The Silk Road isn’t just one road; it’s actually a network of trade routes on land and water that connected Europe with various parts of Asia and even Africa.
We cycled one of the most common Silk Road routes – through Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan – but we didn’t cover all of it.
That’s why we were very happy when Shanny, a leader for the Tour d’Afrique Silk Route bicycle tour, offered to fill in a few details on some of the parts we missed. Here are Shanny’s tips:
Georgia
This is a country that has gone through a rough couple of years. With the brief and powerful assault by Russia in 2008, and weakening relations with the West, it is struggling to get a foothold. But travel to Georgia is still a very feasible and safe undertaking. Visas for some nationalities can be a bit time consuming to obtain, but it’s well worth the effort.
Continue reading about the Silk Road in Georgia, Azerbaijan and China
17th August 2011 at 12:18 am #
Hello.
Firstly, congratulations on completing the Silk Road. Amazing achievement. I am leaving a reply, I must be honest, for some help.
I am a fourth year student, I completed my first tour cycle aged 20, last year cycling from paris to rome to barcelona, and now, with the prospect of no longer being a student, and being unemployed, I am about to set myself up for, and begin to organise my biggest challenge to date. I plan to cycle from Northern Ireland, where I am in residence, across europe, follow the silk road from turkey to china. I trip i know will take many months, but… many months I have at my disposal. I am wondering if I could liase with you via email perhaps, seeking information on Visa suggestions etc etc.
Thanks
Keep up the good work.
Matthew
17th August 2011 at 8:11 am #
Hi Matthew, feel free to drop us a line. We’re always happy to help when we can, though because of the volume of email our answers tend to be brief. On visas, you could look at this article we wrote on Getting Visas for Different Countries. A more detailed version of this article, plus dozens of other tips for long bicycle expeditions has been written down in our book.
5th March 2012 at 10:58 am #
hey matthew,
did u start ur dream yet? where r u now? i started in germany last year and am now in moldova, planning to go to krim next (beginning of may) and then starting the silk road… did u already get all ur visas etc.?
greetings christine