My route
7700km, 14 countries, 4 months, 2 wheels...
My interest about the East did not start nowadays. The hospitality and culture of the nations, so different from any European, also the beauty of these countries amazed me also in 2005. At that time I followed the footsteps of Arminius Vámbery on my bike, from Dunaszerdahely (Dunajská Streda, Slovakia) till Tehran, the capitol of Iran. The trip was 80 days long, from which almost a month I spent on Iranian soil.
After my return I promised myself that, when I tell my tale, I will not just promote the life and heritage of Vámbéry, but will tell you also the truth about how nice the Persian people are, how hospitable they are, and the picture the western media trying to plant into you about Iran is just propaganda.
Of course I felt the urge to return to the East ever since, but it seemed like I just had no chance to get out of the everyday working environment. In the last years I was asked for my opinion by multiple travellers who planned their Asian journey. Every time I felt unimaginable desire to travel again. But I did not have the courage to leave the safety of my job behind. Then came the last push.
Zita and Árpi, just married couple, went on a honeymoon trip around the World (www.360fokbringa.hu) and reading their amazing diary gave me the push I needed. I needed to get going, right this moment, in 2013, at the 100th anniversary of Vámbéry`s death!
The first step was the hardest. Quitting my carrier, everything I worked for so far, and get going towards the unknown. But everything after this one hard step went on, in its own pace, just as it should be.
Deciding on the route wasn’t even a question; I will follow the trail of Arminius Vámbéry.
The first route of Vámbéry, which he travelled in 1862 from Budapest to Tehran, I went through before. His second route was leading south from Tehran, to Isfahan, Shiraz and Persepolis.
He was able to continue his journey towards east, due to the wars between the khanates of middle Asia, just in March of 1863. We call this journey his third route. Along his journeys this third route of his took him furthest, and also this was the most dangerous as well.
Vámbéry, following this route, got to regions now belonging to Uzbekistan, to Khiva, Samarkand and Bukhara, and also to regions now belonging to Afghanistan.
My route was made according his, but naturally the amount of time I was allowed to spend in each country is limited by the length of my Visas. 150 years after the journey of Arminius Vámbéry, these parts of Asia still keeps their distance from the rest of the World, which also preserved their beauty.
Deviating from the mostly used Balkan – Turkish route, I choose an unusual, alternative route; leading through Moldova, the Ukraine, through the Black Sea and finally travelling through the Caucasus to get me to the Persian capital. From Iran I will follow the route of Vámbéry to Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. After these I will continue the expedition towards places which Vámbéry could not get to.
I will test my strength in the mountains of Pamir, in Tajikistan, and in the Karakorum, in Pakistan.
Countries I cycle through:
- Slovakia
- Hungary
- Romania
- Moldova
- Ukraine
- Georgia
- Armenia
- Iran
- Turkmenistan
- Uzbekistan
- Tadzhikistan
- Kirgizstan
- China
- Pakistan
