Iran is for me largely a back-in-time visit. Since 1972 it has been 47 years since I visited this beautiful country a few times. Many memories float to the surface as I tour the country. I was in my early twenties and it was the first really distant country that I visited. Of course much has changed in these years. Not to mention the 1979

After the death of Uzbekistan dictator President Karimov , the world was afraid that the country would fall into disarray because of the power vacuum that had arisen. For the time being, the opposite is true. Tourists no longer have to follow a time-consuming visa procedure. As a tourist, you no lon...

I stay in Bishkek for three weeks. There is a lot to arrange. Visas for Tajikistan, Iran and Turkmenistan require a lot of time. Tajikistan is reasonably smoothly. Within a few days I have my e-visa. Iran needs almost three weeks to email a code with which I can get a visa directly at the embassy. Turkmenistan takes little time in Bishkek, but after 3 weeks I receive the invitation for a visa by e...

Rarely have I seen such a long line of waiting trucks at a border. After a fruitless attempt to cross the normal border to Kyrgyzstan because Piggy appears to be too large, I have to take another border. It is made clear to me that large cars have to cross the border 20 km away via another border crossing. I suspect that I will once again be seen as a truck, while I already made it clear to the of...

It appears that it is not possible to obtain a longer-term visa for Russia. A 10-day transit visa is the only option. I am obliged to travel the 3000 km to Kazakhstan and to apply for another visa if necessary. Possibly I have to return to the Netherlands via Kazakhstan and Russia. All depends on Piggy. The Russian visa is date specific. So the entry and exit dates are set. Later entry is possible...

After a one month's stay in the Netherlands, I am dropped off at Schiphol by friends and meet my fellow traveler, Sjoukje, who will travel with me for a few weeks through Mongolia and some Stan countries. The flight to Moscow has a delay, which means that the arrival time is very limited to make the connection with Ulaanbaatar. Sprinting no longer helps. The plane is already busy with its ride ...

The bangs of the fireworks hurt my ears. But the burst of star rain is phenomenal. It is Chinese New Year. The year of the pig is heralded. So it is the year of Piggy !! Unsuspectingly, I booked my flight to Singapore on this 5th of February. The reason to go to Singapore is because my Indonesian visa has almost expired. I could easily apply for a new visa for 2 months. But yeah. All offices are c...

After the three-week stay in the Philippines, I return to my hostel in Kuta, Bali, where my bike and luggage are stored in a storeroom by the friendly staff. As far as I'm concerned, Kuta is not the place where I want to stay for a long time, but the many advantages such as luggage storage, the proximity to the airport...

Here is the third and final part of the bicycle trip through Sulawesi. Again this part is written by Sjoukje and concerns her personal impressions of this trip. I want to thank her for these 3 blogs. She saved me a lot of work. Next you can expect a blog written by me again, describing my backpacking trip in the north of the Philippines.   Today, finally back on the bike again,...