Bike to Asia

Frequently asked questions before the tour

One day we were walking and chatting and Felix asked me: “Don’t you get the same questions all the time? I do. It is quite tiring, I always have to pretend that I hear them for the first time.” And I did receive the same questions and felt the same way. While laughing a lot we collected about 20 questions, the most common ones and agreed that we needed to post it on the blog.

Here they are:

So what are your plans?
We plan to cycle to the Himalayas.

Wow, that is pretty far away! How many km exactly?
About 10-15.000, depending on which roads we take, and how many detours we make.

For how long do you plan this trip?
About half a year.

When do you start?
Beginning of April, 2010.

How many of you are going? Is it some kind of an organized trip?
Only the 2 of us, it is organized by us.

What happens with your job? How can you handle that?
We couldn’t, we quit.

Didn’t you try to ask for unpaid vacation?
We tried but we didn’t get it.

What happens if you come back? Will you be taken back?
We don’t know yet. Felix is not planning to go back, he will work on Bittutor. At my work they are ready to take me back if there is something for me but nowadays a cutback is more to be expected.

And what then? What will you do?
I will look for another job.

And how will you come back from Asia? Do you plan to cycle back?
No, unfortunately it would cost another half year and more money. We plan to fly back.

And what will you do with your bikes? Will you leave it there?
We’ll see. It is possible to take it with us on the plane, it only needs to be wrapped properly. I will see how the bike looks like whether it is reasonable to bring it home or not. On the other as far as I know myself I will be  twitted to my bike to much so I won’t be able to leave it there…

And will a car follow you with all your equipment?
No.

And what do you plan to take with you?
Lots of things, the list is very long, unfortunately… it will be quite heavy.

Will there be panniers on the bike?
Yes.

In the front and in the back?
Yes.

And where will you sleep?
We take a tent and sleeping bag with us and we will use couchsurfing.

How will wash yourself?
With water and soap. It’s generally unknown but it is possible to wash yourself completely using only a (half a) bottle of water. And when we couchsurf in the towns we will use other people’s bathrooms.

What’s the budget of the tour?
We don’t know it yet exactly. We don’t have to pay for traveling and for accommodation which are usually the most costly factors of traveling. We have to buy food but we have to do that at home too and we expect that in Asia the food is cheaper. What will cost some is visas and equipment. (We’ll share the final numbers with you afterwards.)

Aren’t you afraid? Don’t you think that this is dangerous?
We are not afraid, we don’t plan to go to dangerous places. We think that what you can see on TV is only one tiny part of life in Asia and if there is something scary on TV people tend to think that it is common there within a few thousand of km’s. We read blogs and traveling forums and of course we will ask the locals as well. If there is an explosion in e.g London, nothing happens, it is in the news but tourists will still go there. If there is a bomb in Pakistan then all the ’stan countries are dangerous. There were demonstrations in Budapest too and we lived, worked, traveled just as we did before and after.

And what kind of bike will you ride?
A Mountain bike.

Have you heard about anyone who did something like this?
Yes, there are many people traveling by bike all around the world. There is a German guy e.g., Heinz Stücke who rides the bike for about 50 years. He is of course not a usual example but there are others who for smaller or longer journeys jump on their bikes. www.travellingtwo.com collects such bike riders.

And how many km’s do you plan to ride per day?
Somewhere between 50 and 100. Of course up the hill it will be slower and it also depends on the quality of the road. But downhill we will be fast!!!

What will you eat? What food will you carry?
The locals eat something too, we will do the same. We can cook for ourselves on our fuel stove, can buy food in local shops or go to restaurants.

Do you have any insurance?
Yes, Uniqa was so nice and supports us with an insurance. Thanks again!

Is there anyone who sponsor you?
Yes, Stanfords gave us maps, Felix received some discount on his sleeping bag from Juhu, from Ironclad we received gloves for half price. SH+ gave us helmets and sunglasses, Evobike gave us 50% discount on panniers. We have a GPRS/GPS tracking device from Cason. U-nic will help us to make a book from the blog, Uniqa helped with insurance and Bittutor provides the web hosting space.

What will you do if your bikes get stolen?
It is not really common that bikes are stolen. Even if it is stolen the locals help to find it. A bike like this is quite unique there. Locals have no interest in steeling it because it is shame for them. Heinz Stücke’s bike got stolen 6 times so about once in every 10 years. And he always found it! Nevertheless, we’ll be always in the proximity of our bikes. If one goes into the shop, the other waits outside. This is unfortunately one disadvantage of bike tours!

What happens if you loose your ID’s?
We won’t. If so, we will ask for new ones at the next embassy.

If after hearing our story you think about the followings, you are not alone:

“Your whole stuff will be stolen already in Romania.”
“Folks are barbarian out there.”
“You are really brave or daring.”
“It will be a real adventure that you will remember in all your life.”
“Pakistan? Pissing in tent, exploding goats… that kind of people.”
“Zsofi will be kidnapped, or bought for 3 camels.”
“You won’t want to come back.”
“If I were you I would go on a shorter trip at first.”
“I envy you.”

Zsofi