Total distance: Around 15 000km
Number of countries passed: 22
Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, MonteNegro, Albania, Macedonia, Greece, Turkey, Iran, United Arab Emirates, Oman, India, Bangladesh, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore
Number of days travelling: 198
Longest distance during one day: 189km (very strong tailwind in Iran)
Average distance when cycling: 80-100km/day.
Number of flat tires: 3 (all in Thailand)
Hottest: Bandar-E-Abbas, Iran, and Dubai, 41 degrees C
Coldest: The mountains in Eastern Turkey. Around 0 degrees C.
Where did I sleep? Mostly in my tent hidden somewhere by the side of the road or at a petrol stations. I also used CouchSurfing frequently in almost all countries (including Iran, Oman, Dubai, India and Bangladesh). Couchsurfing is fantastic and something I can recommend to anyone. In India I mostly stayed in hostels or cheap hotels.
Did I loose weight? Fortunately not. That was something I feared beforehand. I stopped frequently and ate a lot.
What did I eat? I got rid of my portable kitchen in Turkey, since it required too much space. In Europe I often ate cold food from Supermarkets. In cheaper countries such as Iran, India, Bangladesh and Thailand I ate mostly at small stalls and restaurants by the road. I was dyspeptic only one day in Thailand.
What was most scary? The slim, huge, wild dogs in eastern Turkey and Iran which chased me in up to 40km/h, and typically have rabies. The narrow roads in India where trucks drove like crazy were also scary. I had to use a rearview mirror and go to the side of the road if I expected two trucks to meet anywhere close to where I was. Mentally very hard to be so attentive all the time.
Any problem with the visas? The Iranian visa process was handled online while I was cycling, and once it was finished it waited for me at the Iranian embassy in Erzurum, Eastern Turkey. The visa to India which I applied for in Dubai took around 1 week, and the visa to Bangladesh took 3 days in Calcutta. I tried to get the visa to Pakistan both in Turkey and Iran, but had to apply in Sweden. I could therefore not enter Pakistan.
EQUIPMENT
The equipment in general was very cheap and low-end.
Bicycle 1: A Crescent from Cykelhuset in Gothenburg. Cost: Around 500€. The back wheel broke down in India and me or nobody else couldn’t fix it. I had to change bicycle. That was not too bad since the Crescent attracted huge attention in the villages in India where nobody had seen gears on a bicycle.
Bicycle 2: Atlas Goldline. Bought in India for 25€. One gear. Very heavy. But when something happened to it, there was always a repair shop very close by. I named the bicycle Doni, after an Indian Cricket Player, which was always appreciated.
Tent: Bought from a local outdoor store in Gothenburg. Cost was 30€.
Sleeping bag: From Clas Ohlsson in Gothenburg. Cost was 20€.
Bags: 2 bags of decent quality from the brand Vaude. Cost was 40€.
