a2b - Lent leaves Crotos

Bad news. After 99 days and six and half thousand kilometres Joachim Lent has decided to call it a day. Details on this latest posting. Other riders have joined and left the tour as it has progressed and no doubt others will do the same for the last 5,000 kilometres. No [...]

a2b - Crotos, into China

The two blog postings covering the entry to China are particularly significant as they cross borders into the final country and the flavour of the tour takes another change. Some things remain the same, for now, they are still passing through Moslem territory, the terrain is still mountainous but everything takes on Chinese characteristics. [...]

a2b - Accor Beijing, continuing in Pakistan

A few more entries on the Express Bank of the Accor Beijing website allows us to progress the route a little further. My comments are in italics.
5月26日，我们今天骑行97公里到了pattoki，没有合适的旅馆，在加油站的房间借宿。离拉合尔80公里。
May 26th – cycled 97 kms to Pattoki. No suitable hotels available. A gas station is mentioned, possibly this is where they slept.
今天骑行78公里到拉合尔。老莫在单独骑行时被98个警察轮流护送。
May 27th – [...]

a2b - Crotos, through Kyrgyzstan

As the tour entered Kirgyzstan something significant was going to happen as the planned route on travellerspoint suddens starts wriggling around and the stops are much closer together. As might be guessed immediately after leaving Osh the Silk Road passes through mountainous country, so lots of zig-zagigng, ups and downs and aching knees for [...]

a2b - Accor Beijing, continued

Grasping the meaning of the brief messages on the Express Bank is a little more complicated now the party has divided and the entries sometimes contain snippets from each sub-party. But, overall, it looks as if they are back in cycling mode, as opposed to travelling by bus or train.

2008-05-23
乘火车上午到了木尔坦，已住下。莫汉艺坚持去卡拉奇，我们尊重他的选择，昨日在奎达车站送别。

On the morning [...]

a2b - rerouting through Uzbekistan

The Crotos tour has taken an unexpected turn. After trekking along, 6 days and a couple of minor navigation mishaps later, the tour arrived at Bekobod on the Tajikistan border to be told they must go 50 kms northwards to the next crossing point as Bekobod is closed. Another three hours hard [...]

a2b - Accor Beijing, mishap in Iran

I took a glance at the Accor Beijing website and noticed that the background colour has been changed. Instead of a deep blue it is now a more cheerful bright yellow which makes it easier to read, if slightly gaudy.
There are only two more one-line entries on the Express Bank, for the 12th and [...]

a2b – Accor Beijing, robbery in Turkey

A few more entries have appeared on the AB blog covering a few more days in Turkey. The first three entries, covering 7th, 8th and 9th April, don’t add much to what we already know [not a lot, I know, as placenames and distances are missed]; the one phrase that catches my eye is at [...]

a2b – Crotos on the Golden Road To Samarkand

We travel not for trafficking alone:
By hotter winds our fiery hearts are fanned:
For lust of knowing what should not be known
We take the Golden Road to Samarkand.
James Elroy Flecker

This is a section of the tour I’ve been looking forward [...]

a2b - Accor Beijing - change of mind?

There are no more entries on the AB blog so I’ve had another try at fitting together the one-line entries from their ‘Express Bank’.
On the 4th May they paid a visit to the Pakistan Embassy to deliver applications and did 44 kilometres of cycling. They don’t say what the applications are for or where [...]