬🇧 Çay çay çay ! We could hear that invitation for sharing cupS of tea when passing through little villages in Turkey. Warm and friendly locals were eager to open their house to us, we have to say we even felt like celebrities sometimes. •• Turkey was a big hit for us because not only did the people openly shared with us, but the mountains we crossed in deep Anatolia were just astonishing. The combination makes it the perfect destination for cycle touring, just next door from Europe. •• No wonder then we met much more cyclists than in Europe, most of them traveling on the Silk Road, pedaling towards the ancient dreams that this name conveys.
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⬇️🇪🇸🇫🇷⬇️ 🇬🇧They say revenge must be eaten cold. We like it better warm. Monasteries, here we come! It was the end of a rainy day, filled with headwinds and our first puncture. We had just got stuck in mud trying to find a camp in all that madness. That’s when it appeared at the end of that small muddy track, an abandoned small orthodox monastery. Pushing the dwarf-sized wooden door was exhilarating, we would be sleeping with a roof over our head and a garden in front of us. Bonus: we found a traditional well which was fun using with its metal chain and wooden bucket for cleaning the gear. •• Maybe it was karma, because our next guest house would be a dealer’s house. It was hard after agreeing to sleep in house realizing when he smiled cracked open that he didn’t have any tooth left. The guy was just so nice and funny, that we forgot his work involved selling heroin and that his house was just about a dumpster. After telling us as if it was of second importance him being chased by the police today, we closed happily our eyes, too tired to think about anything. •• That’s our experience in Bulgaria, two funny stories and few real connection with the locals, unlike what would happen in the next countries.
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⬇️🇪🇸🇫🇷⬇️ 🇬🇧 We had been told that among European capitals Skopje was the most eclectic in a strange and baroque way. They weren’t lying. The city is populated with brand new pieces of urban art imitating a cheap baroque style. The result is quite unexpected and leaves you with a puzzled mind as to what would be the story behind those decisions. •• We were lucky enough to stay at a couple of Warmshowers who could discuss with us their insights on the subject. Go local and understand more about everything around. •• On their advice we raced uphill to an orthodox monastery only to find its door closed to tourists with empty pockets. Sure enough they indicated us the way to the hotel, but the look of our faces brought pity into the sister’s heart so she moved her brand new Audi to leave us camp on the parking spot. We decided we’d take our revenge on monasteries. That would come very soon indeed !
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⬇️🇪🇸🇫🇷⬇️ 🇬🇧 «Don’t go to Kosovo», is what we heard all the way to Europe’s newest country. We contemplated this warning while drinking litters and litters of beer with proud Kosovares having fun with us. Why on earth would you be so sure that this country was in any way dangerous ? •• Judging by the war signs on the side of the road, you can see that the conflict ended not that long ago. Creating a new country is by no means easy, people are working hard to construct it, but other countries are taking advantage of the early stages of the legal infrastructure in Kosovo. •• That’s how we met in the middle of nowhere a Kosovar refugee from France, trying hard to prevent an excavating engine from destroying his parents house. Development needs to be fast, there’s no time for planning and if your house is on the road the Chinese need for their new “one belt, one road”, then it might well be destroyed overnight without notice.
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⬇️🇪🇸🇫🇷⬇️ 🇬🇧 Is this still Europe ? The road is suddenly deserted, some of the few vehicles we pass are pulled by horses, goats by the side of the road search for grass behind the litter, and we stop to have a ham-burger (literally) for 50 cents. •• Searching for a camping spot became mission impossible, so for the first time we asked locals for a piece of land to pitch. It opened us the doors of a true Albanian family. The hospitality they shown to complete strangers was mind-blowing for us, because this would have never happened in the Europe we knew. •• After one more alcoholic drink in the morning, we head to the mountains. So much of it, such a pleasure on the top. We found out in Albania mountains are our drug, flat is boring to us.
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⬇️🇪🇸🇫🇷⬇️ 🇬🇧 The Balkans. We felt we were finally there when entering Montenegro. A USSR city was waiting for us on the other side, with ghetto-like towers, black Mercedez from the 80s and bad boys hanging out in the streets. •• Half an hour ride later, we were discovering the beauty of this country, spoiling us with verdant summits, greenish waters, blue sky. This could be Switzerland, we thought. We were finally meeting the real people of the Balkans, friendly and engaging ! •• A huge cruise ship was about to unleash its thousands of Chinese tourists in the streets of picturesque Kotor, so we woke up early to beat them. Our own first test was also waiting for us: the infamous Kotor serpentine. Steady but slowly, we defeated it. We didn’t know another climb on a road under construction was waiting for us just behind. •• We spent too little in the country, but it was an incredible first impression, giving us a sense of adventure with lots of ups and downs on gravel roads and tunnels under construction.
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⬇️🇪🇸🇫🇷⬇️ 🇬🇧 We were surprised to see a toll on our small road when entering Croatia. When trying to avoid it, we realized it was actually a border control, the first of many more to come! •• Instead of entering by the coast, we took the Parenzana, a rocky path following the tracks of the old Austrian empire railroads. It lead us to the mountains and great landscapes; we liked thinking that it was a good preparation for the Pamirs. How young and foolish we were ! •• When we finally arrived to the sea side, we realized how touristic Croatia is. Lucky we were to be there during the low season. We could eat cheaper, visit the islands and avoid the crowds of shrimp-like tourists. •• Even so, we got to the point where we were really missing the challenges of the mountains. We head inland to discover a lesser known part of Croatia, filled with vestiges of the war, green mountains and spectacular views. It started raining and barely stopped until Turkey. •• When returning to the coast to pay our due visit to Dubrovnik, we met again with the crowds, spoiling our fun. That’s when we decided we wouldn’t force ourselves to go to famous places on the rest of the trip. History will show that we didn’t stick to that promise...
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⬇️🇪🇸🇫🇷⬇️ 🇬🇧 Slovenia was our most direct way to cross from Italy to Croatia, and it was supposed to be just that. But we had been kicked out of Venice earlier in the trip, and the small village of Piran was said to be the perfect substitute for it. They even call it « the Venice of Slovenia ». A perfect reason to make a detour and enjoy the green bike lanes with foreground of turquoise waters. We entered the supermarket and we had a first taste of what our life would be like for the next year. We couldn’t understand a thing. Not a single thing. We giggled at this thought which made us believe we were already true remote adventurers.
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⬇️🇪🇸🇫🇷⬇️ 🇬🇧 Crossing to Italy made us realize how two countries who shared a common history with similar architecture can diverge through the course of time. Italy’s recent struggles can be seen in beautiful palaces falling into ruins, narrow windy roads filled with potholes, and charming villages that seem almost empty now. •• The warmth Italian people show makes you quickly forget this sense of decadence. For the first time we feel really connected to the locals, being invited for beer or coffee, chatting about the dolce vita, and sharing the best food the World can offer. Normally used to visiting this country ready to try every dish on offer, this time we had to be smart to stick to the budget. Source of frustration, we’ll take our revenge and come back to eat it all. •• We were sad to leave Italy so early, but being so close to home we are sure to come back in the next years. Italy’s great potential for cycle touring need more than a trip to explore.
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⬇️🇪🇸🇫🇷⬇️ 🇬🇧 We are lucky enough to have three countries we can call home. France is one of them. We thought we had left everything behind but a young couple in their sweet-sixties joined us on the ride. Ben’s parents reached the pace early riders try to keep, and we discovered together much of the first joy this adventure would bring. The confort of home brought to the road ! •• When in Marseille our route split, we truly felt this was the beginning of our solo journey. Flying along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, bordered by deep blue waters and golden colours, we had the road for ourselves. In front of us were our choices, and no escape left. Scary and exhilarating at the same time.
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⬇️🇪🇸🇫🇷⬇️ 🇬🇧 One year ago, we closed the door of our apartment in Barcelona, kissed friends goodbyes and left everything behind. •• Our bikes felt heavy and a mix of feelings was accompanying us, unsure of what life had in store for us the next year. •• With a challenging physical effort and a lot of pain in our butts, we eventually found the freedom that bike touring has to offer to every cyclist. •• We didn’t know it back then, but that same feeling would keep us going for more that 20,000km.
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Laos, el viaje reempieza

El proyecto

Ruta del viaje en bicicleta

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