Due to an important anniversary for me, the end of the year and - despite the sun and cloudless sky outside - a reflective mood, let me, I'll try to summarize mine 11 years on a bike. Yep, this anniversary is in December! Maybe I think naively, that someone will be interested in it, and if not, it was nice to look through old photos and remember stories. ok – I'm writing in parts, because it was too much. And it was like this…
It's a year 2012. After various ways, but significant turbulence, I'm saying goodbye to my job - nomen omen the first one, which really interests me. Well, sometimes. As a reward, I'm going to ride with my friends from... Crotose do USA. We roll around the track for six weeks Los Angeles–Arizona–Utah–Colorado.
The local winds help me clear my head quite a bit - well enough, that as a result of this trip I make several decisions. I am selling my parents' apartment in my hometown of Sochaczew, I am repaying the loan on my own in Warsaw, I'm undergoing intensive therapy and planning my dream trip - a bike ride through Japan.
In the spring of 2013 year I spend three months in Japan, driving it from south to north and around Hokkaido, whereupon… I don't want to go back. Life on the road attracts me more than streaming series, my head is spinning, and after returning, I start preparing for a bigger "trip". I'm taking control of life: banks, doctors, Insurance, vaccinations and what not. I'm getting new camping equipment, I'm buying a new bike in Berlin, and finally I pack my life into boxes and take it to the basement, and I rent an apartment.
December tenth 2013 year I lock the door of my apartment and give it to the tenant, and the neighbor, Mr. Maciej, he takes me and the bike box to the airport. I treat this date as the beginning of the stage of my cycling life, although in reality it starts earlier.
I set out without a specific plan, but with great curiosity about the world - and that's it, lucky me, does not change to this day. No exact assumptions there, roughly only a plan for the first months. I want to see a lot, and preferably everything, but I have my priorities. Such is the desire to roll through South America, so I'm buying a ticket... exhmm… to Asia, specifically to the Philippines. To the country, about which I know almost nothing. OK, I'm cheating – there was a promotion for KLM tickets to Asia and that made the difference. And to South America (for now) I'm not getting there, so the priority is gone. sometimes.
Philippines
it was a hard landing. Auć! Already after the first week I feel it, that it is not an ideal place for bicycle rides. Fortunately, my friend Zosia accompanied me at the beginning. Manila turns out to be one of the most terrible places, I've seen in my life - one and a half million people live on the streets, and those outside the center look like a gutter. In addition on the first day they try to rob us and we've had enough. We're running away from there, until it gathers dust. Oh, I'm sorry, until the mud in the gutter sprays.
Central Luzon isn't much better - lots of people, noise, fracture, humidity, not very interesting food and mediocre landscapes. This is the beginning of this trip. Only then do we come to our senses and..., after visiting – without bikes – the mountainous part of Luzon, We're going back to Manila quickly, straight to the port, to get anywhere. But, due to the holiday season, borders on the miraculous. But to cut the topic short, later "hopping" around other islands in the Philippines allows me to look at this country more kindly, discover more beautiful places and meet interesting people. However, I still remember it as difficult and not much for cycling. I'm flying from the Philippines to Burma.
Burma
This is my number two priority and I am succeeding here. The country fascinates me, but I also know, that by regulations, which force tourists to stay overnight in dedicated ones, more expensive hotels, the trip can get expensive. The landing is extremely soft, and the first hours in Rangoon are already amazing, that I feel warm in my heart. Burma wraps me in gentleness, people look and smile gently. There is something magical in the air, although the country is actually a dictatorship. I think, that it has to do with Buddhism.
As a tourist, I am quickly "taken care of" - I am constantly on my tail undercover cop. Sometimes it's just a regular guy in a baseball cap, sometimes a guy in uniform. They're following me, a ja, although often irritated to the extreme, I'm finally starting to treat them as part of the local landscape and even play trick-or-treater. No, It's not always fun. You have to stay overnight in places intended for tourists, which is practically impossible when traveling by bike, but I find a way here too - at the end of the day I go to the nearest police station with the slogan “Here I am and I have to spend the night somewhere, help me”.
In the first round of my trip, I continue through Thailand, Laos and southern China.
Thailand
Often there will not be Thailand I feel great immediately. The roads are great, food too, although if you think, that at every step someone serves you Thai curry, it's none of that – roast chicken, sticky rice and papaya salad are roadside standard, none the less delicious. Thailand is a combination of modernity and exoticism - a great place, to start your adventure with Southeast Asia. I went back there 3 or 4 times, I spent over 4 months. The logistics are rather simple. I drive on the central road, northern and eastern parts of the country, and the mountainous west overcomes me. Most tourists, however, head south. Once I get there, I understand, why the south is such a hit – THESE landscapes!
Moreover, Thailand is logistically simple - "Żabka" stores are every step, roadside stands even more common, cheap and common accommodation - although this does not mean it, that I use hotels every day. I usually sleep in a tent, and several kind people invite me to their place. Another hit of Thailand are its numerous national parks, where you can camp, "just" you have to watch out for monkeys, monitor lizards and the rest of the extremely active fauna.
Laos
is definitely a poorer country than Thailand. The north was more interesting to me, because it is mountainous, although the several-kilometer climbs in the heat and humid air are exhausting. I managed to sail part of the route by boat on the Mekong River.
Unfortunately, gray and gray accompanied me, smog-covered sky - in February and March, the forest burning season lasts in this region. Today, Laos is apparently a completely different story - there is a dam on the river and the famous road no 13, which was once the epicenter of various adventures (with robberies at the forefront), has already been rebuilt and the Chinese built a high-speed railway line. It's hard for me to imagine it, but I still have hope, that Laos manages to reconcile development with preserving "that something" extraordinary.
Southwest China
I have to hurry there, because I'm still in Poland getting a double-entry visa and I have to use it within half a year. All these logistics follow from that, that for Poles and many other nationalities, obtaining a longer tourist visa outside their home country has become virtually impossible. Chinese grace rides on a colorful horse.
For three months, with a trip to Thailand on a "visa-run" - I travel through the mountainous areas of Yunnan and Sichuan - I consider these provinces, together with the north-west, to be the most interesting regions of China. These are mountain provinces - most of them live in Yunnan 50 ethnic minorities of the Middle Kingdom, a Syczuan to entry to the Tibetan plateau, climbing four-thousanders – and meeting the Tibetans – I'm truly speechless there. I mean, that it's easy, but no one spoke, that it will be. They don't seem to build roads along the rivers there, there are still uphill and downhill slopes 20-30 kilometers, my wrists and feet bother me the most. Fortunately, there is no law in this region, which forces foreigners to sleep in dedicated hotels, I sleep in cheap shelters and generally various places. China also has the best food ever - they know how to... 10 minutes to conjure up delicious treats. For a song.
I'm coming back to Poland from China in the summer 2014 year on 2,5 month with a return ticket to Korea.
I have to deal with a crisis in my apartment - renovation, a new tenant and other pleasures. Although I already have a vision of a total logistical disaster, because the specialist comes a month after the agreed date, three days before the planned departure, I manage to arrange it all... ufff!. And so, in September 2014 year I land in Seoul and through 2,5 I've been rolling for a month after South Korea, although I still don't manage to reach all regions.
South Korea
it's the easiest country to cycle in this region. For the first time I ride mainly on bicycle routes, that cover the entire country. I sleep in the ubiquitous shelters, sometimes in humans, who host me, and how cold it gets in November, I often knock on churches. I also don't skip toilets, which are more comfortable than many three-star hotel beds. During my entire stay, I did not pay for accommodation even once, although I did not plan to participate in such a competition. Autumn in Korea is fantastic – beautiful colors of leaves, sunny days, temperature 20-25 degrees.
It only gets really cold at the end of November, and I don't even have any clothes – I'm going to Thailand. This time I choose the route along the southern coast towards Cambodia. I'm spending my second Christmas on the road in Thailand.
Cambodia
I'm filming for a month after Cambodia – south coast, Phnom Penh, around Tonle Sap Lake, finally the ancient city and temples of Angkor Wat.
On New Year's Eve I pedal to Sihanoukville on the coast. It was one of the longest days on the road – over 120 kilometers up hills in heat and dust. I barely reach the city alive, passed by thousands of people on scooters, who are going to celebrate the coming of the new year on the beach. I fall on the bed o 21:00 and no fireworks wake me up. I won't see the beaches until the next day. I leave through a little-known border crossing in the north, passing through the poorest areas of the country. To say goodbye, I pass the "Pol-Pot's grave" sign. I did not know, that 73-year-old dictator and leader of the Khmer Rouge Pol Pot died in 1998 r. in a hut in the jungle near the village of Anglong Veng on the border with Thailand, before Cambodian authorities could put him on trial for genocide.
Thailand again - but this time I decide to finally see the south of the country. On the way, I meet a boy from India - a cyclist, with whom we had contact via Facebook. This knowledge changes my plans a bit. The south of Thailand is absolutely the most beautiful, I drive at a snail's pace, after 3-4 spending nights in one place. That's when this entry is written “And who took the time from you?”, which was probably the most discussed on Facebook. I'm already under the border, but instead of entering Malaysia, I decide to go back north by train and join my friend, to travel through Laos together and (But) Vietnam. We travel through Laos together for a while, I'm partially covering the route from last year.
Chirag is funny and sociable and I am learning to ride in a duo and then even in a trio, because the Englishman Andy joins us and then the set changes several times. However, because of this, that his pocket was much thinner than mine, we practically always look for accommodation in the wild. Most often, our target is schools, which are always open in Laos, unlike being surrounded by fences and gates later in Vietnam. However, since people go to the field at dawn at 6 a.m., they also drop their children off at school at the same time., so most often when we roll up in the morning we already have a decent audience.
Vietnam
I was afraid Vietnam due to my preference for silence and my fears are mostly true - outside the mountains it is terribly noisy and there are no places to set up a tent. The country is long, extends over 2000 km, with different climate zones.
At first I don't know, or go north, or south. Ultimately, when Chirag and his new companion - the Spaniard Ivan - arrive, we start our journey south along the coast. He gave drugs, except in a few places, it's a nightmare, the guys rush on, because they only have a one-month visa, i on 3 months (although in the end I only use it 3 weeks). I turn towards the mountains, to take the Ho Chi Minh route. It's better, but only a little. April, and then May, this is not a good connection for Vietnam - it is the hottest time of the year, a to, what interests me most, it's sitting in the shade, and this affects the length of the route in inverse proportion. I finally catch a bus and get to Saigon. I'm so fed up with the heat and heart problems, that instead of looking for a job in Thailand, I decide to buy a ticket to Poland and show up at the class meeting, welcoming many friends with joy, that I haven't seen for years. Time in Poland definitely saves my battered psyche.
In September 2015 year, after replacing tenants in the apartment, I'm leaving Warsaw with a fog plan to reach India by bike. Once again, however, it proves true, that the words "project" and "plan" don't work for me, in life you have to be as flexible as a panty elastic, so I'm planning a loop around Europe with the Christmas and New Year period and a winter stay with a friend in Athens.
Rowerowa pętla po Bałkanach
I leave my bike there and fly to Poland, because health issues overwhelmed me. The trip takes place in the autumn-winter and summer tours - 11 countries: Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Albania, Greece, where I settle, as it turns out, for two months, to then fly to Poland, return and continue to the country, that is northern Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine. More than 7 500 km and almost half a year in the saddle.
It's about this time that it dawns on me, that I'm tight on money. I have some on my account 3 thousands and even though I know how to save money, then it is not reasonable in the long run, nor nice. For the first time I feel, that I don't enjoy sleeping in a tent, when I don't want to - because it's damp and cold, and I can't afford it, to rent something too often. To sum up, we had to top up our bank account. I don't want to live in Warsaw for anything in the world and that probably won't change. Then I remember, that while traveling in the Philippines, a Chinese cyclist I met told me, that with my English and my appearance (note - this applies to fair skin and blonde hair) I can teach English in China. And I once applied to study English and taught that language as well. It was a good solution, consistent with me. And strange (How could it be otherwise??) by coincidence, I came across a cyclist from Belarus in a conversation on Facebook (yes!), who interrupted the journey, to earn extra money by teaching English in western China. I'm contacting him, he puts me in touch with his employer, I'm undergoing quick online recruitment while still in Greece, then all I have to do is return to Poland, to apply for a work visa and… fru! It takes up the whole thing 3 months and so on, just before Christmas 2016 year, I'm landing w Urumczi, capital of Xinjiang province in the far western Chinese, as a language school employee and my life is turning upside down again 180 degrees, ale o tym w następnej części opowieści HERE.
All this would not be possible, not my friends and my family, generally everyone, who helped me, they were taking care of it, they accepted and often fed thickly – Aga or Guśka, Dorota with Krzysiek, aunt and Ola in Sochaczew and dozens of other people.
If you want to support me in what I do, you want to read more – you can contribute to my piggy bank. I won't embezzle, przysięgam 🙂
