Keat points me to the blog of his school mates, Swee Kian and Sean (SK, or Ruiqiang, is the one with glasses and Sean, or Yongxuan, is the other chappie), who are cycling from the Arctic (Finland) to the Equator (Singapore), more than 9394km of cycling (they will tell you how far they actually cycled when they get home to Singapore).
On 1st August 2004, they started the journey back home from Rovaniemi, Finland, and now, seven months later, they are at Ubekistan. Lots to read and pictures to see (updates may be sporadic due to inconsistent access to the internet). Leave some good wishes at their blog, will ya?
Pictured on the top left: The two cyclists, with Gia, who lives in the village of Akhalsheni, Georgia.
Excerpt from Turkey:
8 days ago, we closed another chapter in our journey home. For 6 weeks, over 20 villages, towns, cities & remote locations, we were doused with hospitality difficult to express in words.
We had entered Turkey warm and sunny. Although it was pouring liked nobody's business when we left Turkey, the warmth of the turkish hospitality and newfound friends (& families) continued to glow in our hearts.
To sum our experiences in this enchanting country:
"Stop to pee, you get tea;
Stop for break, you get bread;
Each and every mile, you will be greeted with lots of smile..."
Now we are in Georgia, flipping another new chapter in our journey.
Their planned route:
Aug 04-Dec 04
Finland... Estonia... Latvia... Lithuania... Poland... Czech Republic... Slovakia... Hungary... Slovenia... Croatia... Yugoslavia... Romania... Bulgaria...
Jan 05
Turkey...
Feb 05-May 05
Georgia... Azerbaijan... Caspian Sea... Turkmenistan... Uzbekistan... Tajikistan... Afghanistan... Pakistan...
Jun 05
India Himalayas
Jul 05-Aug 05
Nepal... India...
Sep 05 ... 2006
Myanmar... Thailand... Laos... Vietnam... Cambodia... Malaysia... Singapore
