Contents

1. A tour of Eurasia
2. The deported: A good reason to go cycling
3. Vienna airport to Bratislava: Welcome to Austria. Wait, now welcome to Slovakia
4. Bratislava to Breclev: Welcome to Czechtopia
5. From Breclev to…: Castle hopping
6. To Zarici: Night in a castle
7. Zarici to Olomouc: Beautiful beautiful Olomouc
8. Olomouc to Moravsca Trebova: Damn that headwind
9. Moravski Trebova to Pardubice: Penzion where are you?
10. Pardubice to Nova Pecka to…: Riding around in circles
11. Jicin to Strad pod Ralskem: This looks familiar
12. To Litericice
13. Litomerice to Praha: Spaced
14. Praha to Zvikov.: Let it snow. Let it snow. Let it snow
15. Zikov to Cesky Krumlov: Time for a hiatus
16. Cesky Krumlov to Jindrichuv Hradec.: De ja vu
17. To Znojmo.: Hello pretty bunkers
18. Znojmo to Bratislava.: Hello Austria. Hello Slovakia
19. Bratislava to Komarno.: Why hostel?
20. Komarno to Budapesti: How to get to Ukraine?
21. Budapesti days.: Your first nappy. Congratulations
22. Budapesti to Harta.: First camping day
23. Harta to Pecs.: Meet the gypsies
24. Pecs to Orija: Hello Croatia
25. Croatia to Novi Sad.: First street walkers … really really ugly
26. Novi Sad to Belgrad
27. Belgrad to Smederevo: On the road again
28. Smederevo to Rudare.: De ja vu
29. To Pristina.: Kosovo baby!!!
30. Pristina to Skopje.: Welcome to Macedonia
31. From Skopje to a place beginning with?? D??
32. To somewhere along the freeway inside of Greece.: Welcome to Greece. Welcome to Macedonia
33. To Thessaloniki. No scrap that. Further on.: No ferry for you
34. To Larissa.: Mount Olympas
35. From Larissa south
36. To Thiva
37. To Athina.: On strike
38. To Turkey: Hello Turkey
39. Kusudasi to Mugla.: Lots of ruins
40. Mugla to not quite Fethiye.: Just riding
41. To Patara
42. To Demre
43. To Antalya.: Hadrian’s gate
44. Antalya to Side.: It’s on the side
45. From Side to Gazipassa.: Resort hotels abound
46. To Tasucu.: More castles
47. From Girne to Klapedia.: Welcome to Cyprus
48. To Gazimagusa.: An awesome citadel
49. To Lefkosia.: And then to Girne
50. To Mersin.: Roman ruins everywhere
51. To Ceyhan.: A means to an end
52. To Rayhanli.: How not to hitch a ride
53. To Allepo.: Arsehole neighbours
54. To Idlib.: These boots are made for walking
55. From Idleb to Homs.: Arsehole stone throwing kids
56. From Homs to Palmyra.: Badly made plans
57. From Palmyra to As Sukhna.: Into the desert
58. To Raqqa.: More arsehole kids
59. To Akcakale.: Back to Turkey. Thank god
60. To Urfa.: More arseholes during the night
61. In Varna.: Procrastination
62. Varna to Byala.: Attacked by a frog
63. To Nikopol.: How’s the serenity?
64. From Nikopol to Oryahovo.: Onwards
65. To Archer. (abouts)
66. To Brza Palanca.: Welcome to Serbia. Again
67. To Dobra.: 21 tunnels
68. To Vrsac.: Scouting for customers
69. To Kikinda
70. To Kiskunlachaza.: Welcome to Hungary
71. To Budapest.: The end my friend

The deported: A good reason to go cycling

Wednesday March 17, 2010

Well it has finally happened. Danny’s getting deported. And what a great excuse for a bike ride. So the whole Eurasia thing has had its appeal for a while now so a flight to Vienna, a month looping around Czechland and then it is Slovakia and beyond.

Feelings are mixed. It is great to be going but it is really shit to be going this way. With less than two weeks to plan, not to mention finding lawyers, giving and selling my stuff, yudda, yudda, yudda, details of the trip are a little bit scarce. But that’s okay. Why not wing it!

Vienna airport to Bratislava: Welcome to Austria. Wait, now welcome to Slovakia

Friday March 19, 2010, 58 km (36 miles) – Total so far: 58 km (36 miles)

Emigration out of Taipei isn’t a problem. There is no red ‘deported’ stamp. No hassles. Nada. You finish work around lunch time and it is only then that you are told to pay your tax. Fuck. 500 US smackers straight to the government because you are in the country less than 6 months. They already took a k and as a further consequence of being deported they can take 500 more. So it is off to the tax office to file 2 years of tax records. After a confusing interval the good news arrives. A 2000 Americano dollar refund. Brilliant. Except you have to wait 2 weeks to pick it up. So despite the triple F U from Taiwan you do have a little bit of cash to help finance this trip.

Not long after boarding the flight to Vienna do you realize that not only do you not possess a credit card but your debit card is also absent. But worry not because it was not left behind. Hidden somewhere in one of the bags it is at last procured. Relief.

It is quite cold in at Vienna airport around 6 AM. Ice still sits in puddles. But it doesn’t feel that cold as you piece back together the bike and sort out the luggage. The next problem to solve is a lack of a nut and bolt to fit the front rack on. Actually you have the bolt. You just need to find a nut. Until a nut is found a cable tie is used.

The route from Vienna airport to Bratislava is the same 1 taken 3 years previous. Except this time you don’t get on the freeway but onto the smaller road running parallel. Traffic isn’t as light as you would like but at least drivers here are courteous. None of this me first mentality you are used to braving.

A bike path runs most of the gauntlet. Unfortunately a lack of a map and knowledge of the place names means you at times abandon the path for the road. If only you had known. So for future reference, route number 6 takes you to the border.

The day is uneventful. You see some ancient roman ruins that you missed the last time round. Last time you took the detour to the ‘ruins’, ie amphitheater and in so doing missed out on seeing the much more spectacular gate. You see the trips first castle ruin. Not long after you spot Devin castle across the Danube and in nearby Slovakia.

You stop by at the border to get your passport stamped. But, according to the polizie, there aren’t any border formalities. From the border it is only a few more km, over the bridge with the UFO and welcome to Bratislava proper.

Coming into the hostel you find that the cable tie used to secure the front rack is gone, broken off. It is just luck that the whole thing stayed on. Tomorrow will be spent looking for a nut and bolt to secure that thing. But wait, Macgiver to the rescue. You do have such a set. You have a spare quick release for your seat. It fits snugly. But only time will tell if it lasts.

Time for a beer.

Bratislava to Breclev: Welcome to Czechtopia

Sunday March 21, 2010, 122 km (76 miles) — Total so far: 180 km (112 miles)

A day of procrastination in Bratislava and you are off to see the world. Following the Danube to Devin castle you then head north along the Morava River. You see some of the hundreds of bunkers along the Iron Curtain bikeway, built originally against Nazi Germany.

It is a pleasant day. That is, pleasant until it starts to rain. But it is good to be out on the bike in the beautiful countryside, passing through quaint towns and eerily quiet woodlands.