2020-05-01_Lonely_Planet_Traveller

wasa lotofriceandlamb.InMongoliawewere

alwaysofferedkumis– a thick,sour,fermented

horsemilk.Itisalcoholicbuteventhekidslovedit

there.I couldnevergetusedtoit butthey’dalways

topyouup,evenwhenyousaidno.You’resupposed

tocoveryourcupwithyourhandtosignifyyoudon’t

wantmore.Unfortunatelyweonlylearnedthisat

theendofourtimethere.

Foodbecomesanobsessionasyou’reburningoff

somuchenergy.Sometimeswe’dgofourdays

withoutcrossingplaceswithprovisions,sowe

loadedup.We’dbringdried,lightthingslikeoats

andlentils.Nicolemadeherowndough,buriedit in

-30 !+.0# #+ #01-4#0,'%&2," ', 2&# +-0,',%

we’dhavefreshbread.Butmostofthetimewecould

getfoodrelativelyeasily.Itwasharvestseasonand

therewerepeoplesellingwatermelonsand

pomegranatesforpenniesattheroadside.

Wateristhemostpreciousresourcewhenyou’re

wildcamping.InMongolia,wehada scary

experienceofrunningoutwhenwewentcompletely

offroadfora fewdays.Afterthat,weatleaststuckto

dirttracks.WeusedanappcalledMapOut,which

5-0)#"-$',#," 1&-5#"31 5�#2-," 0'4#01

',-5&"*2#025- *'20# -22*#1$-0 "0',)',%

anda sixlitrebladderbagforwashing.Whenwe

weren’tbyfreshwaterweconservedit bytaking

‘tentshowers’,whicharen’treallyshowersatall.

Wewouldput 500 mlinourcookingpot,spongedoff

thedirtandsweat,andtriedtoremembertowash

thepotbeforecookingdinner.

Findingtheperfectpitchforthenightwasa bitof

anartform.Sometimeswe’dcampinthefootprintof

whereyurtshadbeen.Thelocalsknewthelandbest

5�# 5  1  2 5�# 5  1  5 7 $0-+2&# 5',"

Travellingaswedid,wealsofeltlikenomadsina

way.Cycling,I sawhowplacesjigsawedtogether.

It’sstrangetocoverwholecountriesonyourown

twolegs.Theworldfeelsa lotsmallerafterwards.

CYCLING THE SILK ROAD

A residentof Bulgan

Province,Mongoliaand

(above)thelastremnants

of a roadthere

MAKEIT HAPPEN
Anindependenttripis ambitious,but
therearegreatonlineresourcesfor
one.Forinformationaboutoverlanding
in CentralAsiatrycaravanistan.com,
andfortipsoncyclinggearandroutes,
takea lookat cyclingabout.com.
JeremyalsorecommendstheMapOut
app(£4),whichusesGPSandworks
oine.Severaloperatorsoer cycling
trips– SilkRoadAdventurestailor-make
itinerariesin TajikistanandKyrgyzstan
(from£3,280for 14 days;silkroad-
adventures.com),WorldExpeditions
runo-roadtripsin Mongoliaor theSilk
Roadcitiesof Uzbekistan(from£1,970
for 14 days;worldexpeditions.com),
andTDAGlobalCyclinghavea five
monthexpeditionalongthewholeroute
(£19,000;tdaglobalcycling.com).
OurCentralAsiaguidebookcovers
TajikistanandKyrgyzstan
AS TOLD TO GABRIELLE JAFFE (£19.99;shop.lonelyplanet.com).